I’ve been in the creative industry since I was 17, I’m now in my 50’s… and believe me, a lot has changed in that time! My hands show the scars of working with scalpels, cutting, and gluing down sheets of typesetting copy with spray glue that would coat your clothes and lungs, no doubt. Many an hour in dark rooms and sitting at drawing boards producing millimetre perfect art boards with ink pens. Yes, I’m showing my age.
Then it happened! A computer turned up at the office… New software that replaced the drawing board and scalpel with a workstation and mouse. We had to evolve.
My title changed from Finished Artist to Digital Artworker
Since then, I’ve had many work titles! Creative Artworker, Graphic Designer, Exhibition Designer, Web & Graphics Consultant, all of whom have had one thing in common!
Clients!
Clients tend to find it difficult to convey what they need! Some don’t have a clue what they need! They contact people and agencies like us to tease out what we think they need and, hopefully, ‘fingers crossed’, it doesn’t take months and endless drafts 1, 2, 3, final_dft, final_dft 2 ….. to get there.
This is where A.I. fails in the real world!
A.I-powered design tools can now generate logos, images, layouts, and even colour schemes. However, the question remains: can A.I. truly replace human graphic designers in the real world? The answer, in my opinion, is a resounding ‘No’. Here’s why.
A machine can never get to know a client! Nor can a client get to know a machine! No repour can be had… no, “how was the match on Saturday?”, taking notes on which team they support, to see what colour strip they wear and placing it in the ‘Proposed Branding’ colour scheme. A.I doe’s not do personal things! A human must be involved.
A.I. work on what has been! Nothing unique will come from the algorithms of the past! To think outside the box is what we, as humans, do best.
Consistent graphics – Now this may get better*, but as far as I can see (correct me if I’m wrong), A.I. has a real trouble replicating an idea or a graphic generated by the likes of A.I image generators, no matter how good the prompt is. The A.I. website builders have the same problem. Sure, as one-off builds or-for ever changing thumbnails on social media… it’s a great tool, super quick, good results. However, for on-going projects with a very specific brand style… I’m not so sure. I create hundreds of icons for client websites and Apps! All of which are tailored in terms of weight, colour and style.
When a client asks for a tweak on a logo, don’t expect A.I. to be able to do it, even with a talented designer at the helm of the prompt window. Humans come to the rescue again.
(*since I wrote this, it would seem that some updates in MidJourney, do allow for more consistent graphics… sort of, which is cool!)
Personally, I have some fears with regards to the use of A.I. in the creative world! Will it make us lazy?
Will designers of all types rely too much on it? Is there going to be a time in which it’s so embedded into the creative packages we use, that doing anything manually becomes too expensive, time-consuming, prohibited? On the back of that! Will the perception of clients deem graphic design as easy, simple and cheap! This, I would say is the biggest threat to the role of designer in the future!
Yes, A.I. is here to stay! It will get better. It will help generate ideas ‘seeds to inspire a direction’, it will help with workflow, making laborious tasks less tiresome. As with all the times before, we will evolve… I, for one… always learning, will indeed be embracing this so-called executioner. It would be naïve not to…. But I don’t think we should be worried about the robots taking over the creative world just yet! As long as there are clients that aren’t sure what they want – we are safe.
So, what do you think? Are we all doomed? I’m curious to know.
