The Execs, Cons and What it Means for Designers [+ Expert Insight]

A number of months in the past, I examined a number of AI brand turbines and documented my expertise. Then my good friend Michael Randall, a graphic designer, learn the submit, and I‘ll simply say he wasn’t thrilled about it.

“[Expletive] brand turbines? We’re doomed,” have been his actual phrases.

I ended that weblog submit by clarifying that companies ought to use precise graphic designers when designing their logos to face out. And I stand by that, so hopefully, that gave him extra religion in humanity and our friendship.

That mentioned, I needed to ask my good friend for his perspective on AI in graphic design. So, listed here are a few of Michael’s ideas combined in with my findings from different sources.

After studying, should you’re interested by integrating AI into your individual workflow, try our numerous HubSpot AI instruments to see if any will help together with your subsequent massive marketing campaign. 

AI Graphic Design: What’s it?

AI graphic design is precisely because it sounds. It is using synthetic intelligence to generate graphics similar to infographics, adverts, logos, and different types of visible artwork.

The logos I created in my earlier submit through AI turbines are examples of AI graphic designs.

How will AI have an effect on graphic design?

In keeping with Randall, many graphic designers already see AI’s unfavorable impacts on the trade and worry it may trigger extra future issues for artists and designers.

“Designers are getting fairly careworn,” he says. “Because the pandemic, there was a shift. Many freelancers and impartial enterprise house owners have misplaced work in a method you’ll anticipate due to the pandemic, however then AI began to actually explode.”

Randall says AI is seen as extra accessible or cheaper to enterprise house owners than hiring an precise graphic designer.

“Making a model id for lower than $5 is one thing most individuals would soar at in comparison with hiring an expert for a whole lot of {dollars}—and the latter worth is justified as a result of graphic design is labor, however folks do not consider it like this.”

Subsequently, there‘s a priority that AI’s guarantees of accessible, reasonably priced, and quick graphic designs may additional devalue artists within the design trade.

Nonetheless, some designers say the way forward for AI in graphic design is much less clear and possibly even much less dystopian. In a YouTube video, graphic artist Will Paterson mentioned whether or not AI may change designers is hard, and nobody really has the reply.

“All I can say for sure is that regardless of your beliefs of generative AI—whether or not it is good or unhealthy—to say aggressive and to be within the industries that we wish to be in, we have to see it as a software that may change the artwork and design course of,” he explains.

Paterson then websites new AI graphic instruments and platforms like Adobe Firefly, which solely makes use of licensed pictures as its knowledge mannequin.

“Adobe is, fortunately, turning the dialog to extra of ‘How can I make AI assist creators create?’ as an alternative of ‘How can I make AI create for us?’” he says. “I do not know whether or not we’re being changed sooner or later. I imagine we can’t be, however we’ll simply have to search out out.”

The Execs and Cons of Utilizing AI in Graphic Design

The way forward for AI in graphic design is a bit ambiguous, however one clear factor is that AI is right here to remain.

In keeping with Marq, final 12 months noticed an unprecedented surge in demand for AI design instruments, with the search quantity for AI design-related instruments and software program rising by 1700% from 2022 to 2023.

Moreover, a current Canva survey discovered that 75% of worldwide advertising and artistic leaders agree that AI is important to their artistic toolset.

So, designers and enterprise house owners should weigh the professionals and cons of utilizing AI when integrating it into their advertising or designs.

One good thing about AI in graphic design is that it will possibly assist artists pace via repetitive or tedious duties. Even my good friend Michael has discovered a use for it in his work.

“I work in structure, significantly signage and wayfinding,” he explains. “I take images of present areas and do mock-ups. As an alternative of doing the arduous activity of eradicating an individual or different present components within the picture I took, I can use the generative fill to chop via that activity fairly simply.”

He stresses, “That is the solely context wherein I exploit AI in graphic design.”

One other professional is that it will possibly make graphic design extra accessible for newbies and small enterprise house owners.

For instance, I am not essentially the most design-savvy individual. I wish to suppose I’ve an eye fixed for shade and a powerful sufficient sense of favor to know easy methods to match totally different components collectively like puzzle items.

Nonetheless, I lack the experience to make attractive designs like these of skilled artists like my good friend or different graphic designers.

So, I profit significantly from platforms like Canva that boast numerous AI-driven design instruments that assist me create featured pictures, YouTube thumbnails, and high-quality social media graphics which might be straightforward on the eyes.

I am particularly keen on its Resize and Magic Change software, which permits me to swap codecs, languages, and dimensions in my designs in seconds.

Nonetheless, one con is that an overreliance on AI in graphic design may end up in supplies devoid of creativity or originality. For instance, I examined 5 AI brand turbines and located that each one their designs yielded related outcomes and created finally uninspired logos.

One other main con is that AI is flawed and may generate pictures which might be, for lack of a greater time period, wonky. My colleague Ramona Sukhraj examined AI picture turbines not too long ago, and so they created some hilarious (and creepy) pictures.

When to Keep away from Utilizing AI in Graphic Designs

My good friend Michael is fairly easy concerning using AI.

“It may well solely be moral when you’re utilizing it to do a activity that isn’t significantly skill-based, you are shortening tedious work, otherwise you’re utilizing it to do issues which might be unattainable for a human to perform,” he says.

In different phrases, keep away from utilizing AI to exchange human work. As an alternative, use it as an assistive software that helps designers work effectively.

So, what does the longer term maintain for AI in graphic design? Who actually is aware of? I imagine AI will ultimately change into a commonplace software for designers, like tablets and digital pens. However I do not imagine it is going to be capable of totally change actual graphic artists.

AI can generate however doesn‘t host creativity the identical method the human thoughts can, and we’ll all the time want designers’ creativity to craft pictures that can stand out towards rivals.

That mentioned, Paterson was proper in that artists ought to use it as a software to stay aggressive.