Generative AI in branding: yay or nay?

See how I use AI in client work

View my personal AI experiments

22/04/2024

I believe designers have the superpower to visualize the future.

(Whoa, bold! But stay with me.)

We can transform something from what is into what should be. We can imagine, plan and build the tomorrows for our world—and invite others to experience it.

I see this often when working with founders. Their eyes widen when they see their company's brand taking shape. "Wow, this is us. Our vision suddenly feels so real—and inevitable".

With generative AI, more people, even without design or creative background, can visualize their ideas.

I see that as an overall net positive thing—no need to pearl-clutch.
We need more big ideas and enthusiastic people who are ready to pursue them.

Yes, AI is taking away parts of my design job

But it also gives me more things to do; and frees me up to do more of what I enjoy.

AI expedites the execution phase. That means I can explore more ideas, faster.

I can dedicate more time to the initial strategic phase with my clients—clarifying what their brand is about, why it exists, and what message we aim to convey.

It also unlocks time for refinement.

Handling the vast volume of AI-generated images still requires precise curation, adjustments, and post-production. These images rarely manage to stand alone without any context; layout, copywriting, and motion need to click in place, and the formula needs to be replicable to create a robust brand system. That’s the time to pull in multiple collaborators, bringing expertise and taste into play. It's good to have more time for that.

Without AI

With AI

"Ok, Charlota, but if we were to work together—how does AI show up in your work?"

a) I use generative AI in my work primarily for concepting and moodboarding. It helps clients imagine what their brand identity could look like. I save time browsing stock image libraries or trying to describe art direction concepts (“It would look like this illustration depicting a car, but it would actually show a jar of cream!”). AI-generated concepts then serve as a brief for skilled illustrators, photographers, and other creatives to build upon.

b) For early-stage companies, I often use AI-generated images because it's a cost-effective way of creating a library of differentiated visual assets that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to produce.

My guiding principles

I subscribe to the idea that everything visual is a remix.
I avoid using prompts with names of specific living artists.
I often train with or use my past work (sketches, illustrations, renders) as a visual reference
I would definitely prefer using models with “clean data” = ensuring that artists are compensated for being part of the training set. (If you know of such tools, please let me know. I'm always open to learning about better ways.)
I don't use genAI in every project. Only where it makes sense.
I'm always upfront with clients about if I used AI in my work.

(this list will likely grow with time)

I mostly use Midjourney, TopazAI, Glif.app, Visual Electric, Krea, ChatGPT, Magnific, Adobe Firefly. I'm an AI tourist; I enjoy toying with new tools. However, AI software is just a tool in my design toolkit. The same way I wouldn't call myself a Figma designer, I wouldn't call myself a Midjourney designer.

Below you can find examples of using AI-generated images in my commercial and personal work.

Examples of using AI in my work

Client: Espresso Systems
Art Direction & Synthetic Photography. To make intangible technology tangible, I built a library of AI-generated images depicting a surreal, retrofuturistic world. To help the client to grow their asset library, I included prompts as part of a brand guidelines. See more

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