how i'm avoiding being accused of using ai for design

Last night my girlfriend and i were speaking about how at the forefront of everything right now is instantaneous results.

Instant gratification. Instant dopamine. RESULT NOW OR NOTHING!

Information used to be scarce and sacred—now it’s abundant and worthless. As a designer and creative myself, I was actually excited when new LLMs could help with design work, only to realise I had no right to be at all and I have many regrets.

The final result from the hours of work you put into a design is rewarding, yes, but it’s only rewarding because you put in the effort and time. It’s like an exchange—a trade, if you may—you give your time and effort and as a reward you can slow-release dopamine. The good type.

When you create some BS with claude, ie; ‘make me a brand for a streetwear fashion business’ you’ll get the result almost instantly but you wont care for it, the dopamine and excitement will last 0. 3seconds and you’ll probably forget about the entire thing within 3 minutes. No one cares—not even you.

i don’t hate designing

A while back I thought i did—turns out i was just burnt out from working on projects I didn’t love and not having enough freedom to just create. I’ve taken nearly 12 months off designing (i primarily design on Adobe Illustrator doing brand and identity, strategy and experience) but now i’m back with a pilot light that’s looking to heat up an oven (idk if that makes sense, a vengeance???)

Anyway, back to the conversation with my girlfriend—instant result=bad.

I don’t really care for the result but I do care for the process. When i’m creating new things, working on layouts and conceptualising in real time with my own brain I honestly get into a s sort of flow-trance state. So why would I want to let a computer do the thing I love the most and let it do it worse than me?

It’s like riding motorcycles (for those of you that do) it’s not about the destination. Miley Cyrus really had it right, it’s about the climb, when you ride, you are living in that moment, making sure you survive and watching only what is right in front of you. You’re not thinking about the destination or even 1km up the road. It’s right here. Right now. And it’s fucking amazing.

the new competition is low

It’s not using specific colours, specific styles or any silver bullet if i’m being totally honest, but I have definitely change the way in which I think before I design.

When I make something or am reviewing, I always look at it and ask.

“Could AI have made this?”

Now, if the answer is yes—I scrap it and start again. And honestly i’m not super upset about it. If the answer is yes then it’s simply not good enough. If you freelance or run a studio etc, you need to be better than what someone could do themselves. The reason we hire people to build our houses is because they have more knowledge and have the ability to build better houses (for most of us anyway).

But—as i started with, the competition is low. AI design is like a more generic looking Canva x tech bro aesthetic. And honestly for a lot of the general public and generic businesses it’s fine. For real brands and businesses that want to be trusted and respected, they hire real creatives that produce outcomes that don’t yet exist on this planet.

What i’m doing differently

At the bottom, most technical level there are a few things I’m doing to ensure clear differentiation.

Firstly, my style has definitely changed. I used to be more clean, minimal and ‘swiss layout’ but i feel it doesn’t give enough anymore. Now i’m really trying to add a more human touch to all of the work i produce. Handwriting type, organic (shit) drawings, weird shapes, ‘bad’ photos—basically anything a computer cannot create, i’m creating.

Rather than just using geometric shapes, safe colours and centred layouts when designing—i try and do the opposite of what i think is right. Good design is skill and knowledge, sure, but it’s also trial and error, risk and creativity. AI makes designs based on designs that exist already. It’s like a smoothie of shit blended up and slopped in your cap for $9.99+tax. It goes down but at what cost?

For your next project—get a bit mental, take a risk, idk fucking live a little.

is using ai embarrassing?

Yes.

I was leaving the gym yesterday and I saw someone asking their llm a question on their phone and it left me feeling fucking weird.

Like why don’t you just think for yourself? Why have we stopped critical thinking? Why do we need the answer to everything immediately. I miss not knowing stuff.

Anyway, as an interlude—anyone that is using it religiously probably hasn’t had an original thought it a couple months so you’re safe, they’re not in your lane.

One more thing—Adults that use Ai are kind alike iPad kids. Right?

how im standing out

I’ll keep this simple bc i’m running out of words to say. But it’s obvious what to do here. You don’t want to eat where you shit. Or shit where you sleep…stand on your own tail??

Idk but you need your target audience or target client to be 100% locked in.

You’re audience will change and will continue to do so—always be ready to re-position.

Rather than targeting everything, I’m only now targeting brands and businesses that care about the quality of the work and the reputation it creates for their business. A cafe that opens in a local area with full AI branding will have the reputation of AI food, AI vibe, AI staff and I guess that already has a certain stigma to it.

If another cafe across the road has well crafted and cared for branding made by a real creative person with character, soul and memorability they’re going to summon the reputation of the ‘cool place with nice food and friendly staff’ just by relation.

It’s about finding people and businesses who care about what they’re doing and the people they are helping. Thats who I want to work with. (if it sounds like you, send me a message here ;))

ai is taking over

Yappa yappa yappa wah wah wah—people on the internet will say anything for profit. At the end of the day it’s just one big circle jerk.

Be a fucking legend at your craft, be friendly and human to your clients and enjoy the work. Get off the internet and stop listening to literally everyone.

There is nothing waiting for you at the end that can’t be found along the journey.

P.S here is the full identity project I’ve been working on for your pleasure.