A Designers Perspective on AI
Creative Block → 003
Creative Block is a weekly newsletter that gives you a glimpse into my life, creativity, design, and music. It's like a little pick-me-up that you get delivered straight to your inbox each week.
You may have noticed the surge of AI tools being used by creatives lately. My initial exposure to the power of AI was during the rise of NFTs. However, the conjunction of AI and NFTs revealed a disheartening aspect of some creatives. Despite claiming authorship of their NFTs, they were employing AI to generate numerous iterations of an image with the intention of swiftly profiting from it. As a result, individuals became fixated on acquiring money and were plagued with the fear of missing out!
With the widespread availability of AI, the focus now shifts to how we choose to utilize it. Some individuals use AI as a tool while others identify themselves as "prompt engineers" who input a prompt and share whatever the AI produces. Initially, I was skeptical of AI since I observed others creating artwork solely by typing a prompt. However, for me, the thrill lies in viewing AI as a tool rather than a one-stop-shop. I use MidJourney and Adobe Firefly to generate concepts and ideas, or as a reference for what I'm going to create. AI is not the only solution for me, but rather an asset that should not be relied upon entirely. In my view, it's exciting to take the idea that you've created with AI and improve upon it, adding a visible and authentic touch to the artwork. Although typing a prompt may produce some interesting results, it does not necessarily make you an artist. Ultimately, the value lies in how you transform that idea into something exceptional.
Here are a few Ai Images I’ve generated and then added my designs to.
Anyway, here are my 3 favorite AI tools that I use. I’ll be sharing examples I’ve made with them.
Adobe firefly : this just came out last month and it’s been a game changer with a lot of promising features coming very soon. It uses images from Adobe stock and other public domain images that have no copyright. Here’s what I made with it in collaboration with Adobe.
I loved playing with playdoh in my artwork so I decided to give it a go and here’s what I came up with. I feel like Adobe firefly will be my To go place for playdoh and several other assets that I can bring into my piece.
Midjourney: I use midjourney to blend images and ideas together to give me a starting point on my design. Recently I’ve been obsessed with designing posters of African American boxers. I don’t really care about using a celebrity face so I’ve been having Ai generate faces and boxing attire inspired by African / Japanese garments and the results have been very interesting. This is a great start. Here’s what I created and here are some midjourney results from my prompts.
Chat GPT: I’ve used this as my writing companion. I’m terrible at expressing myself with words because I overthink too much so this has been a great way to break down my long sentences into something shorter and concise.
One aspect that gives me optimism about AI entering the creative landscape is that it lacks the personal experiences and stories that we have. Therefore, it's essential to temper the excitement surrounding AI by recognizing that it requires human input to be effective. Whether you're a prompt engineer, designer, photographer, or creative, viewing AI as a tool in your toolbox that can be used whenever necessary could be advantageous. However, it's critical not to jump into the AI trend due to FOMO (fear of missing out), as this can lead to burnout when new technologies emerge.
For now my focus is chat GPT, Firefly and midjourney.
Weekly Column of Inspiration 🧶
📔 Read:
👁 See:
Every Ai tool available (this is a wild list)
Thanks for the shout, Temi!
I agree with you on using AI as a tool rather than a one-stop-shop, cause it's not real. I mainly use Chatgpt to get ideas, it can never replace what a human brain can do. How your vacation going Temi