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

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

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

I ended that weblog put up 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 wished to ask my pal for his perspective on AI in graphic design. So, listed here are a few of Michael’s ideas blended in with my findings from different sources.

After studying, for those who’re interested by integrating AI into your personal workflow, take a look at our varied HubSpot AI tools to see if any will help along with your subsequent large marketing campaign. 

AI Graphic Design: What’s it?

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

The logos I created in my earlier put up by way of AI mills 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 damaging impacts on the business and worry it may trigger extra future issues for artists and designers.

“Designers are getting fairly burdened,” he says. “For the reason that pandemic, there was a shift. Many freelancers and unbiased enterprise house owners have misplaced work in a method you’ll count on due to the pandemic, however then AI began to essentially explode.”

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

“Making a model identification for lower than $5 is one thing most individuals would leap at in comparison with hiring knowledgeable for lots of of {dollars}—and the latter value is justified as a result of graphic design is labor, however folks do not consider it like this.”

Due to this fact, there‘s a priority that AI’s guarantees of accessible, reasonably priced, and quick graphic designs may additional devalue artists within the design business.

Nevertheless, some designers say the way forward for AI in graphic design is much less clear and perhaps even much less dystopian. In a YouTube video, graphic artist Will Paterson mentioned whether or not AI may exchange designers is hard, and nobody actually 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 tools and platforms like Adobe Firefly, which solely makes use of licensed photographs as its knowledge mannequin.

“Adobe is, fortunately, turning the dialog to extra of ‘How can I make AI assist creators create?’ as a substitute 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 consider we can’t be, however we’ll simply have to search out out.”

The Professionals 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 yr 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 latest Canva survey discovered that 75% of global marketing and artistic leaders agree that AI is crucial to their inventive toolset.

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

One advantage of AI in graphic design is that it might probably assist artists pace by means of repetitive or tedious duties. Even my pal Michael has discovered a use for it in his work.

“I work in structure, notably signage and wayfinding,” he explains. “I take images of present areas and do mock-ups. As a substitute of doing the onerous process of eradicating an individual or different present parts within the picture I took, I can use the generative fill to chop by means of that process fairly simply.”

He stresses, “That is the solely context through which I take advantage of AI in graphic design.”

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

For instance, I am not probably the most design-savvy particular person. I prefer to assume I’ve a watch for colour and a powerful sufficient sense of favor to know easy methods to match completely different parts collectively like puzzle items.

Nevertheless, I lack the experience to make beautiful designs like these of educated artists like my pal or different graphic designers.

So, I profit enormously from platforms like Canva that boast varied AI-driven design instruments that assist me create featured photographs, 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.

Nevertheless, 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 mills 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 photographs which might be, for lack of a greater time period, wonky. My colleague Ramona Sukhraj examined AI picture mills lately, they usually created some hilarious (and creepy) images.

When to Keep away from Utilizing AI in Graphic Designs

My pal Michael is fairly simple concerning using AI.

“It could actually solely be moral if you find yourself utilizing it to do a process that’s not notably 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 interchange human work. As a substitute, 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 consider AI will ultimately turn out to be a commonplace software for designers, like tablets and digital pens. However I do not consider will probably be capable of absolutely exchange actual graphic artists.

AI can generate however doesn‘t host creativity the identical method the human thoughts can, and we’ll at all times want designers’ creativity to craft photographs that may stand out towards opponents.

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