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

A number of months in the past, I examined a number of AI emblem 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] emblem mills? We’re doomed,” had 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 stated, 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, if you happen to’re inquisitive about integrating AI into your personal workflow, try our varied HubSpot AI tools to see if any may also help together with your subsequent massive marketing campaign. 

AI Graphic Design: What’s it?

AI graphic design is strictly because it sounds. It is the usage of synthetic intelligence to generate graphics reminiscent of infographics, adverts, logos, and different types of visible artwork.

The logos I created in my earlier put up through 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 trade and concern it may trigger extra future issues for artists and designers.

“Designers are getting fairly harassed,” he says. “For the reason that pandemic, there was a shift. Many freelancers and impartial enterprise homeowners have misplaced work in a approach you’ll anticipate due to the pandemic, however then AI began to essentially explode.”

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

“Making a model id for lower than $5 is one thing most individuals would bounce at in comparison with hiring knowledgeable for lots of of {dollars}—and the latter worth is justified as a result of graphic design is labor, however individuals 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.

Nevertheless, 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 stated whether or not AI may substitute 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 instrument 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 pictures as its information 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 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 growing by 1700% from 2022 to 2023.

Moreover, a latest Canva survey discovered that 75% of global marketing and inventive leaders agree that AI is important to their artistic toolset.

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

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

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

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

One other professional is that it may make graphic design extra accessible for newbies and small enterprise homeowners.

For instance, I am not probably the most design-savvy individual. I prefer to suppose I’ve a watch for shade and a powerful sufficient sense of favor to know match totally different components 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 vastly from platforms like Canva that boast varied 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 Swap instrument, 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 can lead to supplies devoid of creativity or originality. For instance, I examined 5 AI emblem 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 pictures which might be, for lack of a greater time period, wonky. My colleague Ramona Sukhraj examined AI picture mills just lately, and so they created some hilarious (and creepy) images.

When to Keep away from Utilizing AI in Graphic Designs

My pal Michael is fairly easy concerning the usage of AI.

“It could possibly solely be moral if you end up 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 inconceivable for a human to perform,” he says.

In different phrases, keep away from utilizing AI to interchange human work. As an alternative, use it as an assistive instrument 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 finally turn into a commonplace instrument for designers, like tablets and digital pens. However I do not consider it is going to be in a position to totally substitute actual graphic artists.

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

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