Over the last few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool, now capable of automating tasks and generating creative content at an astonishing speed. AI can write articles, compose music and create digital images and its capabilities seem to expand daily, leading some to question the future of certain professions.
Graphic design is one such industry where AI is making significant advances, with tools that can generate logos, create leaflets and even produce entire brand identities. The speed and efficiency with which AI works is undeniable however, it only operates within the confines of its programming.
Here’s why your still need a human graphic designer;
Graphic designers can create original designs
AI can generate many design options by reworking the data it is given and outputting artwork based on algorithms and patterns it has learned. Whereas a graphic designer can create designs that are truly original.
A designer can use their experience to inject personality, wit and unexpected elements into their design to create an entirely new idea, often breaking free from established norms. This is how they create designs that are truly unique and therefore memorable, rather than just variations on a theme.
Graphic designers can read between the lines
Even once your AI tool knows your keywords it doesn’t have the ability to understand the feeling that a design needs to convey.
Graphic design is about communicating a message, evoking an emotion and connecting with your audience. When a client sends a brief or we meet to discuss a project, as humans we are able to read between the lines and interpret what is implied rather than what is explicitly stated. This means the design will often hit the mark first time and we therefore don’t have to go through round after round of revisions. For all its sophistication, AI doesn’t understand feelings and emotions.
Graphic designers are experienced problem solvers
AI can create artwork in a format that you tell it to but it doesn’t possess the experience or ability to solve complex problems that may require an innovative or unconventional approach.
Graphic design is all about problem solving. Clients come to us with a vague idea for a logo or some content that needs presenting well, and it’s our job to research, create design concepts based on brand guidelines and present solutions that address their needs effectively. This involves critical thinking, anticipating potential issues, and adapting to unforeseen circumstances. Our experience puts us in good stead for solving our client’s problems.
Graphic designers have an ‘eye for design’
When you ask your AI tool to create artwork it will very quickly provide you with professional looking concepts. It’s a great starting point. However, if you then want to update any of the text or images, add more text and add your logo you have to then be the designer and decide on the best placement for each item.
This is when you find that you require an ‘eye for design’ to be able to communicate messages and ideas whilst making sure the content visually engaging, clear and effective for the right audience.
We are often asked to correct artwork that has been created using AI. Some of the problems that can be encountered when you’re not a designer include;
- Having text that is unreadable because the background is too busy and not knowing solutions to enable text to be read clearly.
- Having to keep your logo in a white box because you can’t save your logo with a transparent background.
- Not spell checking and then saving the file in an un-editable format and not being able to correct without designing again.
- Not having a proper hierarchy of content, meaning your message isn’t very effective.
- Having your artwork in the wrong colour because you don’t know how to match your brand colour exactly.
Graphic designers can make a document fully accessible
AI is a powerful tool for accessibility by automating tasks and creating detailed reports to show what further amendments are required to make a document accessible.
However, human input is required to make these amendments to ensure a document is inclusive and usable for real-world users.
Some of the limitations of AI in document accessibility include;
- AI can’t pick up colour contrast in a document, you have to use a human eye to make sure there is enough contrast between text and the background colour.
- AI-generated content, like alt-text, can be inaccurate or misleading if not carefully reviewed by humans.
- AI tools can suggest a document reading order, but they may not always understand the nuances of complex documents or the specific reading order requirements for certain contexts.So human oversight should be used here.
Conclusion
AI is undoubtedly a powerful tool that can improve the way a graphic designer works including; automating repetitive tasks, providing a wealth of inspiration for research and generating initial concepts.
However, it’s not a replacement for the unique skills a human graphic designer possesses such as understanding feelings and emotions, their experience and problem solving skills and having an ‘eye for design’ required to communicate your message to the right audience.
Rather than be a competitor, AI has become a powerful assistant to the graphic designer helping to amplify creativity and provide solutions faster.