How AI is Reshaping Brand Identity
Recently, we were working on a brochure that referenced a fictional company, one invented to frame a series of training scenarios. On a whim, I thought it might be interesting to use AI to generate a logo for it.
Adobe Illustrators generative AI tool
The results were… not good. Equal parts relieved and disappointed, I fell down a rabbit hole trying to work out whether the issue was my prompting or whether generative AI simply hasn’t cracked logo design yet. What it produced felt dated and overly literal, clunky visual metaphors that wouldn’t have looked out of place on an episode of The Apprentice. Add to that some painfully jagged vectors – none of it was remotely usable. Before long, I abandoned the experiment and got on with designing the logo myself.
Designing for Distinction, Not Sameness
When I talk to students, I often caution against trend‑driven design – work that may look current and polished, but lacks a personality of its own. As brand designers, our role is to create distinction in an already crowded landscape, not to blend into it. By contrast, AI tends to reinforce sameness. By its very nature, it generates outputs based on what already exists, drawing from established patterns rather than pushing toward originality.
Thank you to @bobby for compiling.
Authenticity in Question
A few years ago, our advice to clients around stock photography always came with a warning: use it carefully. Many wanted to present themselves as authentic, but lacked the budget, time, or environment to commission bespoke photography. At the time, stock imagery felt like a compromise.
Today, it almost looks reassuringly real when compared to AI‑generated alternatives. At the same time, image‑editing tools have advanced at an astonishing pace. Software like Photoshop can now transform poor‑quality photos in seconds – removing distractions, correcting blemishes, and even extending or rebuilding backgrounds with a single click. Tasks that once demanded hours of skilled manual work are now completed almost instantly, fundamentally changing both the process and expectations of visual production.
AI – Good at options, not decisions
While generative AI hasn’t yet found a place in our final design outputs, it has proved hugely valuable during the research and early conceptual stages of a project. AI isn’t particularly strong when it comes to decision‑making, but it excels at exploring breadth—surfacing multiple perspectives, references, and possible directions. Tools like Google Notebook have been especially useful at the outset of projects, particularly when collaborating with academics who have produced extensive research and want to situate their work within a broader field. By uploading key sources into a notebook, we can even listen to the material as a podcast. It acts as a kind of soft launch into a project: time to absorb ideas, reflect, and consider the subject from a wider viewpoint before more rigorous research and decision‑making begins.
Our team often asks how best to communicate a message to a specific audience. There are countless modes and formats available, and identifying the most appropriate one is critical. This is especially true in our co‑design work, where having a range of options on the table is essential. AI can support this process by helping us explore possibilities we might otherwise overlook. A simple conversation in Copilot about potential approaches can reveal blind spots and expand the field of consideration, strengthening the thinking that follows.
I ask Jo and Beth about their experience and use of AI, how it’s impacted their processes as designers, and this is what they said:
Adobe Illustrator’s Turntable tool is a great example of the fantastic features we get to experiment with and integrate into our design work. The tool allows you to rotate your once flat 2D artwork around a fixed center point, creating new angles and views instantly. It’s a real time-saver and great fun to use. Powerful tools such as this one are allowing us to be more creative in how we work. Freeing up time to experiment and realise ideas that previously would have been very time consuming.
Jo
Adobe Illustrator turntable tool
We’ve enjoyed playing around with some of Adobe’s AI features, like Photoshop’s generative fill, which helps extend photographs in a convincing way. ChatGPT is a helpful tool for text-based tasks such as script writing for animations. I sometimes use it to bounce ideas around, which helps me maintain momentum and avoid getting stuck.
Beth
Overall, we take a positive view of AI and are curious to see how generative tools continue to develop. At present, we’re confident in AI’s ability to produce things like watercolour styles, manga illustrations, or sci‑fi scenes (none of which regularly feature in our day‑to‑day work!) but far less confident in its capacity to build brands or create truly distinctive design. We also have reservations around sustainability – particularly energy use, water consumption, and mineral extraction – which makes us mindful about how deeply we integrate these tools.
What we do believe firmly is that human designers bring irreplaceable value. Listening carefully, interpreting nuance, and shaping identities that feel authentic can’t be automated. AI can certainly help us work faster and more efficiently, but it’s empathy, creativity, and strategic thinking that transform a logo into a brand that could be loved.
