Graphic designers are true creatives through and through. Most designers have been working on matching brands with their ideal creative direction for years now and have a good feel for how to best navigate this process.
By now, we’re sure you’ve seen that AI is getting better at matching phrases and ideas to a physical design. Although these AI graphic design systems may get the job done for some, it’s still not, and might never, be at the caliber most brands need.
The process that goes into designing logos and branding can be simple or complex – it’s all up to the designer and how they can most effectively capture a brand’s look and feel. Although Logoworks’ designers generally follow a design process, it’s amazing how each one adds their own unique flair to each design.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
Research
The first step to designing your logo or branding isn’t actually any designing at all. The designer takes key information about the company, the industry it’s in, and more to start thinking about creative direction. Another key factor is learning how the company wants people to feel when they see its logo. All of these define a layout that gives a designer the tools they need when the creation process starts.
Brainstorm & Ideation
In the next step of the process, the designer pulls together all the research done and wracks their creativity to sketch out anything that comes to mind when flipping through their research. This can be text, images, logo ideas, or anything else that immediately sparks their creativity. This step in the process is usually very closely followed by the next.
Initial Sketches
Once the designer has a good idea of how they want people to feel and perceive the brand, the exciting part of sketching out initial ideas begins. These sketches are usually quite rough in their nature and allow the designer to start shaping and molding more concrete logo ideas. It may take a few iterations of sketches before a designer picks a couple that really resonates with the goal in mind.
Digital Drafts
Our designers often wait until this part to present anything to a client. They take a few examples of the best ideas during their sketching phase and refine them into digital drafts that look like a finished (or close to) product. You’ll usually see a few stark differences between them which help brands refine the exact creative direction they had in mind. It can be difficult to describe what you are looking for if you don’t know what you’re looking for in the first place!
Revisions
The last step in the design process concludes with feedback and detailed direction from a client which informs the designer on how to proceed with the finished product. The revisions may end at 1, or go into a few iterations to really nail down the perfect look and feel of the brand. We offer unlimited revisions for that reason!
This concludes the entire design process from start to finish! A design can take a day or two or a few weeks depending on the complexity and revisions. With all of this in mind, it’s easier to see how AI couldn’t possibly replace a human when it comes to design.
WHY AI CAN’T REPLACE DESIGNERS
Accuracy & Presentation
AI will only create what you tell it to – nothing more and nothing less. In a lot of cases, even, it won’t even meet your needs. AI design generators are usually pre-programmed with a few different designs to mix & match depending on the keywords you use. On a more complex level, AI design software like DALL-E uses a larger algorithm with a library of images and keywords to automatically generate images & designs with your prompt.
The problem with these types of software is that they are still a computer. You can get very specific and find the exact words you need to describe your ideal design and the computer still may not provide exactly what you’re looking for. Accuracy is harder to control when you’re using an algorithm rather than a designer’s creative mind.
In addition to accuracy, you’ll find that AI isn’t yet intelligent enough to know how you want things presented. It may give you a fairly accurate representation of a few keywords, but placement and presentation could be far off from the mark. In summary, these tools are finicky at best and provide temporary solutions when looking for a professional design for your business.
AI Tools Require Creatives
Even with all the unique and interesting graphic design AI tools out there, most (if not all) of them still require a designer or creative mind to be able to operate and spot the most accurate designs.
Designers are not just creative in their raw ability to create logos and cool graphics, they are trained to recognize and mold certain ideas into reality. The profession itself is needed to be able to operate and get those AI algorithms to produce what you want them to produce.
Will AI Ever Replace Designers?
We can say with much certainty that the answer to that question is no. Just like robots still can’t code websites by themselves, AI can only understand the design you want the way it was programmed to. Designers are constantly iterating and innovating on graphic design as a field and programs will always be behind in that aspect.
Where is AI Helpful? Why Does it Exist at all?
There’s always a time and place for everything. AI does some pretty cool stuff today and can inspire us in more ways than one. AI can aid ideation and creative direction on a bigger scale and provide graphic design assistance in a pinch. That being said, your most customized results and options will come from a seasoned graphic designer.
Speaking of Logos, where can I get mine?
We’re glad you asked! Let’s get your business a fully custom logo designs (no templates ever used!) that truly fits your brand. Need more than just a logo? We offer a wide range of branded materials to tie it all together.
Get started by picking your project and a project manager will be in touch with you shortly.
