Oh how things have changed. Being a graphics artist is no longer a chore
Those that started in graphics in recent years have it easy! Back in my day ....
I went to study Graphics Design many years ago, after working some years in agencies I got fed up with clients feedback, making logo's bigger and not being able to express myself. Doubting myself if I'm any good at this art anyway.
That's why I went into frontend design, into coding. But I always kept an eye on the graphics scene, to maybe make a return.
All images seen in this post are AI generated
Things used to be scarce
Working in an agency with a shoestring budget, stock photos extremely expensive and restless clients breathing on your neck waiting for results. Most of the time, you were left to pick from the rest of the free imagery available on the web.
After finding an image that was OK enough, the long, time-consuming part began - cutting out subjects from a photo. Doing it with the pen tool was tiresome and tedious work. There were no magic erasers or subject selection, like we do nowadays. A mastery of the pen tool was absolutely required.
"From Designer to Developer"
Transitioning from graphic design to front-end web development was a game-changer for me. While I loved the creative aspects of graphic design, dealing with clients' preferences and constant revisions could sometimes feel like walking on a tightrope.
No longer bound by subjective design preferences, my focus shifted to making websites come to life and ensuring they functioned flawlessly. Instead of endless iterations based on client whims. Don't get me wrong—I still appreciate the artistic side of design. But in the world of front-end development, I found a sweet spot where creativity merges with functionality. I could focus on bringing ideas to life.
In hindsight I picked the best time to switch careers, as after a couple years I started learning of initiatives like Unsplah, Pexels or the Noun Project. Gone where the "girls laughing at salads" and appealing photography became readily available, and free!
Was it time to return to UI?
I felt a longing to revisit my roots in UI design and branding. However, I chose to approach it as a hobby rather than a full-time endeavor. Little did I know that just a couple years later the emergence of AI would revolutionize my creative landscape and unlock a world of possibilities. Gone were the days of painstakingly crafting every single detail by hand. AI became my trusted collaborator, guiding me through the design process.
Fast forward to today, I use Midjourney everyday for at least a couple hours, tweaking prompts, messing with params, trying to squeeze out my idea. I get rewarded in minutes. AI does 90% of the job, I then refine it in PS, Figma and something that took me days takes up to an hour.
AI bad, AI steal
In the face of fear and doubt, I choose to embrace the possibilities that AI offers. It is not a threat to creativity but a catalyst that propels it forward, unlocking doors to innovation and uncharted territories. One of the most significant advantages is the ability to swiftly test ideas without investing days or weeks, only to discover that my concept was flawed.
It is true that AI models, are trained using vast amounts of data collected from various sources on the internet. This includes works created by artists, writers, and other creators. In many cases, these works are used without explicit permission from the original creators. But this data was used only to train the model.
AI has come so far that it doesn't even need the training data anymore, it knows very well what cats, people and potatoes look like. AI learned patterns, styles and characteristics of objects, types of medium and recreates them. Similar to traditional artists that study value and form, they observe the world and convey it to paper.
In another post I'll go in depth to how AI helped me. But in conclusion, what once used to take weeks improved to taking days, now it takes hours (if you are lucky with your prompting). This technology is amazing, and if you feel AI is a threat, try to imagine it as your concept machine! Your proof of concept tester. Based on what you see you can perfect what AI suggests, leaving more time for you to spend on relaxing, spending time with kids or hobbies.