How I use AI as a graphic designer in an agency

As a Creative Designer at Creode, I spend a lot of time exploring AI tools out there to see what can be used for our work. But what I found is that it should be used to enhance, not create or replace processes. 

While AI can do a lot, it doesn’t mean it should do it all, especially not without the expertise of a professional designer, writer, marketer or developer to guide it. 

We already explored how we should approach AI in the creative process, now it’s time to show you how that looks in practice. 

What my creative process looks like 

It’s important to note that the use of AI in design isn’t new. From background removal and image cleanup to object selection and content-aware fills, the likes of Adobe and Figma have been automating tasks that would take hours, making the life of a designer easier for ages. 

What’s different now is the scale and quality of what these tools can do. The skill isn’t in accessing the right tools, but knowing how to guide them towards the best results. 

Start with direction

To get the best results, you need a clear vision, and you need to have the ability to communicate this to the model, as well as provide the model with any needed assets so it has enough context to generate something meaningful.

In many ways, the creative process with AI is becoming more about communication. Getting good results requires a clear understanding of what you’re trying to achieve and the ability to direct and communicate that effectively to the model.  

The more you experiment with them and understand how they respond, the better you become at shaping the output and getting results that actually match your intent.

Stay curious

The space is evolving fast, new models, tools, competitors and workflows appear almost constantly. 

Our best practices change week by week. Creators need to stay curious, keep an eye on new models on social media, and keep experimenting. Because knowing when to switch tools or providers and understanding which one is best suited for which particular task can make a big difference in both quality and efficiency.

Multi-model approach 

In practice, that often means using several tools at once. Different models are better at different things, so we’ll frequently assign specific tasks to different tools. 

For example, using one for image generation, another for editing or upscaling, and another for animation or video. The results are then combined into a single workflow. It’s all part of continually testing what works best and choosing the right tool for each stage, rather than relying on one platform to do everything.

How AI has changed our work

AI is helping to make certain types of creative work more accessible. Projects that might previously have required large budgets, such as studio shoots, hiring models, building complex sets, or producing large amounts of visual content, can now be explored using AI-generated images and videos. 

While it doesn’t replace traditional production, it allows creative teams to experiment and produce assets that might otherwise be outside a project’s budget.

In that sense, I would say AI amplifies our creativity.

Why AI can’t do design solo 

AI models must be fed the right things, they perform best when given a strong foundation of marketing and design expertise to springboard from, because they’re artificial after all, they need human input to thrive. 

It can’t read your mind, and it won’t instinctively know what “good” looks like without guidance, without that human layer of intent and expertise, you’re unlikely to get the best results. 

We know what we do at Creode works, we introduce AI in places to make the process simple and cost-effective. But we ensure that outputs not only look good, but play the part they’re intended to. 

Let’s chat about how we can utilise AI in your digital and marketing strategies.