Where do you fall on the artificial intelligence doomsday scale? Some designers may approach it with trepidation, fearing that machines could replace the creative essence of their craft. Others, however, cheer AI as a powerful tool that can enhance and streamline their design processes.
Personally, I’m not a doomsday-er. I think of AI—specifically ChatGPT—as a creative collaborator for graphic designers. We’re (usually) not copywriters, but having powerful copy can take your design from lorem ipsum confusion to a fully thought-out, strategic solution.
You might also worry about job security. Understandable. Consider this working paper recently published by OpenAI (the makers of ChatGPT) and UPenn that explored the impact on labor from large language models.
It found that while many professions could have some work impacted by language models, graphic design was not found to be a profession with high exposure (see image below). Designers require creativity, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving abilities, which are still human-centered processes.
Also keep in mind, there are a lot of ethical considerations when it comes to AI. This video from Vox gives an excellent explanation of the “text-to-image revolution”, while raising some important questions.
Your AI-assisted brief:
This prompt is straight from a class I’m teaching this semester where we explore the rich history of our discipline—from its early roots in visual communication to its future— including emerging technologies and AI integration.
For this brief, you are asked to create a vintage-inspired recipe book using modern software, showcasing classic recipes with a nostalgic touch. Collaborate with ChatGPT to source recipe content and gather ideas for the cookbook name, leveraging AI-generated suggestions to evoke the charm of old-fashioned cooking.
Embrace the aesthetics of vintage typography, layout, and illustrations to design a cookbook that looks retro but utilized contemporary tools to bring the project to life.
Software
Use Adobe InDesign (recommended) or Adobe Illustrator for the layout.
Explore Photoshop’s new (still beta) AI-generated features or Adobe Firefly (also in beta) to generate relevant images using text prompts.
Use ChatGPT as your copywriting assistant to come up with retro-inspired recipes and content.
Deliverables
Recipe book (6 pages, 5” x 8”)
Ready to share?
There is no deadline to complete the work. Start, finish, and share whenever you’re ready. Can’t wait to see what you create!