Your business deserves better than *that* AI design

I’m going to say it... I am getting more than a little bit tired of seeing the same AI-generated design popping up everywhere!

AI isn't the problem. It's a brilliant tool when you know what you're trying to achieve. But when everyone uses it to produce the same style of content, where does your brand identity go?

The same vaguely trendy typeface, the same over-polished imagery, the same generic illustrations, the same layouts that seem to have somehow become the visual identity of every business and event in Folkestone, Dover, Hythe and everywhere in between.

And I get it. I really do. Businesses are trying to keep costs down. Times are difficult, budgets are tight and we’re all looking for ways to work smarter and get more done with less.

But I think there is another side to this conversation that is worth considering. When you put something out into the world under the name of your business, it isn't just filling a space on Instagram or advertising an event. It is communicating something about you and your brand. So what is your marketing actually saying? Your customers are making judgements before they read a word...

We all do it. We make incredibly quick judgements about businesses based on how they look.

Before we've read your website copy, looked at your prices or spoken to you, we've already formed an impression. Is this person professional? Is the service trustworthy? Is it established? Is it worth the money? Does it feel considered? Does it feel like a business that cares about me and my values/life/problems/hopes/fears?

And this is where I think using the same templates, imagery and visual language as everyone else can become a real problem.

Your visuals are often the first impression someone has of your business. They should communicate who you are, what you stand for and why someone should choose you. Start with your brand. Then use AI to support it, not replace it.

I'm not saying that because I think every business needs a beautiful, expensive, art-directed campaign for every single Instagram post or event poster. Of course not. But if your entire visual presence looks like it came from the same template library as everyone else in your (read: every) industry, what does that actually say about you and your business?

Could it make you look like you haven't invested in your brand?

Could it suggest that you don't really value how your business is presented?

Could it make your service feel cheaper than it actually is?

Could it make you a wallflower?

Yes it could!

And so one final important question; is that really what you want your customers to think?

If you are charging for expertise, experience, craftsmanship, care, skill or a professional service, your visual communication should help reinforce your value rather than undermine it.

This is where the power of brand comes in... it works hard for you, before you even enter the room

Your brand is communicating long before you get the opportunity to explain yourself or your business. Think about a beautifully designed restaurant menu, a thoughtfully packaged product, a professional website or a well-designed shopfront. There is something about the experience that tells you the business has paid attention to the details.

It doesn't necessarily mean the business is better, although it may be. But it does create a perception of value, care and confidence. The same works in reverse. If something looks rushed, generic or disconnected, we can make assumptions about the business, product, people and service behind it. Those assumptions might not be fair, but they happen nonetheless.

"Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room." - Jeff Bezos

Good design isn't about making something look pretty for the sake of it. It is about understanding what you want people to think and feel about your business and then using visual communication to help create that perception. That's pretty powerful, excuse the pun!

And before anyone thinks I'm anti-AI...

I'm not! I use AI every day. I use it in my own businesses and across many of my client projects. I think it is an incredibly useful set of tools and I have no interest in pretending we should all go back to doing everything manually.

The difference, for me, is how you use AI. I don't want AI deciding what my brand or my clients brands looks like. I want to decide what my brand looks like and then use AI to help me work more efficiently within those parameters.

That distinction is important.

AI doesn't know why you started your business. It doesn't know your customers, your personality, your experience or the things that make you different from your competitors. It doesn't understand the little details that might make your business memorable.

It can help you generate ideas, write and repurpose content, create variations, speed up repetitive tasks and automate parts of your workflow. It can be brilliant at all of those things.

But it needs something to work with.

Give AI a brand to work with

This is where I think the combination of good design and AI gets really interesting. Imagine having a properly considered visual identity, your own colour palette, typography, imagery style, logo and brand guidelines, alongside a set of Canva templates designed specifically for your business.

You know what your brand looks like. You know how it should feel. You have templates for the things you regularly need to create, whether that's social posts, event graphics, presentations, flyers or other marketing materials. Now you can bring AI into the mix.

You can use it to help you write the copy for that social post, generate ideas for a campaign, repurpose a blog into several pieces of content or help you create variations of something you've already designed. You aren't starting from a blank page every time and asking AI to invent your business for you. You have established the visual foundations and you're using technology to help you make the most of them. That is working smarter.

Your brand needs to be yours, not your AI Designers!

This is something I help businesses with through The Karma Creative. Sometimes a business needs a completely new brand identity. Sometimes it needs a website that finally feels like a proper reflection of the business behind it. And sometimes it doesn't need a huge rebrand at all. It just needs some consistency, some direction and a practical set of tools that makes creating marketing content much easier.

I can help you establish those foundations and create a suite of branded templates that you can actually use yourself. The aim isn't to make you dependent on a designer every time you need a social post. Quite the opposite. I want to give you the tools and confidence to manage your day-to-day marketing yourself, while knowing that everything you create still looks and feels like your business.

Then you can harness AI to help you do more with those foundations. In my opinion the future isn't necessarily about choosing between human creativity and AI. It's about knowing where each one adds value.

Design first. Automation second.

I think we're going to see even more AI-generated content over the next few years. And ironically, I think that is going to make having a distinctive brand even more important.

When everyone has access to the same tools, the tools themselves aren't what make you different. Your ideas, your experience, your personality and your brand are.

So if you're a business owner in Folkestone, Sandgate, Hythe, Dover or elsewhere in East Kent, take a look at your own marketing and ask;

Does it look like you want your business to feel?

Does it communicate the value of what you do?

Does it feel like you/your business?

Does it feel considered and recognisable?

Take off the logo and could it belong to almost anyone?

And if you're using AI, are you using it to strengthen your brand or is it slowly becoming your brand designer and taking over?

Just for fun! Obviously this poster is not a reflection of my brand and design skills. But it does illustrate my point don't you think!?

If you want to build a brand with proper foundations, create a practical set of branded templates or bring your website and visual identity into line with the business you've actually built, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch with me let's talk about what your brand should be 'saying' before you've even said a word.