How AI-Generated images transformed my creative workflow: A year in review

As a project manager and content creator, I’ve spent the past year using AI-generated images to streamline my creative workflow. In this article, I’ll share some of the best use cases where AI-generated images have significantly improved my collaboration with art directors, strategists and clients.

In my role, I work on many projects, from rebranding and storyboarding to developing concepts for campaigns and websites. I collaborate closely with art directors, strategists, and clients on all projects. 

Successful collaboration establishes a common understanding that all parties can perceive similarly.

Getting a unified vision of the desired outcome is critical in all creative projects.

Thus, when ideas are often abstract and open to interpretation in the ideation phase, it is essential to ensure that everyone - from the design team to the client - shares a clear and consistent understanding of the concepts.

The challenge of communicating early ideas

Historically, one of the key challenges has been the limited ability to communicate early ideas. Neither I nor the client want the team to spend significant time fine-tuning and producing detailed visuals early, so we’ve often relied on rough wireframes and placeholder text. However, these vague representations make it difficult for everyone to align, as they usually fail to capture the essence of the idea, leading to misinterpretations and mismatched expectations.

Instant visualisation with generative AI

Over the last year, I’ve overcome that challenge many times. The ability to quickly generate AI-powered images has been revolutionary in this process, which I refer to as instant visualisation in this article.

We can ensure everyone is on the same page by transforming ideas into visual representations in real-time.

Instant visualisation enables a unified vision among all stakeholders early on, accelerating decision-making while enhancing collaboration and creativity, ultimately leading to stronger, more impactful outcomes.

Use cases of instant visualisation with generative AI

I want to share some use cases from the past year where we have utilised instant visualisation.

Rebranding

A client came to us with an exciting brief: they wanted to refresh their brand and inject a new flavour into it. This gave us the creative freedom to develop any ideas we deemed fit. While this level of creative liberty is invigorating, it presents its own set of challenges.

One of the biggest challenges with an open-ended brief is that it can be easy to fall into the trap of relying on words to convey creative ideas. However, explaining a new concept through text often leads to better communication, as each person interprets words differently. Unlike visuals, which can instantly evoke a shared understanding, text can be too abstract or overly detailed, making it difficult for everyone to align on a clear vision.

Words alone rarely capture the whole essence of a concept, especially when it comes to something as subjective as brand identity, leaving room for varying interpretations.

In contrast, the human brain processes images more rapidly and consistently, allowing for a more precise, collective understanding of ideas from the outset.

Using AI-generated images, we transformed abstract concepts into tangible visuals in real-time. This helped the client grasp new ideas immediately and streamlined collaboration, allowing us to refine the direction based on feedback quickly.

Here are some of the generated images that were used early on to decide the direction of the rebranding project:

Photoshoot

Earlier this year, one of our clients requested new photos to showcase their employees in real-life sales environments. We had recently developed an e-learning platform for their sales team, and it was essential to include visuals that depicted authentic customer interactions. 

We booked a one-day shoot, and our art director and photographer visited the location a few days in advance to scout the scenery. This pre-visit allowed them to develop a clear vision for the photos, ensuring that the setting, lighting, and overall atmosphere would align perfectly with the client's needs and the goals of the e-learning platform. 

There was no room for error, and I had only one day to capture all the necessary photos of employees and models. Every shot had to count. Here, the possibility of AI-generate images became an invaluable tool in this process, enabling us to communicate the art director's vision more effectively. By generating AI mockups of the planned scenes, we could align everyone—our team, the client, and the models—on precisely the outcome. This ensured that when the actual shoot day arrived, there was a shared understanding of the desired result.

Here are some photos generated to prepare the photographer and the models for the photoshoot.

Product launch

An industry client approached us to develop a launch campaign for their new product. Traditionally, one of the critical challenges in this type of project has been communicating early ideas. We often relied on rough sketches or placeholder graphics, which left too much room for interpretation. As a result, aligning all stakeholders—designers, strategists, and clients—on a unified vision took several rounds of feedback, costing valuable time and slowing down the process.

However, by leveraging AI-generated images, we have created high-quality visual representations from the beginning.

This immediate, clear visualisation enabled everyone to see and understand the concepts similarly, making it much easier to agree on a direction early on. The ability to generate detailed visuals in real-time streamlined communication and fostered faster collaboration and decision-making. This approach helped us deliver a more cohesive and impactful launch campaign, keeping the project on track and avoiding unnecessary revisions.

In today's fast-paced, visual-driven world, the ability to bring ideas to life quickly and collaboratively has never been more valuable. Generative AI for instant visualisation has transformed how we develop concepts, align with clients, and deliver impactful final results, streamlining every step from ideation to execution. Feel free to reach out if your company is ready to explore how AI-generated images can enhance your creative process and bring your brand vision to life. I'd be excited to discuss how I can help you get started to turn your ideas into powerful visual experiences.