HOW I USE AI IN MY BRANDING PROCESS

With the advancements of artificial intelligence, especially pertaining to image generation, it’s had me thinking a lot. I’ve been reflecting on what it means for my career as a branding expert and how it will change the way business owners approach their own brand development.

There are many pros and cons to AI but there’s no sense in denying its capabilities. It’s certainly not going anywhere.

And I do use AI in my own business. Why wouldn’t I? But I’m being really mindful with how I use AI in my business, especially in my branding process. And this is something I want to be really transparent about.

CONTENTS

• Why this blog post is important

• How I use AI in my brand strategy process

• How I use AI in my brand design process

• Transparency in my branding process

WHY THIS BLOG POST IS IMPORTANT

It’s clear there’s a growing fear or mistrust that you might hire a creative professional who’s using AI to do the bulk of their work. The now infamous em dash has become a red flag 🚩, a sure sign someone must be using AI to write their content.

As a lover of typography—hi, I studied this stuff—and an active em dash user, this crushes me. I now hesitate to use em dashes in my content for fear that it raises unwarranted suspicion about my content’s authenticity. I’m sure copywriters everywhere can relate.

The objective of this blog post is simply to take you into my branding process, both for brand strategy and design, to let you know exactly how I do use AI. And I promise to keep adding to this post as things evolve.

Believe me when I say, I’m not letting AI override my creativity. Where’s the fun in that? AI is a tool that helps me think bigger and work smarter.

I’ll be damned if I let it become a crutch.

HOW I USE AI IN MY BRAND STRATEGY PROCESS

Like a Thesaurus

I’m a very visual person. When I’m working on a client’s brand strategy, sometimes I get stuck translating that idea to the written word. I’ll have an okay way to phrase my thought, but it’s not successfully communicating the vivid idea I have in my head.

In this scenario, AI can help me breakthrough the translation challenge by giving me the right words to better communicate my idea, which gives me a stronger starting point for exploring that idea further. But I always use this as a last resort.

To Check my Grammar

Okay, so I don’t use Grammarly, but I was raised in a family of very grammatically correct people. Yes, I’m that friend that will correct your grammar. Sorry, not sorry.

So much of my branding process in the strategy phase is writing. I know when something sounds off, but sometimes I’m not always clear on what is wrong with the sentence. So I’ll ask AI to confirm whether or not a phrase or statement is grammatically correct or I may ask AI to tell me which phrasing is stronger of two similar statements I’ve written.

Courtesy Check for Preexisting Content

It’s not uncommon for an idea to strike me that feels familiar. I start to question whether the idea was a genuine download from the creative gods or if it’s something I’ve come across before. The strongest ideas are usually the ones I doubt the most. Because they are that good.

I used to ask my boyfriend, but now I use ChatGPT to do a courtesy check for preexisting content. I don’t want to craft a tagline for a brand that is already being used. My goal is to develop a brand that distinguishes a business.

HOW I USE AI IN MY BRAND DESIGN PROCESS

Symbolism Research

As I’m exploring possible visual directions for a logo design, it’s important that any symbolism associated with an icon is aligned for the brand I’m developing. Where I used to use Google for this, I’ve now found AI is a far more efficient tool.

Whether I’m trying to confirm the validity behind the hunch or direction I’m exploring with a particular symbol or I’m looking for known symbols associated with a particular feeling or message I want the brand to communicate, AI is super helpful.

Writing Placeholder Content for Mockup Designs

During the branding process, as I’m assembling a concept presentation for a client, I create mockups to showcase how I envision their brand being used across marketing channels, their website, etc. But many of these mockups are just placeholders for possibility.

I used AI to generate this product description for a fictitious product for a brand presentation.

When I was developing the brand identity for BWCO, a streetwear retailer, I wanted to demonstrate how they could promote certain products creatively by having a product description postered behind the model. So with the stock image I found, I asked AI to write me “hip copy for a men's puffer jacket for urban streetwear”. And then I edited it down and added it to the design. Using AI for this saved me so much time crafting placeholder copy to showcase the impact of this design mockup for their brand experience.

TRANSPARENCY IN MY BRANDING PROCESS

When I’m working on a brand, I’m always giving myself the time and space for creativity to strike as it always has. I still wholeheartedly believe that professional brand strategy and design out-performs AI where it matters most.

It’s important to remember that AI is, by design, iterative. In that way it’s actually a great tool for presenting evidence of what already exists, so that we can do the opposite. Because strategic brand development is about creating and shaping an experience that is original and novel for a business.

As with any major technological evolution, we can’t resist the change or we’ll fall behind. We have to figure out the best way to embrace the change because the change is happening whether we want it to or not.

So for me and my branding process, I’ll continue to use AI in practical and boring ways but I’m being mindful for how to use it mindfully and strategically to inspire avenues of creativity that will improve the results I’m able to provide my clients.

I’ll continue to update this blog post as a source of transparency for how I use AI in my branding process. Consider this my way of holding myself accountable as a creative entrepreneur in the age of AI.

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