Opening Chat
As a post-95s designer, I feel I've caught up with an amazing era. I remember when I first started my career, struggling with various design software every day, and staying up late for creative work was commonplace. Now with these intelligent tools, work efficiency has increased tremendously.
Last year when I took on a brand design project, just the initial research and proposal preparation nearly exhausted me. But since using these AI tools, the entire workflow has become incredibly smooth. From creative ideation to specific design, and final refinements, AI helps provide inspiration and suggestions at every step. Honestly, it feels like having several capable assistants.
Recently, chatting with friends in the design circle, I found their attitudes toward AI tools quite interesting. Some find them fantastic and research new tools daily; others remain cautious, worried about affecting the essence of design. Regardless, these tools are changing our way of working, and today I'll share my personal experience.
Image Magic
When it comes to the most impressive part of AI design tools, it has to be image processing. Today's AI image tools are like a treasure chest for designers, capable of achieving almost any desired effect.
During last year's Double 11 period, I received a poster design task for a beauty brand. The client wanted to convey "light luxury" and "youthfulness," particularly emphasizing the product's premium feel. In the pre-AI days, such requirements meant spending lots of time preparing materials, adjusting lighting, and retouching. But with Pixso AI, the whole process became incredibly easy.
I simply described the desired scene in words: "A young woman with delicate skin, in a luxurious French living room, holding a gold-packaged skincare product, with light slanting in through floor-to-ceiling windows, creating a warm and premium atmosphere." Within seconds, AI generated several versions. Most amazingly, these images not only perfectly met the requirements but also had a fashion magazine quality.
Besides Pixso AI, I particularly like using Palette.fm. This tool is a miracle worker for old photo restoration. Once when preparing for the company's 20th anniversary celebration, we needed to process a bunch of old photos from the last century. Those photos were old and blurry, some yellowed and faded. After using Palette.fm, the results amazed everyone. It can not only colorize black and white photos but also intelligently repair damaged parts, perfectly restoring photo details.
Recently, I also discovered an excellent AI background removal tool. Background removal used to be one of designers' biggest headaches, especially with hair details - it was a nightmare. But now, AI can complete perfect background removal in a second, not missing even the finest hair strands. Best of all, it can automatically process edges to perfectly blend the extracted image into new backgrounds.
In terms of color adjustment, AI tools have brought revolutionary changes. Previously, creating a beautiful color scheme might require browsing numerous color websites while considering brand tonality. Now with AI color assistants, just input some keywords like "fresh," "energetic," "premium," and it immediately generates a perfect color scheme with specific application suggestions.
Creative Assistant
When it comes to creativity, that's truly every designer's inevitable pain point. Sometimes facing a new project, your mind feels like it's filled with paste, unable to come up with good ideas. At times like these, AI creative assistants are absolute lifesavers.
I frequently use a tool called Seenapse. Its biggest feature is helping you open up your thinking, making creativity flow continuously like a chain reaction. Once when I was doing packaging design for a coffee brand, I had no ideas initially. Opening Seenapse and inputting keywords like "coffee," "hand-brewed," "slow living," it immediately showed various related creative associations. From coffee bean growing processes to the ritual of hand-brewing coffee, from café atmospheres to coffee's connection with lifestyle, suddenly there were many directions to develop.
Moreover, AI creative assistants not only help find inspiration but also help refine ideas. Sometimes you have an initial idea but don't know how to develop it, that's when AI can help expand your thinking. It provides suggestions from different angles, sometimes surprisingly insightful, bringing new inspiration.
I remember once when creating a public welfare poster about environmental protection, wanting to express the theme "protect the Earth." Most people's first reaction might be direct elements like Earth and trees. But through AI creative assistant's analysis, I got some more interesting approaches. For instance, it suggested approaching from a micro perspective, using everyday small objects to express environmental protection concepts. Finally, I folded a disposable plastic bag into Earth's shape, paired with the slogan "Choosing environmental protection is choosing the future," achieving unexpectedly good results.
Another particularly useful function is creative validation. Sometimes when you're unsure if your idea is good enough or easily understood, you can let AI analyze it. It provides suggestions from multiple dimensions like audience perspective, market demand, and communication effectiveness, helping you perfect your creative proposal.
Spatial Design
In the field of spatial design, the changes brought by AI tools are equally amazing. GetFloorPlan is truly a game-changer, capable of turning hand-drawn sketches into professional 3D models - a godsend for interior designers.
I have a college classmate who studied interior design and now uses Dreamhouse AI daily for projects. He shared many usage insights with me. For instance, previously, drawing plans for home renovation projects could take several days. Now with AI assistance, efficiency has increased several fold. When clients provide an on-site photo, AI can quickly generate design renderings in different styles, with details handled particularly well, including material textures and lighting effects that look very realistic.
Most excitingly, these AI tools can help solve many technical detail issues. For example, space layout rationality, lighting analysis, traffic flow planning, etc. Previously these all relied on designers' experience to judge, but now AI can provide professional analysis and suggestions, greatly reducing design trial and error costs.
My classmate showed me a particularly interesting case. He took on an old house renovation project where many structures couldn't be altered due to the house's age. Traditional methods would require repeated measurements and multiple communications to determine the plan. But with AI tools, he just needed to input site photos and some basic data, and AI could analyze which walls could be modified, which pipelines needed to be preserved, then automatically generate several feasible renovation plans based on these conditions.
Moreover, AI tools are particularly helpful in material selection. They can recommend the most suitable decoration materials based on factors like budget, style, and usage scenarios. For instance, if the client has a limited budget, it will recommend cost-effective alternative materials; for children's room design, it will prioritize environmentally friendly and safe material options.
Collaborative Creation
Now design work is basically team-based, so improving team collaboration efficiency has become a key issue. Honestly, without these AI collaboration tools, our team's work efficiency would probably be several levels lower.
FeedbackByAI is particularly suitable for collecting and processing feedback. Previously in review meetings, there would often be multiple voices and diverse opinions, making organization very difficult. Now with this tool, everyone's opinions can be systematically recorded and categorized, and AI can help analyze common points and key points, making revision directions clearer.
As for Stormz, it's absolutely a brainstorming miracle worker. Last month when we were discussing a new brand design proposal, we originally planned for a full day meeting. But after using Stormz, the whole process became much more efficient. It not only records everyone's ideas in real-time but also automatically organizes and categorizes them, and even provides new creative suggestions based on existing ideas. Finally, we completed the entire brainstorming in just two hours, with clearly improved efficiency.
Moreover, these collaboration tools are particularly suitable for remote work scenarios. Now many design teams work in distributed offices, with teammates possibly scattered across different cities. With AI collaboration tools, everyone works as if in the same office, able to communicate in real-time and provide instant feedback. The tools also automatically record all discussion processes and revision suggestions, convenient for later review and tracking.
Final Thoughts
Reflecting on my experience using AI tools over the past year or so, honestly, my feelings are quite complex. When first encountering these tools, I was indeed worried: would the design profession really be replaced by AI in the future? But now my thinking is completely different.
AI tools are more like giving us wings, letting us put more energy into work that truly requires creativity. They help us handle lots of repetitive work, allowing us to focus on the essence of design: solving problems, conveying information, creating value.
Moreover, in the process of using these tools, I found my design thinking constantly evolving. AI's suggestions sometimes let you see new angles to problems, sparking unexpected creative sparks. This experience is like having a tireless creative partner, always ready to brainstorm with you and give you inspiration.
Ultimately, the emergence of AI tools hasn't diminished designers' value, but rather enables us to create better works. Because truly excellent design has never been simple graphic stacking or effect overlaying, but rather deep understanding of problems and unique creative expression. This point, at least currently, is still very difficult for AI to completely replace.
Finally, I want to say that facing the rapid development of AI tools, maintaining an open and learning attitude is particularly important. These tools are constantly evolving, and as designers, we must continuously update our skill set. Only in this way can we maintain competitiveness in this rapidly changing era and create more excellent works.
