Drawing Up Innovation: Ethical AI Tools
by Chris Costello
Welcome to our monthly design blog, where we explore the latest trends and tools that can benefit the Hashtag Interactive design team (and hopefully, our clients). Each month, We will be scouring the web to uncover new tips, tricks, and innovative tools designed to enhance creativity and in essence, streamline workflows. Our vision for this blog will not only be to keep you informed and ahead of the curve; but to also serve as a source of creative inspiration for your daily tasks.
Obviously, one of the first things we would like to tackle right out the gate is advent of AI. While the topic of AI continues to spark ethical debates, its role in design is pretty undeniable. We would like to strike a balance by exploring AI tools and design trends that benefit the Hashtag Interactive team without compromising creativity or integrity. As AI evolves, we'll focus on tools that not only enhance workflows but also respect the values and principles that guide ethical design.
Here are a few AI-driven tools that can help our design team streamline their workflows, spark creativity, and enhance productivity, from font pairing to image enhancement and rebranding.
Font Joy
Font Joy is an AI tool that simplifies the process of pairing fonts. It analyzes the unique characteristics of different typefaces and suggests font combinations that work really well together. The tool creates really visually appealing and cohesive pairings, and we believe that it will greatly reduce the time and effort spent on font selection. We see this as being very useful in the creation of mood boards for creative tenders.
Khroma
In the same vein, Khroma is an AI-powered color palette generator that tailors its suggestions based on your preferences. By learning your preferred color combinations through machine learning, Khroma creates custom palettes that reflect your unique style. It's perfect for new mood boards and enhancing existing client branding style guides.
Let’s Enhance
Let’s Enhance is an AI tool that improves image quality by increasing resolution, reducing noise, and enhancing details, all without sacrificing the integrity of the original content. This tool is a lifesaver for designers working with low-resolution images or needing to optimize their visuals. This will be very helpful in creating mockups, storyboards and even vision boards.
Recraft
Lastly, we have Redraft, a tool to assist with rebranding and redesigning. It analyzes existing designs and offers suggestions for updates or improvements, making it ideal for projects that require brand refreshes or modernizing outdated visuals. By inputting a preferred image, the tool can recommend similar images in the same vein, creating a new cohesive mood board. One big limitation of redraft, however, is that it is largely dependent on illustrations and can be quite repetitive.
By incorporating these tools, our design team can streamline their creative tasks, stay inspired, and ensure high-quality results without getting bogged down by technical challenges. These AI tools allow designers to focus on what they do best: creating visually stunning and effective designs. But what is truly important to remember is that the human touch, innate talent, and creative mind are irreplaceable. AI tools are designed to assist and enhance our work, but it is the designer’s unique vision and artistry that bring a project to life. While these technologies can streamline processes and offer new ideas, it’s ultimately the creative brain behind the screen that makes the final image truly stand out.