We’ve been getting people coming to us with a request for design with something they made with AI to try to communicate what they want. It tends to add a lot of confusion in the process because the AI-produced mockup is really bad but then they latch onto that and they don’t really otherwise know what they want very clearly. I wonder if this happens to any of you and how you handle negotiating with them on your design ideas in that context?
1 Like
Well, we used to get people coming in to us with a drawing or layout on the back of a cigarette carton that had been left out in the rain.
I’ve had detailed mockups in Word, PowerPoint, Publisher. I’ve had a sheet of paper with a box in the left corner and wiggly lines to represent text. Had a deck of cards designed in PowerPoint and sent to me to print… it was interesting.
I’ve had people use Serif PagePlus, free stock images, bad clipart, images found on Google (without a clue about copyright), and all sorts of things.
Now we’re into the super-era of mockups. People are using AI and thinking they’re being edgy and cool. In truth, it’s just the next generation of bad design mockup tools.
Nothing has really changed since 1997 when I started out. From screenprinting to litho prepress in the 2000s, in-house design from 2005 to 2014, a large design agency in 2015, one of the largest print brokers from 2017, and now design and packaging.
I’ve seen just about every way a customer can communicate an idea, from a scribble on a scrap of paper to something that looks like a professionally finished design.
Even had people just verbalise what they want and leave the meeting. Some even frustrated that I asked if they have anything specific in mind, colours, icons, images… yes some people just want you to do it all and when they leave without giving you a clue you have to tap into what they’ve said on another level.
And that’s really the point. The mockup isn’t the brief.
It doesn’t matter whether they’ve used a pencil, Microsoft Word, Canva or AI. It’s just their way of communicating an idea, and sometimes a fairly poor way of doing it.
What I’d be more interested in is why they think that particular design works. What are they trying to achieve? What problem are they trying to solve? What is it about the AI-generated design that appeals to them?
Sometimes they don’t actually know. They just like the look of it, and that’s where the designer has to step in and start asking questions.
Create a questionaire - this is for you to fill out as you talk to the client - it’s not for the client to fill out as homework
You fill out as much information in the conversation to the sheet - you don’t have to fill in all sections, and you don’t have to go in order. Just jot down in the sections what the client tells you. Then if you have blank sections left, ask them at the end of the conversation.
So, this for me, it comes back to a proper design brief or spec sheet. Basic questions about who they are, what they do, what they’re selling, their target audience, their competitors, their brand, the message they’re trying to communicate, where the design will be used, the budget, the deadline and, most importantly, what they actually want the design to achieve.
I’d also ask what they like and dislike about the mockup they’ve brought in. That can be quite revealing because sometimes they’re attached to a colour, a particular image or even just the general feeling of the design rather than the layout itself.
Maybe they have a brandbook and they haven’t used any of the companys material, maybe they don’t have to for this one-off project, or maybe they missed the obvious of sticking to a colour pallete, imagery, icons, typography etc.
Once you get past that, you’ve something useful to work with.
I wouldn’t dismiss the AI mockup outright either - OR any mockup. The customer has made an effort to communicate something, even if they don’t fully understand what they’ve produced. I’d treat it as a starting point for a conversation, not a finished design that has to be recreated.
I wouldn’t start ripping it apart in front of them either.
And if they’re particularly attached to it, I’d explain what works, what doesn’t and why, and offer alternatives that still address what they liked about the original.
Ultimately, you’re the designer. Part of the job is interpreting what the customer is trying to say, challenging ideas where necessary and explaining the reasoning behind your decisions. It’s not just about making something look pretty.
AI hasn’t invented the customer who doesn’t know what they want. It’s just given them a much more sophisticated way of showing us what they want, not what they need.
The same conversations still need to happen. The same questions still need to be asked. And the same design principles still apply.
New tools, same old problems.
3 Likes
This coming from a Client or a Customer, makes you realize that AI is not reading to become as a Graphic Designer, People will still have help from other people and not from a Computer or a Program.
I wish I could give Smurf more than one “Like” for that answer.
1 Like
In short, customers are the probable. If there were no customers this job would be easy 
1 Like
On another note, I have started to notice the same design/layout icons appearing on social media for lots of different people. It’s clearly AI generated, they are almost all identical layouts, different products.
This might be something I’d push back on with the client. Show them similar AI designs for different product that are using similar icons/layout etc.
1 Like
Clients are why I have a job in Production, not Design 
(although Design clients still find ways to momentarily stump me in their file setup rationale….)
1 Like