Blog Archives

Latest Posts

Monthly

Categories

All Posts in

Featured Image

August 23, 2023 - Comments Off on Cover Story: An AI Challenge

Cover Story: An AI Challenge

Prompts and perseverance

A client called in June asking for help in creating an original illustration for a magazine cover. I’ve done this countless times in my career, but — for this project — talent sourcing and art direction was much different. The “talent” was AI. 

For the Summer issue of the NSAA Journal, editor Heather Fried dipped her toe into the wild west of AI imaging software. Her challenge: to create a cover image to represent the issue’s editorial content. When she first shared her idea, I thought “brave,” but was quietly hoping not to get involved. I could see a warren of rabbit holes larger than Watership Down on the horizon. 

Heather’s first attempts involved placing the desired items into the image with the prompt mountain biker in the summer accessing the lift through RFID gates with their phone, but the results were way off the mark. They were also comical in how anatomically incorrect they came out. “I had to throw in the towel on my original concept completely and go with something a lot more basic to get to an acceptable cover,” Heather explained. “This was a surprise realization because, before using AI, I really thought it could produce anything I could dream up on demand.” Frustrated, she shared her results after multiple attempts and a sizable time investment. We jumped on a Zoom call to discuss what to try next.

“Before using AI, I really thought it could produce anything I could dream up on demand.”

Enter Art Direction 

With additional prompts taken from the art world — composition, color, style, perspective — the images instantly improved and soon she had a collection of real options: a dynamic profile portrait, a dreamy impressionistic painting, and a realistic alpine meadow — a few potentially cover worthy. She discovered one big hiccup in the process: “tweaking” is difficult. AI tends to start over in lieu of making isolated changes like a human illustrator would. Perhaps more practice with the software will yield more finesse. Or not.

“I am not a robot.”

While there’s much angst and discussion about artwork made with AI – such as what careers will be disrupted or replaced, who owns it, and the dangers of reality vs fantasy imagery and facts – I think we hold the key to reining it in. If we tap heavily into our humanity and take responsibility for molding AI, we can use skillful interactions — creative direction of the software — to make AI-assisted writings and artworks our own creations. Just as Heather experimented with visuals, her team also put AI writing to the test, producing a rote overview with the tone of an uninspired eighth grader. Clearly not the level of a seasoned editor. “If you keep tweaking/prompting what it spits out, you'll eventually get to something that is acceptable, in your voice, and accurate.” said Heather, adding “I could write volumes on this already, but the biggest takeaway so far has been: AI isn't coming for our jobs, it's people who are capable using AI that we need to worry about/work on eventually becoming ourselves.”

The NSAA cover image finally got there with the right prompts (art direction) and some retouching (a good eye) to get to an artistic, finished product. A masterpiece? No, but it fits the bill for a nonprofit budget and usage of two months on a trade magazine cover. Context matters. The novelty of an illustration on the Journal cover and the backstory of AI-generated artwork intrigued the members. “Though the cover was a compromise, it's also one that has generated a ton of great feedback — maybe the most praise in my four years with NSAA,” said Heather. 

“AI isn't coming for our jobs, it's people who are capable using AI that we need to worry about.”

My Optimistic View 

Because AI has no inherent talent of its own, individual humans (IH perhaps?) can use this tool, just like any other — software or paint brush — to execute their singular vision. Perhaps AI can open up a new world to those who see art in their mindseye, but lack the mobility to paint a canvas. Or help translate written works to enable sharing of more ideas across cultures. Which gets to the root question: Will you use your time, talent and AI for good or for evil? 

Now, about copyright issues … how much time do you have? 

Read about a recent ruling in federal court: AI cannot hold a copyright.
View an inspiring use of AI that gave a woman with paralysis her voice back.

_____

Share your experience and opinions of AI assisted creative works below. I’d love to start a conversation. (There may be a delay in your comment appearing to avoid the dreaded bots.)

Featured Image

April 26, 2023 - Comments Off on Grit & Collaboration

Grit & Collaboration

Combining talents for delectable outcomes

Last summer, the Méli Mélo Charcuterie Boards — a lively collaboration with 600 Grit fine wood design — debuted in the art festival world. Maria Garcia, my former tennis partner and expert woodworker, had applied as an emerging artist to two of the nation’s most prestigious fairs — the Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival and Denver’s Cherry Creek Arts Festival. A Colorado native now at home in Texas, Maria clearly had soaked in some of the “go big or go home” Lone Star attitude in targeting these events, but even she was slightly overwhelmed to be accepted by both. 

Our 600 Grit/EnZed collaboration began with volleying ideas on the tennis court. It went something like “wouldn’t it be fun to take some of your wrapping paper motifs and translate them to wood?” After a few years of playing with the idea, mostly in our heads, we found ourselves mixing epoxy and pigments in her Dallas workshop. We experimented with maple and walnut hardwoods, metallic and solid pigments, and two designs. Maria prepped the boards for the CNC operator who used my vector artwork to rout the inlays. After several prototypes in which we adjusted motif sizes and color palettes, played with depth of routing and angled edges, we landed on the finished product and perfected the silky finish. 

Méli Mélo translates to “an assortment,” which captures the essence of charcuterie and the nature of our collaboration. Once the boards began selling, Maria envisioned expanding the concept to furniture. The board motifs enlarged beautifully onto coffee, cocktail and side tables, and she received a commission for wall art at this larger scale. Maria’s furniture designs are inspired by the Arts & Crafts and Mid Century Modern movements, but the rich walnut hardwood and bright resin inlays transition across many interior styles.

What started as a friendship on the tennis court quickly became a delicious meeting of minds and materials. Talking with the art lovers venturing into our tent was energizing and Maria secured several furniture commissions in each city, a primary goal for showing at the festivals. (Prior to that, we had a brief foray into wholesale and set up shop on PaperieZ.com, selling directly to friends and others.) 

While I’ve enjoyed seeing my designs in three dimensions as Maria has added new, unique product offerings, the best part of this experience by far is the collaboration. Each bringing our best to the table (saw) inevitably yields tasty results.

For more about Maria, follow her on Instagram @600grit and visit 600grit.com. She’s available for custom charcuterie board and furniture commissions. Let us collaborate with you, too!

Join my mailing list to receive monthly reads about adventures, design, marketing, other creative musing, and how they all relate to and inform one another. Follow my antics on Instagram. — Helen

Featured Image

March 3, 2023 - Comments Off on Salon Savvy

Salon Savvy

It’s a good hair day.

“A good hair day is the most amazing day ever!”, to quote the Urban Dictionary. Helping clients have more of them is the raison d’être for elle.b Salon’s Central location in West Denver. When the award-winning studio added skin, nail and brow services to complement their cut, color and extensions expertise, however, the word salon no longer seemed enough. EnZed Design was invited to collaborate on renaming the enterprise to communicate its expanded offerings and distinctive style. (A savvy decision, if we do say so.)

The new moniker, elle.b Savvy, was directly inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit and creative genius of the owners, founder and master stylist Lindsay Guzman and Dani Tavbin, COO. We collaborated with them on the renaming, then created custom patterns to brand their new space. Here are the highlights. 

The starting point was Lindsay’s vision for rehabbing a character-rich 1930s building. A true tastemaker and stylist beyond hair, she worked with local artist Birdseed Anthony* to craft the exterior look, landing on horizontal stripes in green hues. We worked with these repeating lines and art deco curves of the architecture to create a suite of patterns for the interior elements and signage. 

Branding with a bang. 

Hunter, Gold and Blush from the brand palette are evident in the exterior paint and lettering and the perforated steel dividers defining stylist stations. The panels feature a custom pattern that was routed into the steel with a CNC, then powder-coated in Blush for a sleek finish. The Pincurls pattern, inspired by the capsule-shaped windows and green stripes, graces the doors for branding, adds a degree of privacy, then climbs the interior walls to define each space.

While Lindsay’s interior design set the tone, the patterns and signage pulled elle.b Savvy branding through the entire building, helping to realize her big picture vision. We thoroughly enjoyed brainstorming together and springboarding off the ideas and talents of these creative clients. Hair extensions are one of their strong suits … becoming an extension of an internal team to bring a project over the top is one of ours. 

*Worth a deeper look: Civic-minded artist Anthony Garcia, Sr. and the nonprofit BirdSeed Collective he co-founded. 

Featured Image

February 10, 2023 - Comments Off on French Diamonds & French Toast

French Diamonds & French Toast

“I do,” was my reply when Denny’s creative services popped the question: Do you design wallpaper? 

I’d just completed a custom pattern and a dozen or so templates for the corporation’s to-go boxes, cups, bags, and seals. This new request was a special invitation — to design the wall covering for their Las Vegas Wedding Chapel* on the iconic strip. 

With unbridled enthusiasm, I reviewed the creative brief. My task was to marry icons from the bride and groom t-shirts with the iconic French diamond shape housing the restaurant’s logo. A childhood of road trips and a decade of designing wrapping papers groomed me for this very moment. 

Initially, I presented seven designs featuring a bow tie, diamond gem, and French diamond, adding some additional symbols of love and location. They selected two motifs to see in a variety of color ways that complemented the new restaurant interior materials, then settled on one design. We further looked at color and scale with mock ups of the wallpaper in the space. Denny’s creative team selected a tone-on-tone print on a pearlescent paper. 

The project was a grand slam. This background will be photographed behind many happy couples, cutting into their wedding pancake stack and linking arms to sip mimosas. 

Elvis may have left the building, but the wallpaper is here to stay.

Thank you, thank you very much.
— Helen

*Yes, chain restaurant weddings are a thing. Rate the best “cake” - post below!

P.S. Need a custom pattern for your project? Check out our Custom Collections offering.

Featured Image

January 27, 2023 - Comments Off on “I’ve got nothing to wear.” ~ Your Brand

“I’ve got nothing to wear.” ~ Your Brand

Custom patterns can bring your brand fashion forward.

Does your logo deserve a bigger, better sense of style? Whether making an online or in-person appearance, a brand requires a suite of assets — or wardrobe — to differentiate the organization it represents. Brand guidelines typically cover the basics, such as logo colors, fonts, maybe photo style and copy tone — the white t-shirt and jeans of marketing. But maintaining a powerful presence by ensuring visual continuity is far more complex – not unlike fashioning the signature look that makes a day-to-evening transition effortless. 

By providing my clients more options, customized options, they’re able to rapidly claim brand recognition beyond the obvious. Custom branding patterns, when designed as an integrated part of a client’s branding assets, add the flexibility to “mix and match” with ease. This creates brand recognition with variety — the difference between wearing a uniform, and choosing classics with the added flair of accessories. Plus quality branding begets quality products. A well-crafted brand communicates success subliminally, if not overtly. If great care has been put into presenting information, then it must be valuable. 

Case in point. When we revitalized the FCCS brand, part of the process was creating a suite of patterns that ranged from “boldly forward” to “background conversation.” The client knew a range of applications would be needed, even though specifics were still being determined. A child brand was born the same year, with the launch of their Accelerate Center. It, too, required patterns uniquely its own. Cross-over patterns worked to maximize flexibility, unify presentation and link the brands into a cohesive, powerful presence.

A suite of brand patterns and complementary assets can also work wonders to tie everything together. Patterns can grab attention and quietly accent. So if your logo is the cashmere of your brand, the pattern serves as the designer shoes. The gemstone ring, the platinum watch, and the diamond earrings appear via brand devices — bullet point, page divider, and quotation marks. 

The upshot? The ensemble is everything. Add a surface pattern collection to your brand wardrobe and brand recognition soars. And you’ve taught a master class in style.

***

What’s your go-to wardrobe piece? Comment below.

Join my mailing list to receive monthly reads about adventures, design, marketing, other creative musing, and how they all relate to and inform one another. — Helen

Featured Image

January 19, 2023 - Comments Off on Family Tree: Branching Out 

Family Tree: Branching Out 

Creating a surface pattern collection from one central design.

It began with a single leaf. My contribution to a calendar promoting Chicago’s Newberry Library debuted in the month of April, then went on to become much more. The initial task was to represent the library’s Genealogy Floor by creating an image encompassing multiple American heritages with their global origins. I chose to design a tribute leaf for each country or culture based on the motifs and colors I’d researched, then loosely assembled them to form our nation’s Family Tree.

Fast-forwarding to 2022: As the creative brief provided by the client had been limited to representing select continents, I expanded on the original tree by adding new leaf designs reflecting indigenous art from Latin America, Asian Pacific nations, and New Zealand, where I was born. The leaves were arranged into a repeat, while keeping the same loose placement on the bough. 

Can you match up the leaf to the motif? Comment below with the leaf letter and motif name.

A budding new collection. Next, I challenged myself to design to a full collection of surface patterns, iterating on the single-leaf motifs. I chose a shape or section in each motif to craft new, seamless repeats and simplified the initial color palettes. The new motifs turned out to be very different from one another, yet an umbrella aesthetic holds them together. 

Next, I toyed with the original motif as a repeating pattern in a new colorway — a soft palette for my bedroom, including a duvet and sheet set, plus an accent pillow. These designs came out of that motif and color palette.

A pattern collection is akin to a family, where the siblings are unique while the parents’ genes are expressed differently in each. I think of my brother at 6’4” with auburn hair, freckles and fair skin, and me standing a foot shorter with an olive complexion and dark curls. Eyes, toes, nose. Fun, puns, buns.

Seems evolution is its own artform.

***

Join my mailing list to receive monthly reads about adventures, design, marketing, other creative musing, and how they all relate to and inform one another. — Helen