"Nobody said it was easy..." - #KI vs. old school... How I deal with generative image creation as a commercial artist in design and illustration.

In the mid-90s, I introduced myself to an agency in the center of a state capital. I applied as a draftsman and storyboarder and got an interview. After I had presented my drawings to the CEO, he gave me the following feedback...

He said that his company employed 35 creative people - all of them creative directors - who, each on their own, handled everything from customer consultation to layout and pre-press. With DTP & Co. it is not only possible to display designs in a photorealistic way - it is also practical to use them 1:1 for pre-press.

Hand-drawn designs would therefore be superfluous and he would unfortunately have to turn me down. But the CEO was sympathetic and gave me some advice along the way. He said that he was originally from Frankfurt am Main and had worked for well-known agencies in his career, including in New York City and London. He told me not to waste my time looking for buyers for my sketches in the countryside. Instead, I should offer my services where they were needed and bought: in big cities with international advertising agencies. In these agencies, hand-drawn designs were part of their daily business.

I heeded his advice and applied to agencies with major clients in Frankfurt and Munich. Then it happened in no time: I drew storyboards for Renault at Publicis FCB (later also for Audi, VW, Nissan and even Porsche and once did a ghost-sketching job for Colani). Over the years, I've drawn for really big agencies with really big brands.

Now you wonder how I managed to get these agencies to buy my drawings and artwork. After all, they had DTP, templates and photo stock archives! The reason is as simple as it is understandable: because the client wants to see that someone has "got his hands dirty".

An artistic draft that shows imperfections - e.g. in the form of typical human errors... think of Leonardo da Vinci's hand-drawn lines in architectural drawings) - is more likely to be believed that there is someone of flesh and blood behind it who has taken the time and effort to achieve this result. In other words: the client is convinced that - apart from the entertainment value ("Oh, that's nice! That's a real artist, your designer!") - something has actually been "done" for their hard-earned money. Quite simply.

Of course, ingenuity, sophistication and craftsmanship also play a major role here, no question about it. But the bottom line is that the customer is satisfied because a veritable circus has been organized for him and he feels that he has been treated like a king. Of course, there were also reasons such as prestige, price and handling - not an issue. But today... the AI...

Today, with 30 years of professional experience, I have to admit that AI - in my case: generative image generation, but also video and text - is turning my everyday life upside down. I have to admit that I admit defeat. For years, in the wake of cognitive dissonance - and for reasons of self-preservation - I have avoided dealing too intensively with the effects of these changes.

For me personally, it looks like I will now go with the flow and combine both worlds: the experience I gained in old school graphics (...yes, I painted posters with brush and paint, celebrated nude drawing on the model and later combined images created with pen and tablet with animations) with current and future AI generators.

How fast it all happens now... it's just crazy. Sure, there's often still correction work to be done - so the images can go into production. But it's simply amazing how easy it is to experiment and how quickly presentable results are available. Especially in the design sector for internal coordination - that's a gain.

Of course, as with everything, there will still be niches. Some will hold on to the old as long as they can. But we can't stop this turning point that is now underway. It will bring about radical changes and cause unpleasant upheavals. But who says life is easy...

... Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions

Oh, let's go back to the start

Running in circles, coming up tails

Heads on a science apart

... Nobody said it was easy

It's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be this hard

Oh, take me back to the start

Coldplay, The Scientist