AI and the Creative Process: A Brand Designer’s POV
More range, still human.
Press play above for the 90-second episode.
IN THIS ARTICLE:
One of my clients used AI and still booked a brand workshop with me.
That probably tells you more about my POV on AI and the creative process than any sweeping prediction about whether artificial intelligence will make us designers go extinct.
For context, my client of nearly a decade tried to DIY a t-shirt design concept.
She’s expanding into branded merch and had already been experimenting with AI.
The problem wasn’t her access to the LLMs and tools.
She wasn’t happy with the *output.*
So during our private brand workshop, we worked with AI together:
- I adjusted her prompts.
- Shared best practices, with examples.
- Added creative structure.
- Asked better questions.
And, more importantly, connected what we were generating back to the larger core of her brand.
The AI could generate.
But it, and my client, still needed direction, conversation and collaboration.
And that distinction has become increasingly clear to me throughout 2026.
So in this 90-second episode of The Brand Bloc podcast (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | or, listen above), I share how I’ve used AI across major brand campaigns, World Cup creative and brand workshops when AI fell flat for clients who tried to DIY it.
I also reveal what AI did and *didn’t* do.
Listen: AI Gave Me Creative Superpowers (It Didn’t Replace Me) S2 E2
Reminder: This episode falls under Season 2, the “season of the anti-yap.” So expect a short, 60-ish second episode that’s heavy on the brand lesson, and short on the yap. 😉
Thanks for listening!
Resources mentioned
→ My get brand-good℠ framework
→ Private brand workshop (when DIY’ing isn’t working)
→ My client, Nicole, Founder of Kurly Kürtósh
→ More of The Brand Bloc Podcast (part conversation, part trend report — with a few brand confessions sprinkled in)
About the Author
Shavaun is an award-winning Brand Designer who transforms your loose ideas and late-night eurekas into distinct visual identities, award-winning campaigns, and digital ecosystems that amplify and automate your brand story. She’s a Writer at The Brand Bloc and Founder of Spoken Flames, a wooden wick candle brand featured in Architectural Digest and GQ, to name a few. She’s ready to brand your brilliance and bring your vision into form. You in?