THE NEW CREATIVE PROCESS: HOW TOP DESIGN STUDIOS USE AI (AND HOW YOU CAN TOO)
If you’ve been doom-scrolling your feed watching AI-generated visuals flood the internet, wondering “How are designers supposed to keep up?” — you’re not alone. Most creatives feel stuck somewhere between FOMO and full-blown fear.
Here’s the part nobody told you: Even the world’s top studios were experimenting with AI in secret.
Up until Pentagram publicly admitted using AI in their performance.gov illustrations case study, almost no major studio was honest about it. Behind the scenes, designers were training models, testing workflows, and prototyping at 3× speed — while publicly pretending nothing had changed.
But the tide is turning. Studios like Studio Dumbar / DEPT® are now opening the door, showing how AI is reshaping ideation, exploration, and visual experimentation.
And the real question isn’t if you should use AI — it’s how consciously you integrate it into your design workflow.
This is the new creative process — based on what global studios are actually doing, plus exclusive insights shared inside House of gAi’s Creative Futures Hub, our private community where industry leaders speak honestly about the future of creativity.
The truth: AI doesn’t replace designers — it amplifies them
During one of our Creative Futures Hub sessions, Alex Naghavi, Creative Director – AI at Block (and formerly Executive Creative Director at Josephmark), said the line that instantly became a community favourite:
“AI doesn’t make you a good designer — it just makes you a quick designer. It helps make bad design faster.”
— Alex Naghavi, Creative Director – AI at Block (formerly ECD at Josephmark)
It’s brutally honest. It’s also the truth. AI is not a shortcut to taste, strategy, storytelling, or art direction. What it is — is a creative supercharger for designers who know how to direct it.
Across the industry, studios are using AI to:
generate ideas
explore visual territories
prototype rapidly
test narrative paths
and push the boundaries of craft
AI didn’t kill creativity. It killed the excuse that designers don’t have time to experiment.
Why transparency matters (and why it’s only happening now)
For almost two years, design studios avoided talking openly about AI. Not because they weren’t using it — but because clients didn’t want AI in the narrative. Inside the Creative Futures Hub talk, CGI artist Hugo Barbera, whose AI-enabled work has appeared in campaigns for Vogue, Audi, Coke, and Pepsi, said:
“Money always wins. It’s better if we learn how to use AI — and use it in the most ethical way possible.”
Design Week’s “Studios and AI” series shows the shift: Suddenly, studios are finally going public. Not because AI is new — but because hiding it became impossible. Transparency is now a competitive advantage.
What AI workflow actually looks like inside studios today
Not the LinkedIn version. The real one. This is the modern creative workflow used inside studios like:
Studio Dumbar / DEPT®
Pentagram
Josephmark
Superunion
Design Bridge
AKQA
And increasingly — by independent designers, illustrators, and freelancers. Here’s how it breaks down:
1. AI for discovery
The new moodboard isn’t static — it’s generative. Designers use AI to explore visual territories that would take hours (or days) to build manually.
Think of it as:
scanning aesthetics
mapping creative directions
exploring unexpected styles
surfacing visual metaphors
This is where creative instincts meet infinite possibility.
2. AI for ideation
This is where AI becomes your brainstorm partner. The best designers use AI to:
generate conceptual metaphors
experiment with tone, symbolism, narrative
stress-test ideas
widen the creative horizon
This is what creative directors mean when they say AI “expands the space of the possible.”
3. AI for exploration & prototyping
This is where workflows accelerate dramatically. Studios use AI to:
prototype brand worlds
test composition and motion
explore colour and visual systems
create pitch visuals at high fidelity
simulate experimental ideas
Designers no longer explore one direction. They explore twelve.
4. AI-assisted execution
Here’s the nuance: Most studios do NOT use AI for final client artwork. But they do use it for:
layout variations
motion studies
lighting and material tests
mockups for pitches
fast iteration cycles
speculative work
Inside the Hub, design leader Kevin Finn summed it up perfectly:
“If we keep calling AI a tool, we’re designing ourselves out of the equation.”
AI isn’t replacing designers. Designers who use AI are simply outpacing those who don’t.
If you feel behind, you’re not late… you’re early
Here’s the quiet industry truth: Most designers still haven’t integrated AI meaningfully into their workflow. They’re dabbling. Experimenting. Secretly wondering how to keep up. So if you feel behind? You’re actually ahead of almost everyone who’s pretending otherwise.
AI isn’t stealing jobs. But designers who understand AI will absolutely outpace those who don’t. This is the creative shift of the decade — and you’re right at the start of it.
The House of gAi point of view
As a queer-founded platform built on inclusivity, access, experimentation, and human-centered creativity, we believe:
AI should expand creativity — not flatten it
AI should increase access — not gatekeep it
Designers should lead the future — not fight it
Creativity is human — AI just amplifies it
The studios who thrive next won’t be the one avoiding AI. They’ll be the ones using it consciously, ethically, and expansively.
Key takeaways
Top design studios have been using AI for years — they just weren’t talking about it. Transparency is finally catching up to reality.
AI doesn’t replace designers — it elevates the ones who already have taste, strategy, and creative judgment. Bad design just gets faster; good design gets accelerated.
Studios use AI across four core stages: discovery, ideation, exploration/prototyping, and light execution support.
Final brand work is still crafted traditionally — AI enhances the process, not the output.
If you feel “behind,” you’re not. Most designers are still dabbling. The real shift is only just beginning.
The advantage now goes to designers who integrate AI consciously, ethically, and creatively — not to those avoiding it.
This is the new creative process. Human-led. AI-accelerated. Strategy-first. Taste-driven.
If you want to adopt the same workflows used in top studios, now is the moment to start.
Want to integrate AI into your creative workflow? Join the AI Branding Masterclass
If you want to integrate AI into your branding and design workflow — the same way top studios are doing it — the AI Branding Masterclass is where you start. You’ll learn:
AI ideation & creative direction
Brand world development using AI
Systems thinking & visual language
How to integrate AI without losing craft
How to protect your ethics, voice, and style
The exact workflows used by leading studios today
FAQ
Q: What AI tools do design studios actually use?
A: Most studios use a blend of:
Midjourney
ChatGPT, Perplexity etc.
Adobe Firefly
Runway
Stable Diffusion
Custom-trained internal models
Figma AI
Leonardo
3D + CGI tools enhanced with AI
Flora, Weavy, Freepik, etc.
The tools matter less than the workflow.
Q: Do studios use AI for final client work?
A: Rarely. Most use AI for ideation, exploration, and prototyping — then execute final design traditionally. Automation supports craft. It doesn’t replace it.
Q: Will AI replace designers?
A: No… but designers who refuse to learn AI will be replaced by those who do. The job isn’t disappearing. The skillset is evolving.
Q: What makes the Creative Futures Hub different?
A: Our speakers are global creative leaders who share the real workflows happening inside studios — long before they’re discussed publicly. The Hub offers:
honest discussions
insider workflow breakdowns
live sessions
expert transcripts
ethical and creative guidance
a future-facing creative community
It’s where the real conversations about AI and creativity happen.
Q: How do I start learning AI for design?
A: Start with one area of the workflow:
discovery
ideation
exploration
prototyping
Then build your skillset gradually. The AI Branding Masterclass gives you the full design-to-delivery process.