Unlocking new creative frontiers for design agencies using AI

The creative industry is witnessing a seismic shift with the emergence of AI tools like OpenAI's Sora video generator and advanced image creation systems or the recently released Veo 2 by Google DeepMind.

Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, recently noted, "AI-powered tools aren't replacing creativity—they're unleashing it in ways we never imagined possible."

This transformation is reshaping how agencies approach everything—from storyboarding to final production.

The days of spending hours searching for the perfect stock image are numbered. With AI image generation, agencies can now create exactly what they envision, tailored perfectly to their brand narratives. This shift from searching to creating represents a fundamental change in how creative teams approach visual content.

The recent release of OpenAI's Sora has emerged as a game-changer for video production. The ability to generate high-quality, custom video content from text descriptions is revolutionising
storyboarding and concept presentation. Design teams can now show clients fully realised concepts in hours instead of weeks. It's not just about speed – these tools are opening new creative possibilities that were previously unimaginable.

Design agencies can create entire speculative video concepts without expensive production costs. They can test multiple creative directions simultaneously and iterate on client feedback in real-time. This transformation is particularly valuable for agencies working on tight deadlines or with limited production budgets, effectively democratising high-quality video content creation.

Beyond stock: Custom visual creation

Traditional design workflows often relied heavily on stock images and footage, which limited creative expression and resulted in generic-looking content. Today, AI tools have revolutionised the design process, enabling agencies to generate custom imagery that aligns perfectly with brand guidelines, create unique visuals tailored to specific campaign needs, and rapidly produce variations of designs for A/B testing.

This shift allows for the development of distinctive visual styles that stand out from competitors, providing brands with greater creative flexibility and originality. A recent example of this innovation is a Coca-Cola ad, which was entirely created using AI,
although it received mixed reactions from audiences. While some praised the cutting-edge approach, others questioned the authenticity and emotional connection AI-powered visuals could generate. As AI continues to evolve, it will likely reshape the creative landscape even further, offering endless possibilities for brands to experiment and push the boundaries of visual storytelling.

The introduction of tools like Midjourney and Kling has revolutionised the storyboarding and concepting process, transforming how creative teams approach presentations. These AI-driven platforms enable teams to generate detailed storyboards in minutes, allowing for faster exploration of ideas. Multiple concept variations can be created quickly, offering more flexibility and options during the creative process.

These tools allow for nearfinal quality visuals to be presented at the pitch stage, making ideas more tangible and compelling to clients. With the ability to iterate on client feedback in real-time, creative teams can refine and perfect concepts rapidly, streamlining workflows and improving collaboration.

AI-powered design systems

Modern agencies are developing sophisticated AI-powered design systems that streamline and enhance the design process. These systems automatically generate design variations that adhere
to brand guidelines, ensuring consistency across all visuals. They also suggest layout improvements based on performance data, helping agencies refine designs for better user engagement.

AI can create responsive designs for multiple platforms simultaneously, saving time and effort while ensuring adaptability. These systems also optimise visual elements for different cultural contexts, enabling brands to tailor their messaging and design to diverse global audiences. This level of automation and intelligence allows agencies to produce more effective, personalised, and scalable designs.

Agencies are increasingly using AI to make data-led creative decisions that enhance the effectiveness of their designs. By analysing past campaign performance, AI helps inform new

design strategies and creative approaches. It can predict audience response to various creative concepts, allowing agencies to fine-tune their designs for maximum impact.

AI optimises visual elements, boosting engagement and prioritising the most effective elements. Agencies can also track and measure the impact of design changes in real-time, enabling them to make quick adjustments and improve overall campaign performance. This datadriven approach allows for more targeted, responsive, and successful creative outcomes.

The human element

Despite these technological advances, human creativity remains at the heart of successful design. As Bob Greenberg, R/GA's founder, emphasises, "AI is an incredibly powerful tool, but it's the human
ability to understand context, emotion, and cultural nuance that turns good design into great design."

Simply put, AI currently doesn't displace the decision making itself, it helps make it better-informed decision faster. As agencies adapt to this AI-driven landscape, the skills required of creative professionals are undergoing a significant transformation.

Today’s creative professionals must go beyond traditional design skills—they need expertise in AI prompt engineering, understanding how to effectively communicate with AI tools to achieve the desired results. Data analysis has also become crucial, as teams must interpret and act on insights generated by AI systems.

The most important new skill, however, is strategic thinking in human-AI collaboration. Professionals must understand both the capabilities and limitations of AI tools to use them
effectively in creative decision-making. This fusion of creative intuition and technological literacy is giving rise to a new breed of creative professionals who can seamlessly blend human insight with AI’s capabilities.

As the horizon of creative technology continues to expand, AI systems are developing enhanced cultural and contextual awareness, allowing for more nuanced and culturally relevant design
decisions. These advancements aren't just improving efficiency – they're fundamentally expanding what's possible in creative expression and communication.

The agency of tomorrow

John Maeda, technologist and designer, sums it up well, "The winners in this new era won't be those who simply adopt AI tools – they'll be those who reimagine what's possible when human creativity is augmented by artificial intelligence." For agencies, this technological revolution presents unprecedented opportunities to create more impactful, efficient, and innovative work.

The key lies not in resisting these changes, but in embracing them strategically, using them to enhance, rather than replace, human creativity. As we look to the future, one thing is clear: the agencies that thrive will be those that successfully blend human insight and creativity with AI's capabilities, creating work that's not just faster and more efficient, but more creative and impactful than ever before.

- Advait Panchal, chief technology officer, Social Donut.