Design After the Spark: How AI is reshaping the role of the designer
Beyond speed: a shift from production to perception
When AI is seen purely as a production tool, it risks accelerating sameness. The speed of generation can flatten discernment. We end up with more, but rarely with better.
The real opportunity is strategic: using AI not just to produce, but to perceive; to prototype meaning, test ideas faster, and visualise possibilities that push creative and cultural thinking forward.
According to Adobe’s 2025 Digital Trends Report, 65% of senior executives say AI and predictive analytics are now primary contributors to business growth.
McKinsey & Company echoes this: organisations integrating AI most deeply are finding the greatest value not in operational efficiency, but in innovation — particularly across marketing and product development.
So yes, AI can optimise. but its real power is in how it helps us imagine.
"AI can optimise. but its real power is in how it helps us imagine."
Designers as editors of intelligence
At Within, we see AI as a mirror that magnifies our responsibility as designers.
When machines can mimic beauty in seconds, our value shifts from making things look good to making them mean something.
Our role becomes one of editing intelligence: bringing cultural literacy, ethical judgment, and emotional sensitivity to what AI produces.
In a recent arXiv study (2024), researchers found that while generative AI can produce more “novel” visuals, it rarely improves brand alignment or usefulness without strong human direction. The conclusion was simple: the designer’s taste, context, and clarity are irreplaceable.
Craft, conscience, and consistency
We use AI in two ways:
Strategic Elevation – to test narrative hypotheses, explore visual worlds, and accelerate early-stage experimentation.
Craft Amplification – to remove friction from repetitive production, freeing more time for the emotional and conceptual depth that machines can’t reach.
But every use begins with a human question:
Does this idea align with our client’s truth?
Does it move culture forward — or just flood it?
Does it make the brand more real to people, or more distant?
AI may expand what’s possible. But it’s our discernment that decides what’s valuable.
Conclusion
From automation to intention
The future of design will not belong to those who generate the most. It will belong to those who curate with care — who use new tools to deepen human connection, not dilute it.
AI isn’t replacing the designer. It’s re-framing what the designer stands for.
We don’t need to fear losing control. We need to fear losing intention.
Because ultimately, the role of design has never been about keeping up — it’s about staying true.
AI is changing design. Our job is to ensure it changes design for good.
