A young Nelson design student is encouraging local businesses and community groups to think twice before turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for their next poster or flyer.
Amanda Yan, 19, is studying for a Bachelor of Art and Media at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) and has started offering an affordable design service for people who want material created by a person, not AI.
AI apps, such as ChatGPT, allow people to create posters and flyers in a matter of minutes by describing what they want, with no graphic design experience needed.
“In this world, where AI is becoming ‘the norm’, creating something using one’s own talent and skill is becoming rarer these days,” she says.
Amanda is offering “non-AI services” for posters, flyers and advertisements, charging $20 for simple designs and from $35 for fully customised work.
The idea came after she noticed more and more AI-generated flyers popping up online and across Nelson.
She says she understands why people are drawn to AI to create free designs, but says the trade-off is losing something that makes a business or organisation “recognisable”.
“Yes, they can do it at a lesser cost, but the cost of that is that it won’t look like them.”
Amanda says that many AI-generated designs have become easy to spot because they follow a similar style.
“It’s too busy… and you can’t really focus on one part. You can just tell it’s AI from the format and the irregularity of fonts.”
She says that they often feature random images and heavily decorated layouts.
“There’s no attractiveness to it and no thought of how someone is going to remember the business or product, because everything looks the same.
“AI also doesn’t know or feel your morals, and that’s also important in design.”
Amanda has lived in Nelson since 2020 after growing up in Auckland. She is around half-way through her three-year degree and hopes to become a teacher one day.
She hopes that offering a low-cost, human-designed alternative will give people another choice.
“If I can offer a cheaper alternative, rather than people resorting to AI and the soullessness of it… then at least there’s another option.”
Jo Dellabarca from the Nelson AI Sandbox, says she thinks what Amanda is offering is “awesome” – but if you do want to create AI flyers or posters, don’t be vague in your instructions.
“They do tend to look all the same, but that because people accept the first thing it gives them.”
Basically, the more creative and specific you can be – the better.
Jo says AI has “suddenly got so much better” in the last six months.
“That’s why more people are using it... but sometimes, it’s almost creating things that look too polished.”
The advances in AI are also part of the reason Dave Woolf uses it to create promotional material for the new Redwood Valley Market.
“With a new market, there are always different stallholders, performers and things happening that I want to promote, so being able to come up with an idea and turn it into a poster quickly is really useful,” he says.
“I can describe what I’m imagining, and AI helps me bring those ideas to life. I can still decide what I want the poster to say and look like, and sometimes I make my own hand-drawn artwork as well.
“For me it’s just another creative tool, and it means I can advertise the market regularly without blowing the budget.”
Jo says anyone wanting to learn more about AI can come and see them at the Nelson AI Sandbox on 28 Halifax St. People interested in Amanda's design services can contact her at amandasinquiries123@gmail.com
