Day 8 of 30 Day AI Challenge – Democratizing Product Design

It’s Day 8 of the #30DayAIChallenge and we’re going to take a stab at product design! For those just joining us, every day during this challenge, I’m going to try and do something different or better, using currently available Artificial Intelligence tools.

I’m quite the Trekkie, so for this quick weekend (educational) test, I’m going to try and infuse a bit of Star Trek into my product designs, to see if I can come up with something aspirational.

Nike Sneakers, Inspired by Star Trek

First, I tried out a brand collaboration using BrXnD.ai…they offer a preset interface and options, plus limited spots confirmed over email. While I had high expectations, what the system eventually generated turned out to be fairly disappointing.

I then ran a few design iterations on MidJourney…

…and finally settled on this pair of sneakers, which I’d totally consider wearing!

With Bing’s DALL-E powered Image Creator now out, I gave it the old college try too (the process is currently a lot slower than other tools) and the results weren’t all that bad:

Perhaps a stylish red iPhone 14 Case, fit for a Trekkie?

This one didn’t go quite so well…with MidJourney unable to replicate the actual Star Trek insignia. The case designs are pretty good though.

I gave Stable Diffusion a try too, but the overall quality just doesn’t compare:

Or a Polo Shirt to sport everyday?

Next, I asked MidJourney to imagine a men’s polo shirt inspired by Star Trek uniforms – here are a couple of iterations:

Ok…so putting the fun aspects of this aside, a few words on the real world implications here. Integrating artificial intelligence into product design and fashion has the potential to really revolutionize the creative process by (exponentially) increasing both the speed and scope of innovation.

We know AI systems can analyze vast repositories of data, rapidly generating countless designs and predicting consumer preferences with pretty remarkable accuracy. Pretty soon (if not already), by combining deep learning algorithms with cutting-edge generative techniques, these systems will be able to conceive entirely new aesthetics and styles, transcending our (somewhat limited) human imagination.

However, the widespread adoption of AI in the creative realm also raises some concerns about potential displacement of jobs in the fashion and design industries. While optimists (like me) argue that AI will augment human capabilities, leading to new roles and opportunities, others caution that the unprecedented speed and efficiency of AI-driven design may render many traditional roles obsolete (think entry level graphic designers, artists and those working in the fashion and apparel industries). In any case, we’re in for a some pretty rapid and ground-breaking changes in the 5-10 years ahead.

We’ll also need to figure out how the right people and brand owners get paid in the process. Where we are now with generative AI feels a lot like where we were with music in the 90s…and the early challenges posed by Napster and P2P File Sharing that eventually led to the paid music streaming services we all happily use today.

I for one, would love to fine-tune my own designs (#StarTrekSneakers above or #VWGolfGTISneakers below…my other love) and then submit it to a company who does the rest in terms of actual physical creation, shipping it back to me as soon as (humanly?) possible. Will new entrants fill these needs…or will it be the behemoths that we already know today, like Amazon?

See you tomorrow…