Designing With AI: A Real-World Creative Success Story

[00:00:00] Tessa Burg: Hello, and welcome to another episode of Leader Generation, brought to you by Mod Op. I’m your host, Tessa Burg. Today I am joined by another fellow Mod Opper Leu Solomon. She’s a Creative Director here at Mod Op, and today she’s gonna walk us through a specific use case where she used AI as a tool to deliver, um, client work and client value in a way that we haven’t done before in the past.

[00:00:26] Tessa Burg: We talk a lot about AI we talk a lot about AI tools. And a common theme that pops up all the time is buy-in change management, governance and compliance, ownership. And so we’re gonna hit on all of that as we hear more about the way in which Leu used AI for this project. So thank you, Leu, for being here.

[00:00:48] Tessa Burg: I’m so excited to jump in. Thank you. So before we start, tell us a little bit about your background and your role here at Mod Op.

[00:00:55] Leu Solomon: Mm-hmm. I am a Creative Director and I work mainly in video projects. Um, large scale installations doing, uh, video work across multiple screens and a lot of brand work as well, um, for clients, uh, and internally.

[00:01:14] Tessa Burg: Awesome. And you were one of the early members of the AI Council, which I agree. I appreciate. Tell me a little bit about what piqued your interest in ai. Were you excited about it at first, and what were some of the things that you did on your own to sort of learn more about what this could mean for your career in the work here at Mod Op?

[00:01:39] Leu Solomon: I think I’m excited about anything that has the potential to further my work or make my work easier, and I think this is the hole that I was looking for AI to fill. I think we all have a lot of projects and we’re all stretching ourselves thin to try to be on everything and it you run out of time. And so anything that I could do to.

[00:02:06] Leu Solomon: Try to be everywhere a little bit more. I was interested in, and I think in general, I’m a creative person, so I’m naturally curious and there’s a natural curiosity about trying something new. Uh, and I think that’s kind of where it started for me.

[00:02:23] Tessa Burg: So for this specific use case, this is a real estate development company.

[00:02:28] Tessa Burg: Tell me a little bit about the scope of the project and what the client was looking to do.

[00:02:37] Leu Solomon: For sure. So yeah, commercial. Um. Real estate client, they have buildings all across the nation, and they were looking for us to create seven to nine custom building illustrations, but combine them into a single hero graphic.

[00:02:54] Leu Solomon: So if you think of, um, like a movie posters is what they referenced. And you know, in the movies where they have the heads of stars and they arrange them and you know, the more prominent and bigger role you have, the bigger your head and they. Feature it all on one and they wanted something similar, but with buildings to showcase their portfolio.

[00:03:13] Leu Solomon: So they were looking to seven to nine create that hero graphic, but always, you know, there’s a challenge. And the challenge was they didn’t, it wasn’t really realistic for the budget. Creating custom illustrations takes a very long time. And these buildings weren’t just little buildings. I mean, these scaled into.

[00:03:32] Leu Solomon: You know, multi-level office buildings to these huge skyscrapers. So, um, we offered some potential solutions to help meet that. And, and some of those were either we could reduce the number of buildings we deliver, simplify the detail a little bit, you know, maybe increase the budget. No one likes to hear that.

[00:03:52] Tessa Burg: Mm-hmm.

[00:03:53] Leu Solomon: Um, but you know, initially they weren’t super interested. The project just simmered for a little while, but a few weeks later they came back. They didn’t have any more budget, but they were a little bit more open to talking about their, their wishlist, and that’s really where I saw an opening for incorporating AI, and it’s one of the sparks that helped the project get moving again.

[00:04:18] Tessa Burg: We talk a lot about responsible use and transparency as the foundation of our use of AI But we also understand that sometimes those conversations can be challenging. You know, we might not feel confident in letting clients know that we’re using AI and so we just don’t use it because we’re, you know, too hesitant to have the conversation.

[00:04:44] Tessa Burg: Or maybe we only use it for ideating and then we do everything else the normal way. Tell me a little bit about how that conversation went with the client when you, uh, spoke about using AI as a way to deliver value within their budget.

[00:05:08] Leu Solomon: So that was actually interesting ’cause we set it up with concepts.

[00:05:11] Leu Solomon: We could have two concepts, the traditional design way and one that was maybe using AI, so laid out. Okay. If we went with concept one, you can have everything from scratch. We’ll give you that custom illustration look. But we probably won’t be able to give you the amount of buildings that you want. Or option two would be okay if we stripped down some of the environmental elements that you wanted and kept it really simple.

[00:05:38] Leu Solomon: Maybe flat design. It would take us less time to design, um, but you wouldn’t get some of that depth or sense of place that they were asking for. And then concept three, in comparison, it was great to see that, okay, if you allowed us to use some computer generated AI, you know, platforms. We could give you all of the buildings you wanted in the brief, but we’ll be using AI to help supplement that.

[00:06:08] Leu Solomon: And I think that became really attractive because now they got everything on their wishlist. For the budget. Um, and it’s not, there’s a reason for using AI. And in, in looking at those apples to apples, they were like, okay, yeah, actually, and, and they also liked the look better and the look was inspired, um, by their keywords.

[00:06:29] Leu Solomon: And I actually plugged it into AI when I was in the board phase to see, okay, what visuals can I get inspired by? Or that might be triggered by their keywords. That will help. And so not only in, you know, in combination with the boards and creating a look that they liked using AI and seeing that they could get everything on their wishlist if we were allowed to use AI and stay within budget, that’s kind of what sold it.

[00:06:57] Tessa Burg: I love your approach because you hit on what I call like the lagging indicator that AI is working, leading indicators. Typically are the number of conversations we’re having with the client, our adoption rate that shows that we’re understanding that we’re using tools for ourselves, at least for insights, reporting automation internally well and seeing what’s possible.

[00:07:20] Tessa Burg: But as we do it, what we hope to see is increasing revenue per head. And the example you gave is you are able to deliver more value within the same budget than the same team, which increases that value. Per head as opposed to we got additional budget to do more. But as we know, when we start adding additional budget for more, our margins go down, our time goes up and you don’t see that, you know, a significant lift in value per head.

[00:07:53] Tessa Burg: And what I also love is this was mutual benefit and we had a podcast earlier today where we were talking about when we really lean into. The client value, the client benefit and worry less about, you know, what is the detriment to us. Um, and sometimes those detriments aren’t real. Like, this is replacing work that I’m doing, the client’s gonna wanna pay me less.

[00:08:17] Tessa Burg: But when we truly create, and I would say even like, can’t find the word, pump up, explode the value, like increase the value of the delivery for the clients, then that mutual benefit, that transparency. Leads to higher growth and value over time. Uh, what, what I wanna go back to, so one, thank you for that because you’ve made this sound very simple, but I know that, you know, sometimes we can get in our own way ’cause this is new and different and weird.

[00:08:52] Tessa Burg: Have you experienced any conversations where people are hesitant and what has been some of that? Pushback on using AI or having AI conversations with clients?

[00:09:03] Leu Solomon: Yeah, I think initially when we polled these three concepts together and using AI, it was a bit of a pause of, okay, well maybe let’s you know, client wanted to think about it a little bit, but then came back ’cause.

[00:09:16] Leu Solomon: It embodied all the things that they wanted. And it wasn’t as if we were just using AI as is. A lot went into it both before we even put a prompt in and then after we did that, uh, and that’s something that requires a strong idea, a creative vision. Designers and so it’s not this one and done, I can just plug it in.

[00:09:42] Leu Solomon: Um, there’s other things and other value that you have to put into AI in order to get an output that really speaks to the work and design that you’re trying to achieve.

[00:09:54] Tessa Burg: Yeah, and I can say just from seeing some outputs, you can tell when a designer did the prompting. And worked on that deliverable throughout the design and client process versus when someone like me is trying to just get a stinking background image for a PowerPoint, I just can’t get it right.

[00:10:11] Tessa Burg: But it, it is because I don’t have that design experience. And I love that you’re still using this as a way to collaborate and you weren’t the only person on the project.

[00:10:24] Leu Solomon: Mm-hmm.

[00:10:24] Tessa Burg: And that because of your design experience. You have a higher standard for what quality’s gonna look like and you know, which details matter.

[00:10:35] Tessa Burg: Uh, so tell me a little bit about the tool you used and, um, was it, how did you know that that was the right tool for this client and for this job?

[00:10:48] Leu Solomon: Well, part of it is looking to, yes. I saw an opportunity to use AI for this project, but I also had a curiosity in myself of wanting to use some of these platforms and exploring more, and this gave me the opportunity to do that.

[00:11:04] Leu Solomon: So I thought, let’s jump on this. Let’s try it. And so not only did I use it in the boards and I’m. That’s where I’m starting to see what levers, what things I can push to create something that is looking like what I’m envisioning in my head. And then I’m getting the head nod from the client along the way.

[00:11:22] Leu Solomon: Like, oh yes, I like this. Okay, move forward with the, you know, AI generated one. So then I can dive a little bit deeper. And I used Adobe Firefly. This project was done in. Of 2024. So AI moves real fast. So there’s been changes and whatnot. Essentially I took the client’s photo of the exterior of one of their buildings that they wanted to have illustrated, and I put that in.

[00:11:50] Leu Solomon: Um, if anyone’s familiar with Adobe Firefly, I put that into the composition reference. Section. And then I took the AI image from the boards that I had generated using their keywords, and I, um, popped that into the style reference. And then on top of that, I popped in a prompt that had been using for the boards that was giving me the tone, the vibe that I was looking for.

[00:12:19] Leu Solomon: So the prompt was. Moody architectural illustration of building exterior with watercolor accents on a white background. And then that’s where I was getting some results that really were feeling close to the look I was trying to achieve. And um, what’s great is it gave us this framework, this really solid framework to work on top of.

[00:12:40] Leu Solomon: Um, but I will say that just got us to the start of the brief and. I would say the starting line of how we’re gonna move forward, we are still a ways off of that finish line. So it was like part one, now we got something we can work with and we are spending less hours on building maybe what you could say, some of the boring stuff, just the structure and trying to get that piece done and AI did that much faster.

[00:13:07] Leu Solomon: And now we can put in those extras, those design elements and really craft a design that is custom made for the client.

[00:13:16] Tessa Burg: What were some other benefits that came out of using this process? Like did this decrease rounds of changes? Did it help you apply feedback faster? And what was the client’s overall reaction to the final product?

[00:13:32] Leu Solomon: I mean, we can just move a lot faster. So we’re iterating. I don’t like something here, or we don’t like the windows here, we don’t like this. Look, all right, I can iterate, iterate, iterate, get something faster. And then that gives us more time to do the things that we’re really great at. So our design, our, you know, hand painted watercolor elements are, we’re thinking about composition and layout.

[00:13:57] Leu Solomon: All of those things we just got to do faster. And that’s the fun part. That’s the part where I think we can really shine. Um, and I worked with a lot of different people in, in the company to try to get this design. So, uh, Billy, one of our Senior Designers is somebody I worked with and he really got to kind of stretch his chops as well and, and doing the thing he did well, um, and having some fun kind of playing with AI to make that happen.

[00:14:27] Tessa Burg: So since this project, have you used AI as a part of your process on other projects, and how has it changed sort of the way you are working, um, today and as you move forward? Uh, in, in design in general and in the creative field?

[00:14:47] Leu Solomon: I think anytime there’s something new and you get the opportunity to work with it and see its benefits, you slowly get to figure out how to integrate it, it integrate it into a more seamless piece of your workflow.

[00:14:59] Leu Solomon: So I said, I, I think I said it earlier, but it, it didn’t replace any of the design I do or my creative thinking. It just helps me do more of it. So now that I have a baseline of, Ooh, this worked really well, let me try. Adding onto it. Let me, let me use this as the starting line for all of my other projects when I start something, um, to see if it has some benefits right outta the gate so that I’m getting further and further into what I can use AI for or what I think could benefit clients as I think about how to incorporate AI. If that makes sense.

[00:15:42] Tessa Burg: Oh, it totally makes sense. Even when you were describing the way you were interacting with Adobe Firefly and Cheryl, our producer, said this before the interview, it sounded like you were giving instructions to a junior designer and you were directing the machine, giving it feedback and guidance, but instead of giving direction and waiting a few days. Or even a week to see the output. It’s happening immediately. And you are able to keep pushing and exploring in real time, and I think that’s a huge benefit.

[00:16:17] Tessa Burg: But the other side of that, and I, I’m curious, have you ever wondered how this impacts junior designers and, you know, does this have an implication down the road if we’re directing agents and directing machines to do work that maybe a junior designer would have done in the past.

[00:16:37] Leu Solomon: That’s very interesting and something I maybe haven’t thought of before. I mean, I guess I just go back to, I don’t know if it ever replaces. There’s still a need for design and starting, I think. Maybe junior designers are able to use it in their work a little bit more to help them level up. ’cause I would say that process of trial and error or failing and. Figuring it out fast, as they say, failing fast.

[00:17:18] Leu Solomon: You get to do that with AI. You get to see what works and doesn’t work, and there might be actually more opportunity for junior designers to incorporate that into their work and then have an output of work that’s at a higher level than if they would’ve just started from, from no AI, zero.

[00:17:40] Tessa Burg: I love that response because it emphasizes that what’s most important in AI and really any profession, whether you’re junior or senior, is the critical thinking.

[00:17:50] Leu Solomon: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:50] Tessa Burg: Is the being curious and knowing what are the what right. Questions to ask and how to fail fast, learn from those failures and keep going. Uh, this was a big question. I was at a CIO conference last week and it was really interesting that. There’s all these stats about lack of hiring the number of jobs that have been lost as a result of ai, but at the same time, the other side of the equation, people like you who are leaning into you and being curious about building these skills are generating more value today than they did before.

[00:18:28] Tessa Burg: So there is this boon in value creation and skill development. And reimagining what’s possible. Uh, and I think as no matter what level we’re at, but Junior, if this is a part of the way you do work from the start, you really might not even know any different. Like if you’re a good creative problem solver or a critical thinker, you, you preserve that AI doesn’t take away from it. And in fact, you can apply it to the way that you use AI.

[00:19:00] Leu Solomon: Well, and the product for this isn’t AI I mean, I’m not selling or designing AI. I’m selling the outcome of it, the output, and so. You know, it, it doesn’t replace the design or the roles of designers or creative vision. It only supports it. Um, and I think about it, kind of like when computers first came on, right?

[00:19:22] Leu Solomon: Computers could do all these, had all these design programs and, you know, designers had to figure out how to move from paper into computers. Um, and the tools may have changed, but I think the expertise, the thinking, the ideas still matter. And maybe if we think about that as. Where we are again and we just dive further in.

[00:19:42] Tessa Burg: Leu, this has been a great conversation. We’ve hit on so much, and just to some main takeaways that I’m walking away with for people who are looking to explore using AI and are cautious about exposing their use of it to their clients. Um, to their bosses or whoever. I also know there are companies that have mandates like don’t use ai, so maybe using your personal use, wanna approach that question?

[00:20:10] Tessa Burg: You’ve laid out a really nice foundation for a value-centric framework. How can we leverage AI to extract more value for our clients? In a way that we would not have been able to do either within their budget, within this timeframe with these resources. So we’re, we are delivering more with less. Uh, the other thing that you hit on is that the future is bright for creative thinking and creativity as long as we stay curious, and I love that.

[00:20:43] Tessa Burg: Your last comment about, you know, you’re not designing AI, it’s, this is the story. This story is not about AI, it’s about the outcome.

[00:20:50] Leu Solomon: Mm-hmm.

[00:20:51] Tessa Burg: The client, uh, and this is a podcast so we can’t, can’t see the visual, but the end product was absolutely gorgeous and it had that sort of movie poster effect and it was highly impactful.

[00:21:05] Tessa Burg: You shared that there was, there was so much design to get those details right that AI still can’t do. And so I, I thank you for sharing this story and I hope that others are inspired to get curious, have those conversations up front, bring your clients along, bring your leadership along, do demos often because.

[00:21:26] Tessa Burg: It’s not something we can ignore or not do, and when we keep it couched in that value creation equation, then there is that mutual benefit for everyone involved.

[00:21:39] Leu Solomon: I mean, I would say because we used AI, everybody wanted this. The client didn’t care how we got there. They really cared that they got everything they wanted within budget.

[00:21:48] Leu Solomon: And so by finding those opportunities to weave it in, we were able to provide that in a way that created something that. Maybe we couldn’t have created on the our own. Maybe AI couldn’t have created on their own, but together we were able to create something that was completely custom and this new form of art.

[00:22:09] Tessa Burg: Love it. Leu. If listeners have questions for you, they wanna learn more about this and connect, where can they find you?

[00:22:17] Leu Solomon: Oh well they can, they can find me at at Mod Op: [email protected]. I’m here. Would love to talk about AI or this project in particular. If you have any questions about how I did anything or used Adobe Firefly, I’m open. Come chat.

[00:22:34] Tessa Burg: You know,, I feel like we should turn this into a webinar. I mean, this, this is a very hot topic and there’s a lot of fear around this in the creative community, and even your presentation style is very approachable.

[00:22:44] Leu Solomon: Good, good. Well, I just, it’s more of like a knowledge sharing, right?

[00:22:47] Tessa Burg: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:48] Leu Solomon: Like I, there’s, there’s. Tons of people here working on projects all day at Mod Op, and you don’t always get a chance to see what everybody’s doing, how they’re using AI. So hopefully this is just a way to share some of that and create conversation between people, offices, and hopefully we all level up together.

[00:23:08] Tessa Burg: Yeah, no, I agree. And if you’re interested in hearing more episodes, uh, from Leader Generation, you can find all of our episodes on modop.com.

[00:23:18] Tessa Burg: That’s modop.com. We have interviews with our clients, other Mod Oppers. About all sorts of things. AI, change management, leadership. So thank you Leu, for contributing today. I know this was your first podcast, but I can guarantee it will not be your last. There will be lots more to contribute to the community in the future.

[00:23:39] Tessa Burg: And yeah, we’ll be chatting again soon.

[00:23:42] Leu Solomon: That sounds great. Thanks for having me. This was really fun.