I was commissioned to work up a logo for a company based in the Pacific Northwest, a small-scale open water fishing venture. The founders wanted a creature resembling Bigfoot that was made out of kelp leaves. They'd already used AI to create some designs, but wanted to hire an artist to finish the process. We went back and forth a few times, and I created the following illustrations. Here's the first pass:
After the second image, they decided to go a different way with their logo, and they released me from my contract. It was amicable for sure, and I learned a lot in this process, which I'll detail below.
First, I created a professional timeline and contract for the project, which I was quite proud of. They were in no rush, so I gave myself plenty of time to work on each phase.
It turned out that I needed that time. As you can see, the graphics are pretty detailed, and making changes required a lot of time for all those lines. I realized that I typically work on two types of projects: graphic design and artwork to give as gifts. Graphic design is fairly easy to adjust, so once that initial concept finds its way to the page, the rest is actually kind of fun. And gifts are usually met with "Oh wow - thank you!" and we all move on.
I got the impression, early on, that the clients in this case wanted me to re-create their AI designs, just from the conversations we were having, which were largely via email. I'll say that I would have had no problem with this. The only real issue I have with AI is the environmental impact its had, and the almost total lack of regulations there. But AI is just another tool for artists to use or not. I enjoy creating with a more hands-on (albeit time-consuming) way, and since I'm usually creating things for myself, it's not an issue.
I tried to ask the clients about this in a phone conversation we had: "If I'd created the designs you made, without using AI, would you use those?" but they didn't understand the question. I probably should have just asked, "Would you like me to recreate your designs without AI?" which, again, would have been fine, and definitely would have saved us all a bunch of time.
After our conference call, I started adjusting the original design to create the second one, but about four hours in, I realized I really didn't understand what it was the client wanted, even though we'd emailed back and forth a few times, and even after our phone conference. Like I said, the process was so much more time-consuming than, say, a poster for a play. I really liked my first design; the initial sketches I'd submitted (drawn at the very last minute, I'm not even including them here) were awkward and low quality, but this first pass, I felt, was definitely up to my personal standards.
I also think of myself as someone who communicates effectively, so finding myself in the middle of a redesign and feeling like I might be wasting hours of effort going in the wrong direction was really frustrating. I don't blame the clients at all. Throughout, they were encouraging and responsive, I just wasn't getting it, and even their final email was very kind. I'm actually very curious to see what their final logo will look like.
