Just because AI can design it doesn’t mean it should! Hot take: your business deserves more than an AI template. Jessica here and from my personal experience as a wedding photographer for a few decades, I can attest to this. I learned this from another seasoned photographer and took it to heart: just because you can do that (insert any Photoshop idea or trend here) doesn’t mean you should. It doesn’t always fit your brand. And it wont always fit your clients.
What about your brand can be timeless or something you’ll look back on and think it still matches your business?
Now, I’ll admit I still did a few trends. I can remember my college days when I just got my business license and dabbled in the black and white photo in Photoshop and making that one bouquet of flowers in color. I know that you can picture it! I dabbled then I dove fully into that trend pool, and the thought of it makes me cringe with you now.
Another one: the dinosaur chasing after the wedding party. Which couple has that as a canvas hanging above their fireplace today?
After the sound advice I received, my photography became and still is timeless. You cannot tell if I photographed the portrait 8 years ago or 6 months ago. We want your brand and content to stand the test of time just like that. We want you to be noticeable among a grid of everyone else in your field.
Trends are fun, but they don’t always last.
AI templates are a little different, in that businesses are using them mostly for a one-time event. You don’t necessarily need them to last, as long as they grab attention for the event coming up this weekend. That’s our thought process right? But what about when everyone is using the same template for their weekend event?
None of us are perfect, so this isn’t about calling anyone out. I did use one for an end-of-year school party this year. (Shh, don’t tell my boss, Misty!) But I died a little on the inside while doing it. AI templates do have a time and a place. We want you to consider your options!
I digress, but the point is just because AI templates are convenient doesn’t mean you should always use them. I can guarantee that you are probably using them for the right reasons. Quick, easy, and ready for the weekend. It checks the box of getting the post up and “promoting” the event.
However, what we are noticing with stats is that people are scrolling right past these because it’s the same font and bold style as the last 10 events they saw before yours. They look similar, and since they look similar they do not stand out.
Another thing we see a lot of: typos. Lots and lots of typos.
We also see when your prompt plugged into AI shoots out something inaccurate. For example, a food truck posting which venue they will be at that weekend with a made up logo or picture of the place of business. A community event with a featured band where the image created of the band members uses the wrong band name, and it’s completely inaccurate. How do you think that business hosting you feels when they see a picture of the wrong location or the wrong logo? How do you think the band members feel when they are portrayed differently than how they appear in person?
However, it’s not in our nature to strongly take a stance on this and then leave you hanging.
We want you to utilize your social media managers if you are already our client. We can create flyers for you when you provide the information to us. One of our social media managers, Katherine, is a whiz at this sort of thing and created a side by side example and a video of her doing just that. We want to show you how we can create a flyer for you—not as quickly as AI but true to your brand, still fast and pain-free to you. It will stand out because it is unique.
Here are the side by side flyers. One is AI, one is designed by Katherine. Can you spot which is which?
Spoiler Alert: The AI created image is on the left and the flyer designed by Katherine is on the right.
We won’t hold it against you if you use AI once in awhile but we wanted you to know there’s a branded and authentic way to get the results you need to grow your business.
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