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There’s a lot of talk these days that most creative professions will disappear because of AI and that technology won’t replace physical labor. Just check out one of our latest videos on Physical AI technology.
Thoughts?
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For me, it’s cultural context. AI can generate references, but it can’t fully replicate lived experience. As a South African creative, so much of my work relies on instinct, memory, language and the nuances of how we actually experience our culture.
When I’m reimagining iconic or legacy South African brands, the success of the work depends just as much on what I bring to it as the tool itself; my lived experience, cultural memory, understanding of our language, humour, visual codes and the way South Africans actually experience these brands.
The technology can help me execute an idea faster, but it can’t replace the instinct behind why something feels recognisably South African, why a certain reference matters, or why one creative choice will resonate more deeply than another.
Fabulous work, I keep circling back to it! 🤍
If AI can generate beautiful illustrations in seconds… why would you still draw one yourself? 🤨
I'm currently working on a packaging project that I can't share just yet, but one part of the process stood out: the hero element is a custom vector illustration, drawn by hand from...
This lines up with what I see in branding work. The tool speeds up execution, but choosing which cultural reference actually carries weight is the part only lived experience gets right, and that instinct is what makes the work feel local instead of generic.
⚡ FLASH DEMO
Can AI actually design a mascot worth using in a real product?
I used Grok Imagine 2.0 to create a a 'fictional' mascot for ThisDay, my upcoming productivity app.
The first result was honestly pretty bad, but after three iterations we got much closer. From there, I used a few precision edits and refinements to clean up the character and push it into something that could work.
Once the mascot was finished, I also animated it directly in Grok Imagine and exported the final video.
Still not replacing a full design workflow for me, but being able to go from rough idea → iterations → targeted edits → animation in one place was surprisingly useful.
Would you use an AI-generated mascot in a real product, or would you still prefer to build it manually?
Honestly, I’d use it if the mascot fits the product. The fact that you can iterate and animate it in the same workflow is pretty impressive.
Amazing work so far!