AI Art Direction Balenciaga Ad Campaign

Project Name: Balenciaga Ad Campaign: An AI Art Direction Experiment

Role: Creative Director, AI Prompt Engineer

Tools Used: AI Image Generation Platform (e.g., Krea, Midjourney), Post-Production Software, Video Editing Software.

Client/Brief: Self-initiated project. The goal was to explore the aesthetic and technical workflow of a high-fashion ad campaign, specifically in the style of Balenciaga's urban, gritty, and raw photography.

The primary objective was to move beyond the typical, "perfect" aesthetic of AI-generated art and create images that felt authentic and "accidentally" captured. This involved a reverse-engineering approach: instead of simply prompting for a specific visual, I aimed to replicate the technical elements of photography itself—such as lighting setups, camera imperfections, and physical textures—to produce a more realistic and impactful result.

AI Art Generation (e.g., Midjourney, Krea)

Art Direction

Creative Direction

Prompt Engineering

Photography Theory

A series of high-resolution AI-generated still images in the style of a Balenciaga campaign.

A concise video showcasing the creative process and the AI prompting techniques used.

A detailed breakdown of the "flash grammar" and "imperfection" prompts to explain the technical methodology.

Impact and Result:

This project successfully demonstrates that AI can be a powerful tool for art direction, not just image creation. By focusing on the details of the "how"—the lighting, camera jitters, and lens flares—the generated images achieve a level of realism and emotional resonance that is often missing from purely aesthetic AI art. The final result is a series of images that look like a "leaked editorial" from a real campaign, proving that AI, when guided with a strong creative vision, can produce work that feels "captured, not created."

The project was a response to the prevalent "aesthetic" AI art that often lacks a sense of realism or technical depth. I wanted to demonstrate that by focusing on the "how" an image is shot—the lighting, lens flares, and camera jitter—AI tools can be used to produce work that feels more authentic and compelling. This project serves as a case study for using AI as a tool for art direction rather than just image creation.