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With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the growing capabilities of generative AI, companies can now create more and more content on their own. Images, videos, designs, concepts — things that once required a team of designers or a creative studio can increasingly be produced with just a few prompts.
This naturally raises a question: "If AI can do so much, do we still need designers and creative studios? And is it really worth spending money on them when the same work can seemingly be done faster and cheaper with AI?"
By observing the market, we wanted to share some of the thoughts we have developed over these last few years of AI and talk about why, even in the era of AI, it still worth it to invest money in designers and studios.
This naturally raises a question: "If AI can do so much, do we still need designers and creative studios? And is it really worth spending money on them when the same work can seemingly be done faster and cheaper with AI?"
By observing the market, we wanted to share some of the thoughts we have developed over these last few years of AI and talk about why, even in the era of AI, it still worth it to invest money in designers and studios.
Our take on why investing in expert designers still matters even in the era of Artificial Intelligence.
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5 min.
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Why Spend Money on Designers in the Era of Artificial Intelligence?
It is already widely accepted that AI is dramatically automating many creative processes, accelerating production and opening up entirely new possibilities for how we create. Some think that you practically don't need to hire designers anymore and that the machine will do all the work — come up with the ideas, handle the execution and even do the art direction.
Because of this, clients are putting a lot of pressure on prices in the market. More and more often, when studios give a client the budget of a project, they hear something like:
“We can make this with AI for €500.”
Or:
“How can you charge these prices in the era of AI? Soon it will replace all of you anyway.”
And, of course, because of this way of thinking, companies start cutting their budgets on visual campaigns, while designers are left without work.
With the appearance of tools that have fundamentally changed the design market, such as Nano Banana Pro, Kling AI, Seedance and others, many brands have also started moving their work from external contractors to in-house teams.
All of this really does lead to a significant reduction in the cost and time of content production. Businesses calculate the costs and see that their net profit from such solutions increases because there is no longer a need to hire big teams of people to create the creative.
AI also makes it possible to quickly go through different concepts and find new directions, and in some cases replace heavy rendering with neural rendering. So yes, AI really does make production cheaper and faster.
But at the same time, another trend has become noticeable.
Because of this, clients are putting a lot of pressure on prices in the market. More and more often, when studios give a client the budget of a project, they hear something like:
“We can make this with AI for €500.”
Or:
“How can you charge these prices in the era of AI? Soon it will replace all of you anyway.”
And, of course, because of this way of thinking, companies start cutting their budgets on visual campaigns, while designers are left without work.
With the appearance of tools that have fundamentally changed the design market, such as Nano Banana Pro, Kling AI, Seedance and others, many brands have also started moving their work from external contractors to in-house teams.
All of this really does lead to a significant reduction in the cost and time of content production. Businesses calculate the costs and see that their net profit from such solutions increases because there is no longer a need to hire big teams of people to create the creative.
AI also makes it possible to quickly go through different concepts and find new directions, and in some cases replace heavy rendering with neural rendering. So yes, AI really does make production cheaper and faster.
But at the same time, another trend has become noticeable.
- What did AI Give to Clients and Creative Industry?
With the rise of AI, we have seen both an enormous increase in the amount of content being produced and growing audience fatigue with this kind of content.
As more and more AI-generated visuals flood our feeds, people get tired of seeing them very quickly. Combined with growing visual literacy, this means that viewers can often recognize within the very first second whether something was made manually or generated by AI.
Now, anyone can create a very similar visual using Nano Banana, Kling AI or others. This leads us to a broader trend that will most likely define the use of AI in creative production in the future: the more accessible production becomes, the more important the idea behind it becomes.
Anyway, brands still need to come up with ideas, create memorable concepts, find new visual languages and give people a reason to pay attention. AI has simply changed the speed and the form in which those ideas can be brought to life. What once required days or weeks of production can now be explored and produced much faster — but the need for something original, relevant and creatively meaningful remains exactly the same.
As more and more AI-generated visuals flood our feeds, people get tired of seeing them very quickly. Combined with growing visual literacy, this means that viewers can often recognize within the very first second whether something was made manually or generated by AI.
Now, anyone can create a very similar visual using Nano Banana, Kling AI or others. This leads us to a broader trend that will most likely define the use of AI in creative production in the future: the more accessible production becomes, the more important the idea behind it becomes.
Anyway, brands still need to come up with ideas, create memorable concepts, find new visual languages and give people a reason to pay attention. AI has simply changed the speed and the form in which those ideas can be brought to life. What once required days or weeks of production can now be explored and produced much faster — but the need for something original, relevant and creatively meaningful remains exactly the same.
2. The Problem With AI Content
If your idea is weak from a creative point of view, AI will only make the situation with the content even worse. And if the idea is interesting and potentially viral, viewers will often close their eyes to the fact that the visuals were generated. In this way, projects like Gossip Goblin and Spikeandred are good examples. Their visuals are AI-generated, but people engage wtih them because the ideas are interesting, unexpected and worth sharing. Behind these projects are still creative teams, directors and designers who shape the concepts, develop the visual language and curate the AI-generated output.
AI is just a tool. The thing that makes a project cool is still the idea and efforts behind it. This confirms the fact that good content needs to bring some kind of value to the viewer — an unusual visual narrative, perspective on things, interesting facts, emotions.
When a company simply shows its product through an AI-generated visual, without any attempt to provide some kind of value to the viewer, it's almost guaranteed that this video will get very little reach and receive even a dismissive reaction. If the company doesn't care about its content, then why should consumers care about this company? Subconsciously, the audience begins to perceive the brand and its products as 'cheap'. If a company decides to cut corners on its visual communication, consumers will naturally assume they are also cutting corners on their product quality. Ultimately, this "cost-saving" approach leads to a severe loss of brand trust and image.
Working with designers, 3D artists, animators or combining traditional production with AI could give the final result a stronger intention and value. The audience is more likely to perceive it as something that was deliberately created for the brand rather than something that could have been generated by anyone in a few minutes.
AI is just a tool. The thing that makes a project cool is still the idea and efforts behind it. This confirms the fact that good content needs to bring some kind of value to the viewer — an unusual visual narrative, perspective on things, interesting facts, emotions.
When a company simply shows its product through an AI-generated visual, without any attempt to provide some kind of value to the viewer, it's almost guaranteed that this video will get very little reach and receive even a dismissive reaction. If the company doesn't care about its content, then why should consumers care about this company? Subconsciously, the audience begins to perceive the brand and its products as 'cheap'. If a company decides to cut corners on its visual communication, consumers will naturally assume they are also cutting corners on their product quality. Ultimately, this "cost-saving" approach leads to a severe loss of brand trust and image.
Working with designers, 3D artists, animators or combining traditional production with AI could give the final result a stronger intention and value. The audience is more likely to perceive it as something that was deliberately created for the brand rather than something that could have been generated by anyone in a few minutes.
3. AI Can't Fix a Bad Idea
Even in the era of AI, It is very difficult to replace the valuable experience that creative teams build over years and decades.
You want a beautiful generated shot?
You still need to know how to set up the lighting, color and composition.
Very often, text and graphics start moving or breaking in AI-generated video?
You still need compositing artists who can combine the necessary footage, create patches and fixes, and make the final visual look good.
Tired of wrestling with prompts and still not getting the result you want?
Professional design teams know how to prepare both the assets and the inputs correctly to get high-quality AI video without the endless trial and error.
AI helps to quickly go through different options and find concepts. In some cases, it can replace heavy rendering with neural rendering. This really does make production cheaper.
But it doesn't eliminate the need for people who understand how to create the final result.
AI becomes a tool inside the production pipeline rather than a replacement for the entire creative expertise behind it.
You are paying a design team for their deep knowledge. Only specialized professionals can solve the flaws AI inevitably outputs — the exact issues that instantly make your content look cheap if left unfixed. Hybrid workflow, seamlessly combining traditional pipelines with AI — become your true killer feature.
With modern technologies, studios can push creative boundaries even further: producing higher volumes of exceptional work, faster and more cost-effectively than ever before.
You want a beautiful generated shot?
You still need to know how to set up the lighting, color and composition.
Very often, text and graphics start moving or breaking in AI-generated video?
You still need compositing artists who can combine the necessary footage, create patches and fixes, and make the final visual look good.
Tired of wrestling with prompts and still not getting the result you want?
Professional design teams know how to prepare both the assets and the inputs correctly to get high-quality AI video without the endless trial and error.
AI helps to quickly go through different options and find concepts. In some cases, it can replace heavy rendering with neural rendering. This really does make production cheaper.
But it doesn't eliminate the need for people who understand how to create the final result.
AI becomes a tool inside the production pipeline rather than a replacement for the entire creative expertise behind it.
You are paying a design team for their deep knowledge. Only specialized professionals can solve the flaws AI inevitably outputs — the exact issues that instantly make your content look cheap if left unfixed. Hybrid workflow, seamlessly combining traditional pipelines with AI — become your true killer feature.
With modern technologies, studios can push creative boundaries even further: producing higher volumes of exceptional work, faster and more cost-effectively than ever before.
4. What are You Actually Paying
a Design Studio For?
Does AI make final project budgets significantly lower? Not necessarily.
The main difference is that today, within the same amount of time, creative studios can create much more content. AI allows teams to move faster, test more options and produce more variations. So the cost of producing one particular element can decrease, but the value of a good creative process does not disappear.
The technology simply allows creative teams to use the same amount of time more efficiently and produce significantly more output.
The main difference is that today, within the same amount of time, creative studios can create much more content. AI allows teams to move faster, test more options and produce more variations. So the cost of producing one particular element can decrease, but the value of a good creative process does not disappear.
The technology simply allows creative teams to use the same amount of time more efficiently and produce significantly more output.
5. More Output, not Necessarily Lower Value
In the hands of an inexperienced person, AI can feel almost magical. It creates the impression that it can do everything. But viewers can still subconsciously feel whether something has been made professionally or not.
If you want your organization to communicate that you are professional, reliable and care about what you do, your visual representation needs to communicate the same thing. That's why even with AI you have to bring design teams on board that can help you execute your ideas on the highest possible level.
There are exceptions, of course. For some government or public organisations, the quality of the image itself may not be the priority. A hospital, for example, may not care whether an image was generated by AI or produced completely by a human. Its priority is to communicate important information clearly and effectively — sometimes to save lives.
When everyone can generate visuals, the visual itself is no longer the advantage. The advantage is knowing what to create, why to create it and how to make people care about it.
AI can help you produce the visual. A good design team knows what the visual should be.
If you want your organization to communicate that you are professional, reliable and care about what you do, your visual representation needs to communicate the same thing. That's why even with AI you have to bring design teams on board that can help you execute your ideas on the highest possible level.
There are exceptions, of course. For some government or public organisations, the quality of the image itself may not be the priority. A hospital, for example, may not care whether an image was generated by AI or produced completely by a human. Its priority is to communicate important information clearly and effectively — sometimes to save lives.
When everyone can generate visuals, the visual itself is no longer the advantage. The advantage is knowing what to create, why to create it and how to make people care about it.
AI can help you produce the visual. A good design team knows what the visual should be.