The design world is having an identity crisis. On one side, AI evangelists claim artificial intelligence will replace designers entirely. On the other hand, traditionalists insist that touching AI tools means abandoning craft. At SketchDeck, we’ve discovered the truth lies somewhere in between.
Our designers aren’t resisting AI, nor are they letting it do their jobs for them. Instead, they’re harnessing these tools to accelerate their process and amplify their impact.
The Real Question Isn’t Whether to Use AI
When we surveyed our design team about their AI usage, we expected some resistance or hesitation. What we found instead was a sophisticated, nuanced approach that’s redefining what “quality design” means in 2025.
“I use AI tools strategically at different stages of my workflow, but never as a replacement for creative thinking. For initial concept exploration, I’ll use tools like Midjourney or DALL-E to rapidly generate visual directions—especially helpful when a client brief is vague or when I need to explore 10 different aesthetic approaches quickly. This cuts my ideation phase from hours to minutes.”
One of our Senior Designers’ approach reveals something crucial: AI isn’t replacing the designer’s brain; it’s amplifying it. Where you once might have sketched three concepts due to time constraints, designers can now explore ten, fifteen, or twenty directions in the same timeframe. The creative decision-making remains entirely human—AI just accelerates the exploration phase.
Where AI Actually Helps (And Where It Doesn’t)
Our designers have identified specific use cases where AI excels and where it falls short:
AI’s sweet spots:
- Rapid visual ideation and mood boarding
- Tedious production tasks like background removal and object selection
- Generating custom textures and pattern elements
- Exploring color palette variations
- Creating placeholder imagery that can be refined
AI’s limitations:
- Understanding nuanced brand guidelines
- Maintaining consistency across multi-page deliverables
- Grasping client context and business objectives
- Making strategic design decisions
- Recognizing what makes a design feel right
“For production work, I rely on AI-powered tools in Photoshop for tedious tasks like background removal, object selection, or extending images,” our Senior Designer notes. “Recently, I used generative fill to create custom texture elements for a tech company’s pitch deck, which would have taken me ages to source or create manually.”
This isn’t about cutting corners—it’s about redirecting human energy toward the work that actually requires human judgment.
What This Means for Design Quality
Counterintuitively, AI hasn’t lowered the bar for quality at SketchDeck—it’s raised it. Here’s why:
More exploration leads to better solutions. When designers can test fifteen concepts instead of three, the final choice is more likely to be exceptional.
Less time on drudgery means more time on craft. Hours saved on background removal and asset sourcing get redirected to typography refinement, layout iteration, and conceptual thinking.
Faster iteration cycles improve client collaboration. When producing variations takes minutes instead of hours, designers can incorporate client feedback more fluidly, resulting in outcomes that better match the vision.
Higher baseline expectations. When AI handles the basics effortlessly, clients expect more strategic thinking, stronger concepts, and more polished execution. Our designers have risen to meet these elevated expectations.
The Human Advantage
Despite all the AI hype, our designers remain irreplaceable for one simple reason: context. AI tools are getting remarkably good at generating visually appealing content, but they have zero understanding of why they’re creating it.
A designer knows that the client’s CEO hates orange because their competitor uses it. They understand that this deck will be presented in a bright room, so contrast matters more than usual. They recognize that the target audience is conservative, so the trendy design direction needs to be toned down.
AI knows none of this. It can’t know any of this. It generates based on patterns in data, not understanding of human business challenges, political dynamics, or strategic positioning.
This is why “{A designer’s} taste and understanding of the client’s goals are what transform AI outputs into SketchDeck-quality work.” The transformation—from generic AI output to strategically excellent design—is entirely human.
Looking Forward
The designers using AI most effectively at SketchDeck aren’t the ones using it most frequently. They’re the ones using it most intentionally. They’ve developed instincts for when AI will accelerate their work and when it will just create more problems to fix.
This discernment comes from experience, experimentation, and a deep understanding of craft. It’s not something that can be automated away.
As AI tools continue to evolve, we expect our designers’ relationship with them will evolve too. But the fundamental principle will remain: AI is a tool that amplifies human creativity and judgment, not a replacement for it.
The design work coming out of SketchDeck isn’t great despite using AI. It’s great because our designers are skilled enough to use every tool at their disposal—including AI—in service of quality outcomes.
That’s the real story of AI in design: not replacement, but amplification. Not shortcuts, but smarter workflows. Not lower quality, but higher standards.
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