AI is changing the design – fast. From branding visuals to full-blown ad campaigns, it’s helping businesses move quicker and spend less. However, research found around 50 per cent of consumers may feel uneasy about AI-generated ads, viewing them as inauthentic and undermining brand credibility.
The growing AI design market
The global AI in design market is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of over 23 per cent. In the MENA region, countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing in creative AI startups and AI-driven advertising. For instance, some MENA organisations like National Bank of Oman or Qatar Tourism are already using fully AI-generated marketing campaigns.
More teams are jumping in. Around 66 per cent of marketers now use AI tools, especially for content creation. Startups and small brands are using them for everything from logo concepts to social media posts. Canva even reports that 75 per cent of marketing teams have boosted their AI budgets this year.
And it works – when done right. AI-generated visuals have outperformed traditional content in some campaigns, with up to 26x higher engagement, as recent studies show. Some MENA organisations like National Bank of Oman or Qatar Tourism are already using fully AI-generated marketing campaigns.
But there’s a catch: people can tell when a brand loses its human side. In fact, nearly half of consumers say AI-made ads feel off – too polished, too generic. So it’s safe to say that AI is a powerful tool, but it’s just that – a tool. The real magic happens when brands combine AI’s speed with human intuition and storytelling.
Here are a few ways to do just that – and keep your creative work feeling real:
1) Realism and accuracy
In some cases, AI-generated visuals can indeed be more eye-catching and aesthetically appealing. But eye-catching doesn’t always mean trustworthy. If an AI-generated image oversells a product like flowers, food, or home decor, and the real item doesn’t match, brand trust takes a hit. That’s why, in commercial use, the attractiveness of AI visuals must be balanced with realism and accuracy.
A great example of a realistic campaign comes from Desigual, which launched its first full AI-generated campaign with real garments. Created in partnership with Neural Fashion AI, the visuals were crafted entirely with artificial intelligence. ‘Behind every generated image, there are human decisions: carefully crafted prompts, art direction, studio management, retouching,’ said Sergio González Calmaestra, Desigual’s AI Lead.
This shows it’s not the tool, but the vision that matters. For marketers, the challenge is finding the balance between AI creativity and real-world accuracy.
2) Human interaction and personalisation are essential
The secret to branding with AI? Use personalisation.
To make sure your content stays you, AI needs to be trained on the things that define your brand – guidelines, colour palette, typography, logo, and tone of voice.
How to make it work:
- Use successful generation examples to train a base model.
- For particular tasks (ads, social media, product launches), create unique sub-models.
- Create mood boards using brand worlds, visual cues, and 3D assets.
It’s simple to maintain your visual identity and consistency at scale with tools like Adobe Firefly or Runway ML.
Train your AI with real brand values and people-first storytelling. Add emotion, humour, and empathy – that’s what makes content connect.
To humanise your output:
- Use narrative in campaigns
- Build feedback into your AI prompts
- Always run visuals by a real creative team
Think of AI as the sketch. The human just finishes the piece.
No high-quality AI visual should remain untouched – refine the output by adjusting details, enhancing emotion, or replacing awkward elements. This editing must be done manually, with a clear understanding of the creative objective.
3) Educate Your AI and Your Design Team
AI visuals should never go straight from prompt to post. At Flowwow, we’ve built a collaborative review process to make sure each image feels real, looks right, and matches the brand. Here’s some tips from our team:
- Variety first, then curation.
- Create several versions, but let the people decide what’s best. We choose photos according to brand fit, composition, and realism.
- Reviews of Internal Designs
- Encourage teams to conduct frequent creative reviews. At Flowwow, we have internal reviews and assign a specific AI designer to look over all produced images prior to usage.
- Create Quality Checklists
- Establish standards for examining structure, lighting, texture, facial expressions, and anatomy. These checklists help preserve the team’s visual intuition and foster a refined design taste, rather than replacing it with the AI’s default aesthetic.
- Train Teams to Spot ‘Lifeless’ Elements
- At Flowwow, we host sessions on visual literacy – from how light behaves to what gives an image depth or emotion. We also cover common AI glitches, like plastic hands or lifeless eyes.
“A prompt is not just a picture description – it’s a structured set of parameters, style directions, references, and technical modifiers that guide the AI to generate what you actually need. To make this process efficient, we’ve created a prompt engineering toolkit with a curated library of tokens and Midjourney profiles,” said Arina Timusheva, AI-design mentor at Flowwow.
4) 3D Visuals Instead of Costly Photoshoots
AI is becoming a powerful tool for content production – especially when budgets or timelines are tight. What once took months of planning, props, and post-production can now be done in weeks, with fewer people involved.
According to Canva, AI-powered tools and 85 per cent of marketers save a full workday every two weeks. On top of that, brands get consistent visuals across all channels. Instead of setting up expensive shoots, AI can now create realistic 3D renders of your product – faster and cheaper.
In April 2025, UAE retailer Brands for Less launched its first fully AI-generated summer campaign. The visuals – from models to backdrops – were created entirely with AI. The campaign ran across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Southeast Asia. ‘AI influencers helped us connect with a younger, social-first audience,’ said Samar Ragheb, Influencer Marketing Manager.
5) Unlock Creativity with AI
Indeed, when it comes to hyperrealistic or surreal imagery, AI visuals are often bolder and more striking than traditional photography. These visuals stand out in feeds and are perfect for campaigns that need something unexpected.
Try these tools:
- Krea AI – turns PNGs or text prompts into 3D-style mockups
- Kaedim or Sloyd – generate custom 3D objects for e-commerce
The final result always depends on how well your model is trained and customised.
For more unexpected visual ideas during the concept phase, try adjusting Midjourney’s ‘Chaos Mode’ for Out-of-the-Box Creativity in brand campaigns.
Some quick tips:
- –chaos 0 = uniform results
- –chaos 40+ = wild and varied creativity
- Ideal range: 20–40 for semi-structured exploration
As an example of creative AI campaign with an art installation, BMW transformed its electric car into a moving work of art at Art Basel. They used artificial intelligence (AI) (StyleGAN) to project generative images from 900 years of art history straight onto the car’s exterior. An eye-catching installation that reaffirmed BMW’s reputation as a company that can successfully combine art and technology. Here, AI didn’t replace the artist – it expanded the possibilities.
As a designer, I don’t see AI as competition – for me it’s a co-creator. The idea still starts with us. The feeling still comes from us. But the final touch is always human. For startups and SMEs, AI offers a way to level the playing field with larger brands, enabling faster and more scalable creativity.
But the real magic happens when human intuition and machine learning work together. The brands that will truly shine in this new era are those that experiment boldly, customise their tools, and always keep the human perspective at the core.
By Darya Buchakova, Design Director at Flowwow.
