Autumn 2023
Artificial idiot: Deep fake, pink fake
Pum Lefebure’s Design Army made AI ‘space tourism’ landscapes for an adventurous client. By Marian Bantjes / Eye Editors
Images from Design Army’s campaign for Georgetown Optician using Midjourney. The designers gave each character a name and a back story. Only the spectacle frames are real. ‘Fovea’ with Kirk & Kirk Esme Tiger frames; ‘Uvea’ with Anne & Valentin Stone frames for sun.
Design Army, the Washington D. C. design agency founded by Thai-born graphic designer Pum Lefebure, used the Midjourney program as a way to meet a short deadline for a branding system commissioned by longstanding local client Georgetown Optician.
The team employed kitschy creatures and an alien sci-fi landscape to make a ‘space tourism’ scenario into which they could insert genuine pictures of spectacle frames. The agency dreamed up an extensive suite of assets that included print and digital advertising and animations with retro-futuristic sound design. Design Army regards AI as ‘a trend in visual creation’ to use like ‘any other design tool’.
Visitors to the planet ‘Oculus’.
Marian Bantjes writes:
‘I love this campaign because of how completely weird it is. Talking with Pum about it was hilarious, as she described the trouble she had getting that big eye image just right. Our approaches to Midjourney are completely opposite, with me giving it as little information as possible vs. Pum’s long and complex text prompts in an attempt to exert control. Her experience puts the lie to just how “easy” it is to use AI for illustration, as well as disproving that it does it by itself.’
‘Eyesaiah’ with Cartier. ‘Eyeris’, with Anne & Valentin Ludik frames.
Credits
Chief creative officer: Pum Lefebure. Chief executive officer: Jake Lefebure. Executive creative director: Sucha Becky. Creative director: Heloise Condroyer.
Copywriter: Cory Hansen.
Senior designer / animator: Jason Chae. Designers and animators: Yeri Choi, Momo Jiang. Social media: Molly Stotts.
Sound design: Simon Lister, Squeak E. Clean Studios.
In collaboration with AI: Midjourney.
‘Eyereen’.
Marian Bantjes, graphic artist, writer, Bowen Island, Canada
First published in Eye no. 105 vol. 27, 2023
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