Big Stick Design produces a magazine cover design for Dae Ha UK annually. It appears in the flagship publication s of the garment and textile decoration sector in which, Dae Ha UK Garment films operates. ‘Images Magazine’ has a more creative minded editorial approach and encourages Dae Ha to push boundaries in delivering it’s message.

Consequently, the project is an exciting one because both Dae Ha MD, Michael Overy and Publisher Jonathan Vince gives Big Stick Design license to be as creative as possible. In previous years this has involved models. propsj and unusual photography treatments which in addition to extensive post production work makes it a potential expensive exercise. This year with the advent of Ai there was the possibility to produce imagery without using models or props but would it compromise the creative output?

Limitations?
Like most creatives my concerns were that Ai created imagery would be formulaic, the people look like avatars and the whole effect be glib and unreal. That the concept would be compromised to work within what Ai could reliably produce. To an extent this was true but to a larger extent it became a new challenge, a new opportunity to change the rules, embrace a new tool and enhance the results from previous years…and at less cost.

Ai is a labyrinth of visual ideas and it is easy to disappear down ‘rabbit holes’ in exploring irrelevant directions because they look so lavish. The key was to know exactly what we were looking to achieve. Have our concepts clear in mind before briefing the Ai platform we had decided to use (Mid-journey). If at any stage it didn’t come up with exactly what we had in mind, we would take the elements that worked and use post production to blend them together .The message was complex and would involve our reader being sufficiently knowledgeable about the DTF ( Direct to Film) and HTV (Heat transfer vinyl) film processes but it was important to make the image single minded and delivered with maximum impact.