MAX SESSIONS 3 CREATIVES, 3 UNIQUE BRIEFS REIMAGINING THE WORLD THROUGH GEN AI My name is David Porte Beckefeld, and I'm a 3D artist and creative director. Hey, I'm Elena. I'm an artist, illustrator and designer. Hi, I'm Heidi. I am a graphic designer and illustrator. Hi, everyone. I'm Vic, I'm an architect and photographer. Heidi, would you like to tell us a little bit about the piece that you created for us today? I was given a really cool brief to start with, which was working on a song for the project. Described it to me as the feeling of being stuck in an infinite loop or the feeling of writer's block. So I was trying to figure out how I could capture that visually, and I thought it could be really cool to have an infinite loop that came from this virtual world that then went into the real world and then back into a virtual world and then looped back and forth again. I wanted it to feel kind of spacey. I don't know, like outer worldly, not like Earth, less restricted black AI, I suppose. Victor, what was the brief that you worked on? So I was asked to look at Sydney Town Hall and how that space might be reimagined. So I guess the brief involved both photography and my background in architecture as well. So, Elena, the brief would have had a very personal connection to you, as I know that you're very into your nature and being connected with the environment. Would you be able to tell us a bit about that? My family would go away camping once a year and the only way they could convince me to go was if I had a little plastic satchel of paper and my pens, so that I could go and do my drawing with. Some of my earliest drawings I can remember were of drawing, this really beautiful, vibrant fish, but also the birdlife that was around the campsite as well. So I think that really instilled an appreciation from nature. So I've kind of witnessed the beauty of reefs firsthand. And Victor, would you be able to tell us a bit about how this stunning image came together and what was some of the generative AI tools that you were using? So, for me, initially was scoping out the site throughout the day to see when the best light was falling on TownHall. -And I think... -You photographed it first? Photographed it first on multiple days. And I guess, for me, yeah, that's the initial image there. To me, and what I enjoy doing is film photography. So I wanted to try and incorporate analog elements along with digital photography and then the next layer of digital, which is then Photoshop and GenAI. So I feel like that was like a nice progression. So, this image that you see here involves both an analog image of Sydney Town Hall, I guess blended over a digital image which captures more of the cityscape, and over that was basically layers of public domain and architecture, if you will, to really hone in on the concept, which is basically to celebrate Town Hall. My idea was to create a series of public forums or gallery spaces and museums above Sydney Town hall. It's like, "What if?" And it is like quite an art to speculative architecture because you're both expressing yourself and imagining somewhat grounded in reality, what the final outcome is going to be and how that's going to look. And I guess Sydney TownHall, I thought, reads together with QVB as well. And so that's why the image involves the pair of towers. Yeah, basically just returning or giving as much of the building or what's above it to the public domain and people. And I noticed that you would have used generative AI to bring a lot of life to the scene like people, plants and adding a little bit of that cohesion on top of the illustrative elements. I wanted to explore what that public domain would have looked like, which is I guess, less formal. And so I used Gen Fill to then create the landscaping in front, running through, I don't know, many, several iterations of what that would look like before arriving at something I was... that I felt was appropriate. I guess it's almost like going back to grassroots at uni kind of thing, just thinking big, no budget, no concepts...
because I guess, yeah, in reality your ideas can be big, but the execution is very pared back. So, for this, yeah, I played with the whole idea of Metropolis and stuff and those prompts with Gen Fill as well. It is continuously inspiring you because if you stretch over a larger part of the image that you had initially anticipated and you Gen Fill, that also triggered interesting changes to other parts of the image that you didn't... And how they stitch together and that relationship also changes. Yeah, exactly. So I found that really powerful. So, Elena, would you be able to tell us a little bit about how you use GenAI in this piece? For me, I just started with that base concept, so I just really focused on the composition, I suppose. I draw objects mainly, or like singular focused things, so I use Firefly to help me generate a whole bunch of images. The base image of what I got wasn't perfect, so I actually blended a few of those together to create the final piece. I love how the fish is almost reflecting the environment as it has elements of the coral reef within it as well. Yeah, that was challenging for the AI to get its head around, I feel. Like, I went through a lot of different iterations, but I found that using particular prompts, it responded much better to being more specific with the type of fish it was. That thing helped it to bring the concept together a little bit more and blend the corals. Would you be able to tell us a bit about the interface like the UI that's giving us a bit of messaging about? Yeah, so the idea is that, that interface is almost like, I don't know, if you had like a cool, like a diving watch or something that's popping into the frames and providing that contextual information. So it's got the date, the location and the water temperature as well. Which brings us to the second part of the image where the temperature has raised and we start to see some of the negative effects. Like, the fish is decaying and the coral is bleaching. All of the colors have shifted. I was a bit concerned that perhaps this was going to be too negative or too shocking, but I think it is important to see the images that provoke uncomfortable feelings 'cause it's not always about a shiny, polished view of things. Heidi, what were some techniques and how did you start the artwork that we're looking at today? So, I was sitting there with a blank canvas and this new fun tool, a little bit overwhelmed. So I had to just start with what I knew and work with AI in that way to formulate something, anything to begin with was the way to go. And can I ask what parts of the artwork did you leverage AI to help you get to the point that we're looking at today? It was actually a bit of a process because at the start I was sitting there and I was like, "How do I do my project for me?" Like, it wasn't going to do that. So I had to sit there and think, "What does it feel like to be in an infinite loop? How does that make me feel? What kind of elements and colors and stuff does that represent to me?" So I sort of started doing like, "Give me a portal," like, "Give me a space portal," or like, "Give me a frame that's traveling through time," which was really weird results. But you have to be really specific to get what you want. And then you drew over some of these generated layers because it looks very like artistically cohesive, which is very close to what your art is, your art style. Yeah, so I definitely just drew some elements to get comfortable and went into GenAI and [inaudible], made it render them for me and that sort of stuff. I produced paper textures in Firefly and overlaid them onto my drawings, which I feel helps blend like the worlds of drawing and then using the technology to create something. So I wanted to ask you guys, how do you feel generative AI has helped your creative liberty and expression when you are creating? So a lot of the time it's like I do a lot of visual research to find reference images, which I might then even photo bash into a rough composition. So using generative AI, I think just really slashed down on that time. And I was able to quickly test concepts, see what was... what was working, but also what I didn't like. I feel like sometimes when it didn't give me the right answer, it actually helped me better understand what I was trying to get out of the composition. Being able to quickly see a visual result and not have to be dragged down by the amount of deep etching and things like that, I feel like generative AI would help you with it. -Definitely. -I've sort of found the same thing that it cuts down on that initial composition phase where you're cutting other people's stuff together to try and figure out your composition and your layout, whereas I could just be like, "Give me a frog and a mushroom with three eyes and I want six mushrooms in the background. Yeah, it's really good. -It's like a really... -Saved me like two hours. -...interactive mood board in a way. -Yeah. I found that with generative AI, because I hadn't used it much before, the way I approached it first was after I'd established the concept, I use it mostly to supplement the concept. And then so I would have this idea in mind and use generative AI for parts of the image where perhaps it was, I guess it was a weakness of mine. So let's say, for example, my image part of it was heavily to do with landscaping. That's not my expertise. I use generative AI to help fill that in and give a bit more oomph in that regard. So, yeah, it did help cut down, I suppose, some of that research and precedence study rather than Google imaging everything, I could just type it into Photoshop. Are there any hesitations that you think creatives should be concerned about in using generative AI in their workflow? I definitely found ways that were helpful for me and authentic for me to integrate it into my workflow, drilling into some of the finer details of the background imagery or the corals or that sort of thing that would be time consuming and difficult for me to visualize. It helped me speed through that process. And I don't think that detracted from my original concept or my vision for what I was trying to create. It aids you in creating what you want to make in a faster way. I don't think you should be scared of it. Just embrace it. With GenAI, at least where it is now, I guess I don't see it replacing critical thinking, which is I guess what we do. To the capacity that I've used, the software is still very much supplementary in aiding me rather than replacing. I think also something that's really sort of beneficial, if we can help young designers remove some of that awkward stage when they're learning how to ideate and just visualize their ideas, I think it actually allows them to focus on, A, their creativity...
and all the different possibilities. So unlocking that, of course, but then also all the other skills that come with being a designer, like presenting or dealing with clients or understanding workflows. I think it's important to remember that AI is not another brain. It's your brain. And it's helping you. It's your assistant, it's your copilot. Like, it's not formulating your ideas for you. You have to tell it what you want. And if it doesn't give you what you want, it's because you're not being clear enough. So I think, for me, it's about the fact that generative AI is a tool and the value of the creative work that person is paying for comes from your experience and your expertise. A racing car driver shouldn't get paid less if a new model of vehicle comes out and it's faster, he should be paid for his experience and the fact that he's gonna perform well in that vehicle or that tool. So is there anything anyone else wants to add today? Start sooner and trust the creativity that you do have as a young person, because sometimes you might find the pressure to move into a role or get that first design job when a lot of your own personal growth and development is your own voice. So I guess spend time developing that and know the power of your own voice as an individual. Absolutely. It's more confidence. Just be confident in what you're doing, in your own abilities. Yeah, with the right tools, that confidence will only grow, I think. There's no time for imposter syndrome. Yeah, exactly. I like to remind myself that at the end of the day, it's not that deep, you're just making cool stuff for cool people. -Having fun. -We're just all out here having fun. Thank you so much, everyone, for joining us today. Find me on Instagram @davidportebeckefeld. You can find me on Instagram @vicauyeung_. You can find me on Instagram @heidissoup with two S in the middle. You can find me on Instagram @elena_fx.
