July 31, 2024

IPL Design Harnesses AI-Driven Creativity

At IPL Packaging, we pride ourselves on staying at the forefront of technological advancements. Our in-house NPD division along with our packaging design agency (IPL Design) routinely leverages the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive innovation and deliver unparalleled value to our clients. Far from being threatened or in any way ‘shying away’ from AI, instead, we see it as a potent tool to enhance our creativity and efficiency – enabling us to push the creative boundaries of packaging design.

Selective Use of AI Tools

We do not utilise image-generating AI tools for every project, however. For client design development projects (where the client or their creative agency provides us with a design), our focus is on refining and enhancing the work to make it entirely functional and workable as a final packaging product. AI is primarily employed when we are ‘designing from scratch’, allowing us to explore new possibilities and create unique solutions.

Meta Llama | Initial “over-the-top” generated images

AI as a Creative Catalyst

In these ground-up projects, AI image generators such as MidJourney, ChatGPT, and Meta’s Llama algorithm have become useful tools in many of our design processes. These platforms serve as seeds for idea creation, sparking new concepts and pushing our creative limits. AI’s ability to quickly sift through vast datasets and present innovative solutions helps us overcome any personal design biases or preferences and expand our design horizons.

Benefits for Clients

The integration of AI into our IPL Design’s workflow continues to offer significant benefits to our clients:

Time-Saving & Market Responsiveness: AI tools accelerate the ideation process, allowing us to generate and iterate on concepts faster than traditional methods. The speed and efficiency of AI enable us to quickly adapt to changing market trends and client demands, keeping our clients ahead of the curve.

Da Vinci & ImagnieArt  | Accelerating the ideation process

Innovation: AI’s vast knowledge base enables our designers to quickly visualise scale, lighting, and material finish, cutting down on revisions to more time-consuming render scene selection and composition. This not only speeds up the design process but also fosters innovation by allowing us to explore and implement new ideas more efficiently.

Balancing AI with Human Expertise

While AI can produce fantastical packaging designs that, while often inspirational, are not always practically applicable from a manufacturing or budgetary perspective. This is where our human expertise comes into play.

ImagineArt & Meta Llama | Non-viable AI structure examples

The IPL Design Team possesses a high level of expertise and extensive experience working with various materials, understanding their associated costs and helping clients meet their sustainability goals.

Da Vinci & Meta Llama | Refining design ideation

Our long-established partnerships with global manufacturers and suppliers ensure that we can transform AI-generated ideas into manufacturable and cost-effective solutions.

IPL Design | Finished Design

Our approach represents the ultimate middle ground between AI and human expertise. We take the innovative concepts generated by AI and utilise these as a tool to cycle through potential creative directions, ensuring they meet practical requirements and client expectations.

Our team’s diverse skill set, including graphic design, 3D modeling and material know-how provide comprehensive and well-rounded solutions. This multidisciplinary approach enables us to tackle complex challenges and deliver high-quality results.

Conclusion

At IPL Packaging, our use of AI in the Design division exemplifies our dedication to innovation and excellence. By blending AI-driven insights with human expertise, we deliver cutting-edge packaging solutions that meet our clients’ unique needs. This synergy allows us to push creative boundaries, ensuring our clients stay ahead in a competitive market. As we embrace new technologies, our commitment remains clear: to push the boundaries of what’s possible in packaging design, delivering exceptional results that meet and exceed the expectations of world-class brands and businesses.

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