The Myth of “Pretty”

Small businesses have a problem.

AI.

Graphic design is unfortunately one of those things that people assume is:

• Easy

• Just making things look nice.

The popularity of programs like Adobe Express and Canva has made it much easier for people without a giant marketing budget to create graphics. While there’s a certain level of understanding here, the problem comes when these businesses turn over all the work to a robot because they think that graphic design is just making things look nice.

“I don’t need a graphic designer; I’ll just get ChatGPT to make a menu for me.” Not only is that wrong in some ways, it’s actually working against you. The minute many people see an AI menu, they don’t trust your food. They know that your food doesn’t actually look like that. Add the people who are completely anti-AI, and you’re likely losing customers before they even see you.

Graphic design is not just making something that looks good. Obviously, that needs to be a part of it, but it also needs to connect with people.

Graphic design is also a science. It’s research (“this is a popular brand right now, how do they look?”), It’s awareness (“if I do things this way, will people be able to understand it?” “is this symbol offensive?”), And it’s a little bit of psychology (“How does this color make people feel?”).

AI can’t do that.

AI only works as well as the person writing the prompt. The average person doesn’t know how to write the level of detail needed to get something that truly looks good vs looking like “Generic AI Flyer #7,000). AI will give you whatever you ask it to. So if you see another flyer that looks good, and you ask it to make you a similar flyer, it’s likely to end up looking worse. Only human eyes and skill can say “hey, this color makes your food look baby-shit green. I don’t think we should use this.” Only human eyes and skill can say “so… this symbol you used for the section here means ‘go f** yourself’ in Basque.

Also, a warning. Graphic designers cannot take your AI file and edit it. Usually, a good graphic designer may be able to make a design close to it, but they won’t be able to make the exact design. AI is a computer program. With advances in technology, there are things that computers can do that humans never will.

Also, let’s be real. If you don’t have enough money to hire a graphic designer from the start, then you definitely won’t have the money to hire a graphic designer after the fact. You want the graphic designer to create an image of a hamburger that looks exactly like the ones in your AI flyer.

It won’t. You’ll have spent hundreds or thousands on trying to get an image that looks close to what you want, and that’s not even for a whole flyer.

Hire a graphic designer. Even if you just think you can’t afford it, look anyway. You never know who might be flexible or willing to come up with creative solutions. I’ve traded for food, products, and gift cards before.

Just try and see. Don’t be afraid to look for and reach out to designers. Or do something on your own. I can guarantee anything that looks like someone made it is MUCH better than generic AI slop.

Or just let people see your ugly AI flyers and decide they don’t want to give you their money.