How I use AI
I wanted to be open with you about something that comes up more and more in conversations about branding and design: AI, and the part it plays in how I work.
The creative world is changing quickly, and there's a lot of noise about what artificial intelligence means for design. Some studios are quietly leaning on it for everything. Others won't admit they use it at all. I'd rather do something simpler, and just tell you exactly where AI fits into my process, and where it doesn't.
Because when you're investing in your brand, you deserve to know whose thinking you're actually paying for.
My belief about AI and design
Good design has never been about the tools. It's about understanding the people behind a business and helping them tell their story with clarity and confidence. That hasn't changed, and it won't.
AI is a tool, and a genuinely useful one when it's used with intention. It can spark ideas, speed up the slower parts of a project and open up new ways of working. But it can't replace curiosity, judgement or the human ability to understand what makes your business worth remembering. It can't ask the thoughtful questions, notice the small details or feel its way towards what's right for you.
That's the difference between AI-generated design and human-led design. The thinking, the strategy and the creative decisions are always mine, shaped by more than 25 years of doing this work and a real investment in getting it right for you.
Where AI helps in my design process
Used thoughtfully, AI helps me work more efficiently, which means more of my time goes into the parts of a branding or website project that genuinely matter to you. Depending on the project, it might help me:
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Explore early ideas and creative directions, which I then shape, edit and refine by hand
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Speed up the more repetitive, behind-the-scenes parts of a project so the work moves more smoothly
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Draft and structure words, which I always rewrite so they sound like you, not like a machine
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Research, organise and keep projects running on time
In every one of these, AI is the assistant, never the designer. It helps me get to the good work faster. It doesn't do the good work for me.
Where AI doesn't belong
Some things should only ever be human, and these are the ones I hold firm on. When you work with Make The Story, I never:
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Use AI to generate your logo, brand identity or core design work
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Pass off AI-generated imagery as real photography or original artwork
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Hand creative or strategic decisions over to a tool
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Use your business, your words or your ideas to train AI models
Your brand is built on understanding, not prompts. The questions I ask, the details I notice and the decisions I make on your behalf come from experience and genuine care, not from a piece of software guessing at what might work.
Why this matters for your brand
There's a question more business owners are asking, and it's a fair one: why invest in a designer when AI can make a logo in seconds?
Here's my honest answer. AI can produce something that looks fine. What it can't do is understand why your business matters, who you're really speaking to, or what makes you different from everyone else offering something similar. It can't build the strategy underneath the design, and strategy is what turns a nice-looking brand into one that actually helps you grow.
Great brands aren't built by prompts alone. They're built through understanding, considered thinking and the human ability to uncover what makes a business genuinely worth remembering. That's the part I care about most, and it's the part that stays firmly in human hands.
In short
I use AI the way I'd use any good tool: thoughtfully, honestly, and only where it makes the work better for you. Everything that shapes how your business looks, feels and connects with people is human-led, from the first conversation to the final design.
If you ever have a question about how I've approached your project, just ask. I'll always give you an honest answer.