My 3 go-to strategies when using AI to support my surface pattern designer workflows.
In my last post, I laid out the three most important traps you should avoid when using AI as a surface pattern designer in your workflows. Today I’m sharing the other side: the three rules I stick to when using AI to protect my authentic voice as an artist.
No time to read the whole article? Jump to TL;DR!
This post completes my two-part series on DONTs and DOs when using AI to enhance your workflows as a surface pattern designer. If you missed part 1, you can read it here.
Before I became a full-time surface pattern designer, I used to work in language technology and AI for 10 years, so I’ve been working with AI models for a while. That’s why I want to share my knowledge with you and teach you how to leverage AI to make those boring, repetitive tasks easier without losing your authenticity.
Just saying this again, in case you haven’t read my previous post: I don’t use AI to generate designs for me and I don’t condone others doing it.
My 3 most effective rules for using AI in your surface pattern designer workflows to maintain authenticity
By sticking to these three golden rules, you can leverage AI to support your creative workflows. The basis of all three rules is: Be as specific as possible.
Rule #1: Always give AI as much background information as possible
Have you ever asked an AI to write a short bio and gave it 3 to 5 bullet points about yourself? Now be honest, were you thrilled with the result? I’d bet not.
While AI outputs often sound polished, when you take a closer look you will notice that the content tends to be generic, vague, or slightly off-context. Why is that? Because the models lack specific background information.
I never let AI create a complete text for me. I write the text myself first, add context, and then ask AI to smooth it over. I provide as much additional background information as possible, for example:
- Who am I — a surface pattern designer
- Who is my audience — other surface pattern designers
- What is my goal — teach other surface pattern designers practical workflows in a blog post
Why is that needed? We tend to skip this context with chatbot because we wouldn’t need to provide it talking to another human. Even though the answers sound very human-like, AI models don’t think like humans. The more specific your provided context, the better the output fits your needs.
Rule #2: Always ask an AI for minimal changes only
When I first started using AI models for my surface design workflows, I’d write a text and ask an AI to “improve it”. If given no further instructions, the AI will generate a polished text that sounds like everyone else’s.
The solution: If I want my text to sound like me, I need to tell the AI that. Remember, be specific about what to change.
My favorite way to achieve that is to ask an AI for minimal changes only to my text. I like to specify which changes are allowed: getting rid of errors and eliminating repetitions are my two go-to instructions. Depending on your writing style or scenario, you may have other requests like maintaining short sentences. Make sure to state all requests as specific as you can.
Rule #3: Always ask an AI to mark any changes to your text
This one is such a time-saver! Have you ever asked an AI to improve a text and then you had to go back and forth between your original text and the AI-generated text to figure out what exactly was changed and if the changes actually still fit your purpose? So annoying! Especially for longer texts.
Easy solution: Ask the AI to mark any changes done to your text, for example in bold text. It does not always work for all changes but for most of them it will.
This approach lets you:
- spot context mismatches immediately,
- catch any unwanted word choices,
- and merge AI edits with your original text easily (my favorite way to go!).
Examples
Just for fun, I created a table with different prompts for the same image to generate an Instagram caption. I put it in a separate page because it’s pretty long. If you want to see it, click here.
Conclusion
Are my rules foolproof? No, they’re not. AI models evolve constantly and something that works perfectly today might not work anymore tomorrow. But if you’re specific in your requests and follow my strategies, you are much more likely to get authentic results that sound like you.
Still feeling unsure about how to actually implement my strategies? I’ve got you! Download my AI for Surface Pattern Designers Cheat sheet below.
What’s inside?
- Summary of all 3 DOs + DON’Ts
- 5 ready-to-use prompts for different everyday workflow scenarios (Instagram captions, blog posts, POD title & keywords package, and more)
- Quick-reference checklist
The best part: You can re-use my prompts over and over again for the reccuring tasks without having to re-write them from scratch every time. That’s how I use prompts as well.
I hope my go-to DOs help you save time while protecting your creativity in your everyday workflows! If you have any questions, you can drop them in the comments or email me at hello@dalia-designs.com!
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Brief Summary (TL;DR)
My three golden rules for using AI as a surface pattern designer are : 1. Always provide as much background information as possible, 2. always ask for minimal changes of your texts only, and 3. always ask for any edits to be marked. In one sentence: You need to be as specific as possible.
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