Powered by imagination: how I’m making stock imagery creative with AI
I have a confession: I’m a Creative Director and I’m embracing AI.
Rather than something to fear, I think AI can supercharge our creative work. At The Frameworks we’re already seeing the very real benefits of practical, small AI projects with our clients.
One of those projects is AI-generated imagery. Programmes such as DALL-E, MidJourney and Adobe Firefly allow you to create imagery from scratch. I’m experimenting with AI to create original, lifelike images for clients – and the results are shockingly good.
Practical magic
Through my carefully-worded prompts, I can conjure up the perfect image for clients. Gone are the days of trawling stock image libraries; I can craft the exact scenario I need in minutes.
And the image quality at this speed – and price – is staggering. AI-generated imagery is now at a level where it can be used effectively in campaigns for any industry.
Take our work with UST. When the team approached us to design a microsite for UST’s AI services, solutions and platforms, it made sense to use AI to help shape the visuals. I quickly generated imagery for the site using Midjourney, directing realistic yet engaging scenarios for notoriously difficult-to-demonstrate areas like healthcare and manufacturing.
Don’t get me wrong: there will always be a place for photographers capturing real shots. But 100% customisable AI imagery is helpful when the client wants to go live “now” and budgets simply aren’t there. For smaller businesses trying to compete with bigger rivals, it offers an exciting opportunity to level the playing field.
Let’s get (really) personal
Personalisation is the goal for most marketers as it typically leads to better engagement – and soon we’ll be able to make it happen, at scale. I think AI will make tailored visual experiences for each market a standard practice.
The speed at which AI tools can generate imagery gives us more time and flexibility to create, based on individual consumer preferences – or even serve dynamic content based on user data.
AI will make optimising ad campaigns a lot easier, too. There’s often talk about A/B testing, but finding the right images to pull it off can quickly snowball into a huge task. With AI, marketers will be able to create the perfect scenarios for testing and determine imagery effectiveness on every campaign.
Powered by imagination
I should point out that image generation still relies on my human creativity – and a lot of prompting – to get the right images in a brand’s style. It’s fast, but we’re not in "at the click of a button" territory yet. I think of it as "co-piloting".
Crucially, I still feel like I’m flexing my creative muscles. Working out how to generate the image I have in my mind demands thought, imagination and a lot of practice. Generating AI imagery requires more than just writing prompts; depending on the programme you use, it can also include tweaking settings, training it to mimic a specific style, feeding it image references – and testing and refining all of the above.
I’ve had to learn a whole new skillset, which has been challenging, but it’s so rewarding to turn what I’ve been visualising into a picture that meets a campaign’s goals.
Ethics first
We’re set to see even deeper AI integration that will predict customers’ preferences and deliver hyper-personalised visual content. This could even stretch to AR and VR experiences for immersive marketing.
But as we head towards more personalised, reactive marketing (you can read my thoughts on that here), we need to be careful. Transparency around the use of AI-generated content is critical; in August 2024, the EU AI Act made it a legal requirement to watermark content generated with AI tools.
There’s also the increasing risk of digital manipulation and deepfakes – just take a look at this chaotic, meme-worthy video of chef “Gordon Ramsey”. In the hands of bad actors, AI could be used to create increasingly realistic images and videos to impersonate business leaders, for example, which could damage a brand’s reputation or make fraudulent behaviour harder to detect.
Many governments are already looking to regulate against deepfaked content, but organisations should get ahead of this risk and include it as part of their cybersecurity strategy.
We also have to consider the ethics around digitally creating images of minorities and people with disabilities. AI learns from data and will mimic any bias that a data set has; this demands careful human oversight. And there’s the strong argument that we should show real images of these groups of people, who are already under-represented.
AI’s bright future
Today AI can realise any idea as an image or video. That’s enabling me – and my team – to be even more creative, faster.
I can’t wait to see where AI takes us next, especially as the quality of its output improves every day. So, if you’re a marketer looking to embrace AI-generated imagery, let’s talk.
Me Now: Margot Kliebhan and Sophie Meadows
What drew you to a creative career?
Margot Kliebhan: School was never my thing, but I’ve always been a planner. I’d spend my lunch break as the teacher’s assistant, organising their classes for the rest of the day, or planning for the types of things you plan for in high school.
It was clear I was destined for some type of account management role, but it wasn’t until I was introduced to experiential marketing in my junior year of college that I fell in love with the idea of working in a creative field.
Sophie Meadows: I love the image of you instinctively helping out your teacher!
My school encouraged “sensible” career choices, so I made a bargain with myself: study something you love at university – English – and then do something practical after. The plan was always to become a lawyer.
I was relieved and terrified in equal measure when my applications to law firms were unsuccessful. I had to think of something else to do! I did work experience at an ad agency, and quickly realised I wanted to be a strategist. Research, reading, analysis, narrative? Yes please!
What are your superpowers?
MK: I like to think my superpower is bringing out other people’s superpowers. I’m a cheerleader: I thrive when I’m making sure my team knows just how smart they all are.
Sophie, your superpower has to be how you always make the person you’re talking to feel heard. You approach your work in such an elegant, clear way, so everyone can simply enjoy the task at hand.
SM: That’s very in keeping with your superpower, which I’d say is being a generous team player. You always bring everyone up. You’re also very straight talking, which has a calming effect on project-based client work. Everyone knows exactly what’s going on and what the plan is at all times.
I like to think my superpower is listening, not just to what someone has literally said, but the meaning that sits behind it. It’s probably because I’m an overthinker (although I hate that word – who decides what the right amount of thinking is?).
How would you describe your working style in three words?
MK: Structured, playful, determined.
SM: Can I copy those?
What is your biggest failure – and what did you learn from it?
SM: For a long time I felt like my biggest failure was not wanting to stay at the first agency I worked at. It was a well-known, celebrated creative agency and I knew I was lucky to be there, but the culture was at odds with what I valued.
Don’t get me wrong, it was an incredible foundation for being a strategist, but since then I’ve tried not to measure myself with other people’s yard sticks. Now I know if something doesn’t feel right I should listen to that feeling.
MK: I think I hopped around different jobs too quickly at the beginning of my career. I was laser-focused on how fast I could progress. I wish I’d slowed down a bit and just enjoyed the moment. But then again, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I did it any other way.
What work are you most proud of (so far)?
MK: I’m really proud of the work we have done in the last six months or so within business development. By continuing to find new ways to get our name out there and show our excellent work, we have grown the department. It’s really exciting to think about what is to come.
SM: I agree, Margot, you should be super proud of how BD has played out recently, and the whole studio from client services to creative has done a fantastic job of winning new business.
My proudest achievement has been leading on the strategy for a big win we had earlier this year. We are in the middle of that project now. They’re a really interesting business and a wonderful client.
Describe your dream client.
MK: A risk taker who is willing to trust us. We will always put the client first, ensuring we identify and execute what is best for them, so having a client who is honest and open while also trusting our expertise is the foundation of a wonderful partnership.
SM: Openness is such a great place to start from as it puts everyone on the same team. It tends to mean that we get access to the people and research materials that we need and the context behind those too, which means that we really do the best work we can.
What advice would you give to women looking to start a creative career today?
SM: Be open to opportunities that come your way. You mentioned wishing you hadn’t moved around so much early in your career, Margot, but the other side of that is that careers are long and there is no one set way of doing things.
I would also say don’t be afraid of being too keen. There’s nothing wrong with hustling and reaching out to people you don’t know on LinkedIn to ask them about their experience. Buy people coffees. Ask them questions. Take people up on the offers they make because they won’t always get made – and when they do, they’re likely meant.
I’m also a big fan of mentoring; there are lots of formal schemes available and there’s never any harm asking someone directly.
MK: Connect with people in your network and see what fits your passions best. You may think you want to be in client services, but actually find you love the strategy behind a project more.
What would you say to a younger you?
MK: Take your time and stand up for yourself. Don’t let anyone push you around.
SM: I second that. I’d say apologise less. Not never, just not when there’s no need to. Take up more space. Also give yourself a break! You don’t need to rush, everything works out.
MK: That. I need the reminder to apologise less!
Who inspires you?
SM: My best friend is an actor, and I constantly marvel at her ability to be flexible, remain positive, question things when they aren’t right and believe in herself.
But there are so many women in lots of different industries who inspire me. I’d say anyone who is pursuing what they love on their own terms.
MK: My sister. She’s an incredibly smart business woman and an all-round inspiring person to watch as I see her trajectory in her industry. I would love to follow in her footsteps.
What do you do outside of work to nurture your creativity?
MK: I’m constantly finding ways to celebrate my friends or family – whether that be designing invites, using my Cricut (a scoring and cutting machine) to make party supplies or setting up a mini photoshoot for my loved ones. I always look for a reason to celebrate small things.
SM: I write historical fiction, so I read a lot – articles, novels, magazines – and watch films in the name of storytelling. If there’s a specific problem I’m trying to crack, walking or running usually does the trick.
This is you now. Where do you want to be in the future?
MK: Right where I am now, but wiser and more senior in my role. I want to be working with the same group of incredible people every day.
SM: One of Margot’s group of incredible people!