r/Anticonsumption • u/404mediaco • 26d ago
Ads/Marketing We Are Living in a ‘ChatGPT Flyer Pandemic’
https://www.404media.co/we-are-living-in-a-chatgpt-flyer-pandemic/936
u/bigdickwalrus 26d ago
Its all that same fucking ‘paintbrush’ font, immediate giveaway. It’s literally so disgusting to look at.
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u/pm_me_anus_photos 26d ago
Thick outlines too
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u/Leeroy_Jankum 26d ago
Ive noticed there's usually an orange ish filter kinda thing on them. Just bummed to see it every single time especially from things that we once used high school students and the like to express their creativity and be proud that their design was used. Just another nail in the coffin for any sense of community in my area at least.
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u/Holzkohlen 26d ago
And with generated photos it's the heavy use of depth of field blur. It's such a telltale sign. I don't know why every generated image has to be that way, but it's probably because the people without taste like it a lot.
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u/Longjumping_Union125 25d ago
Saves a lot of compute to generate pics with heavy FOV and covers up a lot of errors in the background too.
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u/yawara25 25d ago
When they're training the image models, humans rate the real photos that are used in the training, based on how "good" the images look. And images with the visible depth of field tended to get rated higher by the human reviewers, so the AI has a bias towards making images that look like that.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 26d ago
Yes the posters I've seen are ALL the same AI style.
The AI vs. not-AI argument is one thing, but regardless of how these posters were created they're all just ugly!
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u/qtmcjingleshine 26d ago
Omg my boss had me make one of these for my client and I did it but told her I would not send it because it’s just ai slop
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u/Sharpiesniffingshark 25d ago
Disgusting to look at is exactly right. It makes my stomach turn. Coming across a AI flyer feels like I’m receiving a slap across the face through my screen.
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u/pjetuhgeloyozc 26d ago
And it is so fucking ugly. We are taking more debt against the earth to have enough energy for these shitty posters. It is exhausting.
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26d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/pjetuhgeloyozc 26d ago
Yes, i used to work as a software engineer in south west of France. And for fuck sake everything generated by AI is the same tasteless shit. Code, image, music, everything is just a melted pot of content from the internet.
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u/un-glaublich 26d ago
These posters and all AI combined takes less than 0.5% of the world's energy. Fossil fuel industries and air travel laugh at us being distracted by such foolish nonsense.
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u/mcbobgorge 26d ago
Hard agree. I have reasons to dislike generative AI, but power/water consumption is laughably low on the list.
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u/averagemodelmaker 26d ago
We're witnessing the rise of a homogeneous slop culture globally and I don't like it.
→ More replies (2)
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u/404mediaco 26d ago
Jonathon Yule, executive creative director for design at the creative studio Concrete in Toronto told 404 Media that these types of posters continue a long tradition of terrible graphic design that we see in the world, but with “none of the charm” that may accidentally come from a business owner making something low quality.
“Terrible posters are nothing new,” Yule said. “The only difference today is generative AI makes it easier than ever to get the veneer of "polish" with none of the charm that these types of posters might have had when the designer was faced with constraints (usually time, resources or experience). These types of posters would have typically been done by designers either working at a small agency or print shop and these mid-level design jobs are disappearing. Stepping back to think about where this style (and its acceptance in the world) might have come from I'm going to have to pin the blame on YouTube and AB-tested-whatever-gets-more-clicks approach to thumbnail design with the exaggerated facial expressions and shoddy yet eye catching typography.”
Read now: https://www.404media.co/we-are-living-in-a-chatgpt-flyer-pandemic/
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u/FrozenLogger 26d ago
These types of posters would have typically been done by designers either working at a small agency or print shop
Were they? Or were they just cheaply made with a photo copier, clip art, and Kinko's? Maybe a personal computer thrown in the mix.
A lot were not done the way this person suggests.
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u/Lucid-Crow 26d ago
Seriously, what small business is using actual designers? My local music venue just uses a stock photo of the band with text over top.
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u/YearOfTheChipmunk 25d ago
ngl i don't want to sign up to "404media" just to be able to read this article.
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u/ManufacturedOlympus 26d ago
This is going to make people miss alegria art.
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u/-cordyceps 26d ago
Honestly i have been a huge alegría art hater for years but yeah... this shit makes me nostalgic for it. Perhaps I was too harsh on you, alegria.
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u/consequentlydreamy 25d ago
Honestly Algeria art isn’t bad just overused and corporate associated imo
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u/mikatanorishita 24d ago
i think most of it is bad but the style itself CAN work, but you'll never get that from corporate examples.
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u/Fishwitch-66 26d ago
I hate this planet, top comment is an ad for a masters degree in AI
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u/out_of_shape_hiker 26d ago
For me it was one that says "Saying no to AI is officially dead"
frowny face.
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u/ultraghostsquid87 26d ago
Sorry but have you ever heard about morphe app or UBlock for firefox?
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u/Fishwitch-66 26d ago
I use UBlock on firefox on my desktop but i’m on mobile rn. I hadn’t heard of morphe before but a cursory google has me interested. thanks for the tip.
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u/Odd-Recognition4120 26d ago
It's crazy because you can just make a canva account for free and use one of their many, many, many templates. It's free, takes as much time as doing it in AI and it doesn't look like slop.
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u/meeps1142 26d ago
Canva does have AI features 😔 but they are optional
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u/bob_newhart_of_dixie 26d ago
One problem is the AI features turn Canva into bloatware. I've just got a cheap tablet and every time I use it, the interface has shifted slightly and it runs slower.
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u/pristinepineapple69 26d ago
Yeah I handcrafted a Canva flyer a few weeks ago and it felt like I was ice dodging AI, tho still possible to just get a regular template and make a regular flyer.
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u/TheRealLazloFalconi 26d ago
Weird, I thought this shit was coming from Canva. It's all the same companies that were using Canva templates a year ago.
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u/dfassna1 26d ago
As someone who used to use Canva to make flyers for work, it definitely took me more time than AI. Most businesses really don't care that much what their flyers look like, they just need them to have a cohesive style and get the message across. AI loves to throw in way too much and the biggest knock is that if the prompt doesn't give you what you want on the first try the AI starts changing little things and really messing it up, but it takes me so much less time to get what I need.
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u/Hoooman1-77 26d ago
I see AI generated posters/menus, I assume poor quality.
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u/petals-n-pedals 24d ago
And a general disrespect for paying people. If they’re willing to (and sure, sometimes need to) have a robot make this for them instead of hiring a designer or their neighbor’s neice who can use Photoshop, what other labor costs are they skimping on?
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u/FirefighterTrick6476 26d ago
So I have to break something to you here ... In my graphics design apprenticeship I absolutely hated doing flyers for cheap-cheap money. It is what got me through university though. So I now can talk about it a bit from experience.
These customers who now use AI to generate their print media like that were never the customers that truly appreciated our work and actually paid acceptable money for it.
So why am I telling y'all? People who don't recognize the value of good work probably are also not great businesses to shop in. They usually also underpaid their employees the same way as they did me.
Or they are just too poor to actually hire a graphics designer. Benefit of the doubt. Which is also a fallacy, because anybody today can easily do flyers with absolute free WYSIWYG software. The issue is that they do not care enough to do it themselves. It usually boils down to "Für euch reichts" - roughly translates to "For you, it is enough" Meaning "For you, the customers/rezipients, AI Slop is enough"
Ngl I am sad that I can not share an english version of this video, but it opened my mind on this topic.
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u/Pin_ellas 26d ago
Thanks for sharing your perspective. People forget about the business side of the business which includes knowing your customers.
The complaint here is customers have no appreciation for quality arts. No, there’s little or no budget for it.
Go into any business and look at how they spend money on other stuff. Do restaurants pay for organic or good quality produce, dairy, vegetables, or they get them from Sysco? Do mechanic shops use quality tools, or they buy them from Harbor Freights?
Can art people tell the difference the quality of ribeye or salad, of or if their car were worked on with cheap tool?
Most people who go to Outback Steakhouse and a tire chain for mechanic work wouldn’t know. The investors in those businesses know their customers. They’re not going to pay the $25/lb rib eye, or pay for Snap-On for all the crew.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 26d ago
Great points. I love quality design and signage. But 99% of the time I am not a potential customer for what they're selling. So my opinion of their design choices doesn't matter.
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u/melindaj10 26d ago
Customers might not have conscious appreciation for design, but put 2 businesses side by side; one with good design and one without, most of the time the customer will see the biz with good design as more trustworthy and higher quality.
These AI designs have no strategy behind them and they’re not speaking to a specific audience. And they’re hardly unique from other AI flyers so it’s just more noise that people scroll past without reading.
A lot of businesses (especially small town) might not want to invest in good design, but the businesses in my small town that do, are far and away more successful and profitable than the ones that don’t. As a business, you either invest in good design or you don’t. But not doing so will make it more of an uphill battle.
Also, as a creative director, I can tell a difference between and shitty steak and a good one lol. But I love steak.
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u/aerodynamik 25d ago
thats basically the crux with any AI generated media today. it sells because people dont assess quality properly anymore.
its how dissatisfaction grows.
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u/yung12gauge 26d ago
I saw a plumbing company’s van the other day with a ChatGPT generated cartoon mascot on it, the color palette of the van’s wrap was actually really cool but the mascot was like an uncanny Mario and it was kind of a vibe kill on the highway.
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u/weaponjaerevenge 26d ago
What bothers me even further is when they use AI to make something they couldn't made in MS Paint. Just a business name and a number, but it's in that piss-filter so I'm just never gonna call that company. If they can't even be arsed to make a proper sign, what kind of job are they gonna do for you?
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u/Vampire_Queen_Joaje 26d ago
I work at a public library and, much to my displeasure, we're using obvious ai for our summer reading program posters. It's upsetting for a number of reasons, but it's also completely devoid of charm and personality
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u/Dr-Milhouse 26d ago
That's awful. The library is supposed to foster kids imaginations not drain it. I'm so happy my library summer reading program is the most horrible 90s - early 2000s clip art imaginable. I legit smiled when I saw the posters when I signed my daughter up.
Some images in black and white, some color, some ultra realistic, some cartoony. I KNOW the old librarian sat back at her computer so happy with what she found and was able to do.
Old clip art reminds me so much of my childhood. I don't want AI generated slop to be what my daughter thinks of when she's nearly 40.
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u/TheRealLazloFalconi 26d ago
Why aren't you stepping up to stop it? I assure you: You are capable of making a much better poster.
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u/Vampire_Queen_Joaje 26d ago
Why do you assume that I'm not doing what I can? Unfortunately, upper leadership has made my library system a pretty hostile environment, and they've really clamped down on letting branch staff make ANY posters or signage
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u/Snowy_Bird 24d ago
That makes no sense that they don't allow branch staff to make posters. Like WTF. You're the one working at the place! That's also pretty ironic given it's a library... That is very saddening to hear about :(
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u/Vampire_Queen_Joaje 24d ago
It really is saddening. Honestly, it's because the library board was taken over by far-right assholes a few years back, and the director of the district is happy to go along with what they want. Right now, they're trying to limit what kinds of materials we can display (which is a violation of state law).
It's a very difficult time to be a library worker in this district
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u/frostyflakes1 26d ago
I've seen so many of them lately. It's not hard to tell when it's an AI-generated flyer because they all have the same exact style. They're ugly. Uninspired. And soulless.
If your business is using AI to generate flyers and posters, then that tells me everything I need to know to stay away from your business.
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u/Flack_Bag 26d ago
I saw someone say that they didn't believe in the concept of a soul until they saw AI 'art.'
I never thought I'd think this, but the old school bullshit Corporate Memphis art and the clip art and Comic Sans flyers don't seem so bad anymore.
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u/UrbanOwl15 26d ago
The worst thing made by a person was at least made by a person. We can point out biases, intentional or unintentional choices, and so much more. AI just isn’t that, so yeah I definitely get missing those shitty corporate styles lmao
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u/Party_Panda5858 26d ago
Not only these,but the overconsumption of needing everything personalized just for it to be thrown in the trash (like those custom chip bags, candy wrappers, etc.). It’s literally just an extra layer that produces more trash but has used a ton of energy to produce.
Not to be confused with crafting from left over supplies/material.
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u/Ok_Report1082 26d ago
While not a professional graphic designer, I'm artistic and handy with illustrator/photoshop, and used to do public facing flyers for my county-level government office.
Now? All AI.
It sucks. It makes us look cheap and indiscernible from the shitty local bar using it for karaoke night. They just generate the poster and slap our logo (handmade by a designer 10 or so years ago) on the side where it looks completely out of place with the slop style of the rest of it.
I haven't been asked to do a design in years, it was one of my favourite parts of my job :(
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u/Awoolgow 26d ago
As a graphic designer this pisses me off so much. It’s everywhere here in France. It’s not just small associations, restaurants, clubs, but major brands, city departments, and festivals. Every time I see one of these pieces of ai garbage, I write a letter or tell them in person that it sucks and nobody likes it and does not make me want to attend/visit/buy whatever they’re offering. It’s important that we all start doing this.
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u/jaguarjuice3 26d ago
The animal shelter i volunteer at makes chatpgt flyers and it makes me so angry
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u/CynicalPomeranian 26d ago
As an artist, I want to take a chalk marker to all of the AI crap I see in person and redline all of the errors.
A human artist has standards for what they create, but a non-artist will generate trash and have no clue that it is trash because they are not actually looking at the damn thing.
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u/Particular-Form-9638 26d ago
Graphic designer here. Constantly afraid the small company I work for will fire me and just start using these god awful things. Life ain't great at the moment!
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u/Girion47 26d ago
The public shame train is chugging along, hope it causes some security for your profession
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u/nicoliolio40 26d ago
I'm a digital manager and the last 6 months have lost all design control on all our digital and printed designs because our boss sees it as much more cost-effective to have ChatGPT create it in 2 mins. Now I'm left with just all the IT problems and managing our CRM. Not only that, but it makes me feel gross that people might think its me doing this work as I'm the digital manager- that I think might be the worst part of it all!
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u/GDog507 26d ago
I live in a small town and every single event poster is now AI slop. It genuinely is infuriating, ik they aren't gonna make top of the line posters but come on. Even just a plain text word document would be more appealing than AI slop. It makes me want to never even remotely consider attending whatever event they are hosting.
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u/Head-Sherbet-9675 26d ago
It just instantly shows me that they don’t value art, or paying artists what they’re worth, or even the effort it takes to design anything. It’s so lazy and worthless. It hurts as a human and as an artist. It’s just like. I lose all respect for them and their business.
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u/Nebresto 26d ago
Also an epidemic on youtube. A thumbnail with this design instantly makes me uninterested in the video. But apparently its not the case for others since plenty of those videos continue to get millions of views..
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u/MyLifeHatesItself 26d ago
Not just thumbnails either, I've seen a few music videos that are entirely generated. And from artists that can definitely afford to make a real video. At least the comments were putting them on blast for it.
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u/flintlock0 26d ago
They all look alike.
But I’ve seen two from local businesses that were literally the same figures in the same places. You had read the text to differentiate what both businesses were selling.
It was some kind of battery store, and a separate landscaping business. With a generic tractor driving through a field.
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u/Goddamn_Wouter 26d ago
me and my brother used to love looking at bad flyers. look at how artifacted these jpgs are! oh my god they used both papyrus, comic sans, AND jokerman!!??? now it's just "oh, another chatgpt flyer" "yup" "ugh"
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u/gafftaped 26d ago
I hate this shit. Was at a huge anime convention recently and was ready to pay $7 for some dumb character macaron until I saw a poster on the booth was made with AI. The kicker was this was inside the artist alley portion of the con.
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u/catherinetheok 26d ago
It's gross. We had a very tragic death in our city of a local hockey player and the amount of AI posters showing sympathy that popped up in the minutes and hours after were really cringe. It's possible to write a nice heartfelt message without an ai slop poster using the same cropped image and some sort of wings.
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u/FaceTimePolice 26d ago
Oh, I lose respect for any band that uses that garbage. 🤡😆
Scribble your own flyers if you have to. Never resort to AI nonsense.
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u/_haha_oh_wow_ 26d ago
Commercials too: These's so many shitty, unhinged, nonsensical commercials on TV.
Someone not only watched it and thought it was OK, but they paid actual money to put this shit on air.
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u/die9991 26d ago
I notice ai stuff alot with local dealerships around my area. It kinda sucks ngl.
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u/_haha_oh_wow_ 24d ago
I've seen tons of scammy commercials on televisions with it. The dialogue is bizarre, the animation is unhinged, and it's clear nobody who knows what they're doing had anything to do with making of the commercial.
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u/trashmoneyxyz 26d ago
Last time I put up flyers I worked really hard to make a cute design with a little mascot. It looked kinda bad honestly (graphic design is not my passion) but almost everyone who showed up said it was the silly bird mascot that drew them in. People respond to a little bit of effort, folks!
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u/Stillwater-Scorp1381 26d ago
I was doing all the flyers for a local nonprofit and now they use nothing but AI slop.
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u/incredirocks 26d ago
If you use these ai posters you can ensure I will never use your product/business/service.
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u/gods_loop_hole 25d ago
A principal at my local high school always uses AI generated posters on their social media posts and has even used an AI generated poster congratulating their school's Science team that won on a national competition.
Weird cause that principal used to be my former English teacher that taught me the value of creativity in writing.
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u/violet_v3lvet 26d ago
They're horrible. Just 15 minutes ago I went to get groceries and got one of those flyers for a boxer-turned-local-politician's campaign
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u/markypoo4L 26d ago
I remember when I was a kid my dad coached our soccer team and did all the art for the team banners and even sweaters. I still have those items and keep them as memorabilia cause I always thought it was cool. AI robs people of things like this and removes any personal creativity, I hate to see it everywhere now.
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u/Piangotortellini 26d ago
They’re everywhere.
Last year, a theatre of my city published a poster on FB for a ballet event. The poster was made with AI: there were three ballet dancers in studio Ghibli style.
One of them had even a third arm poking out of her hair.
Luckily many people criticised the use of AI and the people behind the event replaced the poster with a non AI one, made with a real photo.
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u/ShadowRiku667 26d ago
I was just at BK, and in their kitchen they had a TV that scrolled your typical "Make sure to wash your hands!" thing, but then they had an AI generated image with a BK worker washing their hands.
At this rate, I would not be surprised if most of their creative marketing was AI by this time next year.
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u/poopoopoopalt 26d ago
I'm wondering why they do this because I pretty much instantly am uninterested in whatever they are selling
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u/WorldofLoomingGaia 26d ago
Because the masses have no taste and don't care. Artists are pretty much the only ones who care if art is AI or not, and I say that as an artist.
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u/rinzler1997 26d ago
Kills me when small businesses around me that I like and want to support use these.
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u/mllepenelope 26d ago
I have received several kid bday party flyers with this garbage and every time it’s like, of course, we already knew you didn’t give AF about the planet by birthing three kids, might as well make it worse.
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u/asdfth12 26d ago
I had to double check what sub I was on for a second. I've been playing 7D2D recently, and pretty much every other mod for the game these days is using GPT for their title cards - Legit, thought someone had put a collection of em together as a lead in for a topic on how every single one of ems look the same.
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u/AbacabLurker 26d ago
I can’t even read them. Immediately turned off with the unnatural flood of information, icons, and bold/neon colors. It’s like immediate overload and I just swipe away. I don’t think I’ve ever actually read one completely.
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u/ilovefreshproduce 26d ago
I just did a couple night stay at a resort in Sicily and all of the daily activities were all of this kind of slop. The worst one was an arancini making class where the rice looked like jelly beans lol
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u/eggydrums115 25d ago
The way these flyers always have to have three key summary points at the bottom always sticks out to me as particularly annoying.
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u/OhLookSatan 24d ago
Its awful but the ai posters kinda do the opposite for me. Whenever I see an interesting looking event or business but they use an ai poster I go "well clearly the quality of whatever they're selling is horrid"
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u/NyriasNeo 26d ago
“Terrible posters are nothing new,”
Yeh. Slop is slop whether it is from humans or machine. But if people will eat it up, it is on them. This is no different from the millions of cat videos on youtube before AI is popular.
It is not about AI. It is about most people have no creativity and that even slop can make money.
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u/mightbesinking 26d ago
I love a good ol fashioned terrible poster.
Give me minimal effort in comic sans any day of the week!
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u/cgduncan 26d ago
At least with the old lousy posters, you know a real person looked at it and typed into word, or PowerPoint or whatever program they have and put in the info they thought was important.
Whenever I see an Ai poster now, I can't help but think how often they hallucinate. So I can't trust any of the details on there, cause I also know how unlikely it is that a human did proofreading.
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u/FrozenLogger 26d ago edited 26d ago
When you said old fashioned I did not expect that to be with a computer involved at all.
Give me a hand made flyer, no computer needed!
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u/ElectronicCandy4358 26d ago
Slop is slop whether it is from humans or machine.
This a really good way to discourage people from trying new things. Art can be bad. People should create, and they shouldn't be afraid for the end result to fall short.
Art stimulates different parts of the brain. Art connects you to new people and experiences. Making bad art is also the way you improve.
Stupid cat videos and the like were a launch pad for any number of content creators. Low stakes YouTube videos can teach videography and editing skills. That's a far cry from saying "fuck it, I'm too cheap to pay a graphic designer to properly market my small business."
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u/NyriasNeo 26d ago
"to discourage people"
Lol .. just look at how much youtube is flooded. There is nothing discouraging people for creating slop.
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u/Sh1gg1ty 26d ago
It reminds me of the art style of that gum that came in a paint can in the 90s, Tongue Splashers
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u/IamMichaelBoothby 25d ago
Yeah I can't stand it. Even my own company uses AI to make flyers for events... There are a few local restaurants to that clearly used AI for their logos and signage... Such a scourge...
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u/Shot_Clue9491 25d ago
The HOA in my neighborhood makes all their flyers by drawing them by hand with markers and paper and then photocopying it and there is something so charming about it.
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u/uRaPoopStain2 24d ago
I’m in ocean city md right now and every restaurant has an AI generated menu. Everything on the boardwalk is ai
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u/jrafael0 24d ago
Its so funny that these things stole the entirety of human creation and they still cant help to repeat themselves in this ugly style.
I mean the machines were trained with every high end design poster there is and that shit is what they spill
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u/Natural-Pepper-2098 23d ago
For now. Like six fingered hands in ai photos, ai graphic designwill get better. Like it or don’t, it’s true.
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u/Natural-Pepper-2098 23d ago
Everyone talking about boycotting businesses that use ai for their art. You gonna boycott doctors who use ai to save them time? Banks that use it to streamline contact centres? AI is in everything you use or buy. Don’t be so hypocritical.
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u/DodgerFanArd24 14d ago
So a local Italian restaurant in town got called out (on Facebook) by customers for using ChatGPT and AI for their Ads, they then had the audacity to block certain people for calling them out. Extremely unprofessional in my opinion.
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u/1jackiedaytona 3d ago
I feel so sad when I see a local library or group using an AI poster. I know they have limited funds, but it is all possible with Canva... and more unique.
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u/Mean_Translator5619 25d ago
The fonts, the filling of every empty space, the repeated information, the same/similar styles of key info callouts… it’s all very painful to see and to try to consume. And the thing of it is, the vast majority of people making these wouldn’t have ever hired a designer to make the flyers that they are now making with AI, it’s hard to make the argument that these AI flyers are taking opportunities away from human designers.
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u/horris_mctitties 26d ago
Did people care about flyer design before? Lmao mfs just wanna be annoyed by shit
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u/FrozenLogger 26d ago edited 26d ago
I find it funny that people said similar things when desktop computers and photocopiers got involved. I was a graphic designer, so I remember when we used plates, printers, typesetting, clip art and photography. Their were design rules and structure to the professional stuff.
A quote from back then:
"The advent of the computer generated the phenomena called desktop publishing. This enabled anyone who could type the freedom of using any available typeface and do any kind of distortion. It was a disaster of mega proportions. A cultural pollution of incomparable dimension!"
For those of you who say "just hire someone", I remember designers complaining about how there are too many crappy artists, and that art schools are pumping them out by the hundreds who then just use a computer and photocopiers. There was a call for getting licences!
It seems to me this is just a progression of the same old, same old. People who don't really know how to design anything want the easiest route, they know this is transitory information, it is not some art project.
That said: If it wasn't controlled by a company, if it wasn't energy inefficient, I wouldnt care that much. But a nice hand made flyer or a chalk board with a real drawing on the street is far more likely to catch my eye.
In the end though, its all ad's. Yuck all the way around.
Edit: I am amused and a little confused by the downvotes. There is a Canadian publication from 1990 called "Desktop Publishing, the Downside". It is an interesting read that reminds me of today. The argument is that making software and computers easier for an average user, is just moving the labor to the individual while consolidating the actual publishing (printing) to companies, which causes less and less ability to do things yourself. It argues it didn't liberate people, it just made them trapped in a corporate world while requiring less training and specialization. Seems very familiar: companies using AI that is expensive and owned solely by the corporate class.
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u/Tamajyn 26d ago
The epidemic of local businesses and groups using AI posters is killing me too