Exposing Kickstarter AI con artists

[NIAVLYSYUG]

For me, graphic design is a language like writing and calligraphy that allows the expression of a thought, an emotion.

Artificial intelligence used for the creation of graphic images is a blessing, because it is accessible to everyone and allows us to put into images scenarios, images that inhabit each of us, while we would be unable to do so without a classic mastery of existing tools and limited in the graphic expression of our thoughts.

The important thing is the message that the visual work transmits… Artists of great talent will always be one step ahead of artificial intelligence and will know how to use it to push the limits of the possible even further, because they have the imagination to create… the others will have to adapt because the evolution of creation tools will continue to grow.

Observe: The schools of thought that complain about artificial intelligence are not among the most popular current designers, many of them, due to a lack of talent, try to imitate the graphic trends of the market leaders! Nothing new here...
This reminds me of marketing teachers who are incapable of marketing a product... the best ones are in action and not in ideology.

NIAVLYSYUG

[CrystalDrug]

Yes, I’ll definitely mention AI in the Kickstarter campaign. I’ll even call out MidJourney as the software I used.

That's good to know, it's how it should be.

I have a question for you, if that’s alright. What is your job title for work? I’ve seen others mention that they’ve generated thousands of AI images, and my first reaction is always - “why?”.

What job would need someone to generate 17,000 AI images, even over a few years time? The only thing I can think of is that you work for one of the AI companies. Or maybe you work for a Stock Image site?

I find the whole process of generating AI images very tedious. Whenever I’m working on an actual drawing, there’s always a sweet spot where you hit a groove and 2-3 hours feels like only 30 minutes.

AI is the opposite for me. The minute or so it takes MidJourney to create four little postage stamp Renders after putting in a prompt feel like forever. If I’m working with MidJourney nonstop for 2 hours, it feels more like 3-4 hours have passed. That’s why I only work with AI when my wife and I just watching a show or movie at night.

I couldn’t imagine taking the tediousness of generating over 17,000 AI images.

Thanks, Randy

Of course. My job title for work is a graphic designer and I also have a few small e-commerce businesses which include contributing to microstock agencies as well as selling AI prompts - this where the 17,000 generated images mostly come from.

Generating AI imagery can be tedious, but most of the time it is done on the side as it doesn't require any attention when the images are generating. The fun part for me is doing market research, finding interesting niches and crafting quality prompts that are profitable - this is where the process is most interesting for me.

[Honeybee]

Hi Randy, when I said that 59 parks did not have a 'tire' problem, I knew of the multitude of artists - it is one of the appeals of the book (choosing your favorite posters - seeing what other posters they did ....) and meant it to mean that I appreciated that it could result in burnout for a single artist
Have you also considered a 'no copy' version of the Travel deck with a full front picture and just a leaflet in the box containing the copy like Tony Meeuwissen's The Key To The Kingdom deck has for those who do not have the accompanying book

[Honeybee]

You are comparing forgers that have dedicated their lives to master their craft to some lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands in their AI-generated portraits. I don't see how that's a fair comparison.
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Is it fair to say that all AI-generated portraits are by lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands?

[CrystalDrug]

You are comparing forgers that have dedicated their lives to master their craft to some lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands in their AI-generated portraits. I don't see how that's a fair comparison.
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Is it fair to say that all AI-generated portraits are by lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands?

No one is saying that. My reply was in the context of playing card campaigns such as BIG BROTHER 2024 by Andy Kurovets and Gothica by Nicolai Aarøe, which I have closely observed and analyzed. Both of these projects market the imagery in the court cards as handmade, authentic and original artwork which is simply not the case.

[GandalfPC]

A few dozen years ago, before AI, Peter Max had a fleet of young artist in NY making his art for him, and a fleet of cruise ships hawking that art. It was quite the con.

I can only imagine what he would have done with AI.

[Honeybee]

You are comparing forgers that have dedicated their lives to master their craft to some lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands in their AI-generated portraits. I don't see how that's a fair comparison.
Top

Is it fair to say that all AI-generated portraits are by lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands?

No one is saying that. My reply was in the context of playing card campaigns such as BIG BROTHER 2024 by Andy Kurovets and Gothica by Nicolai Aarøe, which I have closely observed and analyzed. Both of these projects market the imagery in the court cards as handmade, authentic and original artwork which is simply not the case.

No one is saying that? You said it as quoted in my post

[CrystalDrug]

You are comparing forgers that have dedicated their lives to master their craft to some lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands in their AI-generated portraits. I don't see how that's a fair comparison.
Top

Is it fair to say that all AI-generated portraits are by lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands?

No one is saying that. My reply was in the context of playing card campaigns such as BIG BROTHER 2024 by Andy Kurovets and Gothica by Nicolai Aarøe, which I have closely observed and analyzed. Both of these projects market the imagery in the court cards as handmade, authentic and original artwork which is simply not the case.

No one is saying that? You said it as quoted in my post

I believe we must have misunderstood each other. When I said I haven't met anyone that found AI decks appealing, I had my own experience with specific projects and discussion around them in mind. I haven't seen every single AI deck that's on Kickstarter nor have I met every single backer or collector. I was speaking in the context of my own experience with Kickstarter AI con artists and never claimed that "all AI-generated portraits are by lazy con artists that can't even be bothered to fix mangled hands".

[RandyButterfield]

Hi Randy, when I said that 59 parks did not have a 'tire' problem, I knew of the multitude of artists - it is one of the appeals of the book (choosing your favorite posters - seeing what other posters they did ....) and meant it to mean that I appreciated that it could result in burnout for a single artist
Have you also considered a 'no copy' version of the Travel deck with a full front picture and just a leaflet in the box containing the copy like Tony Meeuwissen's The Key To The Kingdom deck has for those who do not have the accompanying book

Hey Honeybee,

Cool! Yeah, that many illustrations for one person would be nuts.

I thought about doing a no copy version early on, but realized I had to choose one way or the other. I chose the copy direction. When I generate the images, it’s a lot of back-and-forth with prompts and variations of images that’s starting to look how I want them to look. The copy version Face Cards allow for an almost square proportioned Travel Poster graphic. So I tried to make sure the final images for each destination looked great in those proportions.

If I did a no copy version, the spot for the Travel Poster would be much more vertically oriented. So most of the images I already generated for the copy version wouldn’t work very well within the new proportions. A lot of the important imagery on the left and / or right sides would need to be cropped out.

Thanks, Randy

[RandyButterfield]

Of course. My job title for work is a graphic designer and I also have a few small e-commerce businesses which include contributing to microstock agencies as well as selling AI prompts - this where the 17,000 generated images mostly come from.

Generating AI imagery can be tedious, but most of the time it is done on the side as it doesn't require any attention when the images are generating. The fun part for me is doing market research, finding interesting niches and crafting quality prompts that are profitable - this is where the process is most interesting for me.

Hah, that’s makes sense! I didn’t realize there was a market for selling AI prompts. Now that you mention it, it doesn’t surprise me. I’ve never used that Canva program, but I keep seeing all this stuff about designers making money from selling their custom Canva templates. I could imagine AI prompts being just as popular.

Thanks, Randy

[CrystalDrug]

Hah, that’s makes sense! I didn’t realize there was a market for selling AI prompts. Now that you mention it, it doesn’t surprise me. I’ve never used that Canva program, but I keep seeing all this stuff about designers making money from selling their custom Canva templates. I could imagine AI prompts being just as popular.

Thanks, Randy

I haven't used Canva myself, but it appears that they are running a royalty-based contributor system, similar to other stock agencies. The AI prompt market is definitely interesting, Etsy seems to be one of the biggest platforms for it and has been oversaturated for quite a while now.