The hidden cost of AI Images and AI Logo Design

AI Image generators are getting better every day, and more and more platforms are offering images. It's getting harder to ignore them in our feeds and businesses. What are the not-so-obvious costs of using them?

If you ask most people, they are confident that they can tell an AI image from one designed by a graphic designer, and most do not view it favorably.

It's right there: one simple prompt, and you can have a logo, a poster graphic, or a social media post in seconds, so why not? And furthermore, why would we spend the money on a graphic designer when AI can do it all, at no cost?

This is the moment that we all evaluate what has value and what does not. In this case, the value is not literally seen right away.

The Transparency Problem

Your audience knows. Or Suspects. Or will. ...then what?

Getty Images (a well-known image supplier) conducted a study of over 30,000 adults across 25 countries to see what their take on the use of AI images was and whether companies using AI should disclose the use. 84% of consumers surveyed stated that brands should actively disclose the use of AI -Generated images. These are your customers.

Do you feel comfortable disclosing that you used AI to create your graphics?

39% of consumers felt some trust was lost when a company used AI images without disclosing it, while 41% thought it varied by context.

Desire for Authenticity: Studies by Getty Images show that 98% of consumers view authentic visuals as vital to establishing trust, and 87% consider brand authenticity a major factor when evaluating companies. [1, 2]

A sample of an AI logo - by Google

Now imagine this is your company logo.

How do you feel knowing that many of the people viewing it will immediately feel distrust towards you - or are you planning on disclosing that you used AI for your logo everywhere? What message are you sending choosing this versus hiring a designer to create the face of your business?

General Cautiousness: Data from the Pew Research Center shows that roughly half of U.S. adults feel more concerned than excited about the rise of AI in daily life, specifically worrying about its impact on human creativity and authentic expression. [1]

And while AI images are getting better, and harder to recognize, there are aesthetic signatures, design defaults, and nuances that we just can't put our eighth finger on, but we feel it.

The Perception Problem

Your audience can't always tell. But they feel it.

In a study by Clutch, 57% of people failed to accurately spot the AI-generated images, though 66% of them said they were confident they would be able to. So if they don't notice, it doesn't hurt right?

Detection and discomfort are not the same thing.

The uncanny valley effect describes when our brain registers something as 'off' even before we can describe what it is. In behavioral economics, we highlight this in our System 1 brain, the one used for fast processing and automatic judgment. We know what a human looks like, but something just doesn't match, we feel it before our rational mind detects it.

The numbers back this up. 95% of consumers surveyed expressed concerns about AI imagery. Their top worries: deception (71%), inauthenticity (65%), and the ethical displacement of human creators (53%). These aren't people who spotted a bad image -> these are people who feel something has shifted and they're uneasy about it. That unease attaches to brands that lean into AI imagery without care.

The Practical Problem

Your business needs more than a jepg.

So maybe AI did give you a good logo. In Jepg or PNG. That's only the tip of what may be needed, and while these formats are great for a social media post or to add to your email, the benefits stop there.

A professional brand identity requires more. Once your business starts, you'll find that you need more than the basic files, you need workable files. If you plan to work with a printer, a sign company, or get engraved mugs or a baseball hat, you will need .ai or .eps files, also known as vector files. These files are mathematical in nature and are built in a universal language used by multiple vendors. If you don't have these files, you'll need them made and that's where new costs, and challenges can arise.

Not all images can be vectorized well and it's something AI does not take into consideration with its output. Often AI likes to provide illustrations, drawings, heavy gradient use, or highly detailed options on backgrounds - none of which are vector-friendly.

What AI delivers

• PNG (raster, fixed resolution)

• JPEG (compressed, lossy)

• White or baked-in background

• One version, one size

• No dark or reversed variant

• No one-color option

  
  

What a designer delivers

• .ai (editable Illustrator source)

• .eps (universal vector)

• .svg (web-ready vector)

• Transparent PNG exports

• Dark & reversed variants

• One-color and mono versions

Not having the proper file types is not just inconvenient; spending too much time promoting a logo that may not be useful is time and visibility wasted.

The Design Problem

An Illustration is not a logo

This is not just a design flaw that AI makes, this commonly happens with young designers who do not have the experience. (We tend to 'over-design' when we are new designers, as simplicity takes skill). A logo is not an illustration; even if it looks like a logo, there is a difference.

How do you know its a vector? Can it be cut into shapes? How does it look in black and white (without multiple grey options or any at all?)

Second the typography. AL pulls from very generic font libraries and then embeds the text as image data, not as a layer or element on its own. What this means is you do not have the option to adjust the kerning (spacing) or customize the text at all, let alone know what typeface was used and get variants of your logo design both with and without the typeface (this separation is really helpful).

And what about the legal element? Who owns the copyright to images created by AI? The AI model was trained on data from other areas, which not only means your logo and look like someone else's, but it can be created again for someone else. That's a hard one to fight. With a graphic designer, all of the rights may be transferred to you based on your working agreement.

The Value Of A Designer

You get more than what you see

When you work with a graphic designer its not just about the files. Its the start of what your business identity is. A designer works with you to understand and help you explore your vision, execute on ideas and build a brand design that goes beyond something visual to creating something both represents you and your business to evoking something with your potential customer.

Yes, there are the files, the options and the variations that are excellent across mediums, textures, platform and assets, its also the information - the color palette, the names of the typeface with any kerning needed and the vector.

Brand discovery and positioning

A good designer knows what questions to ask (your AI prompt may not ask any). We want to know how you want to be seen in the industry, we will look at your competitors and what you want to communicate. -- An AI doesn't care about these things that's why so many logos for realtors and auto shops look the same.

With a designer, every decision is thought out. Systems are built out that go beyond the assets - they get to the structure, the tones, the templates. A designer has the forethought to know where and how logos are used and the considerations for each application.

and you own it.

Julie, Awedity.

below are some ai logos that have been sent to me by real clients and the one I remade for the client