When is it ok to use AI in Billboard Design?
At Tasty Ad, we’ve been designing billboards for 8 years, and some of us long before that. We help dozens of billboard companies with creative all over the US. We’ve seen it all, the good, bad, and everything in between. In the past year, and steadily growing, we’ve seen more and more AI-generated billboard ads (submitted by advertisers), given to us as examples.
We thought we’d share our perspective on AI in billboard design, including when it’s ok to use it, when you shouldn’t use it, its limitations, and other considerations.
The biggest issues with using AI-generated billboard ads:
First and foremost, you can usually tell when an ad is AI-generated. It embellishes every font, uses multiple outlines or gradients, and generally “overdoes it”. There are usually illustrative elements that seem to always be in the same generic style. For some people viewing the ad, it may be a turn-off.
- There’s still no clear data about who owns the design. US copyright law requires “human authorship” to claim copyright protection.
- The sizes it generates usually won’t fit your billboard, and will have to be manually resized using Photoshop.
- Sometimes you get AI hallucinations. These are random text, graphics, or shapes that make no sense. This is because the AI is trying to fill in areas with information it doesn’t have.
- It might change your logo, retyping or recoloring, producing something off-brand.
- It’s hard to make revisions. Fine-tuning an AI-generated design can be impossible.
- Photos don’t look real.
- They tend to use the same fonts over and over.
In the example below, the AI-generated billboard ad looks ok at first glance, but it has all the telltale signs of AI.
When it’s acceptable to use AI in a billboard design:
- If your advertiser sends you an AI-generated ad they love, go for it. It’s their brand and their billboard.
- Tasty Ad will use AI in billboard design when we can’t find the image we need in our stock photo sites. This is usually because the advertiser wants a very specific photo that just doesn’t exist. For example: A polar bear sitting on a couch in a living room surrounded by air conditioners.
- If the AI-generated billboard ad doesn’t look “AI”. Sometimes AI can generate an acceptable design that looks professional and human-created.
- If you are creating spec art for a potential advertiser and just need to show them general ideas.
- AI can be used as an aid to remove elements from an existing design if you’re working with a flattened file. Like a background you need by itself, but it’s covered in text.
- AI can be used to generate ad headline ideas, but it’s best to check to make sure they aren’t used anywhere else or copyrighted.
We think AI has a place in the billboard industry, and it’s getting better with time. We all have to come to the realization that AI isn’t going anywhere. When used appropriately and cautiously, AI can be a valuable resource.
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