From Craftsman to Curator: How Generative AI Shifts the Graphic Designer’s Value on Strategic Meaning-Making

Sammanfattning

Abstract This study investigates how Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is influencing corporate branding workflows, professional design identities, and the evolving definition of a graphic designer within contemporary creative industries. As AI-driven tools such as Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, and DALL-E become increasingly integrated into professional design practices, questions surrounding creativity, authorship, authenticity, and professional legitimacy have become increasingly relevant. The study applies a qualitative multi-method approach centered around semi-structured interviews with 10 participants representing four stakeholder groups: senior graphic designers, tech professionals, professors/researchers, and design students. The findings were analyzed through thematic analysis and interpreted using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Human-AI collaboration (HAIC), Verganti’s framework of meaning-making, and theories surrounding democratization and curatorial authorship. The results demonstrate that Generative AI is primarily used to accelerate ideation, overcome creative inertia, and increase workflow efficiency during early-stage branding processes. However, the findings also reveal a clear human-machine boundary in which strategic refinement, emotional interpretation, and cultural meaning-making remain strongly dependent on human involvement. While participants acknowledged the accessibility and creative potential of AI systems, concerns were raised regarding professional legitimacy, visual homogenization, authorship, and the social stigma associated with AI-generated creative work. The study further concludes that the professional role of the graphic designer is shifting from manual production toward strategic curation, conceptual direction, and meaning-making within collaborative Human-AI workflows. Rather than fully replacing designers, Generative AI appears to redistribute the location of human creative value within branding practices. Overall, the study contributes to the growing academic discussion surrounding AI-assisted creativity by highlighting the technological, sociological, and psychological implications of Generative AI within professional branding and design culture.