Designing Minimalist Coffee Store Logos with Photoshop Beta's Generative Fill Tool

"Graphic Design is dead! The Future is Now! Get ahead of the curve and learn how to use Generative AI art now!" Search for AI art on Twitter (sorry, X) and you will see a litany of tweets with similar headings declaring the end of Graphic Design. Being someone with an apprehensive disposition, I decided to experiment with Photoshop Beta’s new Generative Fill tool to see how powerful it is for myself. I wrote and refined prompts for a new store logo wondering if the Photoshop AI could "create" a suitable replacement. The resulting answer was a clear no. That isn’t to say Generative Fill is a dead end; it just cannot deliver an acceptable final design. What it can do is help artists and creatives draft initial concepts that can be fine-tuned and upscaled manually. Basically, what I’m saying is that Generative AI replaces a pencil and sketchpad, and its best use is for prototyping ideas. The problem is that refining prompts in Photoshop could end up taking longer than quick pencil sketches. And honestly, I find it more fun to sketch out my ideas.

1) Here is one design that made me chuckle. It looks like Facebook and OnlyFans merged and formed a coffee company.

2) I think this one has a lot of potential, which means it’s probably very close to an existing, copyrighted logo.

3) For some reason the steam is on the side of the coffee mug rather than on top of it.

4) I already sketched out something similar to this months ago.

5) Reminds me of an elephant

6) Why are there two handles?

7) Not bad, maybe a little too close to clip-art?

8) I like this one but it needs refinement

All in all, Generative Fill is something I’m going to have to work with, so I better learn it now. I just don’t think it’s going to be the time saver that the hype-artists claim it’s going to be. I think talented artists would be better off sketching ideas on paper rather than spending time refining prompt after prompt to generate an acceptable piece of graphic design.

If you're still reading and wondering, I used ChatGPT to generate the headline.

When I prompted ChatGPT to generate a SEO article description I was feed back the following wall of text:

"Explore the Cutting-Edge: Generative Art Meets Coffee Mug Design in Photoshop Beta's AI Art. Discover how the revolutionary Generative Fill tool is shaping the future of logo creation, bringing together AI art and design innovation for elegant coffee mug logos. Dive into the seamless blend of technology and creativity, as Photoshop Beta redefines the possibilities of AI artistry. Elevate your brand with minimalist coffee mug designs that stand out, harnessing the power of AI to craft logos that resonate. Embrace the next level of design with Generative Art and AI in Photoshop Beta, a game-changer for coffee shop branding."

Needless to say I didn't use it.