Ian Paget kicks off the episode by announcing a significant development for the Logo Geek community: its integration with More Creative Academy, founded by Mike Janda. Ian will be joining More Creative Academy as part of its thought leadership, offering daily engagement, and hosting exclusive "Geek Out" sessions, including an upcoming one with today's guest, Stef Hamerlinck, focusing on mascot creation.
Stef Hamerlinck, a long-time friend of Ian's, shares his extensive background in graphic design, motion design, and 3D, spanning over 20 years. He recounts his journey from co-founding a design studio to becoming a brand strategist, teaching, and hosting his own podcast. Stef then transitioned to an in-house role at Allen, a health insurance brand, where he expanded his expertise into brand marketing, campaigns, and events. He defines "brand building" as a holistic process encompassing strategic understanding, visual identity design, and market activation.
Ian Paget kicks off the episode by announcing a significant development for the Logo Geek community: its integration with More Creative Academy, founded by Mike Janda. Ian will be joining More Creative Academy as part of its thought leadership, offering daily engagement, and hosting exclusive "Geek Out" sessions, including an upcoming one with today's guest, Stef Hamerlinck, focusing on mascot creation.
Stef Hamerlinck, a long-time friend of Ian's, shares his extensive background in graphic design, motion design, and 3D, spanning over 20 years. He recounts his journey from co-founding a design studio to becoming a brand strategist, teaching, and hosting his own podcast. Stef then transitioned to an in-house role at Allen, a health insurance brand, where he expanded his expertise into brand marketing, campaigns, and events. He defines "brand building" as a holistic process encompassing strategic understanding, visual identity design, and market activation.
The core of their discussion revolves around AI-powered brand building. Stef explains how his work at Allen allowed him to experiment with AI, particularly in generating consistent brand assets and characters. He highlights the shift from costly and time-consuming traditional 3D mascot animation to the rapid, scalable content generation enabled by AI. At Allen, hundreds of on-brand, high-quality images are now generated daily across various departments, transforming the brand mascot into a dynamic, living asset.
Stef emphasizes that AI doesn't replace creativity but rather amplifies it, enabling faster and more cost-effective content creation. He addresses the common perception of AI-generated content as "generic slop" versus traditional human craft, advocating for a "hybrid space" where AI boosts and expands creative ideas. He introduces his own AI-generated mascot, Marcel, a blue dog, as an example of how AI can help tell memorable stories.
Ian expresses his initial skepticism about AI-generated images but acknowledges the exciting possibilities, especially after seeing Stef's work with Marcel. He notes that while AI tools are powerful, they still require human creativity, ideas, and art direction, making them an opportunity for designers rather than a threat. They discuss how AI can democratise access to sophisticated branding elements like mascots for companies that previously couldn't afford them.
Stef further elaborates on the technical infrastructure behind AI-powered content generation, mentioning options like using existing APIs, platforms with team accounts, or custom-built environments like his MarcelMascot.com, which features mini-apps for user interaction. He stresses the importance of training and guidance for clients, as creativity and taste remain human-centric skills that AI cannot replicate. Stef concludes by discussing the future of brand control, suggesting that brands will need to invite their audience to interact and play with their visual identities, citing examples like OpenAI's Sora and successful campaigns where audiences generated thousands of branded postcards. Both agree that this era represents a "creative reset" with immense opportunities for designers and brands to innovate.
