Graphic design as a field is no stranger to scrutiny. By combining art in a physical form with technology and sales, graphic design made people question its authenticity when it entered the world of art, as it heavily relies on technology.
And now, as technology develops into artificial intelligence, graphic design has begun to attract the attention of AI critics, but this time, it is not out of scrutiny but rather concern for designers.
AI has become a fear for almost every career field, but as we look at the proposed threat it could have on the arts, graphic designers at Colorado State University argued that it is not a threat, but rather a shift in the direction of the field.
“The career has already changed,” said Roberto Muntoreanu, practicing artist and professor of graphic design at CSU. “AI already changed it.”
This is a common conversation for many college students in 2025, as the shift toward AI instills a certain level of fear surrounding career stability after students graduate. However, Muntoreanu said that a key aspect of graphic design is getting lost in the fear.
“Is it changing? Yes.” Muntoreanu said. “Should we be crazy concerned about it? Not that much. Everything is going to change, … but what is not going to change is the interaction between humans. That is what we need to focus on more.”
Humans need and want the physical. We want human connection, and more than that, we want the complexity that comes with connection — something that has been drastically underestimated.
When Pinterest came to the internet, photos of new places and different cultures were more accessible than ever, but people didn’t stop traveling to see the world for themselves. When YouTube developed a large community in video game streaming, the videos that gained the most attention were the ones with human gamers actively participating in the video. And when music became digitized on streaming platforms, people continued to sell out stadiums to see musicians perform live. Technology has always changed the ways in which artists create, and it has always influenced innovation. And, let’s be honest, what would art be without influence?
“Within art and design, a lot of the ways I have grown in this field are with a huge realization that nothing is original,” said Camden Habgood, a fourth-year graphic design student at CSU. “A lot of the things we create are compounded on things that we have experienced or felt or seen in ways that we might not have known we had. … The ways in which nothing with AI is original versus how nothing with us humans is original is very different. It’s in … the complexity of thought and connecting ideas that haven’t been connected previously.”
When looking at AI’s influence on creativity, there has to be a certain amount of understanding that there exists a portion of people who do not see the importance in physically created art, but that does not make up the majority of society — AI or not.
“What makes sense to me is that people who wouldn’t have hired artists in the first place are the ones that use AI, but people who care about taste and working with a human being to make creative decisions for their brand are the people that are still going to do that,” said Henry Reed, a fourth-year student at CSU double majoring in graphic design and electronic art. “I do think people have a desire for human taste, and people who have been hiring artists in the past will continue to care about that.”
“Design specifically is a human-centered methodology. I need to understand you so I can design for you, and when I say you, I don’t mean just you as a person, but your group of people. AI cannot do that, because while as a tool it can make things faster, it cannot create the connection or the empathy that is necessary to design for someone.” -Roberto Muntoreanu, CSU graphic design professor
But these are the choices of the viewers, the clients and the appreciators. How does this shift when the responsibility lies in the hands of the creator? In a field where art is combined with technology to produce an engaging, tailored message, why can’t AI just do it? This is the question many spectators keep coming back to, but in the world of design, the answer is very simple.
“Design specifically is a human-centered methodology,” Muntoreanu said. “I need to understand you so I can design for you, and when I say you, I don’t mean just you as a person, but your group of people. AI cannot do that, because while as a tool it can make things faster, it cannot create the connection or the empathy that is necessary to design for someone.”
A third side to this complex issue is that the lines of communication AI runs off of are in the past, only knowing as much as the people using it and eliminating the chance for true creative innovation on its own. This is known by professionals across many fields, allowing for distinction between what is AI versus human-created.
Muntoreanu said that, academically, CSU’s graphic design department is taking a “tool over product” approach to AI by understanding that AI is a broad range of tools, and when looking at the terminology correctly, it is a part of graphic design’s future. Whether that is in the creative process, using digital mood boards, or even in the use of the programs, AI is already a part of graphic design. But, as we know, it cannot do much. So, in response to AI, professors have prioritized making sure students are skilled enough not to rely on AI as a final art form, but that they become knowledgeable enough within the programs to use it as a tool.
Many students within the department expressed an overall frustration with the narrative that AI can do their jobs in the first place. Even in a classroom setting where professors have allowed experimentation with AI in their projects, Muntoreanu found that the experiments only emphasized to students that AI is not capable of creating art in the ways they can. This further reaffirmed the consensus that, in the end, skill is more important than technological support.
If anything, Muntoreanu said AI seems to be reinforcing students’ need for the physical.
“What we see in more and more senior designers is coming back to the craft, coming back to what makes their work unique.”
AI is shifting the craft of graphic design, but in turn, it is also beginning to push human innovation and competition within AI. Designers, more than ever before, are relying on their skills, coming back to the beauty of the physical touch in art and remembering the whole point of graphic design: the human experience.
Reach Ruby Secrest at entertainment@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
