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【Special Feature】
Co-creation between AI and US
Generation and Creation in Visual Expression

Direction by Idea
Supervise by Qosmo（Nao Tokui, Naoki Ise, Ryosuke Nakajima）
Design by LABORATORIES (Kensaku Kato, Megumi Moriya)

Print media has always evolved, and constantly embraced technology along with industrial development the spread of Gutenberg’s letterpress printing, the invention of photographic technology, the introduction of the Xerox copies, and the popularization of the personal computer and DPT. These developments brought with them new forms of expression, a reflection of the aesthetics and values applicable to their periods, and established a framework for what we now call graphic design.

The rapid computerization of society that started with the internet has led some to question the open adoption of technology. The multitude of emerging digital tools has freed up opportunity for more liberal expression; we are now faced with the fact that anyone can achieve a reasonably high level of perfection in their output with these tools, and we now have a negative situation. There’s a lack of physicality, a simplification of forms of expression … the debate about what creativity is, and the ideas of those who imagine a confrontation might be rooted in an anxiety toward change in industrial structures: one where technology replaces human roles.

In recent years artificial intelligence (AI) has become the topic of international conversation, and though there are more than a few who feel threatened by the existence of AI, this issue of IDEA will focus not on ‘Us vs. AI’ but on the potential of ‘Us & AI’ working together.

In the same way that the internet and smartphones have become a natural part of our lives, it won’t be long before AI will permeate to all corners of our lives, and even become indispensable in the creative fields as well. With the push for a more efficient society with the introduction of AI, what roles do the people responsible for expression play? How will the design profession change? This feature takes these questions as a starting point for discussion surrounding trends in AI and visual expression.

[Preface]
Is Graphic Design Dead? A concise history of AI and creation
Text by Nao Tokui

Chapter 1　Co-Creation Praxis

Universal Everything

ATIO Studio

Gianpaolo Tucci

Qosmo

oio

Ulises Studio

Goro Murayama

Vernacular

[Round table talk]
From the frontlines of co-creation
AI as a means of expanding creativity
Yasuhito Nagahara, Scott Allen, Qosmo (Nao Tokui, Naoki Ise, Ryosuke Nakajima)

[Essay]
What is the impact of AI on western design markets?
Text by Geoffrey Bunting

[Essay]
What Happens to Value and Sentiment with Generative Illustration
Text by gnck

[Interview] 
Inscript: An Online Festival of Technology and Typography

[Interview]
Jody Hudson – Powell, Pentagram: Dealing with AI in Creative Direction

Chapter 2　Technology Today

[Interview]
Adobe Firefly: An Ever-Evolving Generative AI and Creative Assistant
Tsuyoshi Nakao (Adobe)

Stability AI：Stable Diffusion

Recraft，Inc.：Recraft

[Essay]
Enlarging Neural Networks and Everyone’s Enthusiasm
Text by Ryo Shimizu

[Essay]
Remembering of Harold Cohen
Text by Kazushi Mukaiyama

[Interview]
Tasuku Mizunoa: Designing Social Implementation for Generative
AI & Considering Copyright

[Novel]
Kyosuke Higuchi: The Ghost in the Machine 

[Series]
Design Eccentric From the World Collectors’ Room vol. 4
The Design Reviewed Archive, part 4
The Poster Designs of Karl Oskar Blase
Text by Matt Lamont
Design by Kazuhiro Yamada (nipponia) 
Translation by Manami Yamamoto

RICK FROBERG: THE BEATING YOU DESERVE
Text and design by Ian Lynam
Translation by Manami Yamamoto

Publication Anniversary: The Graphic Language of Neville Brody 3
Interview with Neville Brody
Interpretation by Kotoko Koya
Interview by Idea

New Calendar 2024 Production File
Dialogue with Jujiro Maki and Heiwa Paper
Design by Jujiro Maki

Information 

Book

Appendix booklet: New Calendar 2024
Cooperation with Hakko Bijyutsu, Heiwa Paper
Design by Jujiro Maki
Photo: Yohey Goto