Abby Lim, Founder and Director of Absolution Private: “AI has helped quicken and improve the processes of translating our thoughts”

It feels as if creative design agencies have always been at the cutting edge of technology. Perhaps it’s related to creativity, always looking for something new, or maybe it’s due to demanding clients always wanting to be first. Maybe a mix of both. Whatever the reasons, you need look no further than this interview with Abby Lim, the Founder and Director of Absolution Private Limited, to see that design and technology continue to work hand in hand.

Absolution is an integrated marketing agency based in Singapore. With a team of ten, Abby is always looking for cutting-edge tools to help turn her clients’ ideas into reality, and that means AI, Adobe and collaboration all come into play.

“I think the largest shift has got to be with the current introduction of AI into the design process,” Abby told us. “This has greatly benefited us in terms of the efficiency of ideation, organisation of thoughts.”

And it’s also introduced something new ways to visualise concepts and information. “What we once thought was graphically represented in one way, can now be visually put together in a very quick manner to give a different perspective of visual representation.”

Read on to discover which tools Abby and her teams currently use, what trends are hot right now and her advice to anyone thinking of starting a career in design.

Related reading: HP unveils OmniBook Ultra Flip and EliteBook X “next-gen AI PCs”

Technology and the creative process

When thinking of your creative process, at what point does technology come in? What role does it play in different stages, from concept to final design?

We use technology quite a fair bit in our creative process. From the ideation stage, we use things like image searches in our research, AI to contribute ideas to the pool. When it comes to the design process, some AI is used in editing to remove backgrounds, clean up photos.

How has technology changed the way you collaborate at work? And in your view, has it improved or worsened navigating creative differences with clients or team members?

Working as remote teams for 17 years, technology is the way we collaborate at work. From video conferences to share and discuss ideas, drawing on paper and showing it to one another over the camera, to whiteboard sharing and drawing today, technology itself has helped us to collaborate across oceans in the most seamless manners possible. Our team members have been challenged to think outside the box, take their sights and sounds from their environments to translate it into a creative piece for someone else across the world.

Yes there have been moments where it was hard to get an idea across clearly, but that is where coming together frequently and using lots of visual research and generating AI itself has helped to quicken and improve the processes of translating our thoughts faster for improved turnaround times.

What trends in graphic design are you most excited about right now, and where do you see the industry heading?

I personally like the modern minimalist trends with the use of simple and clean typography. My senior designer likes the Brutalist trend without it being too heavy or too much. Gradients also seem to be making a comeback in the form of modern gradients.  

What tools or software do you find indispensable in your daily work, and why?

As a team, we use Figma, Canva for design and collaboration across the team as well as client teams. Adobe suite and Photoshop for graphic design and creative work.

Over the course of your career, what is one technological shift you’ve witnessed in graphic design that really stuck with you? 

In general, design trends have come and gone, some make a comeback in different ways like gradients. I think the largest shift has got to be with the current introduction of AI into the design process. This has greatly benefited us in terms of the efficiency of ideation, organisation of thoughts. In terms of design trends, some of the AI generation of art has reshaped the way we see things. What we once thought was graphically represented in one way, can now be visually put together in a very quick manner to give a different perspective of visual representation.

Related reading: Graphics workstations: CPU vs GPU

Impact of generative AI and automation

Generative AI art has taken the graphic design space by storm – what are your views on the use of tools like Stable Diffusion, Leonardo, Midjourney and others?

AI is a great tool to help with the design process, but on the overall, we as a team feel that it should not be used as an end-to-end tool as the outcomes can be repetitive and basic at best.

With the rise of AI and automation in design, how do you see the role of a graphic designer evolving in the next few years?

The designer will still have to express his/her thoughts and creative outputs through the manual if not old fashioned creative process itself. While the I feel that the graphic designer role will slowly include the use of AI tools to help with the design process itself, the design thinking process still requires the creative brain work and thought processes of the designer and that at present, cannot be replaced by AI.

Related reading: Honor MagicBook Art 14 review: making the business case

Looking ahead: future of technology and design

In what ways has the accessibility of design software democratized the field of graphic design, and what challenges or opportunities has this created?

The availability of design software has helped us get the client side more involved in the editing process. Where they can review and see the changes to made easier, quicker and also feedback better. For clients who are more experienced with design work, it has helped them to be able to express what they hope to achiever better through the use of such tools, and from there.

One of the constant challenges we have been facing recently is with educating the layman clients on AI and the design thinking process when it comes to creating anything. Many at the moment are in the perception that AI can generate things at the click of a button and hence, our design work is cut short, simplified or can be a lot easier, quicker, faster. We need to put in place a balance and help the layman to understand that while AI and many of the new online design tools (like Canva) helps make design more “accessible” for everyone, the design thinking process is one that needs to be learnt and implemented with thought and care.

What advice would you give to aspiring graphic designers looking to break into the industry today?

As with anything, get a strong grasp of the fundamentals of design thinking and graphic design, understand what and how elements come together to produce a “good design”. With a good grasp of that, you can then explore the use of tools to help improve and better your art. You still need to have a good and keen eye for what is a good design, what is not, and why.