The Machines That Make the Makers

11.10.25     About 1 min
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Key Points

    Tools That Transform

    Every so often, a new tool comes along that shifts the balance of creation. The Caxton press did it in the 15th century, turning the written word into something reproducible — no longer the domain of monks and manuscripts, but of merchants and messengers. Centuries later, desktop publishing did the same for design. What once took typesetters, paste-up boards, and patience could suddenly be done on a home computer with a pirated copy of QuarkXPress and a hunch.

    Now we’re here again, staring into the bright, unblinking eye of generative AI.

    Lower Barriers, More Noise

    Each of these leaps shares something in common: they lowered the barrier to entry. They gave more people access to the means of expression. And with that came a flood — of words, of design, of creativity, of noise.

    For brands, that’s both thrilling and terrifying.

    The Promise and the Peril

    AI offers incredible opportunities for speed, scale, and creativity. It can help find new ideas faster, generate copy, visuals, and concepts that would have taken days — sometimes seconds. But it also threatens the one thing a brand needs most: coherence.

    When anyone in an organisation can generate “on-brand” content at the touch of a button, the lines that define that brand begin to blur. Tone, style, values, and meaning can drift. Before you know it, the voice you worked so hard to define starts to sound like everyone else’s.

    A New Kind of Discipline

    This isn’t the end of brand discipline — it’s the start of a new kind.

    Just as the printing press needed editors, and desktop publishing demanded design systems, generative AI needs guidance. Brands will need stronger guardrails: clear tone of voice definitions, flexible identity systems that can scale with automation, and teams trained to use these tools with intention, not impulse.

    Because the danger isn’t that AI will replace your brand. It’s that it will dilute it.

    The Conscious Collaborator

    The opportunity is to use it consciously — as a collaborator, not a substitute. To build frameworks that empower creativity while preserving coherence. To teach your brand to think faster without losing its sense of self.

    After all, the story isn’t about the machine. It’s about the makers. And that’s still us.

    Hi! I'm James Kindred. I wrote this!

    With over 25 years of experience in design, branding, and business growth, I help businesses craft compelling identities and scale with confidence. From start-ups finding their voice to established businesses refining their brand presence, I work closely with clients to develop distinctive brand identities, engaging assets & collateral, and results-driven strategies.