We've produced over 400 posters in the past 18 months. Not all of them were great — but through iteration and experimentation, we've developed a workflow that reliably produces campaign-quality visuals. Here are the 10 techniques we actually use every week.
1. Brief Deconstruction with GPT-4o
Before touching a single design tool, we feed the creative brief into a structured prompt that extracts: target emotion, key visual metaphors, typography personality, and color story. This 10-minute exercise has eliminated more creative dead ends than any other single change we've made.
2. Midjourney for Concept Exploration, Not Final Output
We never use Midjourney images directly. We use them as concept sketches — rapid explorations of a visual direction that we then recreate properly in Photoshop or Figma. The AI gives us 20 directions in 5 minutes; we pick the best and execute it with craft.
3. The 3-Layer Typography System
Every poster we design uses exactly three type layers: a hero statement (large, bold, kinetic), a supporting line (medium weight, creates contrast), and a utility layer (small, functional). This structure creates instant visual hierarchy and makes posters readable at any size, from billboard to Instagram story.
4. AI-Generated Texture Overlays
One of our signature techniques: we generate abstract texture images in Midjourney using prompts focused on material properties (weathered concrete, oil paint, film grain) rather than representational subjects. These get blended at low opacity over photography to add tactility that pure digital design lacks.
Takeaway
The common thread in all ten techniques: AI handles the exploration and the grunt work, humans make the decisions and add the craft. That's the collaboration model that produces work people actually respond to.