Creative Agency, Authorship, and Professional Identity among Graphic Designers in AI-Assisted Brand Design
Main Article Content
Abstract
The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming visual communication design by reshaping creative processes and visual meaning production. However, limited research has explored how graphic designers experience and interpret their creative roles when using AI in brand visual identity development. This study aims to examine how designers make sense of their creative role in AI-assisted design practices. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with professional graphic designers and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) supported by visual elicitation. The findings show that designers perceive AI as an ambivalent creative partner that enhances ideation while challenging control, authorship, and authenticity. The study also reveals that designers reconstruct their professional identity by positioning themselves as interpreters and mediators of meaning within AI-assisted workflows. These findings contribute to understanding AI-mediated design as a meaning-centered experience and provide insights into the evolving relationship between human creativity and intelligent systems in visual communication design.
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Abbas, M., Jam, F. A., & Khan, T. I. (2024). Is it harmful or helpful? Examining the causes and consequences of generative AI usage among university students. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-024-00444-7
Allagui, I., & Ibahrine, M. (2025). Strategic branding models in Arab media: Exploring the impact of digital transformation. Communication and Society, 38(1), 485–505. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.38.1.035
Anandarajah, G., Sleeth, G., Mennillo, M., & Srinivasan, A. (2025). Transforming narratives of physician identity formation and healing: A longitudinal qualitative study of physicians’ stories about spirituality and medicine, from residency to practice. BMC Medical Education, 25(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06788-6
Atanesyan, A. V., Mkhitaryan, S., & Karapetyan, A. (2025). “Virtual Masks” and Online Identity: The Use of Fake Profiles in Armenian Social Media Communication. Journalism and Media, 6(2). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6020049
Baek, T., & Kim, M. (2023). Is ChatGPT scary good? How user motivations affect creepiness and trust in generative artificial intelligence. Telematics and Informatics, 83. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2023.102030
Ben-Lulu, E. (2024). “Teach us to feel proud of all of our identities”: Time and space in an American queer Jewish liturgy. Religion Compass, 18(3). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12486
Carreiras, H., & Castro, C. (2012). Qualitative methods in military studies: Research experiences and challenges (p. 194). Taylor and Francis. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203099223
Chioni, C., Maragno, A., Pianegonda, A., Ciolli, M., Favargiotti, S., & Massari, G. A. (2023). Low-Cost 3D Virtual and Dynamic Reconstruction Approach for Urban Forests: The Mesiano University Park. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(19). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914072
Daly, K. J. (2007). Qualitative methods for family studies & human development (p. 293). SAGE Publications Inc. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452224800
Doungphummes, N., & Phanthaphoommee, N. (2024). ‘They trusted me, even if I’m a tom like this’: Exploring sexual-professional identity communication of LGBTQ+ primary schoolteachers. Gender and Education, 36(7), 730–746. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2024.2389104
Ebrahim, S., Bisschoff, C., Botha, C., & Pelser, A.-M. (2025). Wellness Initiatives in Private Higher Education Institutions for the Metaverse: A Systematic Literature Review. Universal Journal of Public Health, 13(4), 945–963. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujph.2025.130417
Febrian, H., Sofilda, E., & Harris, F. (2025). The Policy of Intellectual Property As a Bank Guarantee for The Support Creative Economic Development. OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, 18(3), 97–112. Scopus. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85219291803&partnerID=40&md5=2b8c3eeede6965755450582d9a818804
Fife, W. (2020). Counting as a Qualitative Method: Grappling with the Reliability Issue in Ethnographic Research (p. 140). Springer International Publishing. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34803-8
Gilbert, F. J., & Dobson, T. (2025). Towards boundary crossing: Primary and secondary school teachers teaching creative writing and its redrafting. English Teaching, 24(1), 17–32. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-03-2024-0039
Gonzaga, E. (2024). Regionalism as anti-colonialism: Imaginaries of area in South East Asian omnibus film and database art. South East Asia Research, 32(2), 125–141. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/0967828X.2024.2369642
Haukås, Å., & Borlaug, L. M. (2025). Towards sustainable collaboration between language teachers and teacher educators: An exploratory study. System, 132. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103708
Hillman, W., & Radel, K. (2018). Qualitative methods in tourism research: Theory and practice (p. 294). Channel View Publications. Scopus. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85050434848&partnerID=40&md5=7ea1e3f0b2027993b53f6a795804ee51
Iosifides, T. (2016). Qualitative Methods in Migration Studies: A Critical Realist Perspective (p. 266). Taylor and Francis. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315603124
Kamali, J., & Nazari, M. (2025). Transnational language teachers’ emotional vulnerability and professional identity construction: An ecological perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 46(7), 1857–1871. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2023.2257659
Kawamura, Y. (2020). DOING RESEARCH IN FASHION AND DRESS: An Introduction to Qualitative Methods, 2nd edition (p. 166). Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Scopus. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85188589040&partnerID=40&md5=b3db406659cd1ea5b20e05664bec39a3
Longhofer, J., Floersch, J., & Hoy, J. (2012). Qualitative Methods for Practice Research (p. 224). Oxford University Press. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195398472.001.0001
Lutz, W., & Knox, S. (2014). Quantitative and qualitative methods in psychotherapy research (p. 448). Taylor and Francis. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203386071
McNabb, D. E. (2015). Research methods for political science: Quantitative and qualitative methods: Second edition (p. 426). Taylor and Francis. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315701141
Migdal, A. B. (2018). Qualitative Methods in Quantum Theory (p. 460). CRC Press. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429497940
Mohamed, O. M., & David Raja Bose, R. (2025). Transgender Identity and Emotional Trauma in Manobi Bandopadhyay’s A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 16(5), 1456–1463. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1605.02
Na, Y., & Kester, K. (2025). Understanding the professional identity of overseas Korean schoolteachers: The case of Korean transnational educators in one school in Southeast Asia. International Education Journal, 24(1), 1–22. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.70830/iejcp.2401.19907
Nachabe Taan, Y. (2025). The image as a site of transgression: The case of Beirut counter-visuality since October 2019. Social Movement Studies, 24(4), 454–472. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2023.2269105
Noris, A., Sabatini, N., & Cantoni, L. (2025). Strategic localization practices and glocalization dynamics: Insights from the fashion industry. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05542-z
Rahmanto, A. N., & Fariza, M. R. (2025). Shaping place identity through cultural storytelling: Strategic communication in a small mountain city. Frontiers in Communication, 10. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1713091
Rasoolipour, S., Emamiifar, S. N., & Arezoofar, S. (2025). Iconography and Interpretation of Mythological Birds in Messenger Logos. Paykareh, 14(39), 89–105. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.22055/pyk.2024.47177.1598
Rusydi, M. (2025). Visionary Leadership in Islamic Boarding Schools: Implications for Institutional Management within the Barakka Framework. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(8), 1041–1057. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.24.8.46
Subagyo, A. (2021). The implementation of the pentahelix model for the terrorism deradicalization program in Indonesia. Cogent Social Sciences, 7(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.1964720
Sukmawati. (2025). Living Through the Unknown: Exploring Hope, Uncertainty, and Identity in First-Time Gene Therapy for Rare Diseases. Journal of Regenerative Medicine and Molecular Innovation, 1(6), 234–240. https://journals.ai-mrc.com/jrmmi/article/view/418
Tortella, F., Palese, A., Turolla, A., Castellini, G., Pillastrini, P., Landuzzi, M. G., Cook, C., Galeoto, G., Giovannico, G., Rodeghiero, L., Gianola, S., & Rossettini, G. (2025). Knowledge and use, perceptions of benefits and limitations of artificial intelligence chatbots among Italian physiotherapy students: A cross-sectional national study. BMC Medical Education, 25(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07176-w
Tuaf, H., & Orkibi, H. (2025). Through Their Eyes: Adolescents’ and Stakeholders’ Perceptions of a Community-Based Recovery Program. Child Indicators Research, 18(3), 1253–1275. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-025-10233-x