Generating with style: our AI pattern design workshop at IAAD

For the student exhibition at Artefiera Bologna 2024, we ran an experimental workshop on AI-generated pattern design, in collaboration with IAAD. It was led by Francesco Cesarini and Giacomo Bosi. The goal: to show how AI tools can reinterpret students' visual work into patterns and graphics for the exhibition.

A bridge between analog and digital

We didn't start from scratch. We started from sketches, textures and drawings the students had already made, combining the human hand with the logic of the algorithm.

• Adobe Firefly to generate patterns and backgrounds consistent with the original style
• Runway for variations, motion and animated textures
• Photoshop and Illustrator to refine and optimize the results
• Low-code tools to adapt formats to the installation

A hybrid, accessible method that let even students who had never used AI work creatively without losing the identity of their project.

Patterns as storytelling

The patterns became part of the exhibition concept: repeated surfaces, digital textures and consistent moods connected the works to the students' personal stories, creating a shared visual language.

A taste of the creative future

For us it was a chance to bring into the classroom what we explore every day in the studio: a thoughtful use of generative AI that expands creative possibilities instead of replacing them. Thanks to IAAD, the teachers and the students who took part.