Billy Boman

I wrote a short perspective on the topic of AI usage and energy consumption, from a designer and technologist POV. TL;DR: Our design- and technical decisions on products and projects have a way greater impact than the microdecisions we make at an individual level. When you start weighing the pros and cons of a single prompt, stop. Zoom out, and try to view your impact through a systemic lens. Ask yourself where your levers to influence really are. It's not rocket science. But too often our attention get's trapped on the individual level, and that's a shame. It is not a question of either or. It's a question of where it makes sense to begin in your assessment of your own impact. Hope you will give it a read 🙏

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The creative industry is evolving — fast. In our latest episode, we talk with Linus Ekenstam about how designers can embrace AI without losing their craft. https://lnkd.in/gUNYE9Tu

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This is the moment everything clicked. During our recent AI Design Challenge livestream, Henrik Svanvig realized something important: AI wasn’t the limitation. Once he clarified his idea, the direction, and the intent behind the design…everything started to move faster. Better concepts. Clearer outcomes. More control. That’s the real shift…Breaking through the familiar and exploring innovative possibilities in new forms, materials and proportions. AI doesn’t replace the design process. It separates good designers from great designers. If you’re trying to figure out how to actually use AI in your workflow, comment “AI” and I’ll send details.

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AI is transforming the design process, empowering creatives to turn bold ideas into reality faster and more intelligently. @[Frances Sentina](urn:li:person:zIlmKrNwtU) shares how we're combining human expertise with advanced AI tools to shape the future of design in our latest research: https://lnkd.in/g8wua_wP {hashtag|\#|JLLAus} {hashtag|\#|DesignTrends2025} {hashtag|\#|JLLPDS} {hashtag|\#|OfficeDesign}

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Yesterday I shared a post about how creatives are no longer going to be paid just for production, but for decision-making — and the new Kling 3.0 update proves my point. Think about it: designers, programmers, and other skilled professionals will increasingly act as project leaders, guiding AI “executors” that handle the production itself. Our value will shift from making things to deciding what, why, and how things are made. https://lnkd.in/gkKTgjCx

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🚀 Ai for designers / Figma Zoom Map Update Veo 2 is now production ready. The Figma zoom map: https://lnkd.in/eci4yziY Google has just announced that Veo 2, their next-gen video generation model, is officially production ready. 🚀 Veo 2 can generate high-quality 1080p video clips from text, image, or video prompts—capturing cinematic camera movements, realistic physics, and longer-form storytelling. It’s now available through private preview on VideoFX and coming soon to Google Cloud’s Vertex AI. More on the announcement: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWVXm7AB #Veo2 #GenerativeVideo #AIforCreatives #TextToVideo #GoogleDeepMind #VertexAI #VideoFX #CreativeAI #AIDesign #AIContentCreation #GenAI #VideoGeneration #LinkedInTech #ML #Innovation #FutureOfVideo #ProductionReadyAI

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krea.ai has been the home (of most) of my AI-generated image work for over a year now. What keeps me there is how consistently the platform pushes beyond surface-level features and into real creative control. The interface is fun, good lookg and it’s not just evolving — it’s maturing as a serious tool for authorship. Curious to see what they build next. :) 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗤𝘄𝗲𝗻. Few models I’ve tested come close in terms of prompt adherence. The renders can lean a bit cold at times, but the precision and faithfulness to intent are on another level. Today’s announcement — trainers for Qwen-2512 and Z-Image, with the ability to train LoRAs directly usable inside Krea Image — feels like a meaningful step forward. This is the kind of infrastructure that enables more intentional, less generic AI workflows. We’re getting closer to treating AI as a medium you shape, not just a button you press.

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🌟 Designing a library with the people: a conversation with Virve Hyysalo for the #podcast Diseño y diáspora Designing a public library is never just about a building. It’s about imagining what a city needs, what different people value, and what democracy looks like in everyday life. Virve is a Senior Service Designer at Pentagon Design. She tells in this podcast about the co‑design journey behind one of Helsinki’s most loved public spaces: the #Oodi Library. Virve takes us behind the scenes—into the methods, the experiments, the risks, and the care that shaped Oodi together with its future visitors. 🧡 “Put people first in the design process and give them choices.” This was one of Virve’s guiding principles. And she means people—all people. The Oodi project made a deliberate effort to reach marginalized groups, designing participatory methods that felt welcoming, human, and accessible. According to Virve, “People loved to help co‑design this library”—and the energy of that collaboration still lives in Oodi today. 🔧 Reinventing Co‑Design, One Method at a Time To include such a wide diversity of voices, the team had to push beyond standard tools. As Virve explains: “We wanted to make co‑design approachable and human, and for this we needed to re‑invent participatory methods.” They developed a whole ecosystem of approaches: Codesign workshops Open competitions Expert groups Codesign campaigns Collaboration models Participatory budgeting Capacity‑building for library staff This wasn’t just consultation—it was learning how to design with communities, not for them. 📚 Bringing the Public Back to the Public Library One of my favorite moments in the conversation was when Virve said: “Libraries, when they are at their strongest, are public spaces that strengthen democracy.” Oodi embodies this idea not by accident, but by design. Every decision—from big architectural choices to tiny details—was shaped through an iterative process. Sometimes it felt chaotic, but Virve highlights the importance of trusting that process and not shutting it down too early: “Trust the iterative process, and don’t close it because of the chaos.” This openness allowed Oodi to become a place where people truly see themselves reflected. 🎧 Listen to the Episode 👉 https://lnkd.in/d8hRQUFg If you care about public spaces, democracy, or the future of co‑design, I think you’ll find this conversation as inspiring as I did. #libraries #podcast #finnishdesign #PublisSpace #codesign #public #bibliotecas

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Curious about the hidden value of CGI beyond just the cost? Most discussions about CGI often focus on expenses, but there's so much more to it, especially for major players like Otto and Ikea who have long embraced CGI for image production. While lower costs are a bonus, the real magic lies in the value it brings. Consider this: 3D renderings help reduce returns for products with multiple material variants. That's a game-changer for any business. And let's not forget the crucial factor of time to market. The old saying "time is money" couldn't be truer for content production. CGI allows us to create content at lightning speed. Moreover, CGI paves the way for product animations and forms the backbone for Augmented Reality

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💡What if the web could feel you back? That’s not a glitch in the Matrix. That’s the Empathic Web. 🤯💬🧠🌍💡 Last week at Design Matters DK in Copenhagen, I shared something close to my heart — and, I believe, central to our future as designers: 👉 The web is evolving. 👉 Interfaces are disappearing. 👉 Agents are taking over. 👉 And in all that automation… we risk losing the empathy. That’s why I’m exploring — and actively shaping — a different kind of digital future. One where the web doesn’t just respond to clicks, but to feelings. A web that senses, reflects, and adapts to human emotion. We're calling it the Empathic Web. 💥 Not science fiction. 💥 Not some distant dream. But a very real shift already taking root in Emotion AI, LLMs, and anticipatory design. In my talk, I unpacked: 🔹 Why emotional data is becoming the new design material 🔹 How digital systems can start “feeling” human contexts 🔹 What digitally empathic interactions might look like 🔹 What ethical tensions this raises (yes, it gets real fast) 🔹 And what designers — and innovation teams — can do today to prepare The response at Design Matters? Deep curiosity. Healthy skepticism. Real excitement. This isn’t just another UX layer. It’s a design challenge at the level of culture, ethics, and humanity itself. So here’s the question I left the audience with — and I’ll leave it here too: 🌀 As AI starts to sense us… Can we design systems that make people feel seen, not surveilled? 👉 Follow for more thoughts on the Empathic Web, AI, and design futures. Let’s build something better — and more empathic. Many thanks to this lovely crew for great talks and presentations: Anneli Hansson - Gaëlle Le Gélard - Hanna Norlin - Silvia Testa - Eason Yang - Jian Wei - Jakub Svehla - Niche Chathong - Bo Linnemann - Dana Leshchuk - Anna Taws - Jeppe Kruse - Valentina D'Efilippo - Rebekah Cheng - Jaryn Bunney - Will Shaw - Caroline Fletcher - Ben Terrett - Melanie Bos - Elizabeth P. - Kaave Pour - fergus inns - PJ Richardson - Tey Bannerman - Rahul Lindberg Sen - Michael Christiansen - and many many more #EmpathicWeb #UXDesign #UX #Design #GenAI #AI #EmotionAI #HumanCenteredDesign #DesignMatters #FutureOfDesign #AIUX #Innovation #EthicalTech #DesignLeadership Virtual Identity

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Everyone is building and relying on AI. Comapnies are cutting jobs because they rely on it so much. But what happens when AI is no longer subsidised? https://lnkd.in/d9qpuMkw

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Brand sites will need to offer two experiences. One for humans, and one for agents. It will need… A beautiful, crafted, intuitive human experience. and a… well structured, machine readable layer for AI agents. Kind of fun that it will offer up two different design challenges.

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If your AI product sounds like every other “smart assistant,” you don’t have a position - you have wallpaper. In noisy markets, sharp edges are what make people stop and remember you.

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“What we are building is a visual platform for meaning, not just recognition.” In this interview, Tuomas Jääskeläinen, Art Director at Helsingin Sanomat, reveals how the newspaper transforms its iconic logo into a dynamic storytelling tool across print, digital, and brand campaigns. Far from generic statements about the importance of journalism, their campaigns strategically energize the brand, combining bold design, innovative thinking, and deep collaboration to push the boundaries of visual journalism. Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/dSUBy9Zr

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21 color themes 👉 One card component Meet Skapa IKEA's digital design system 👇 At the Into Design Systems meetup at Spotify HQ Stockholm, Caroline Dahl and Jonatan Grönkvist showed how the Skapa team built one of their smartest component yet What makes it smart? • Properties that adapt to context • Media Container for images & video • 21 color themes (not just light/dark) • Shoppable Image integration It's a flexible system that works across IKEA's digital products - retail website, mobile apps, kiosks, e-commerce It is designed for variation while managing complexity at scale 200+ designers watched this live at the Into Design Systems meetup 🇸🇪 at Spotify 📺 Full session on YouTube: Link in comments #designsystems #ikea

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Hey Designers, I have been co-creating the design of very complex systems with AI for more than a year now, and I've come to a fascinating realization. We're not just designing with AI anymore. At a certain point, the AI itself becomes responsible for how results and interfaces are presented to the user. It is like realizing something based on the principles we've established, designing and implementing something to achieve a certain goal. As designers, more and more, our role is to define the principles, the personality, and the strategic direction. But once the system reaches a certain scale, the AI starts deciding how to assemble and present the output/interface in the way it considers most appropriate for the user. I find this shift incredibly fascinating, and I've seen it happen multiple times in real projects on my end. In the past, we carefully designed every interface detail. Now, instead of controlling every screen, we guide the AI, we design the architecture, the rules, the intent. And often, the final presentation of the interface is up to the AI in real time. This is a huge shift in product design, and it means designers need to start preparing for a very different role. I've understood this to be the Director of Project Strategy and Architecture. I am still processing.

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CGI is a powerful tool to bring brands to life visually. However, without clear, comprehensive guidelines, maintaining visual consistency and production efficiency becomes a challenge. Here’s a step-by-step approach to building CGI guidelines that ensure quality, coherence, and scalability. 1️⃣ Define Core Visual Principles Start by translating the brand’s identity and values into concrete CGI design principles: Visual Style: Photorealistic, stylized, or hybrid Color Palette: Specific shades for materials, lighting tones, and overall atmosphere Mood & Tone: Lighting style, contrast levels, emotional impact These principles set the creative direction and ensure the CGI reflects the brand personality authentically. 2️⃣ Establish Technical Specifications Technical clarity is essential to balance quality with production constraints: Polygon Counts & Level of Detail (LOD): Define acceptable ranges for different asset types to optimize performance Texture Resolution & Format: Specify minimum and maximum texture sizes, and preferred formats (e.g., PNG, EXR) File Naming & Organization: Standardize file structures and naming conventions for efficient asset management and collaboration 3️⃣ Character and Asset Guidelines For recurring characters or branded assets, establish detailed standards: Proportions & Silhouettes: Key measurements and distinctive shapes that maintain recognizability Materials & Shading: Rules on reflectivity, transparency, wear and tear effects to keep materials consistent Animation Style: Movement speed, expression range, and behavior aligned with brand tone 4️⃣ Lighting and Rendering Protocols Lighting defines the look and feel — set clear standards: Lighting Setups: Recommended types of lights, shadow softness, bounce lighting Render Engines & Settings: Preferred renderers (e.g., Arnold, Redshift) and key settings to ensure visual consistency Post-processing Effects: Guidelines on bloom, depth of field, color grading, and compositing practices 5️⃣ Reference Assets and Libraries Create and maintain a centralized library of approved CGI assets, textures, shaders, and reference images. This resource speeds up production and guarantees all teams work within the same visual framework. 6️⃣ Quality Control and Feedback Loops Implement structured review stages to catch issues early: Regular Reviews: Model checks, texture passes, animation previews, and final renders Feedback Channels: Defined communication flows between designers, technical artists, and brand managers to quickly resolve discrepancies Comprehensive CGI guidelines reduce costly revisions, maintain brand consistency, and accelerate production timelines. They empower studios and internal teams to deliver visuals that are immediately recognizable and perfectly aligned with brand values.

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😎 Sunglasses on. Slowly and loudly sipping that zero-sugar energy drink. Here are my 2 euros on the biggest myth in the AI design debate. The myth: AI threatens designers. Maybe many people already covered this topic. I just waited a bit. So here it is. It doesn’t. It threatens the illusion that everyone understands design. For years people confused 👉 having an opinion with 👉 having expertise. AI has made that difference very visible. And honestly, I’m all for it. Still here with my sunglasses on 😎 sipping that zero-sugar energy drink. Because when everyone can generate “design” in seconds, the only things left that matter are: 👌 taste 👌 judgment 👌 critical thinking Good designers were never hired for the tool. 🧨 They were hired for the decisions. 🔥 Meanwhile, designers who actually know what they’re doing are using AI for things like: • exploring unexpected directions • automating repetitive tasks • generating variations for exploration • accelerating research and references • pressure-testing ideas before production • and much more AI isn’t replacing design. It’s exposing who was designing — and who was just decorating. And the uncomfortable truth: A lot of “design feedback” was never design expertise to begin with. 🤷‍♂️

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