Today’s discussions about design often focus on cutting down. Less costs. Less time. Less personnel. What’s often lost is what can be added through human input. As an event branding agency, our designers champion creation that reflects human experiences. Read on to see what we mean — and what it can mean for your organization.
The Question of Creativity
Recently, a content creator conducted an experiment to test the question of creativity. Children and popular AI engines were given the same prompt: “Draw an animal that doesn’t exist yet.”
The AI engines generated images within minutes, rendering winged lions, horned serpents and catlike deer. Though the results addressed the prompt, the animals felt familiar — a fusion of reality and accepted fantasy.
Meanwhile, the children took their time, conjuring concepts born of their own emotions and perspectives. Disparate colors, patterns and shapes came together to form animals never before seen. A hand-like creature with jutting eyes. A beast with stripes and spikes alike.
Though simple, this experiment speaks to a larger discussion of replication versus creation. Replication presents us with a precedent that’s comfortable but commonplace. Creation, on the other hand, presents us with uncertainty that has the potential to leave a lasting impact.
As an event branding agency in an AI world, it’s important that we consider the differences. We see replication as checking a box — but creation as having the courage to step outside of it.
Human Input in Action
Seeing is believing — and this concept is best illustrated through our performing arts marketing partnership with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.
The festival craved theatre posters that would unite its 2026 season, but also differentiate its productions. The easiest way forward would have been to reference and replicate nearly 400 years of accepted Shakespearean motifs — but Paradigm wanted to chart a new path.
We firmly believed that production artwork needed to mirror the very nature of its subject matter. Theatre is fluid rather than fixed. Even tried-and-true productions are ever-changing due to delivery, expressions, improvisations and beyond.
As such, our event branding agency devised two posters connected by the use of watercolor. In this medium, water moves the pigment in ways beyond control. This creates “imperfections” that make each piece unique — reflecting the joyous unpredictability of live performance.
Our designers also added nuance to these performing arts marketing materials through interpretive elements rather than scene reproductions. Plotline hints speckle each poster, from ships and palm trees for The Tempest to wild and domesticated animals for Two Gentlemen of Verona.
The final theatre posters stand as a culmination of conversations, brainstorms, research and iterative, hand-drawn sketches. Consequently, the invisible fingerprints of designers, strategists and fine arts experts are deeply etched into our designs — giving them lasting value.
For a technical breakdown, visit Paradigm’s St. Louis Shakespeare Festival workpage.
Originality Awaits
Historically, design has been dictated by human intention. Real people negotiated, shaped and rendered art. This authenticity yielded a world that placed real value on creativity and understood that successful work is subjective.
The 21st century marks a turning point for us all. AI will inevitably become a trusted tool for cutting down inefficiencies. However, as an event branding agency, we believe that the risk is not that design will be bad, but that overreliance on software will erode our instincts. And one day, it may inspire a culture that prioritizes short-term engagement over long-term depth.
Today, Paradigm New Media Group vows to keep our core human. Through websites, theatre posters and performing arts marketing materials, we strive to produce original content rooted in real intention. With custom strategies and human perspectives, our designers yield work worth remembering.
Unlock the extraordinary for your organization — contact Paradigm for a free marketing consultation.
