thought starters for thought leaders

by Jeff Johns

Combining creative vision with strategic discipline, our teams at Seed are uniquely and purposefully built to help brands transform insights and inspiration into growth-accelerating realities. And now, we’re excited to introduce a new member of our team that is helping us take things to a whole new level:

Generative AI.

Intuition Augmented

As an experienced Creative Director with a background in fine art, the visual aspects of branding define my passions and personal aptitudes as a creative professional. Whether it’s a logo, product packaging, or marketing material, I’ve always challenged myself to capture the essence of a brand in a singular visual expression—something that succinctly and distinctly captures the unique specificities of what defines a brand.

While no technology will ever replace human instinct, generative AI expands and supercharges our creative vision—deepening, widening, and accelerating our team’s output without losing the human intuition that inspired it.

In this sense, I think it’s helpful to see Generative AI not as a tool, but as a collaborator. One that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible, while keeping the creative essence and brand authenticity at the heart of everything we do.

With that in mind, let’s take look at how each AI collaborator elevates our creative potential—and our clients’ success.

Microsoft Copilot: The Golden Thread

Microsoft Copilot anchors our AI-enhanced creative process, helping shape ideas from the start. Integrated into daily workflows, it supports strategic storytelling, innovation platform creation, and real-time content sourcing—all while maintaining brand authenticity through every stage.

By using carefully crafted prompts, we turn Copilot into a strategic catalyst, sparking early-stage ideas, visualizing components, and accelerating the development of packaging, presentations, and prototypes. It also seamlessly connects with other AI tools like Adobe Firefly, MidJourney, and ChatGPT. For example, in a recent innovation challenge, Copilot helped visualize transparent packaging concepts that our designers then refined in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Copilot’s ability to iterate and curate frees us to focus more on amplifying ideas and crafting breakthrough innovations.

Adobe Firefly: The Brand Builder

Adobe Firefly powers the precision and storytelling behind our brand visuals. Integrated with Creative Cloud, it enables rapid evolution of brand equities—whether through Illustrator’s Text to
Vector and Retype features, Photoshop’s Generative Fill, or the Firefly web app’s text-to-image and emerging video capabilities.

Firefly also supercharges Adobe Stock searches, producing vibrant, brand-aligned imagery faster. Our designers stay hands-on throughout, ensuring every AI-enhanced output meets our high standards for authenticity and craft.

With its deep Adobe integration and vector flexibility, Firefly is more than a visualization tool—it’s a brand-building engine, especially potent when working alongside our broader AI ecosystem.

MidJourney: The Infinite Inspirator

MidJourney unlocks boundless visual exploration, transforming inspiration into tangible creative momentum. Through expert prompting, we generate stunning visuals—from photorealistic to surreal—that energize early-stage innovation and spark bold ideas instantly.

Using curated mood boards and targeted prompting, we tailor MidJourney’s outputs to match specific brand looks and tones. It also enhances visuals created on other platforms through strategic re-prompting, adding new layers of style and direction.

Whether fueling collaboration, inspiring ideation, or refining prototypes, MidJourney plays a vital role in generating future-forward ideas with authenticity and flair.

ChatGPT: The Dynamic Force

ChatGPT acts as a dynamic thought partner, sharpening storytelling, translating complex concepts, and accelerating creative clarity. Beyond writing, it helps us shape ideas, build prompts for visual tools, and craft strategic briefs.

With specialized GPTs for logo ideation, package design, and brand storytelling, ChatGPT provides directional inspiration that bridges insight and execution. When paired with tools like Firefly and MidJourney, it supplies the narrative scaffolding that fuels seamless, consistent creativity.

Agile, insightful, and adaptable, ChatGPT expands what’s possible at every stage of innovation.

Insights + Strategy + Creative + AI = Breakthrough Growth

Generative AI reaches its full potential when it becomes part of a greater whole. Our team—along with our AI collaborators—unite their talents through a shared lens of insight, design, and brand storytelling.

And this is only the beginning.

On the horizon, we envision immersive videos, narrated brand stories, multisensory experiences—and beyond. When this suite of AI collaborators is paired with our strategic discipline, creative muscle, and branding expertise, we’re not just visualizing the future, we’re building it—with you.

So, let’s sketch what’s next—together. The canvas is infinite. And the next breakthrough is already taking shape.