Communication Design School of Design
Sara Lucy
I’m a Scottish designer-researcher interested in myth, ritual and speculative storytelling.
My graduate year focused on exploring generative technology and artificial intelligence through text-prompt writing to generate iterative processes, with an emphasis on image-making. Language is central to my practice, with words serving as the primary medium through which I engage and create generative art and design. My research, writing, and image-making aim to bridge the gap between the virtual and physical, exploring the intersection of designer-machine interactions. By harnessing the narrative potential of language, I collaborate with AI to explore innovation, art direction, and produce dynamic images that provoke and challenge conventional concepts of generative technology in contemporary art and design.
Tranquil Technospheres
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text-prompt: electronic design new york and hong kong exhibitions 1983, in the style of medicalcore, tranquil still life, gossamer fabrics, lightbox, iso 200, mandy disher
This publication documents the iterative process of generative text-to-image technology. The AI algorithm transforms words into visual art, producing four initial images. In this photobook, each initial image embarks on its own creative evolution in dedicated sections, generating further sets of images through labelled functions and variations of change. Every set concludes with an enlarged fourth image, which is chosen for further generative development. The process is essentially endless, allowing for an eternal extension and recreation of a singular image, diluting the original so much so that it has become completely separate from its starting point. Throughout these visual journeys, it is my role as a designer to write the prompt, then develop, refine, and curate the evolving images, concluding the process when I feel the artistic vision is complete. The layout was chosen to illustrate the journey of iteration, and this collaborative effort highlights the innovative application and integration of designer-machine interactions. I would like to highlight the use of floral photographer Mandy Disher in my text-prompt, this publication has been created in admiration, and for non-commercial academic purposes only.
Machine Mail
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Chrysalis Chamber, Wonderland, Eden, Misc.
This exploration into generative text-to-image technology allowed for endless possibilities, leading to the creation of various collections. These postcards highlight select images from these AI creations and, much like Tranquil Technospheres, offer a tangible dimension, bridging the gap between the virtual and physical. In contrast to the instant, ephemeral nature of digital communication, postcards embody a slower, more deliberate exchange, offering a physical keepsake that endures over time. Where digital art is often confined to screens, these postcards represent a melding of digital innovation and traditional analogue artefacts. All text-prompts are included in the mockups.
Degree Show Identity
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Images of Fashion: Wonderland
Images of Fashion was born from an image-making project set by local designer Tom Joyes exploring fashion and art direction. Due to the viscerally visual nature of editorial fashion, I wanted the outputs to involve fantasy and surrealism, and this led me to research fairytales. I often find myself drawn to the preternatural aspects of life, the ways in which we inherit belief and folklore, and then subvert those stories for modernity. I created two themes: Wonderland, a playful interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; and Eden, a modern exploration of Catholic opulence and their ritual artefacts (excerpts from Eden are featured in Machine Mail). The application of generative AI and speculative technology felt apt for these themes of belief, inherited narratives, and unreality.
