Empowering early career professionals with tangible resources.
Through a combination of in-person workshops, an online platform, and DME's signature program card deck (that's where we come in), their model helps young employees better prepare for life in the modern workplace and supports organizations in improving their onboarding processes for the incoming workforce.
What exactly does all this equate to? DME is providing an educational platform that improves untrained skills – the character traits and emotional intelligence we as humans need to communicate in our careers. Particularly those of us entering the professional workforce for the first time.
Because, let's be real. Life is awkward, and we need to figure out how to deal with it. Especially at work.
This wasn't just another brand build. This was a chance to align our ambitions with their impactful vision. These are the types of brands that have the power to drive real change.
We were all in.
The DME team came to us with a platform that was already well thought out. Our role was branding the deck of cards used to lead their educational workshops. To start, we needed a visual identity in the form of a new logo, color palette, and type standards.
Our history with DME co-founder Anh Lee set the stage for a great client relationship with their welcoming team. Our Senior Designer and Culture Pilot principal, Erma Tijerina, also happens to be our Education Officer, so it couldn't have been more fitting for her to take the reins on this project.
With the kind of trust that only comes from previous successes (who's blushing), we began a three-month-long bout of creative exploration. Together with our co-founder and creative director, Kara Gray, and our supporting team of Culture Pilot tech geeks, we began the process.
To find our style and vibe, our two teams assembled dozens of imagery samples and began to narrow direction and focus.
For the Visual Identity, we knew we needed a logo system that encapsulated the entire idea of personal growth. With the DME team leaning on the symbolism of trees in their early sketches, it provided the inspiration for what would become the official logo and color palette of the brand.
From the many mood board concepts and conversations, one idea rose to the top and eventually a style was envisioned that would be a daunting task to complete – intricate paper cutouts that illustrate the concepts of each card in the deck. We wanted something distinctive and engaging. Something that pulls you in and makes you look twice.
Each card wasn't just going to be another piece of artwork; we wanted them to look as though they'd been handcrafted, furthering DME's ethos and the physical nature of the business model.
Enter AI.
While we've been using AI tools for a multitude of use cases – market research, strategic planning, grammar and otherwise – its recent public spotlight has caused moral tension in the creative industry.
We need to be cautious. Are we fueling creativity or nudging aside traditional artistry? When it comes to AI specifically for visual art, we try our damndest to find a strategic direction that feels out of bounds for conventional methods – something just out of human reach.
As Kara put it: "AI has the ability to help us reach the seemingly impossible, something unique, and in this case, something that looks tangible or otherwise unachievable."
That guiding light became evident very quickly. AI was a perfect fit.
Each card in the deck represents conceptual ideas, such as Authenticity, Self-awareness, and Resilience. What might you visualize if you were asked to draw a simple picture symbolic of "Self Regulation"?
This was the first challenge. Thankfully, we're armed with some intelligent humans and highly capable AI tools.
Through a series of conceptual and AI-driven exercises, not just in thought and writing, but instantly with visual AI often at the lead, we began producing hundreds of ideas in rapid succession. (No exaggeration – Did you see our Halloween Alphabet in 2023?)
Armed with AI tools such as MidJourney, Stylar (now Dzine), OpenAI, Monica, Copilot, and others, we dove into a creative abyss. These tools don't just speed up our workflows; they help define them.
Let's not sugarcoat it though. The AI quirks are still rampant. Many (read: most) of the rapid brainstorming and trial creations were far from perfect outcomes. That's just the way it goes for AI at the time of this writing.
With careful attention behind the AI tools, eventually some great things can begin to surface – ideas and visuals we can continue to improve upon, then refine through manual adjustments in our age-old, tried and true Adobe programs. Remember good ol' expensive Photoshop and Illustrator?
We honed in on a consistent process that allowed us to use this combination of human and AI, where we could achieve 50-80% of the effort in nearly every scenario through generative imagery. Once again, by the hundreds.
And if you were paying attention, you'll remember that these hundreds of conceptual ideas being visualized nearly instantly were all digital photographs of ornate paper cutout illustrations.
The final steps included detailed photoshop work to adjust many imperfections while moving the AI sketches closer to our vision. This was also followed by color corrections and typesetting the instructional and educational content on each individual card through what we can now call “traditional” methods of graphic design.
The DME cards are currently in production (we’ll update this post with more photos once in-hand).
No brand build is quite complete without a few unexpected challenges worthy of reflection. Time was the most significant factor in this case. While it took longer than we anticipated, we were able to achieve an outcome that would have otherwise taken 10x longer or more using scissors, paper, lighting, and photography. Moreover, we continued gaining insights to refine our methods and amplify our XP.
Erma summed it up well: "The project's focus on thoughtful learning and real-world impact drew us in immediately. It was the perfect match for Culture Pilot." Our job was to ensure the visual story aligned with the mission and function. This was storytelling in its purest form, engaging the end user with effective visuals and information representing concepts not regularly envisioned.
To hear it straight from DME founder Anh Lee: "Thank you for a beautiful partnership and your guidance and belief in our mission throughout this entire process! The designs of the cards, logo, and attention to detail have inspired us beyond words. You've helped us build such a strong foundation for DME."
The process with our team, the AI tools, and the impactful DME product are a testament to Human and AI branding collaboration. AI didn't replace the human touch; it enhanced it to achieve what felt humanly impossible.
Follow along or strengthen the team at your organization with Durable Minds Everboarding at: https://dmeverboarding.com/
