The Above Digital AI Manifesto – How we use AI in web design & branding to benefit our clients

At Above Digital, we continually strive to evolve, not for the sake of it, but with the aim to deliver the very best to our clients in all areas. Over the past year or so, we’ve been exploring how AI in web design and branding can help us work smarter, be more creative, enhance user experience, and ultimately deliver better results. 

There’s a very real and widespread wariness around AI and its potential impact on the design industry — from fears of dehumanising creativity to concerns about replacing people altogether. These are valid and widely felt. But we believe the right response is not fear, but balance: understanding where AI can genuinely enhance our work, without compromising the human insight and creativity that define great design.

Despite the understandable trepidation around AI, we believe a level-headed, purposeful approach is both sensible and necessary. The way we adopt AI in website design and branding should always serve a clear purpose — and put the client at the centre.

With these rules to guide us, we’ve struck a healthy balance, embracing the benefits of AI while avoiding the downsides, all with one aim: delivering the most effective branding projects and website designs for our clients.  Yes, AI is a big subject at the moment and the biggest bandwagon going, but whilst a lot of noise surrounds the topic, there is a lot of good to take advantage of.

We are focusing on 3 areas with our AI adoption in relation to website design and branding. These areas are summarised as: workflow, user experience and copywriting. 

In this brief article, we explain how we’re weaving AI into our processes in a way that’s useful, exciting, creative, and above all, genuinely beneficial for our clients. 

Workflow – Speeding up the creative process (So we can focus on the good stuff).

Instead of spending time and budget on often laborious art working tasks, we can use AI to help produce design moodboards or early concepts and to quickly help produce assets like image edits and mockups. This frees us up to spend more time and allocate more budget to pushing creative boundaries, developing ideas, and refining designs. It also means faster iterations and quicker decisions.

As a client, that means more of your budget and resources go towards strategic creative thinking, not tied up in time-consuming production tasks. You get faster mock-ups, more variety, and more room for standout, original ideas. We can also get the creative ball rolling much faster and get back to you with a rich set of ideas, concepts and moodboards before you know it.

On the admin side of things, we also use AI during client calls to record key points and generate a clear set of actionable next steps. This not only saves time but also ensures we capture accurate feedback and decisions, helping projects move forward smoothly and efficiently. 

User Experience – Making websites better, smarter and more intuitive.

We’ve started integrating AI-powered search into websites, and the difference is significant. Traditional keyword search relies on users typing the “right” words. AI-enhanced search understands intent. It picks up on natural language, context, and even vague requests like “that blog post about sustainability from last month.”

For content-rich sites like news sites or e-commerce, this is a game-changer. It helps users find what they need quickly and intuitively, keeping them engaged, and reducing friction points. These small advantages can position your site ahead of the competition, making users much more likely to return.

In short, it’s not just smarter, it’s more human, making your website easier and more enjoyable to use, building customer loyalty and increasing the value of your site in their eyes.

Copywriting – AI-assisted copy that still feels human and works for SEO.

We use tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, but only as part of the process. We use AI to generate starting points for homepage copy, brand messaging, and SEO. This allows us to create copy that reads well, and is SEO friendly whilst ensuring (with human input at all stages) that it feels real and natural.

We are careful that your tone of voice sounds like you, not a robot. We still use humans to check and refine SEO-based copy, but AI helps us make sure it works as well as possible.

What’s next?

We don’t know exactly what the future holds with regard to AI and its influence on branding and website design, but we believe the key is responsible, purposeful use of AI. As with any new technology, there is a lot of hype to cut through, but now the dust is beginning to settle, and we are starting to see how AI is actually beneficial to us and our clients.

AI can streamline, support, and enhance what we do, but it doesn’t replace the strategic thinking, human insight, and intuition that drives great design. That’s where our focus stays. 

We’ll keep exploring tools that enhance our work, particularly those that help improve site functionality, from clever plugins that aid navigation and discovery to features that make digital experiences more memorable and intuitive.

What this means for our clients

If you’re already working with us, or thinking about it, here’s what our approach to AI, branding and website design means for you as a client:

Faster turnaround on concepts and design drafts, getting ideas off the ground faster and getting to the good stuff quicker. 

Better websites that deliver smarter, more tailored web experiences for your users.

More options and ideas for messaging and content, and better SEO.

A team focused on creativity and less time spent on the production side of things, leading to even more creative designs.

We’re genuinely excited about what’s ahead and how we can evolve what we offer. AI is opening up new ways to create, think, and build, but the heart of what we do stays the same: people, ideas, and purpose-led design.

Want to explore how we could use AI to improve your brand’s website, branding, or digital experience?

Contact the Above Digital team →