AI Is Coming for Our Creative Process—Here’s What That Means for Designers.
For as long as I’ve been designing in interiors, the creative process has been fairly linear: Sketch ideas by hand to explore early concepts, Develop them in CAD to build out structure and detail, Produce high-end 3D renders to communicate the final vision. Each phase allowed time to refine and finesse—especially in design development (DD), where key decisions on materials, spatial nuances, and construction details came together before pushing a project forward.
This is one area however that I see AI is completely flipping on its head. Now, we generate fully realised, photorealistic images in minutes—before we’ve even considered space planning, materiality, or real-world feasibility. We start with highly resolved AI-generated visuals and reverse-engineer them into technical drawings. The order of process from draft-to-visual has essentially flipped around to be visual-to-draft.
The Fundamental Shift in Pace
For me, this new pathway for creativity is exciting—but perhaps also a little concerning. Traditional workflow allows for a natural pace—designers have time to sit with ideas, refine details, and let the design evolve as each phase unfolded. The slower pace of DD ensured that no detail was overlooked. With AI however, time collapses in concept and visualisation is immediate. Ideas that once took weeks to develop can now be fully visualised in hours. The instinct is to get excited about speeding everything up and moving straight from concept to execution—but before we take the program and budget win (!) - are there design impacts to consider?
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Where Does the Time Go?
Rather than seeing this as a loss of process, I think we can look at it as a reallocation of time: Instead of spending weeks refining a concept, we get instant feedback on form, mood, and spatial possibilities. We can use that saved time to develop stronger, more intricate spatial planning and material resolution. We can iterate faster, meaning better collaboration with clients and stakeholders.
The key is balance. AI enhances creative ideation, but it’s not a replacement for thoughtful design development. If we move too quickly, we risk skipping the depth and nuance that makes great design truly great. For now, I don’t see why the greater time allocation being simply shifted from concept to design development can have a detrimental effect? Your thoughts?
The Future of Interior Design with AI
The creative process isn’t disappearing—it’s just evolving. AI is reshaping how we work, not by removing creativity, but by giving us new ways to expand it. Using generative AI imagery, means time we once spent on the early stages of design can now be reallocated to refinement, problem-solving, and innovation. The challenge? Taking some of that new found time to have conversations prompted by : Will AI make design better, or just faster? Will we use this extra time to deepen our designs—or just rush to execution? How do we ensure this technology works for us, not against us? How we each approach and handle AI will be what really defines the future of design.
Senior Design Specialist at Air New Zealand
1moHi Tama, I agree that AI is a game changer. The caution I have, though, with starting with the high res visual (made all the easier by AI) is ensuring that we and our clients realise there is still critical design work to be done, even though the render makes it seem finished. The traditional process of draft-to-visual is also not immune. We still run the risk of falling in love with a solution before uncovering the real problems to solve.
Experienced Interior Designer with Expertise in Showflat Design and Project Coordination
1moAI is a game-changer for interior designers! Often, we are constrained by questions like ‘Is this achievable?’, ‘Will it fit the budget?’, or ‘Is this too overwhelming?’. AI helps break these barriers by generating instant concepts, allowing us to make quick decisions and push creative boundaries. Instead of hesitating, we can now say, ‘Let’s move forward! Let’s challenge ourselves!’ The power of AI in generating visuals isn’t just about speed—it’s about expanding our imagination and redefining possibilities in design.
Interior Design Director | MA Interior Design | AI Designer
1moThe other area where I feel AI can and indeed will enhance our workflow is using sketch to Render. It’s here already and always amazes me when I see my sketches or sketchups rendered almost instantly. (Yes, the output is often not perfect but it’s fast and produces unlimited results, and will only get better)
Interior Design Director | MA Interior Design | AI Designer
1moGreat article! I’m finding that AI can be used easily to enhance the Concept design phase by creating more specific images that are closer to your imagination, rather than traditionally searching for them. So in that sense AI is working hand in hand with our current ways of designing. There are other uses too, but I need to get back to work. I might drop by later…