Incorporating AI tools into our design workflow.

Issue
The design landscape is evolving fast, and AI tools have shifted from future-gazing concepts to essential assets for modern creative teams. For Premier Inn’s in-house studio, the challenge was integrating AI into existing workflows without compromising creativity, quality, or team wellbeing. This wasn’t just about speeding up delivery – it was about unlocking smarter, more innovative approaches to creative production. To stay agile and competitive, we needed a shift that empowered creativity rather than disrupted it.

Insight
New tools don’t drive change – people do. While AI promised speed and innovation, its success depended on team trust, consistency, and usability. Adoption required more than functionality; it needed to feel intuitive, relevant, and empowering. For AI to be truly effective, it had to be embraced not just as a tool, but as a creative partner and co-pilot.

Idea
We launched with a structured rollout, starting with an audit of our workflows to identify inefficiencies – from research and scoping to prototyping and production – where AI could deliver value. With clear goals around saving time, enhancing creativity, and improving consistency, I evaluated tools for copywriting, design, and automation that could integrate seamlessly into our existing systems.

The focus was on practicality over hype – choosing intuitive tools the team could adopt with confidence. I positioned the rollout as an opportunity, not a directive: through workshops, demos, and pilot projects, the team was encouraged to explore, experiment, and help shape how AI would fit into our ways of working. The aim was to embed AI as a co-creator, not a replacement.

Key Tools:

Grammarly – Accelerated the copy development process, delivering high-quality writing across creative rationales, audience segmentations, and communication matrices. Enabled consistent brand voice while flexibly adapting to varied tone profiles, driving efficiency without compromising clarity.

Photoshop + Firefly – Transformed visual workflows by empowering designers to generate high-quality scamps, storyboards, concept art, environments, and final visuals with enhanced speed, consistency, and creative autonomy.

ChatGPT – Functioned as a creative co-pilot across briefing, ideation, insight generation, and tone-of-voice refinement. Prompt engineering sessions supported the team in unlocking sharper concepts, fostering confidence, and scaling content production with precision and originality.

Impact
AI didn’t replace creativity – it enhanced it – freeing time for deeper thinking and higher-quality outputs. Idea generation sped up, visual consistency improved, and team morale rose. Adoption was strong, driven by relevance and ease of use. Today, AI is fully embedded in our workflow – part of how we think, create, and innovate as a studio.