GCU Community

AI Assisted Art

AI art is amongst us, whether we like it or not. There is a lot of legal, ethical and moral
controversy to it. And it’s changing the art and photography world. But change is the one
constant and is inevitable. Being a photographer, for many years, it reminds me of the dawn of
digital photography, and how the film enthusiasts were so against it. And when Photoshop
entered the scene, how “real photographers” considered it hacking.

I decided to look into it, not wanting to “miss the boat” on the next evolution of photography
art. I have only been experimenting for a little while, but I have to say, it kind of felt like a
sellout, at least at the beginning

It is important to state, I do not know any of the legal implications of this art form. It is new,
and the governing entities are still working on the specifics of this. So please, do not construe
my thoughts as any legal advice, for they are not. It just a layman’s view and just my personal
view at that.

I find it very unethical in many respects. Some of the prompts that are preset in the programs
are well known artists names, companies, their creations, characters from movies, books, etc.
That to me, is stealing, plain and simple. And besides, who wants that? The point of art,
photography, and graphic design is to make it your own original creative expression. Not to
copy what has already been done and claim it as your own.

So, I reached out to Mindy, here at Greeting Card Universe. I asked, instead of doing a complete
AI generated artwork, which is done only by the AI generator program, I wanted to do AI
assisted artwork. Using my original photos, images and photo art as a basis, and or adding
value to the finished image. To me, this originates with me, which should make it unique.

Again, let me reiterate, I do not know the legalities to this. It’s up to everyone to do what they
are comfortable with. I already use AI to generate better resolution to smaller images. So in
essence, I have already had AI assisted work.

So let me try and explain this, with examples. I took this photo art, of the ravens and oak tree
branches that I created, and used it as a base image (without the text as is shown on this image)

I typed in prompts, being very careful to not infringe on what I consider to be a third party’s art,
rights or anything remote to that. So, in my mind, I filtered my original image through an AI
generator. Below is what the result is.

As you can see, the AI generator picked up on the colors and a somewhat of the composition of
the original. But, overall it is a completely different look.
This particular image I added value to. I added silhouette images of my tack room, a guy in a
magician’s outfit and animals that I have pictures of, etc. and below is the result.

I am using a paid AI program, NightCafe, and it assigns you the intellectual property rights, to its
ability to do so, and to the extent that it needs to, it does give you commercial licenses. Be sure
to read the terms. However, they do not guarantee you are not infringing on a third party. And,
I believe it is still in the courts regarding copyrightable nature of the art. This is yet to be
determined. I have only used this one site, there are many out there.

I do generate AI art that is not based on my images, but have no plans on using those
commercially, until there is more clarification in the laws. My sole purpose for those images is
to learn, and to enter the AI challenges, to further my understanding. The AI challenges, on the
site that I am using, will not let you start with your own image. And I do think the feedback,
from other AI artists, is valuable in the learning process.

I do have an AI assisted artwork approve for a Winter Solstice Card. It used the same image as
the one I used in this example, the oak tree and ravens, and with a few prompts, it created the
background scene for this card. I added the olive branches, owl, horses and dreamcatcher to it.
PID 1764258.

So there you have it. I think, at least in my mind, it is how you utilize the program. If you use it
as a tool, to further enhance your original creative work or vision, thus your intention is not to
copy or duplicate someone else’s work. Plus, it starts and/or ends, with you and your original
elements to the artwork. And, not to sound like a broken record, but, I do not know the
legalities of this. I believe they are evolving, and we need to stay abreast of the changes.

GCU Community Manager

Nuts & Bolts – Noted Greeting Card Expo 2023

As promised, here is my trip report from attending Noted Greeting Card Expo & SF
NOW held 4/26 – 4/28.

This expo is the West Coast sister of NY NOW and Noted. It was a delight to attend a
show practically in my backyard plus to be a tourist in my own city – San Francisco!
Hosted at Fort Mason Center between the iconic Ghirardelli Square at the end of
Fisherman’s Wharf and the Marina District, the view from this waterfront venue was
nothing short of breathtaking with a view of both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz
Island.

Fort Mason building from above:

Fort Mason from the marina:

Ghirardelli Sq sign:

Golden Gate Bridge:

Hosted by the Greeting Card Association, Noted kicked off Wednesday night with a mix
and mingle at the General’s Residence announcing the Louie Award winners (think
Academy awards for the greeting card industry) providing an opportunity to celebrate
and meet new and seasoned card makers receiving a coveted Louie Award.

See this year’s Louie Awards finalists and winners here. A few stats, there were 1,016
total entries, up 62% from last year, in a total of 51 award categories. Congratulations /
Special Occasion $5.50 & Below category had the most entries with 47.

Exciting news! GCU is announcing a new addition to the GCU Founders’ Choice
Awards – a paid entry to next year’s Louie Awards for the winners of FCA’s Best Overall
New Card, Best Christmas Card, Best Birthday Card, Best Chinese New Year Card.
See here about this year’s GCU’s Louie Award entries.

Aside from the lovely location, the festival building was a welcome departure from the
typical convention center. Filled with natural light, the Goldilocks; not too big, not too
small but just right number of exhibitors made for a very productive but not exhausting
pace to meet oodles of makers within the 2-days.

As Noted is primarily for greeting card makers, there was a brilliant and varied showing
along with a couple of aisles of gifting exhibitors (SF NOW). Having recently attended
the Las Vegas Market in January, which had a very small contingency of greeting card
exhibitors, it was wonderful to be among so many other paper people! I am impressed
by the creativity, hard work, and youth of so many up-and-coming card makers.

A few makers although not a fit for GCU and digital printing but offering something
different and attention getting:

Quilling Card – tiny paper quilled masterpieces, just WOW! They took home the Louie
Award for People’s Choice Best Card of last year’s show, Quilled Mom Cross Stitch
Card

Hope & Hustle – embeds via a QR code free downloadable guides designed to improve
your career, mindset and spirit!

Louise Mulgrew – taking home multiple Louie Awards including Artist of the Year
A few takeaways reflecting on the expo …
1. Traditional letterpress cards and stationery are alive and well and such a
beautiful craft.

2. Among so many wonderful designs I did find that many blended into more of the
same. With my “any card imaginable” hat on, there were only a few lines that
stood out to me as serving a niche market, like:
– Plants and Nature lovers ( Yardia )
– LGBTQ Inclusive
– Miscarriage, Infertility Grief / Sympathy (The Noble Paperie)
– Latin (Lucy Loves Paper)
– Women of Color (Pineapple Sundays)

3. GCU has come a long way! In years prior, the conversations had with card
makers trying to explain GCU’s concepts and advantages with community
content, print on demand, etc. was met with much skepticism and even
resistance. Now, with community content / crowd sourced models more prevalent
and younger tech savvy creators, this conversation was met with understanding
and receptiveness with many vocalizing the appeal of a passive income source
like GCU.

And best for last, meeting one of our GCU artists in person is always icing on the cake!
GCU artist since 2009, Betty Matsumoto-Schuch of Bud & Tony designs attended
Noted. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other and discussed all things
GCU, greeting cards, that thing called COVID and of course the Golden State Warriors
and cats.

See Betty’s show report her on the blog.

I hope I’ve shared some interesting and helpful insights into the expo and industry.

The difference is made in the details!

GCU Community Manager

GCU Community Manager