When Claude makes anyone a 'designer', what happens to creative craft?

Anthropic has launched Claude Design, a new AI-powered tool that turns visual creation into a conversational workflow, allowing users to generate and refine designs simply by describing what they need. Built on its latest vision model Claude Opus 4.7, the tool produces prototypes, presentations, marketing assets and landing pages, with outputs that can be edited through prompts, inline adjustments and controls within a single interface.

The effect is to compress what was once a multi-step design process into a single, iterative system where ideation and execution happen almost simultaneously. The launch undoubtedly reflects a broader shift in how creative work is being structured, as AI tools move from assisting production to actively shaping it from the start.

Don't miss: Inside Claude Design, Anthropic’s bid to reinvent creative work

But as design becomes more accessible, a sharper question emerges for the industry: If everyone can design, what happens to craft? 

To explore that tension, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to industry players on whether AI is expanding creative possibility or flattening creative quality. 

Rethinking craft in the age of AI

According to Farrokh Madon, chief creative officer at PIRATE, AI already represents a leap in efficiency, capable of producing “decent design” at unprecedented speed. However, he drew a firm distinction between speed and quality, arguing that while AI will standardise average output, it will not replace the pursuit of excellence.

“AI allows mind-boggling efficiency. It delivers decent design faster than Artemis II’s flight speed to the moon. But there will always be brands that are focused on excellence, not average output," he said. He added that Super Brands will continue to prioritise human imagination over machine-generated outputs.

Ben Crawford, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Brainwaves, however, said the bigger shift is not creative dilution, but strategic fragmentation. While AI can accelerate execution, he said its real value lies in unlocking the less visible upstream work.

“If used correctly, it shouldn’t flatten creative quality. We should be using technology to speed up the high-touch, low-value tasks that go into craft, such as research, collating and synthesis, that will leave time for insights, creative thinking and new opportunities," Crawford explained. 

He warned that many organisations are currently over-indexing on speed of execution rather than fixing the strategic layer, adding that AI should sit earlier in the process to ensure strategy and execution evolve together.

Taking a more craft-led view, Abby Tai, managing partner and creative director at HYP Global, argues that AI lowers the barrier to execution but not to taste:

Anyone can now generate visuals, but not everyone knows what they’re trying to say.

"The fundamentals, composition, hierarchy, storytelling still hasn’t changed. So yes, more people can design, but that doesn’t mean more people can design well," she said.

Tai added that while execution is becoming automated, craft itself is shifting rather than disappearing. She explained that "the mechanical parts" of making are faster, but the thinking becomes more important, noting that AI reduces friction but increases the importance of judgment and refinement.

Nonetheless, the reality is that "AI-fication" of design has already been underway across tools such as Adobe Firefly, Figma AI and Canva AI, said Jian Yi Lay, group creative director at VaynerMedia APAC. While he agrees that Claude further lowers the barrier to entry, it still sits far from the capabilities of trained professionals: "It’s good enough for non-trained users who just want to get something up quickly or for developers who just want to prototype and test their ideas quickly."

If everyone can design, what stands out?

The question of differentiation sits at the centre of this shift. For Madon, the answer still lies firmly in human imagination over algorithmic output.

"Design and creativity stemming from the synaptic crackle of a great mind leads to clear brand differentiation and exponential returns on investment. So brands that want to create great brand value will not rely 100% on AI. They will smartly tap human imagination first before using AI to adapt and scale output," said Madon. 

Teddy Sandu, creative director and AI council lead at McCann Singapore said that while tools may be equalisers, strategy remains the real differentiator. “Claude Design, similar to any AI tool, is a capability equaliser. But brand identity is still built on understanding your audience better than your competitor does. That’s not something you can prompt your way into,” he said.

Tai adds on that differentiation ultimately comes down to taste.

“Tools can be shared, but perspective can’t. That’s the real moat,” she said. “It’s about years of training your eye, knowing what to keep, what to remove, and what feels right. The tools don’t replace that, they amplify it.”

Moreover, differentiation, said Lay, still sits in the hands of trained creatives who understand how to translate brand identity into emotional impact:

It’s the storytelling, brand identity, visual cues and nuances that trigger emotional reactions. That’s something automation can’t achieve.

Be part of #Content360 Singapore, 22–23 April 2026, where creativity and culture collide. Explore how AI-driven storytelling is shaping the future of content, gain practical insights, discover new tactics, and learn how the best in Asia are creating campaigns that truly resonate. 

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