There was a time when hiring a design studio wasn’t even a question. If you wanted to be taken seriously as a business, you needed professionals on the job. Logos, brochures, websites, packaging — this was essential infrastructure.

But maybe that’s starting to change.

With AI now handling much of the design industry’s everyday workload — leaflets, invites, social posts, small-budget projects — what used to require a studio’s time and talent is being done by machines in minutes. And for a lot of businesses, that level of ‘good enough’ design might be all they need.

Is commissioning a design studio shifting from a business necessity to a kind of strategic luxury? Not luxury as in indulgence for indulgence’s sake, but luxury as a deliberate choice. A signal. Like opting for a bespoke suit when an off-the-peg one would do the job just fine. Or choosing a Hermès Birkin bag instead of a standard handbag. 

The Birkin isn’t just a bag. It’s a statement — one of craftsmanship, scarcity, and strategic intent. Each one is handmade by a single artisan over many hours, using the finest materials, and only produced in limited numbers. Owning a Birkin signals more than wealth; it signals patience, taste, and a refusal to settle for the ordinary.

In the same way, commissioning a top-tier design studio might be less about ticking a box and more about making a statement: 'We don’t settle for generic. We are here to stand apart.' — could we see a resurfacing of 'designed by...' on the bottom of websites, the edge of ads, the back of packs...

If that’s the case, should design studios rethink their offer? If it’s no longer enough to be a reliable supplier of design work to the many, maybe the future is about becoming a more premium visible brand, to serve the few — be selected because it is smart to be seen to be selected, on top of what the selection delivers.

AI is setting a new baseline of competence. It’s flooding the market with polished, predictable outputs. Maybe the studios that will thrive are those who can offer something AI can’t: sure, lateral thinking, human insight, and a signature strategic distinctiveness that algorithms can’t replicate. But more than quirks that AI finds tough to replicate (at the moment) — be seen to be a company of people that stand for more than delivery.

Rather than 'just' be highly professional and deliver good things, do agencies need to become more quirky? Become a highly recognisable source of creative. The same we see from photographers like Mert & Marcus — film makers like Wes Anderson — songwriters like Lin-Manuel Miranda... All immediately recognisable — all enormously flexible.

There used to be agencies that ran on highly visible signature moves. Almost illustrative, studios like Tomato, Attik, WhyNotAssociates were seen before they were heard. You could tell immediately that they had designed that catalogue, that poster, that book, that album cover... could we a see a return to that?

At SomeOne, our work has a signature approach, with proven business outcomes, but not a signature visual output. Perhaps we need to change that?

Maybe that’s the new luxury for thiose commsioning commercial creativity: not hand-crafted design for its own sake, but distinctly human led, work that drives business outcomes by adding value beyond a purely 'professional' output.

In a market where AI-generated ‘good enough’ is everywhere, could deeply isosyncratic human-led design become the advantage? Not simply fulfilling a necessity, but a more emotive and powerful & visible choice?

When budgets, time & effort are in scarce supply, AI may do the trick — but when audiences realise a brand has been made without care, without effort will those humans care?

Rory Sutherlands brilliant theory of 'costly signalling' turns up here. If the peacock does not tend to it's feathers will it ever get selected by a mate?

If a brand communications are simply churned out, will customers turn up? If they do turn up will they expect to pay FastFood prices when brands are hoping to see Resteraunt returns.

It appears that in a new reality that delivers ultra processed creativity, agencys may need to emphasise their celebrated ingredients to offer healthier returns — and stay in demand.