Semester: Winter 2023/24
Lehrformat: Projekt mit seminaristischem Unterricht
Integriertes Produktdesign (B.A.)
Hochschule Coburg
Prof. Dr. Michael Markert,
Lukas Bebb,
Lisa Bialon,
Anita Dimitrova,
Alina Freund,
Sarah Haust,
Lisa Herbert,
Julia Kipke,
Julia Knötzele,
Julius Liedtke,
Sascha Meus,
Utisi Mwendwa-Wavamunno,
Anton Schmidt,
Johannes Schmidt,
Silas Weber,
Anton Zerbe
What if you could design anything you imagine?
Imagine designing with the power of artificial intelligence and synthetic media.
That’s what we did in our university project of winter 2023/24 in product design. We investigated the potential of synthetic media and how machine learning will transform how product designers work and create.

We leveraged high performance computing clusters to train networks and sythesized media on our laptops and mobiles. We explored different domains, such as images, sounds, texts, and videos. We questioned: can AI collaborate with a designer? Can it do everything that the industry advertises? Will a General Artificial Intelligence soon be here to rule the world?
In order to answer these questions, we have looked at the heart of Machine Learning and the artificial generation of Synthetic Media:
We have leveraged High Performance Computing and trained our own networks, researched the current capabilities of Machine Learning and available applications. We also looked at social and ethical issues and discussed how questions of data control, origin and consistency could be improved.
There’s no need to be afraid, and the hype is probably a bit over the top. Artificial Intelligence is far away from being smart, but it will be here now and in the future and it will change our design and creative processes.
All the projects have been exhibited and showcased since February 2024 on Instagram and at https://ai-productdesign.de .
Featured Projects
How I trained an AI to copy my drawing style by Lukas Bebb
@lukas.bebb
“My project had the goal of training an AI-model (LoRA) on drawings of my childhood. This taught me the process of using a dataset to train an AI to my liking. This is neccessary, because big AI-models like Stable Diffusion (XL), can struggle with displaying very specific concepts on which they have not been trained. This project proved that an individual like me can achieve this goal.”
AI generated NeRFs
by Sascha Meus and Anton Zerbe
@sascherrrr
@anton.zerbe
“The goal of our project was to support the rendering process with AI tools. Our idea here was to use the recently emerged AI technology NERFs to create the most realistic 3D geometries possible. In the process, we started some experiments with this type of AI tool. We recorded various objects in different environments. Although we were able to achieve interesting results in this area. We realized that this technology shows its strength in other fields. We see the potential strengths in the video photography sector in order to be able to decide how the scenery should be displayed during video editing. Drone shots of a static environment in particular could work very well.”
D2V
by Johannes Schmidt
@levenait
“The combination of multiple powerful AI tools into one workflow enables the generation of new product variances while keeping proportions close to the input product.”
Dj AI
by Julia Knötzele
@juliaknoetzele
“Livecoding presents a distinctive method for music creation utilizing code, expandable sample libraries, and live synthesizers. It provides extensive control, facilitating nuanced adjustments. I developed a package that can be installed in your text editor, granting access to OpenAI through. Everything necessary for collaboration is predefined, requiring only the input of short prompts in the editor. Additionally, I implemented a shortcut for seamless access, ensuring minimal disruption during livecoding sessions. With AI integration, the process is enriched by a wealth of knowledge and coding experience, fostering innovative music generation through collaboration. Stay tuned for further insights into this captivating fusion!”
Single word prompt
by Julia Kipke
@juliakipk3
“This project explores how AI systems respond to one-word prompts when generating images. Different AI models are given the same prompt with no other information, and the images they produce are observed to gain insights into how AI algorithms understand and interpret natural language inputs. Despite limited input, AI systems demonstrate diverse creativity. Analyzing these outputs reveals AI’s capacity for creative thinking and varied visual representations.
In total, nine tools were used and given the prompt ‘toaster’ to each generate 50 images. The following slides show just a portion of the 450 generated images, which were analyzed.
Why ‘toaster’? ‘Toaster’ is a relatively specific word, but it still allows for a variety of interpretations. A toaster is also a common and familiar object, which can make it an accessible prompt for testing AI image generation models. Despite its simplicity, a toaster presents some level of complexity in terms of shape, function, and context. This complexity can challenge AI models to accurately capture and represent the various aspects of a toaster in their generated images, providing valuable insights into their capabilities and limitations.”
How can I make use of AI in my creative endeavors?
by Aline Freund
@alina.frnd
“In the early days of artificial intelligence, people often look at the future with concern or curiosity and wonder what the job market will look like. This is why I have decided to examine this topic and tried to let AI take over as much of my design process as possible. Here are my results:
Despite looking good and convincing at first glance, a closer look at Ai-generated images quickly reveals the inconsistencies they have. Many of the designs fail to work/ are not functional in reality, but that doesn’t mean they are automatically unusable. The designs can instead be used as inspiration, on the basis of which many ideas can then be modeled after and developed further. This can be seen as a form of help, but in the end it does not take away completely the design process. That’s why a product designer is still needed, however, they can work more efficiently with AI.”
VintiqueArt Studios – a design process generated entirely by AI using the example of a streetwear brand
by Anton Schmidt
@anton_schmidt8
“This project is about investigating the importance of artificial intelligence for the design process. To work through this on a specific design, I have developed a streetwear brand completely from scratch. From stylistic direction and influences to names, logos and background of the brand to different garments, possible patterns, product renderings and an AI generated video of a runway show, the aim was to have each individual step designed by different tools so that the designer only takes on a selective role.
The result should serve as a basis for discussion in order to summarise how useful AI programmes are already for the design process in the current state of the art, which tasks the tools can take over from the designers, to what extent designers are prepared to give up an unusual amount of freedom of action and which role synthetically generated content could play in the the future of product design.”
Exploring AI as tool to visually find the gaps in the presentation and representation of the diversity of African People and their cultures
by Utisi Mwendwa-Wavamunno
@tisi_mwe.ndwa
“We design the world we live in simply be how we choose to be in the world and that is reflected in what we produce and the biases that result from that. With Artificial Intelligence being yet another reflection of this, I sought to use it, in the form of image generation, as a tool to explore what biases or “gaps” that I, not simply as an individual from a non-dominant culture but Utisi and all that encompasses, could identify. Perhaps by learning to see and recognise the different gaps that will be spotted by different individuals each informed by their own uniquely different experiences, we can spot more “gaps” and start seeking ways to mend them.”

Weitere Informationen
- ai-productdesign.de, Projekt-Dokumentationsseite, Februar 2024
- Instagram-Ausstellung AI-Aided Design @ai_productdesign
- Pressemeldung der Hochschule Coburg – “Mode, Zeichnungen, Produkte: KI als Designer”, 29.02.2024

