This project, "À la Recherche," is a poetic and critical exploration of AI in graphic design. We used generative AI to craft a fictional narrative about a human life, from birth to death. By training these tools on human-generated data, texts, and images, we created an entity that embodies everyone and no one at the same time. This process allowed us to question identity and aesthetic norms in the age of machine learning.

To challenge the fascination with AI as a mere tool, we deconstructed its mechanics. We built and trained a DCGAN on images scraped from Instagram, all of which represented a single aesthetic canon. This method allowed us to expose and question the emerging visual norms and biases within these images of men and women. Similarly, the texts, generated with OpenAI, emerged from a broad spectrum of human writings.

The project unfolds across multiple formats, including a 630-page book, a custom typographic specimen, a series of A0 posters, and a website detailing our research. "À la Recherche" is a testament to the creative potential of AI's flaws, offering a unique perspective that enriches the contemporary debate on the use of these powerful tools.

Project co-created with: Aurélien Brigaud & Romain Marc

Deliverables: 630-page book (200x280mm), Typographic Specimen (2.54x2.54cm), A0 Posters, Website.