Our approach to AI

AI is moving fast, and a lot of studios would rather not say how they use it. We would rather be straight with you. This page explains how we use AI in our work, where we draw the line, and the thinking behind both.

We treat AI the way we treat any tool in the studio: useful when it earns its place, and never a substitute for judgement, craft or honesty. It helps us work faster and think wider. It does not make the decisions, and it does not touch the parts of the job that depend on a person paying attention.

Our commitment

We aim to use AI in a way we would happily explain to any client, to our peers, and to the people whose work and data we are trusted with. That means being clear about where it helps, keeping a person accountable for everything we deliver, and protecting anything confidential you share with us. If a use of AI would embarrass us to describe out loud, we do not do it.

A person is always in charge

AI can draft, suggest and speed things along, but it does not decide anything that matters. Every brand, every layout and every final piece of work carrying your name is chosen, checked and signed off by a designer who understands your business. The judgement is human and the responsibility is human. If something is not right, there is a person to talk to, not a machine to blame.

How we use it

In practice, AI supports the quieter, early and behind-the-scenes parts of a project. It helps us work more efficiently, but it does not replace our judgement, our creativity or our responsibility for the finished work.

Research and synthesis

We may use AI to help organise, compare and summarise the research, data and inspiration we gather. We decide what matters, question the findings and turn that information into an original creative direction.

Writing support

We take the time to understand your business, audience and voice first. AI may help us explore ideas, structure content or produce an early working draft, but the final writing is reviewed, rewritten and shaped by us, so it sounds natural, accurate and genuinely yours.

Development support

We use AI as a development tool to help explore solutions, troubleshoot problems and support coding tasks. Every output is reviewed, tested and adapted by our team, and we remain fully responsible for the quality, security and performance of the finished website.

Studio administration

AI can help with tasks such as transcribing calls, summarising notes and organising internal documents. That keeps routine admin off the desk and gives us more time for thoughtful, creative work for our clients.

We’re open about it

We will not pass AI output off as something it is not. If AI played a meaningful part in something we deliver, we are glad to tell you, and glad to talk through how and why. You are paying for our judgement and our craft, and you deserve to know how the work was made.

AI-generated imagery

Real photography, illustration and design are the backbone of what we make, because that is what earns trust and lasts. Where an AI-generated image genuinely fits a brief we will use one, but only when it is the right call, and when an AI image appears in the finished work we deliver, we will say so. Given the choice, we would rather show your real work than a convincing imitation of it.

Your information stays yours

Anything confidential you share with us stays out of public AI tools. We do not paste your private documents, unpublished plans or customer data into publicly accessible AI services where it could be stored or used to train a model. Protecting the confidence you place in us is part of the job, and AI does not change that.

Craft, not shortcuts

AI makes us quicker, not lazier. It clears the busywork so we can spend more time on strategy, craft and the details that make a brand work. It is a way to do better work in the time we have, not a way to do thinner work for less. The standard is exactly what it has always been.

It has an environmental cost

AI is not free of consequences. The data centres that run it use real energy and water, and that is easy to forget because it happens out of sight. It is one more reason we use these tools deliberately rather than by default, and keep them to the tasks where they genuinely earn their place. We cover this alongside the rest of our footprint in our sustainability policy.

Keeping ourselves honest

AI is changing quickly, and so is the right way to use it. We would rather admit we are still working some of this out than pretend we have every answer. We review how we use these tools, drop anything that does not sit right, and update this page as our thinking develops. If you have a question about how AI fits into a project, or a concern about it, we would genuinely like to hear it. You can reach us on 01872 222299 or through our contact page.

Last updated: 24 July 2026.