Mason Garcera on using AI to generate ideas that stick

Mason Garcera is a Chicago-based artist who runs a sticker business, Abstract Outback, alongside a full-time job as an operations director in the nonprofit sector. His intricate and colourful designs are inspired by artists like Picasso and Kieth Haring, capturing the spirit of US states through colour-blocking and free-form line art.

Garcera set up the online shop as a passion project during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, as the lockdown lifted and his professional responsibilities grew, he needed a more efficient way to manage his creative outlet. Enter exactly.ai, a tool that revolutionised how Mason ideates and produces artwork.

In the following Q&A, Mason shares how exactly.ai saves him time while maintaining his creative integrity.

Tell us about the inspiration behind your sticker business, and your process before using exactly.ai.

I started my sticker business in 2020 during the pandemic when, like many people, I had time for creative pursuits. I've always loved how abstract artists capture the essence of a form – taking the literal and warping it into an impression – like Picasso, Matisse, and Keith Haring. I wanted to have fun with structure and shapes, and I love experimenting with different colours, shades, and tints to see how they complement and contrast each other to achieve different moods.

Before exactly.ai, I was using Adobe Fresco and Procreate interchangeably to draw. I drew up around 35 to 40 different sticker designs – each one took several days to complete. I also spent a lot of time researching. I based my designs on each US state’s native animals, flowers, and landscapes, then picked several reference images to develop a concept and colour scheme.

When the pandemic restrictions were lifted, I started a new full-time job so the sticker business was on the back burner. The business served as a bridge during uncertain times, but my interest in it hasn’t faded. Four years later, I've started to revisit and revive the project – thanks to exactly.ai.

How does exactly.ai fit into your process now?

exactly.ai is the first AI tool I've seriously integrated into my process. I’ve tried using GPT-4, but it didn't accurately replicate the style and abstraction the way I needed.

Using exactly.ai has been a game-changer. The ability to ideate quickly and efficiently has reignited my passion for this project. Previously, the time required for research, brainstorming, and actual creation was overwhelming, especially with a full-time job. exactly.ai has streamlined these processes, allowing me to maintain my creative output without sacrificing too much time.

The tipping point was really the promise of being able to generate unique designs that are still mine. exactly.ai’s emphasis on ownership and privacy – especially with their paid version, which offers private generation – was a significant factor. I didn’t want to risk my designs being copied or stolen, which is always a concern with AI tools that create similar outputs for multiple users. Ensuring that my designs remain unique and protected is crucial to me.

Tell us about your model-training process – was it difficult at first to get your desired results?

It was fairly simple: I took around 40 original designs and created a dataset. The prompting process is more dynamic and iterative. I have a document saved of different prompts I use, with descriptors like "conceptual, heavenly, spiritual," that really helps to refine the mood and add a sprinkle of gravitas. I love to experiment with colour, and it's the primary reason I regenerate results. exactly.ai is really good at understanding shades and tints like "burnt orange", "nautical blue" and "sage green", so I mix-and-match the colours in my sets until the result is pleasing to my eye.

What are the main benefits of introducing exactly.ai?

It saves an incredible amount of time. I lead a busy life – I'm a full-time director and a full-time master's student – and using exactly.ai gives me the satisfaction of creativity while producing a larger output of designs. What originally took me 1-2 weeks now takes me 15-30 minutes, and using my own dataset leaves me with results that make me say, "Wow, this is definitely something I would've drawn, and it would've taken me much longer".

Using exactly.ai, what does success look like for you?

The goal is to maintain the creative integrity of my work while also increasing my output. exactly.ai helps me achieve that, so I’d say I’ve found success.