When consistency gets cheap, distinctiveness becomes the work
Canva’s AI Vision London recap argues that taste, judgment, workflow design, and brand distinctiveness matter more as generation becomes abundant.
A useful provocation for any designer building a brand in an increasingly synthetic visual environment.
The Story
Canva’s recap of AI Vision London makes a simple argument: AI can reproduce guidelines quickly, but brands can still become forgettable when everyone feeds similar inputs into similar systems. The scarce resource shifts from consistency toward distinctiveness. ([canva.com](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/ai-vision-uk-2026-distinctiveness-brand/))
That distinction is important. Consistency is a production property; distinctiveness is a cultural and strategic property. One can be templated. The other depends on context, conviction, local knowledge, and choices someone is willing to defend.
A practical Studio Wensday exercise: write down three things the brand refuses to look or sound like. Negative space is often where a recognisable identity begins.
Studio Wensday Angle
Brand systems need constraints that protect personality, not just accuracy.