2-Sided Flyer (with AI) – Instructions

Project Overview

For this project, you’ll design a printed 2-sided flyer using only AI-generated text, artwork, or photos. Once you have your text and assets, you’ll design the flyer yourself in Illustrator using the downloadable template provided below.

Choose your own subject or topic. The important part of this project is to get you some experience creating and designing with AI assets.

This is still a new technology, but I want you to understand it as you complete your graphic design degree. If you find any helpful websites that generate AI text, artwork, photos, or videos, please share them with me, and I’ll create a list on this web page for other students to use.

For your client or topic, use something that might be needed in your local community:

Farmer’s market
Local play or theatre group
The opening of a new coffee house or bakery
Local arts & craft fair
A reading event at a library
A flyer for a new food truck in your neighborhood
A local quilting group and when and where they meet
A local e-sports club and where and when they meet
Our a topic of your choice. Just think about adding something of value to your portfolio of work.

Grading Checklist

Create one 2-sided flyer using AI-generated text, artwork, and photos.
Size: Use the template below (4″ x 7″, CMYK, 300 ppi)
Software: Adobe Illustrator
Topic/Client: Choose your own
Typeface: Only use 1–2 typefaces. (Typefaces on your iMac or fontsquirrel.com)
Create a color scheme with 3–5 colors
Deliver your facts in small chunks
Use a contemporary design (see examples on this page)
You can alter the images in Photoshop or Illustrator as needed. You can also draw a few things yourself if AI struggles to generate something you really want in your design.
Use ChatGPT to generate your text (https://chat.openai.com/)
Use Adobe Firefly to generate all your other assets (https://firefly.adobe.com/)(or the other AI-generators mentioned above).
Participate in class presentations and critiques.
Hand in your final design, printed duplex and trimmed, for grading

What AI generator to use?

I’d suggest you use Adobe Firefly to create your AI art assets (https://firefly.adobe.com/), and ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/) for your body copy (text). Feel free to explore other AI-generating websites too. Some require you to create an account, others require payment. I’ve used OpenAI’s DALL•E (https://openai.com/dall-e-3)(account required).

Another option is Microsoft’s AI generator, Copilot (https://copilot.microsoft.com). You have to sign in to generate images. I was able to sign in with my Western email/account.

Gencraft.com is another option to create AI-generated images. You need to create an account, and you get 10 free prompts/images.

VideoGen.io is an option for creating AI-generated videos. You need to create an account, and you get 5000 free text-to-speech credits.

2-Sided Flyer – Overview & Best Practices

The 2-sided flyer is a commonly used marketing piece in the business world. It is compact, easy to carry, and easy to print and shares a lot of information about your product or service. It is so helpful that many businesses begin their marketing campaigns with a simple business card and printed flyer.

Most retail stores have specific countertops and floor displays just for this common 2-sided flyer.

A good 2-sided flyer utilizes an even combination of text, photos, and art to convey its message to its audience.

2-Sided Flyer – Best Practices

Here are several important considerations while designing your 2-sided flyer. Be sure to review the other helpful examples on this page, too. They will offer you new ideas and inspire you to think in new ways while designing.

Examples to inspire you

2-Sided Flyer Examples on Behance

More Examples (of just one side)

Template to download and use

Use this Adobe Illustrator template to create your 2-sided flyer. Fill both sides with the topic and information of your choice.

4×7-2-sided-flyer-template.ai.zip Download

Once done designing, print your 2-sided flyer

Print your 2-sided flyer to 8.5″ x 11″, 2-sided (duplexed). Cut it out with the rotary cutter or Xacto knife and ruler.

I’d suggest you do this for your critiques, too. That way, you and your evaluators can see the real thing. You’ll see how your content works with both sides and with bleeds.

Tutorial: How I created a 2-sided flyer with AI

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial showing how I created my first design project with AI-generated assets

1. GENERATE TEXT (with ChatGPT)

I chose to do a 2-sided flyer that advertises my newly created fresh salads food truck (fictional company). I was quite surprised by the accuracy and efficiency of ChatGPT.

Here’s the request I entered:

The marketing message launching a new specialty salad food truck with locally sourced fruits and veggies

Here’s the marketing text it generated:

Introducing “Farm to Fork Greens” – Your Local Salad Destination!

🌱 Fresh, Flavorful, and Fun! 🌱

Are you ready to embark on a culinary adventure that celebrates the vibrant tastes of your community? We’re thrilled to introduce our brand-new specialty salad food truck, “Farm to Fork Greens,” where delicious meets wholesome and local meets global. Get ready to savor the freshest, most delectable salads on wheels, all made with love and sourced right from your neighborhood.

🥗 Our Promise to You 🥗

🌿 Locally Sourced Ingredients: We believe in supporting local farmers and markets, which is why we use only the freshest fruits and vegetables sourced from nearby farms. You’ll taste the difference in every bite!

🌈 Flavor Explosion: Our salads are a burst of color and flavor! From zesty citrus-infused dressings to hearty mixed greens, each salad is a work of art for your taste buds.

🌍 Global Inspiration: While we take pride in sourcing locally, our recipes are inspired by flavors from around the world. You’ll find Mediterranean, Asian, and Southwestern influences on our menu.

👨‍🍳 Handcrafted with Love: Our team of culinary artists is passionate about crafting the perfect salad. Every ingredient is carefully chosen, and every dish is made to order just for you.

🚚 We Come to You! 🚚

We’re bringing our culinary creations to your neighborhood. Look for the “Farm to Fork Greens” food truck at local events, festivals, and farmers’ markets, or request us for your private gatherings. We can’t wait to share our salads with you!

🥑 Menu Highlights 🥑

🌻 “Harvest Delight” – A vibrant mix of seasonal greens, topped with colorful veggies and your choice of protein, drizzled with our signature vinaigrette.

🌮 “Taco Fiesta” – A Southwestern-inspired salad that’s like a fiesta in a bowl, complete with black beans, corn, avocado, and salsa dressing.

🍊 “Citrus Bliss” – A refreshing blend of mixed greens, citrus fruits, and grilled chicken, paired with a zesty citrus dressing.

🍍 “Tropical Paradise” – Transport your taste buds to the tropics with this delightful combination of pineapple, mango, and coconut flakes on a bed of fresh greens.

🥕 “Garden Fresh Kids’ Salad” – We haven’t forgotten the little ones! Our kid-friendly salad is a delicious way to introduce your child to the joys of fresh, healthy eating.

Join us as we redefine the salad experience! Follow us on social media for updates on our location, special offers, and more. “Farm to Fork Greens” is your new go-to for a healthy and mouthwatering meal on the go. We can’t wait to serve you!

📱 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter: @FarmToForkGreens 📍 Check our website for the latest location updates: www.farmtoforkgreens.com

Farm to Fork Greens – Where Local Love Meets Global Flavor! 🌍🥗

2. GENERATE IMAGES (with Adobe Firefly)

Next, I went to Adobe Firefly, Text to image, and entered the following requests (artwork results are shown above each request).

logo for “Farm to Fork Greens,” a new specialty salad food truck with locally sourced fruits and vegetables

logo “Farm to Fork Greens”

logo “Farm to Fork Greens” with carrots, tomatoes, peppers

One thing that was hard to control was keeping the style of the illustrations consistent. I used the regular setting for all the above, but they didn’t come out as consistently as I would have liked. It looks to me like the plates of food are just a photo with a stylized effect placed on them. The salad and food truck illustrations look much more like digital illustrations than the rest.

3. Start Designing

I really liked the first food truck as a logo, so I downloaded the image and opened it in Photoshop. Firefly gave me an image that was approx. 7″ x 7″ at 300ppi.

As you can see, it didn’t do so well with the text. So I had to design that myself.

I found these two typefaces from Fontsquirrel.com. I liked how the humanistic, hand-drawn feeling of the Gorditas matched the style of the illustrations.

Here are the background files I created in Photoshop. Try as I might to get Adobe Firefly’s AI to generate a whimsical, hand-drawn border, it just couldn’t do it to my satisfaction. So I drew it myself with the WACOM tablet and pressure-sensitive brush setting in Photoshop.

Here’s the final 2-sided flyer after I added the type in Illustrator. I am happy with how it turned out.

Final Observations and Summary

I was impressed with ChatGPT’s ability to write my body copy so quickly and effectively. It gave me all the marketing copy I would need for this type of marketing piece on the first try.

As for the illustrations, I was impressed with the food truck and salad bowl illustrations. The style of both of them, even though it’s a very common and popular digital drawing style, was impressive. It won’t win any points for originality, but I suppose I could get better results if I played around with the settings and used it more. I’m sure it’s more powerful than I’m giving it credit for. And I’m sure I just need to gain more experience with it.

The one thing AI couldn’t do (yet) was to actually design the two-sided flyer. It was able to generate design assets, but that was it. I feel that, for now, at least, the graphic designer’s skills, audience knowledge, and marketing knowledge are valued and needed by employers.