Workshop at IAAD Bologna

Generating with style: the AI pattern design workshop for Artefiera at IAAD

During the Arte Fiera Bologna 2024 exhibition showcasing projects by IAAD students, we had the opportunity to lead an experimental workshop focused on AI-generated pattern design.

Leading the workshop were Francesco Cesarini (founder of Wotta) and Giacomo Bosi (Head of Design), in collaboration with IAAD – Institute of Applied Arts and Design.

The goal? Showing students how AI tools could be used to reinterpret original visual works and transform them into graphic and visual patterns to become part of the exhibition design itself.

A bridge between analog input and digital output

The workshop started from a simple but powerful concept: beginning with sketches, textures, drawings, and visual materials already created by the students themselves.

The idea was not to generate from scratch, but to reinterpret through artificial intelligence — creating a dialogue between hand and machine, artistic instinct and algorithmic logic.

We worked with:

• Adobe Firefly for controlled generation of patterns and backgrounds consistent with the original visual style
• Runway for motion design, prompt-based variations, and animated textures
• Adobe Photoshop + Adobe Illustrator for refinement, post-production, and optimization of AI-generated outputs
• Low-code editing interfaces to adapt the final assets to the exhibition installation

A hybrid, accessible, and inclusive workflow that allowed even students with no previous AI experience to experiment creatively without losing the identity of their original projects.

From workshop to exhibition: patterns as storytelling

The AI-generated patterns became an integral part of the exhibition concept itself: visual elements connected to the students’ personal stories, translated into repeated surfaces, digital textures, and cohesive visual moods.

A form of collective visual branding that transformed experimentation into a shared language.

The result? An exhibition enriched by a generative visual layer that interacted with the spaces of Arte Fiera Bologna 2024 in a contemporary and unconventional way — demonstrating how AI does not replace creativity, but amplifies it.

A glimpse into the future of creativity

For us, this workshop was also an opportunity to bring into the classroom what we often experiment with inside the studio: the ethical and conscious use of generative AI to expand the expressive possibilities of creative work.

A special thanks to IAAD, the professors involved, and especially to the students who fully embraced the process and put their creativity on the line.

We strongly believe projects like this help build a real bridge between education and innovation.