How Obojima's unique artistry inspired me to take a hands-on approach to its Email Design System.

Recently, I worked on an Email Design System (EDS) for Obojima, a brand whose artwork and creativity I really admire.

I had the option to use Claude AI to speed up the process, from creating the style guide to building reusable email content blocks.

I gave it a try, but the initial output wasn't quite what I had in mind. So I decided to build the EDS manually instead.

Here's why.

Obojima has a unique visual identity, thanks to the amazing work of its artists. Rather than feeding their artwork into AI and letting it reinterpret the assets, I wanted to use the original artwork and build the design system around it.

For me, it was also about respecting the artists' creativity and keeping the brand's identity intact.

Does that mean I don't believe in using AI for design? Not at all.

I think AI is great for speeding up repetitive tasks, like setting up styles and components in Figma. But when it comes to creative direction, even detailed prompts don't always get you the result you're imagining.

And sometimes, you end up spending more time tweaking prompts than it would take to just do it yourself. Until you finally say, "Okay, I'll just do it myself!" 😅

I still believe AI has its place in design. It's just a matter of knowing when to use it and when to take a more hands-on approach.

Anyway, here are a few comparisons of the initial Claude-generated EDS and the version I created manually using Obojima's original artwork.