Death to generic: How Kuba is contributing with Lummi to kill boring designs

There was a time when stock photography ruled the web. You know the ones—smiling business folks shaking hands in a sunlit conference room, a suspiciously diverse team of creatives pointing at sticky notes, or the classic: good ol' Harold giving you the cringiest thumbs up you've ever seen. These images were the visual wallpaper of the internet, the seeds of many memes, the stale placeholders that you'd forget the second you looked away.

But things are changing in the world of stock images and design.

Designers like Kuba, a contributor to Lummi and an early adopter of AI design tools, are part of a growing movement pushing for imagery that feels fresh, intriguing, and never overused. "Stock images in the sports niche often feel generic and overused," Kuba explains. "With AI, I had the flexibility to create consistent visuals that truly matched the brand's energy, rather than forcing stock photos to fit."

We linked up with Kuba to learn more about his experience with AI and Lummi and how the design world is a powerful moment. Here's what he had to say.

From stock to substance

Kuba's recent work for a sports brand is a case in point. With no brand photography to pull from, he leaned on a blend of AI tools—including Lummi and Midjourney—to create a bold, cohesive visual language from scratch. The result? A website that scored an Honorable Mention on Awwwards.

But Kuba's not chasing awards. "More importantly," he says, "it proved how curated AI imagery can give designers full control over style, mood, and consistency—resulting in a more intentional and unique final product."

That's the magic word: intentional. While traditional stock relies on mass appeal, AI imagery is about dialing in. Instead of digging through endless libraries hoping for something "close enough," designers are generating exactly what they need. The result is design that feels handcrafted, not compromised.

Not just your typical assets

Lummi, a growing community of AI image creators, plays a key role in Kuba's process. But he doesn't just use it for finished visuals—he treats it as a kind of creative springboard. "Lummi has been especially helpful for quickly kicking off initial concepts and aligning with clients on a visual direction," he says. "But beyond just assets, Lummi has been a great source of inspiration."

Inspiration, in this case, means remixing. Mashing up. Tinkering. And when you've got powerful creative tools on deck, a single idea from Lummi can spark a chain reaction of experimentation. "A lot of the work I've shared on X started with something I discovered on Lummi. It's a great way to spark ideas and keep things moving."

Which brings us to the next point: AI doesn't kill creativity. It fuels it.

Creativity on overdrive

How might you describe Kuba’s signature style? Abstract, liquid, futuristic backgrounds that look like someone asked Dali to design a web3 landing page after three espressos and a session in Cinema 4D. "I kept seeing this aesthetic on Web3 websites and liked the idea," he says. "But the execution always felt off and too generic. I wanted to take it further, refine it, and make it more visually interesting."

So he did what any designer would do: he generated over 250 of these backgrounds. Then he shared them on the Figma Community—where they've been downloaded more than 6,000 times. And they're not just sitting in folders. These images are used in pitch decks, social posts, presentations, hero sections, and full-blown branding projects.

Why? Because they don't feel like filler. They feel like a vibe. A mood. A choice.

And they're born out of process. "What keeps me hooked is the process itself," Kuba says. "Tweaking, blending, and iterating, trying to create something abstract that doesn't exist in the real world. The possibilities are endless… There's no end or final product, you can just keep exploring the ideas."

This is the polar opposite of stock libraries. The point isn't to find the image—it's to find an idea. To chase a visual concept and stretch it into something new.

The new workflow: faster, smarter, weirder

Of course, AI isn't just making things prettier. It's making things faster, too.

"From a workflow standpoint, AI tools have made everything unbelievably fast," Kuba notes. "Iterating and aligning on visuals is so much quicker with tools like Midjourney and Lummi. No more endless scrolling to find the perfect image."

And that speed adds up. Designers are spending less time searching and more time shaping. Prototyping platforms like Lovable speed things up even more, while tools like Claude or ChatGPT become creative co-pilots. "You can talk to them like a business partner," Kuba says, "bouncing ideas back and forth. It's an incredible shift in how we work."

Yes, AI can summarize your meeting notes and organize your Google Drive. But its real superpower? It unlocks creative momentum.

Not replacing designers—empowering them

This isn't about automating the designer out of the picture. Quite the opposite.

"AI enhances creativity if used correctly. Definitely not replacing it," Kuba stresses.

What we're seeing isn't the end of design jobs. It's a transformation of them. Designers who lean into AI aren't outsourcing their vision—they're amplifying it. They're becoming art directors of their own visual universes, free from the constraints of whatever Shutterstock thinks "cutting edge" looks like.

And that's paying off in real ways. "Just in the past few weeks," Kuba says, "I've had more people from the AI space reach out for branding and web design work than from any other niche."

There's a clear pattern: AI-native companies want AI-native designers. And those designers are carving out a new creative lane that's faster, more experimental, and—frankly—more fun.

A future for the brave

So what does the next wave of web design look like?

"Real creativity will matter more than ever," Kuba predicts. "With AI making it easy to pump out generic designs, the work that feels fresh will stand out. And be worth more."

It's not just about looking cool. It's about moving fast. Launching quick. Iterating faster. And doing it all with style. "Spending months perfecting something before launch just won't make sense anymore," Kuba explains. "Getting a solid version out quickly and refining it based on real feedback will be the way forward."

Visually, expect minimalism with a twist. Clean layouts, sure—but with bold brand expressions, interactive layers, 3D flair, and maybe even a touch of WebGL magic. "Brands will take bigger risks because just having a 'nice' website won't be enough to stand out."

The state of the new design world

In an era where design is increasingly about identity, originality, and speed, relying on the same tired library photos just doesn't cut it anymore. It’s why more than ever creatives like yourself are using Kuba’s visuals for their own projects.

These tools give designers the power to create ideas that don't exist yet. To turn moodboards into reality. To design at the same speed as they think.

And in the hands of creators like Kuba, they're helping define a new visual language—one that's weird, wild, and wonderfully intentional.

No more business bros shaking hands. The future of design? It's liquid.