Mattel Taps Adobe AI for Barbie Packaging This Holiday Season

Mattel has taken a creative leap for the 2024 holiday season by using Adobe's Firefly AI platform to design packaging for two of its Barbie dolls. The AI-generated designs feature intricate backgrounds, including a picture frame and bow motif for the Holiday Barbie and a basketball court scene for the Sue Bird Barbie. According to Chris Down, Mattel’s chief design officer, the generative AI allowed the team to quickly visualize and iterate on multiple creative concepts, providing more flexibility in the design process.

The use of Firefly AI addressed a common bottleneck in Mattel's design workflow: creating and refining early design sketches. Previously, designers had to strike a balance between offering a wide range of options and managing time constraints. With AI, this process became more efficient, enabling rapid iterations based on feedback. Firefly generated visuals from simple prompts and allowed designers to make detailed adjustments—such as reducing ribbons or focusing more on the framing—until they achieved the desired result.

While the AI streamlining was a success, Mattel’s designers still needed to perform some manual touch-ups using Adobe Photoshop, particularly for more complex creative elements. Down also pointed out limitations in AI’s handling of intellectual property and logos, areas that required human oversight to ensure brand integrity. This AI-driven packaging experiment marks Mattel's confidence in emerging technologies as tools that can complement human creativity, especially during high-stakes campaigns like the holiday season.

Full story at AdAge.