About two months ago, Marcus Graham, co-founder and creative director at HoMie, a Melbourne-based streetwear label and social enterprise, conceived an idea.
With meticulous attention to detail, he launched Microsoft Copilot within Windows, and began typing: “A Nineteen Nineties-inspired metal band typography font, featuring the phrase ‘HoMie’ in a singular color screenprint design with distressed effects, utilizing black font against a crisp white background.”
Criminal utilized Copilot, a cutting-edge generative AI assistant, to generate whimsical, simplistic visuals. He then seamlessly integrated these creations into an advanced enhancing software platform. As he manipulated and fine-tuned the angles, the overall design assumed a sinuous, spider-like quality, imbuing it with a sculpturally nuanced essence. The innovative approach reportedly slashed the completion time for a single task from potentially two days down to just two hours. An embroidered sweatshirt featuring the Gothic Crewneck design in teal is currently available on HoMie’s online store, with all proceeds supporting the organization’s mission to assist young people impacted by homelessness or hardship, as they navigate their challenging circumstances.
As criminal ventures into the realm of generative AI, he’s acutely aware that he’s treading on potentially treacherous ground, where the lines between artistry and artificial intelligence are increasingly blurred.
“Some people struggle with notions of authenticity, and many others lack the opportunities to explore it.” To him, Copilot serves as a means of externalizing ideas from his mind’s eye, facilitating the transition to tangible creative endeavors by literally “bringing them down to earth” on a drafting board, where the true crafting process can unfold.
The advent of generative AI instruments, built upon massive language models (LLMs), which synthesise vast amounts of information to produce textual content, code, images, and more, is regarded as the most significant technological leap since the internet browser and the smartphone.
Simultaneously, concerns arise within the creative community regarding the potential impact of AI-powered tools that can rapidly produce what might have taken a human counterpart hours or days to conceive, design, code, or create, potentially disrupting the livelihoods of some innovative professionals.
In the final 12 months, Microsoft gifted Social Media Influencers in Australia with its Floor Laptop computer Studio 2, showcasing the device’s capabilities through an innovative marketing campaign. Last year, he began using Copilot.
Criminal perceives that individuals draw inspiration from diverse sources, including online images and real-life experiences. As I embark on this new venture, I’m drawing upon my unique perspectives to ignite the creative process, but I recognize that this is merely the starting point for a far more comprehensive and transformative experience.
Founded a decade ago, HoMie – a pioneering initiative founded by its criminal-turned-philanthropist leader and his companions – aimed to provide vital resources to young people struggling with homelessness, including donated clothing and complimentary hairstyling services. At present, HoMie and its sub-label REBORN collaborate with prominent streetwear brands to breathe new life into surplus stock, diverting it from waste management facilities while generating revenue for socially impactful initiatives.
Upcycled creations, ranging from practical to fantastical and sometimes completely unidentifiable, make their way back onto store floors through partner retailers and strut their stuff on runways at local fashion fests?
Melbourne consistently ranks as one of the world’s best cities. Despite existing efforts, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to increase, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2021 census revealing that a staggering one-quarter of all those impacted by homelessness in Australia are women and children. A significant increase of 24 percent compared to five years prior?
Growing up in a rural area just outside of Melbourne, the criminal developed a passion for soccer that eventually led them to move to the town to pursue their dreams on the pitch. Following various stints as a photographer, videographer, and retail sales associate.
While taking lunch breaks at a clothing retailer, Criminal and his friends struck up conversations with people experiencing homelessness, hearing firsthand accounts of how chance and circumstance could lead someone down a precarious path.
In the spirit of the holiday season, a group including Criminal, soon-to-be fellow founders of HoMie, orchestrated a charitable initiative: a pop-up store offering donated clothing to those in need. A decade into its journey, the social enterprise has flourished, boasting a diverse team of 15 people and a physical storefront on Melbourne’s iconic Brunswick Road, where it showcases its own unique range of streetwear designs.
Homie provides paid internship opportunities to young people impacted by homelessness, offering a combination of vocational training and compensated work experience at prominent retail establishments, culminating in the attainment of an accredited certificate in business. More than sixty young professionals have successfully completed the eight-month long paid internship program.
More than 3,200 young people have benefited from the initiative, gaining access to free haircuts, a complimentary cup of coffee, and a welcoming space to relax and socialize.
“Criminal’s top priority is staying modern and making the best decisions for the team,” he said. “As we strive to minimize our environmental footprint when manufacturing products, the resources saved could instead be invested in our social impact initiatives.”
Utilizing Copilot as a starting point for novel designs, Criminal also leverages its capabilities to craft compelling pitches for prospective partners, showcasing how upcycled garments could look before production even begins. “He’s able to convey complex ideas to manufacturers at an unprecedented rate, shaving weeks off the typical timeframe.” The collaborative effort to secure manufacturer support was undoubtedly instrumental in driving progress.
When design development is complete, the true artistic process unfolds during the production phase at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, where highly skilled machinists bring the creative vision to reality under their meticulous craftsmanship.
The criminal carefully drew intricate patterns in the sand. He views Copilot as a suitable tool for producing two-dimensional representations of designs from a bird’s-eye perspective, commonly employed in product photography. While he won’t utilize the technology to create people, largely due to the risk of AI-biased results.
While some may view AI as a threat to creatives, he suggests that copilots can empower them with additional tools, ultimately leading to a more harmonious coexistence between humans and machines. In his opinion, individuals will come to regard AI as a valuable instrument rather than a job-stealing enemy. “It will enable users to achieve greater productivity and reduce time spent on tasks.”
