MINT

To celebrate the new year, I looked for AI image generators with business models that commit to use public domain works and to compensate artists for the content that they use to train. Closely (though arguably not perfectly) aligned with my criteria, I chose Adobe Firefly to use exclusively in my creative and production process for my first new project of 2026- MINT, an illustrated alphabet in two weights. I used about 8,000 generative credits in my creative workflow that, after extensive design and art production, resulted in 52 illustrated capital letters, several patterns, and a dozen images for POD product mock-ups. If patronizing ethical priorities in AI will encourage tech companies to reject using content that infringes on copyright or intellectual property rights in programming their AI services, then I am all in.

Two digital alphabet designs are introduced in this specimen:
MINT: An organic letterform embracing the color and density variation of natural mint.
SPRIG: A slender letterform that implies the curves and quirks of a single branch budding mint.