Avivant™: AI Enabled Ideation for Bird Inspired Clothing Brand

By Tojin T. Eapen

In this article, we will detail the process of using generative AI models to create unique and stylish hats for Avivant™, a concept clothing brand inspired by the vibrant plumage of birds. The brand name Avivant™ is derived from the Latin-origin words "avis," meaning bird, "vita," meaning life, and "avant," meaning before, encapsulating the idea of drawing inspiration from the natural world to create clothing that is vibrant and innovative.

The vibrant colors and intricate patterns found in bird plumage have long been a source of inspiration for various forms of art, including clothing, decorations, and jewelry. Some of the birds known for their particularly striking colors include the common peafowl, lilac-breasted roller, mandarin duck, bird-of-paradise, nicobar pigeon, scarlet macaw, rainbow lorikeet, resplendent quetzal, gouldian finch, painted bunting, golden pheasant, flamingo, keel-billed toucan, red-necked tanager, purple gallinule, and curl-crested aracari.

Bird plumage has been a source of inspiration for a variety of products. One example is in the field of aerodynamics, where the unique structure and arrangement of bird feathers has been studied to improve the efficiency of aircraft. In the field of textiles, bird feathers have been used as a source of inspiration for creating insulating materials. The color and patterns of bird plumage have also been used as inspiration in fashion design and in designing novel colorful materials based on structural coloration.

Avivant™ Design Concepts

What sets the Avivant™ concept apart from other bird-inspired clothing lines is that it combines the colors and patterns of multiple birds to create truly unique and innovative designs. In this case we used a generative AI models to create concept designs for Avivant™ hats that draws inspiration from both the Indian Peafowl and the Lilac-breasted Roller. 

The Lilac-breasted Roller is a species of bird found in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is known for its vibrant coloration, which includes a lilac breast, blue head, and green back. They are typically found in open woodlands and savannas, and are known for their acrobatic aerial displays. The Common Peafowl, also known as the Indian Peafowl, is a species of bird found in South Asia. It is best known for the colorful plumage of its male, the peacock, which includes a long, iridescent blue and green tail, known as a "train." Here are some of the concept designs of Avivant™ hats that were inspired by these beautiful birds.

Avivant™ Hat Concepts Set #1

Avivant™ Hat Concepts Set #2

Avivant™ Hat Concepts Set #3

Avivant™ Hat Concepts Set #4

Interestingly, using the prompts that included names of two different birds to generate designs for the hat also led to the creation of the following images of a highly beautiful, imaginary bird that combines the features of the Lilac-breasted roller and the peacock. This unexpected outcome was a pleasant surprise for us, and we were struck by the unique beauty of this new creation. 

We decided to name this imaginary bird the "Extraordinary Pea-roller Bird" - a combination of the two birds that inspired it, the peacock and the lilac-breasted roller. We realized that this new creation had the potential to become an additional feature in our concept clothing line, as the Extraordinary Pea-roller bird could become a motif or logo for our Avivant™ concept brand. 

In our next phase of experimentation, we sought to uncover new designs for Avivant™ hats by exploring a different combination of birds. This time, we chose to focus on the Nicobar pigeon and the Mandarin duck, both of which are renowned for their stunning plumage. However, the design process proved to be more challenging than anticipated. Despite numerous iterations, we found it difficult to obtain useful hat designs. Nevertheless, we were able to develop four potential designs as a result of this effort.

The AI image generator appeared to have a tendency to combine characteristics of two different birds, resulting in the creation of fantastical, gryphonic creatures. We are uncertain about the appropriate name for these hypothetical creatures, they might be referred to as "Nicobar Ducks" or "Mandarin Pigeons," we leave it up to the reader to decide.

Next, we generated different clothing and accessories concepts using the Golden Pheasant and the Scarlet Macaw as inspiration. This time around, the AI model mostly provided us with images of products rather than imaginary birds. We first attempted scarves and generated several designs. 

We then moved on to handbags, where the number of good designs were much harder to generate. Some of the better designs are shown below.

Lastly, we tried brooches and were pleased with the easily forthcoming good designs, such as the ones shown below.

Creating the Avivant™ concept brooches, which were bioinspired by the beauty of the Golden pheasant and Scarlet macaw, was a very enjoyable process. As a result, we generated hundreds of different designs, some of which are shown in the below video. 

One potential Generative AI Business (GAIB) model is for the company to display a large number of these designs on a website, and then allow a crowd of people to select their favorite designs. This approach could be an effective way to generate a high volume of unique and interesting designs, while also utilizing the collective tastes and preferences of a large group of people. 

This post is part of a series of articles on the use of generative AI for bioinspired product ideation. The use of AI for product concept generation allows for the quick creation of many potentially novel designs, which could then be evaluated and refined to select the most promising concepts to move to the next stage of the product development process.

To learn how leading Fortune Global 500 companies such as ABB, Bosch, Google, Samsung, and NetApp have used Innomantra's Functional Innovation Methodology to turbocharge their idea management process, schedule a meeting today at calendly.com/innomantra.