Festival fans are pushing back on AI-generated lineup art
A heated thread on the Electric Forest subreddit lit up this week as festival-goers called out a wave of AI-generated lineup posters circulating online. The core complaint: these posters look wrong, sloppy, and — crucially — are replacing work that should go to living artists.
- Design mistakes — Fans point to bad typography, inaccurate artist names and awkward compositions that make posters feel low-effort.
- Aesthetic fatigue — A lot of the AI output reads the same: generic, sterile, and easy to tune out. People say the posters lack the personality that makes festival art memorable.
- Ethics & pay — The strongest reaction is moral: commenters asked festivals and social media users to stop sharing AI posters and to pay real designers instead.
That pushback isn’t just about looks. For many in the community, festival posters are collectible cultural artifacts — the kind of work that supports freelance illustrators, graphic designers and local creatives. When promoters and fans trade human-made craft for algorithmic copy, the art economy around festivals takes a hit.
What do fans want instead? Creative direction that favors original work and clear crediting. Suggestions from the thread include commissioning local designers, paying licensing fees, and giving visible credit when an image is used. In short: treat poster art like the work it is.
Festivals are a brand experience — posters are often the first handshake with fans. If promoters want their lineups to land, investing in actual artists still pays dividends. Fans online are making that message loud and clear: stop posting AI knockoffs, and pay an artist who can give the lineup the personality it deserves.