As I Remember Them Generatieve Kunst by Bowen Shen

As I Remember Them Generatieve Kunst by Bowen Shen is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award in Brons in Generatief, Algoritmisch, Parametrisch en AI-ondersteund Ontwerp Competition Category.

BronsGeneratief· 2026

As I Remember Them Generatieve Kunst

by Bowen Shen

Client: Bowen Shen

A' Design Award in Brons Winner in Generatief Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Colors

The Design

About As I Remember Them Generatieve Kunst

Deze generatieve kunstreeks verbeeldt alledaagse jeugdmomenten via AI-ondersteunde beeldcreatie. Het werk richt zich op scènes zoals de schoolpauze, rustige zomermiddagen thuis en nieuwjaarsvieringen, geput uit doorleefde ervaringen in Noord-China. Tot stand gekomen door begeleide prompting en handmatige visuele bewerking, geeft de reeks voorrang aan realisme, terwijl subtiele visuele onregelmatigheden worden toegelaten die weerspiegelen hoe het geheugen gevoel bewaart in plaats van exacte details.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Brons

As I Remember Them Generatieve Kunst is winnaar van de A' Design Award in Brons, een hoogst prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan uitstekende ontwerpen die zich onderscheiden door creativiteit, vindingrijkheid en scherpzinnigheid. Winnaars in Brons zijn ruimschoots vaardige en opvallend creatieve artefacten die de grote ervaring, verbeelding en het vernuft van hun ontwerpers bevestigen. As I Remember Them Generatieve Kunst wordt verwacht een hooggewaardeerd, bewonderd en gekoesterd object te zijn dat opmerkelijk professioneel en innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in Brons heeft gewonnen, verwerkt de beste praktijken in kunst, wetenschap, ontwerp en technologie en is uitstekend door zijn aandacht voor detail. As I Remember Them Generatieve Kunst bevredigt schitterend behoeften, raakt verlangens, charmeert gevoelens en spreekt de nieuwsgierigheid aan.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: As I Remember Them is a generative art series that visualizes fragments of memory, emotion, and longing. It is an attempt to reconstruct the past through the lens of imagination.
Dimensions & Packaging: 1856 x 2464px image series
Tags: Generative AI art, Nostalgia, Childhood memories, Northern China, Visual storytelling, MidJourney, Photoshop, Digital art
Production Technology: This series was created with MidJourney, using iterative prompting and reference-based descriptions to shape culturally specific scenes. Outputs were then refined in Photoshop through compositing, retouching, and color adjustments, ensuring the final work aligned with my artistic vision and emotional intent.
Design Challenge: The greatest challenge was translating personal, culturally specific memories into AI-generated images. MidJourney lacked context for the textures of Northern Chinese life, requiring me to break scenes into elements, source references, and iteratively refine prompts. Balancing realism with the quirks of AI output, and deciding when to embrace its distortions, was both the obstacle and the creative breakthrough.
Research: Process documentation: https://bit.ly/49OvkvG

Type of Research: Practice-based creative research.
Research Objectives: To explore how AI can represent personal and culturally specific memories.
Methodology: Iterative visual experimentation and technical study.
Data Collection and Tools: Memory recall, curated reference images, MidJourney style parameters, prompting techniques, Photoshop.
Participants or Experiments: Repeated prompt and image generation cycles.
Results: Increased control over style, detail, and emotional accuracy.
Insights and Impacts: Structured prompting reduces emotional flatness in AI art.
Real Life Effects: Encourages more human-centered AI use in design and visual storytelling.
Inspiration: Bothered by how often GenAI outputs felt soulless, the project set out to render a deeply soulful subject, the emotional landscape of childhood.

I grew up in Northern China, in a hometown changed by time and distance. Through prompting, storytelling, and hands-on editing, I recreated scenes that linger in me: recess, summer solitude, New Year warmth, while embracing GenAI quirks that reflect how memory distorts and softens.
Project Duration: The project was created virtually over the span of one month in January 2025.
Operation Flow: The generative art is experienced through sequential viewing. Each image presents a self-contained moment, allowing viewers to pause, observe, and form personal associations. The series encourages slow viewing rather than interaction through controls, inviting audiences to connect individual scenes to their own memories and emotional experiences.