3 creative lessons from Google’s Flow Sessions artists

The biggest sparks often happen when artists are free to experiment, follow their instincts and bring personal stories to life.

Last September, we piloted our first-ever Flow Sessions, a creative partner program that brings together artists for six weeks to connect and build with Flow. Today we’re closing the third chapter of our latest class of talented artists. This was the first time we focused on recruiting different kinds of creatives to understand how this tool might unlock something beyond traditional filmmaking. The artists span diverse disciplines, including journalism, advertising and fashion, and bring varying levels of AI experience.

Co-creation is at the heart of this program because we believe the best tools are built alongside the people who use them most. We are continually inspired by how creatives use Flow as a partner and an extension of their own vision.

Here are a few lessons we learned from this group:

1. Be open to surprises when you start.

Some of the most exciting work began with experimentation. Artist Julie Wieland used Flow “as an endless playground,” following curiosities to inspire new directions as the story unfolded. Her project “Until We Meet Again” is a cyclical tale of a stone golem observing the fleeting life of a dandelion with every new season. In addition to using Flow, she used AI Studio to create an app to lower the frame rate to achieve a handmade stop-motion style and developed a complementary soundtrack to unify the piece. For Julie, the process was less about arriving at a final frame and more about discovering new possibilities in real time.