When clouds over Boulder, Colorado threatened to derail a $35,000 photo shoot, furniture designer Chase Kerlin found an unexpected workaround through a friend’s AI expertise. That impromptu solution became the foundation for HookPic, one of several startups betting that generative AI can transform how home brands create product imagery.
From Costly Shoots to Instant Imagery
Kerlin, founder of Austin-based Olive & Wool, had high hopes for his first major photo shoot. He rented an Airbnb, hired a photographer, and shipped his new furniture line hundreds of miles. But the photographer missed his flight, and an overcast sky obscured the mountains in the background. The result: roughly $35,000 spent for almost no usable photos.
His friend Michael Bashour, a tech entrepreneur proficient with generative AI tools, stepped in. Using basic shots Kerlin took himself, Bashour transformed them into professional-looking images. “I was cussing myself because he was sitting on his sofa, and he got better photographs than I could with all the hell I had been going through,” Kerlin recalls.
AI Startups Target Home Industry
Their collaboration led to HookPic, launched early last year. The platform now serves 70 customers and is expanding its team. HookPic is part of a growing wave of AI image-generation startups targeting the home industry, where traditional photography remains expensive and logistically complex.
Furniture makers face unique challenges that fashion brands don’t. While a fashion house can shoot an entire season’s collection on a city street, furniture requires shipping containers, large venues, and elaborate setups. Capturing every SKU in multiple colorways and configurations multiplies costs and time. Even computer-generated renderings, long used as a workaround, can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per image at scale.
Rebecca Atwood, founder of a South Carolina-based textile brand, adopted Midjourney to solve a persistent problem: showcasing her wallpaper collection in every colorway. “It was always a struggle to get images,” she says. “We used the same templates over and over, or we were using rooms that weren’t exactly right, but were OK.” Despite requiring 20 or more iterations per image, AI gave her flexibility previously unavailable.
“It gives us a chance to show the wallpaper in different spaces versus just what homes we were able to shoot in person that had white walls,” Atwood explains. “It’s less expensive and it’s better.”
Specialized Platforms Add Brand Control
Boutique brands often find consumer tools like Midjourney, ChatGPT, and Google’s Nano Banana sufficient for their needs. But as SKU counts rise, maintaining consistency becomes harder. That’s where specialized platforms step in, layering brand standards and organizational features atop core AI models.
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HookPic charges $800 per month for its service. Users can define brand guidelines that apply across all generated images, ensuring a cohesive look. The platform also offers customization for niche markets.
Its tool lets users build a virtual 3D home, place products inside, and select camera angles to simulate a full photo shoot. “With photographers, it’s like we get three shots at feedback—after that, it’s expensive to reshoot.”
Other holdouts include New York-based Samuel & Sons, a trim brand that prioritizes precision. Vice President of Creative Milton De Paul compares current AI capabilities to early Photoshop—impressive but insufficient for technical accuracy. “You cannot replace the physical understanding that comes with actually constructing something,” he argues.
Legal and Quality Concerns Slow Adoption
Legal and quality concerns also temper adoption. Jim Kreber, CEO of a marketing content firm serving home and design brands, warns against rushing into AI without proper oversight. “But what we found is what we call the number one AI trap, where people think they can go [from] zero to 100 in one step,” he says. His team insists on reviews by legal, creative, and product marketing teams before publishing AI-generated content.
Retailers are also grappling with AI policies. Some actively ban AI-generated imagery from brands, fearing misleading representations and increased returns. Hallucinated details, subtle distortions in textures, colors, or materials, can undermine trust when customers receive products that don’t match promotional images.
Shooting for the Real Thing
For brands that continue to rely on traditional photography, the investment often extends beyond equipment and studio space. Samuel & Sons regularly stages elaborate setups involving custom-built props and handcrafted elements. These shoots require coordination between multiple specialists, from set designers to lighting technicians, each contributing to a final image that meets the brand’s exacting standards.
Hybrid Workflows Blend AI and Photography
Despite resistance from some quarters, AI-generated imagery is finding its place in hybrid workflows. Some brands use AI to draft initial concepts or explore creative directions before committing to a full photo shoot. Others employ AI for background replacements or alternate colorways after primary images are captured. This selective adoption allows companies to balance efficiency with authenticity.
Traditional Photography Remains a Major Investment for Some Brands
Four Hands has invested heavily in traditional photography, operating a 13,000-square-foot photo studio at its Austin, Texas headquarters. The facility includes nine photo bays and employs a team of photographers, stylists, and retouchers who produce images for 160 products each month.