When I was putting together the promo images for my typeface Glen Etive, one mockup stopped me in my tracks. It didn’t just feel like a font preview anymore – it looked like the cover of a thriller you’d pick up in an airport and finish in one sitting. I decided to see what kind of story ChatGPT would create!
The Synopsis
When photographer Erin Macrae retreats to Glen Etive to escape the chaos of city life, she’s seeking silence, not secrets. The Highland glen, with its mist-laden peaks and mirror-still lochs, promises solitude – until she finds a half-buried rucksack on a remote trail. Inside: a camera, a bloodstained map, and a memory card full of photographs that shouldn’t exist.
The images are of her – sleeping in her cottage, walking by the river, standing on the same road where she found the bag.
When the weather closes in and a landslide cuts off the single-track road, Erin realises she’s not as alone as she thought. Each night, the tapping on her window grows louder. Her phone loses signal. Her footprints are joined by another set leading back toward her door.
As she pieces together the mystery of the missing hiker whose belongings she found, Erin begins to suspect the truth lies closer than she ever imagined – entwined with her own past, her estranged brother, and the dark history of the glen itself.
Because in Glen Etive, the wild watches back.
Then It Got Weird
I got so pulled into the story that I ended up asking ChatGPT to write the first few chapters. I was just too curious not to – I needed to see how the story would unfold.
It started off great. I was intrigued by the mystery which had been created… and then it suddenly went full supernatural. That’s where it lost me a bit.
Human Creativity Still Matters
This creative experiment is a fun reminder of how design and storytelling can blend in unexpected ways – how one creative spark can lead you somewhere you never planned to go.
And while AI can be an incredible tool for inspiration and play, it’s essential to remember to support the hard work of real creatives – the designers, writers, and artists who dedicate their time and talent to bringing ideas to life.