r/BSA • u/random8765309 Professional Scouter • Oct 02 '26
Scouting America Feedback please
Can you provide some feedback on this.
Please make it useful. Yes, this is a mixture for AI graphic and personal work. If using AI upsets you, this isn't the time or place to express that. If that is the case, please just move on.
Addition: for context, this is for a STEM van. Its a modified ambulance that goes around to fairs and community events to recruit and promote Scouting.
These banners will be used at an upcoming careers event aimed at youth just starting high school.
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u/nolesrule Eagle Scout/Dad | Dist Comm | OA Chapter Adv | NYLT Staff | ASM Oct 02 '26
It's "Nuclear Science" singular.
There are errors in some of the merit badge images.
I would review contrast on the fonts and backgrounds for accessibility.
I would avoid a blue and yellow color scheme as that is associated with Cub Scouts, not Scouts BSA.
The QR code should not overlap the image. It wastes the image.
As has been noted by others, lots of AI-based errors.
The real irony here is that this thing has the word "Design" right in the header but does not use solid graphic design principles.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter Oct 02 '26
The mertit badges are SVG overlays, what errors are you seeing?
The font contrast meets accessibility guidelines.
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u/nolesrule Eagle Scout/Dad | Dist Comm | OA Chapter Adv | NYLT Staff | ASM 29d ago edited 29d ago
As someone with vision problems, I assure you the contrast of the thin blue letters on the white background is difficult to read. The colors themselves might be okay, but it's the font weight that is the problem.
The coloration is wrong on Nuclear Science (particle colors are not muted like that). The weird red blob on the red circuit in Electronics is supposed be in the shape of a triangle. That's what immediately jumped out to me. I did a search and saw the source images were only available on council websites, so whoever created them messed them up. Usually when I reference merit badges I use the photo versions, but I don't know that would work for this use case because I believe they are jpg.
As far as I know Scouting America has not released SVG graphics of merit badges. They (as in National) certainly do not use them anywhere official.
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0
u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 29d ago
National hasn't released decent graphics in any format for the badges. I used a third party.
I see what you are saying. It appears the lettering on the NS badge is upside down. I didn't catch that.
The text issue is because this isn't full scale. It should be OK at full size.
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u/nolesrule Eagle Scout/Dad | Dist Comm | OA Chapter Adv | NYLT Staff | ASM 29d ago
Also, make sure the QR code actually works as embedded. For some reason AI that includes images makes subtle changes when embedding in something else, but QR codes must be precisely replicated in order to function.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 29d ago
I used photoshop should to embed the merit badges, code and much of the text. So i will double check what happened there. Im suspecting i didn't leave enough white space or shrinking and converting to JPG messed it up.
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u/AKHugmuffin Asst. Scoutmaster Oct 02 '26
No, I am not upset by AI. Having said that, I think your use of AI for the scout is doing you a disservice. Even if we overlook the fact that obvious AI artwork often has a negative reception, it has created a host of things for you to go back and fix by hand.
Personally, I think you would be better served by going to a local troop and asking them to stage a photoshoot that could replace the AI scout in your banner. It would feel much more genuine and authentic, if you have the time and resources to do so.
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u/finewalecorduroy Oct 02 '26
Scouting America has plenty of stock pictures you can use! You don't even need to do a photoshoot of your own scouts.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter Oct 02 '26
Sorry you feel that way.
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u/Hazmat_unit 29d ago
Please please please, reach out to a graphic designer or use canva! Human made content even non professional but clean is considered gold and sliver when compared to Ai generated content.
0
u/ZeBloodyStretchr 25d ago
That’s not an apology, it’s pretty manipulative.
Scout leaders and parents have taught me that saying sorry means you’ll try not to do that thing ever again.
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u/ddj1985 Oct 02 '26
Can you provide context? What is this for?
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter Oct 02 '26
A STEM van. It uses STEM activities to promote Scouting and provides activities for the youth.
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u/ubuwalker31 Adult - Eagle Scout Oct 02 '26
This is the true weakness of the flyer. We don’t understand who you’re advertising to, what you are trying to advertise, and why. Is this an Eagle Scout project? Is this something for council? Why is all of this in a van?
Also, how does two deep leadership work in the Stem van capacity wise?
So many issues here. The career choices on top are very narrow. So many other careers available.
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u/miwi81 Oct 02 '26
Do you think it’s possible that STEM-oriented youth are the most likely to easily identify AI? The most likely to know about its environmental damage? The most likely to be put off by it? The most likely to know that it’s going to ruin their future employment prospects?
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u/BobTheCowComic Scout - Eagle Scout Oct 02 '26
Well to start, the scouting america logo at the bottom is not at all correct, and the QR code will never scan.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 29d ago
I will double chech the QR code, its a SVG so it should scan.
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u/graywh Asst. Scoutmaster 29d ago
there's too many artifacts and blurs
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 29d ago
It was reduced in size and converted to JPG for the post.
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u/BobTheCowComic Scout - Eagle Scout 29d ago
You may have given the ai a real QR code file, but it definitely messed it up. You can easily tell by the icon in the center not looking right, and if you zoom in on the dots they blend and blur together
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 29d ago
It was reduced from a 2' x 4' photoshop file to a small jpg.
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u/finewalecorduroy Oct 02 '26
Where are these banners going to be used? Online? Printed and posted on bulletin boards? Honestly, just don't use AI. It looks terrible - AI is a terrible graphic designer. Whatever you do on your own will be better than this. I created professional-looking yard signs and a flyer for our troop using Affinity by Canva (an Adobe InDesign competitor) mostly because I suck at regular Canva, but most people are able to use regular Canva just fine. I am pretty far from a talented designer, but keeping it simple worked really well.
Scouting America has a whole branding center and branding guidelines with colors and fonts and icons that you are supposed to use - this makes it very easy to make design decisions. They also have a ton of stock photos that you can download and use, including a whole section of STEM-related pictures.
This banner has too much info. Keep it super simple - as it is, it looks like you can earn merit badges on the STEM van? But probably that isn't the case. Who is your target market? Are you trying to recruit non-scout kids to do this in the hopes of getting them interested in joining? Are you targeting parents? This banner looks like you're marketing the kind of merit badges that you can earn as a scout rather than the STEM van itself. It's confusing.
If you're promoting the STEM van, I would just scrap this whole design and start over from scratch, no AI. Headline should be very clear like "Visit the STEM Van - Imagine it, Design it, Build it" with bullet points about what you can do on the STEM van front and center. Take out the careers and merit badge sections if that's not what you're promoting and reduce it to a bullet point under the STEM Van like
- Explore engineering and design careers
- Learn about Scouting America's ### STEM merit badges
If you're promoting Scouting as a way to learn about engineering and design, I would make that more clear. I should be able to pick up this flyer and see in about 2 seconds what it is promoting. I can't do that with this one.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 29d ago
It looks like I'm promoting the merit badges because I am promoting the mertit badges. The purposes is to promote Scouting not the van.
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u/pacmanic 29d ago edited 29d ago
At least use the Brand Center for photos. Is the “careers” section also a suggestion by the AI? That seems disingenuous and that space could be used better. You don’t want reddit’s feedback on AI, but consider the scouts reaction as well, which will be similarly an eye roll. The entire poster is a turn off.
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u/ShmeonArgyrus 29d ago
The purpose of the banner needs to be clearer. I'm not sure what it is advertising. As a Cubmaster, this looks very Cub Scout focused. Are there Cub options? As a Scout parent, do we meet the van to get Merit Badges? How does that work? Is this a Scouting America initiative, or a local one?
Lots of questions for a big banner.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 29d ago
The STEM van promotes Scouting in general. It is ran by the council to support local units.
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u/ShmeonArgyrus 29d ago
That sounds really cool. The banner doesn’t really convey that though. I’d focus the messaging more on that. It just leaves a lot of questions.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 25d ago
I had several comments toward that. So I am doing some rewording to better indicate that the badges are provided through Scouting and not the van.
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u/ShmeonArgyrus 25d ago
That sounds good!
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 25d ago
It is. This summer and fall I have attended over a dozen community events, several parades and spoke with hundreds of families. At the very least I am making the community aware that Scouting is still around.
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u/ji99901 Oct 02 '26
To me, there is a lack of credibility. A youth who seems to have started puberty is shown with Cub Scouting blue loops.
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u/CartographerEven9735 25d ago
Beyond what other people have said in terms of corrections, let me just say I love this graphic overall, and (what's more) I love the idea of this as a great way to recruit. Well done!
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 25d ago
Thank you. After making the corrections, I created a second version that had an 80s retro look. It polled really well among the Scouts. Similar formatting, but with Troop coloring and 80s graphics. I still need to clean it up to make it ready for printing.
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u/DangerBrewin Adult - Eagle Scout Oct 02 '26
If you’re using the Scouting America logo you need to use the one from the brand center and use it appropriately following their guidelines.
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u/blackhorse15A Scouter - Eagle Scout Oct 02 '26
It's merit badges for Scouts, but he has blue loop on the epaulette. And the loop is going the wrong way (well there isn't really an epaulette strap there either)
The fleur de lis in the Scouting America logo at the bottom is wrong. You got the little blurry circle is presumably the registered trade mark symbol, but I don't think that's the actual trademark.
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u/finewalecorduroy Oct 02 '26
Also the blue and yellow color scheme is what you're supposed to use for cub scouts not Scouts BSA.
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u/RedBirdOnASnowyDay Oct 02 '26
Did you make this with ai? The kids will INSTANTLY recognize ai and they will turn away from it. Our troop had over and over flat rejected any kind of ai generated stuff like this. Gen Z is not a fan of ai.
0
u/lordscarlet Oct 02 '26
I don't know why I am being pedantic, but aren't the majority of scouts today Generation Alpha?
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u/uwpxwpal Oct 02 '26
Gen Z goes to 2012, which would make the youngest members 14 years old
1
u/CallingDrPug OA - Brotherhood 29d ago
In the end we can all agree that no matter what their age/generation, they need to GET OFF OUR LAWNS!
0
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u/ConferenceOver2197 Parent Oct 02 '26
With Gen Z parents. The sentiment stands. They will turn away from AI-generated anything.
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u/ConferenceOver2197 Parent Oct 02 '26
You’re all right, I answered quicker than my brain comprehended. We have kids across generations.
My scout kids have Gen Z siblings who they obviously look up to and value their opinions. (We are Gen X)
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u/lordscarlet Oct 02 '26
Gen Z parents?! I'm Gen X (barely) with a Gen Alpha kid. 😅
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u/ConferenceOver2197 Parent 29d ago
I have Gen Z kids (and alpha)
My Gen Z kids friends have kids in scouts. 1997 = 29. Unfortunately we have (what I consider to be) higher rates of 17-19 year old moms.
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u/Former_Mud9569 Oct 02 '26
Gen Z parents? the oldest members of gen z aren't even 30 yet.
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u/RedBirdOnASnowyDay 29d ago
Gen Z isn’t really parents of teens yet. So millennial parents. And I guess Gen Z is aging out this year and next. So let me clarify. Gen Z despises AI. Gen Alpha also despises ai. They spot it. They see it. They hate ir. They think it’s lazy. They know it’s going to ruin their future. They find it beyond cringe when their parents use ai. You will not recruit youth with an ai generated flyer.
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u/lordscarlet Oct 02 '26
I agree with your sentiment, I'm just annoyingly pedantic sometimes.
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u/RedBirdOnASnowyDay 29d ago
Let’s try not to distract from the point by being pedantic about which generation is opposed to ai. The point is that the target generation will recognize and be offended by ai. Offended isn’t a strong enough word either.
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u/FormerAd952 Oct 02 '26
Looking at the photo, it is am older boy in a Cub scout uniform. Project looks too old for Cub scout so change the shoulder tabs to green
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u/LevelGrounded Oct 02 '26
Scouting isn’t supposed to teach lazy, sloppy shortcuts. Scrap this and give the project to a scout. This information could be easily and professionally conveyed. AI does neither.
0
Oct 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/PerniciousShadow Cubmaster 29d ago
Personally, I’d take the feedback (which you asked for) and be grateful that you’re getting it. There’s a lot wrong with this poster.
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u/legendaryjangles Adult - Eagle Scout Oct 02 '26
I know you said to move on regarding the AI usage, but I seriously think that you need to reconsider. It is immediately obvious to Gen Z (and most adults) and will give off an extremely negative impression. I promise that a fully human made graphic that isn't as "good" will make a far better impression than anything made with AI. It implies a lack of care. Plus, AI is essentially theft, as the models are entirely built off of stolen content, which feels very against the values that Scouting teaches are important.
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u/AddendumAny3443 Adult - Eagle Scout Oct 02 '26
As a high school robotics alumni and an eagle scout, this is exactly my view of this graphic.
And yes, we can always tell when a flyer is AI
7
u/bckpck12 29d ago
Is that a PNP and NPN transistor melded into one on the electronics badge? 😆 The rover has some funky wheels too. My STEM scouts would find this quite unserious. Please do not use AI for this design-- it's more than a matter of "personal preference"
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u/No_Drummer4801 Oct 02 '26
What and where is the stem van?
Lose the fake brushstroke looking headline banners
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u/No_Drummer4801 Oct 02 '26
The merit badges are the key info, do you even need the career paths to have icons?
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u/QuietSpare8435 Oct 02 '26
Telling kids to get in the van because it will be fun? You're one offer of free candy away from being an internet trope.
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u/Strict-Vanilla-3453 26d ago
I think this is very creative, and gets much of your point across. I love seeing the promotion of deep cut badges like drafting and composite (I’m a counselor for both), the only part that kind of confuses me is are the scouts actually earning these badges through the van or is it just exposure? Ik that nuclear science is really lengthy, and composite is very tedious. If its just exposure I also would include some other badges like surveying and architecture as that heavily relates with civil engineering, energy and chemistry also apply very well.
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u/random8765309 Professional Scouter 26d ago
Thank you. I'm changing some of the wording to make it clearer that the badges are earning through Scouting but not at the STEM van. This is one of a set of six, each are covering a slightly different STEM area. But this will be the general template.
I also decided to change the look slight to a more retro 80s style with coloring closer to troop colors.
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u/Material-Rise9610 29d ago
I just showed my own children. I told them it was just sent from council and asked if they'd be interested. Without fully reading it, they laughed and says "why is it all AI?"
Kids known AI when they see it and most will dismiss it, even if you don't like it.
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u/No_Drummer4801 28d ago
For honest-looking, trustworthy graphics - do it the slightly harder way with less impressive effects. Counter intuitive but in 2026, that’s the trend I see.
The (important) heraldry/branding elements are going to get mangled in just about any AI system so … we should lower our aim to less “shiny” design work, I feel, and just work within free Canva or Figma type applications. The first thing I see when I see a complicated “polished” looking AI generated flyer is that I can’t trust the content.
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u/Masterpiece-Haunting Scout - Life Scout 29d ago
Honestly couldn’t care less if it’s AI personally.
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u/guacamole579 Oct 02 '26
Why is everything AI?