Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a groundbreaking opportunity for designers and creative professionals to enhance their skill set. Although AI cannot replace human creativity, it serves as a valuable tool for generating numerous design elements within significantly less time. This not only saves valuable resources but also empowers designers to delve into endless possibilities and discover diverse sources of inspiration. The prospect of this is undeniably thrilling! So, if you share in this excitement, continue reading further. This article will delve into the advantages of incorporating AI into the design process, offering AI prompts and showcasing mockups created using the MidJourney AI platform. By doing so, we will shed light on the transformative potential of AI in design.
As designers, it is essential for us to showcase our designs through mockups, as it plays a crucial role in our work. Mockups not only add a “wow” factor to our projects but also ensure that we are delivering precisely what our clients desire.
When it comes to displaying interface designs, mockups prove to be highly effective. The Midjourney platform offers a seamless way to create professional-grade mockups that exude exceptional quality, effectively promoting your products and business.
By utilizing the appropriate prompt, you have the opportunity to elevate your mockup designs to new heights, unlocking their full potential. With the right guidance, your mockups can transcend ordinary visuals and leave a lasting impression on viewers.
Ways AI Can Benefit the Design Process
Artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications in design have sparked debates and raised concerns. However, we encourage you to approach the realm of AI with an open mind, considering it as just another valuable tool to augment your creative arsenal.
While AI cannot replace human designers, it can be a valuable asset in the design process. AI can generate fresh ideas, automate mundane tasks, optimize designs, analyze user feedback, offer real-time suggestions, enable rapid prototyping, predict future design needs, personalize experiences, ensure quality control, and enhance collaboration. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, designers can focus on creativity and problem-solving, while AI assists in streamlining processes, providing insights, and augmenting their skills to achieve better design outcomes.
While AI does not replace human designers, it can provide valuable assistance in various ways.
Pros
- AI aids in ideation: Move beyond traditional thumbnailing with the help of AI. It facilitates the exploration of design ideas and experimentation with different compositions, offering fresh perspectives.
- AI fosters creative inspiration: Designers occasionally face creative blocks. Instead of staying stuck, why not leverage AI-generated art to stimulate your imagination and rejuvenate your creative flow?
- AI enables data-driven decisions: With AI, designers can utilize user data effectively, gaining insights that inform informed design decisions and aligning businesses with user needs.
- AI solves scalability challenges: AI possesses remarkable processing capabilities, enabling designers to swiftly handle large datasets. This empowers the creation of mockups for multiple projects concurrently, addressing scalability concerns.
- AI enhances collaboration: Rather than being viewed as a threat, AI can serve as a collaborative tool for designers. Many AI platforms provide shared spaces for feedback and design iteration, fostering effective teamwork among designers.
By embracing AI as a complementary ally, designers can leverage its capabilities to streamline their creative processes, gain valuable insights, and collaborate seamlessly to deliver exceptional design outcomes.
Best MidJourney Prompts: Basics
To begin, it’s best to keep things simple and describe what you envision. You can choose between an artistic, illustrative style or a photorealistic style. However, the possibilities extend beyond that. You can explore logo designs, sketches, tattoo or comic book art, children’s book illustrations, and more. The results can be truly remarkable.
You may also want to test different sizes and ratios. The default size is square, but you can opt for landscape or portrait orientations as well. Here are the sizes you can use at the end of your prompt:
- Aspect Ratio 2:3
- Aspect Ratio 3:2
- Aspect Ratio 9:16
- Aspect Ratio 16:9
Remember to include two dashes before each size specification, with correct spacing. For instance, “–ar 2:3”. Be cautious, as WordPress might convert double dashes to an m-dash.
At a basic level, describe what you want to see. You can use full sentences or concise phrases, but keep in mind that the complexity of the prompt can affect the results. For example, a realistic close-up portrait may turn out well, but a complex scene with numerous details might not be reproduced perfectly.
To achieve the best AI art results, provide clear and descriptive text-to-image prompts. Adjust the settings in the AI tool according to your desired level of customization and control. Experimenting with different keywords and styles can yield surprising and unique AI-generated images and art.
Below are some basic keywords without a specific subject mentioned:
Abstract Art:
“Vibrant colors,” “Geometric shapes,” “Abstract patterns,” “Movement and flow,” “Texture and layers.”
Example prompt: “Create vibrant abstract art with geometric shapes and flowing textures.”
Surreal Art:
“Dreamlike,” “Surreal landscapes,” “Mystical creatures,” “Twisted reality,” “Surreal still life.”
Example prompt: “Generate a dreamlike and surreal landscape with mystical creatures and a twisted reality.”
Landscape Photography:
“Majestic mountains,” “Lush forests,” “Glittering lakes,” “Desert dunes,” “Golden sunsets.”
Example prompt: “Produce a landscape photograph featuring majestic mountains, lush forests, and a golden sunset.”
Portrait Photography:
“Emotive eyes,” “Intense gazes,” “Contemplative mood,” “Expressive gestures,” “Stylized poses.”
Example prompt: “Create a portrait photograph capturing intense gazes and a contemplative mood with expressive gestures.”
Minimalism:
“Simplicity,” “Clean lines,” “Minimal colors,” “Negative space,” “Minimal still life.”
Example prompt: “Generate minimalist art with clean lines, minimal colors, and effective use of negative space.”
Remember, start with describing the scene and its details first, and then add the style keywords. The size/ratio specifications should come at the end.
Midjourney also offers additional settings you can experiment with or add individually to the end of your prompt:
- “–test” for testing purposes
- “–testp” for further testing options
- “–niji” for additional customization
Please note that the examples shared here represent rough drafts without any upscaling. They aim to provide you with an idea of the potential styles. While these examples may not showcase the full capabilities of Midjourney, I can share more advanced tips and tricks if you’d like!
Best MidJourney Prompts: Art Styles & Photography
Impressionism:
“Blurry brushstrokes,” “Painted light,” “Impressionistic landscapes,” “Pastel colors,” “Impressionistic portraits.”
Example prompt: “Produce an impressionistic artwork with blurry brushstrokes, capturing the essence of painted light in landscapes and portraits using pastel colors.”
Realism:
“Hyper-realistic textures,” “Precise details,” “Realistic still life,” “Realistic portraits,” “Realistic landscapes.”
Example prompt: “Create a hyper-realistic artwork with precise details, focusing on still life compositions, portraits, and landscapes that exude realism.”
Pop Art:
“Bold colors,” “Stylized portraits,” “Famous faces,” “Pop art still life,” “Pop art landscapes.”
Example prompt: “Generate a vibrant pop art piece using bold colors, featuring stylized portraits, famous faces, and dynamic still life and landscapes.”
Street Photography:
“Candid moments,” “Urban landscapes,” “Street life,” “Stories in motion,” “Street portraits.”
Example prompt: “Produce captivating street photography that captures candid moments, urban landscapes, the essence of street life, stories in motion, and expressive street portraits.”
Night Photography:
“Lit cityscapes,” “Starry skies,” “Moonlit landscapes,” “Nighttime portraits,” “Long exposures.”
Example prompt: “Capture the allure of night photography with illuminated cityscapes, starry skies, enchanting moonlit landscapes, captivating nighttime portraits, and stunning long exposure shots.”
By using these text-to-image prompt keywords, you can guide the AI to generate images and art in specific styles or settings. Providing clear and specific prompts allows you to achieve a wide range of styles and techniques that align with your creative vision.
Adding Decorating Items and Objects
Bottle Mockup — with plants
This minimal and clean mockup is perfect for showcasing your logo. Here I added a logo created with Midjourney.
Example prompt: Mockup empty, a blank supplement bottle, on a clean white background, with leaf behind.
Computer Mockup
Example Prompt: Mockup empty, blank computer screen, on a concrete surface, with plants beside.
Poster Mockup— Living Room
Example Prompt: Mockup empty, blank poster frame, sitting on top of a sofa, contemporary style living room.
Hand Wash Bottle Mockup— Cream Marble Countertop & High End and Classy Style
Example Prompt: Mockup empty, a blank hand wash bottle, on a cream marble countertop, in the luxurious bathroom, high end and classy style.
Fairy tales:
Example Prompt: A whimsical, dreamy image of a cute animal surrounded by elements inspired by fairy tales, such as magical creatures and enchanted landscapes.
Add Designer’s Style
India Mahdavi, the renowned architect and designer, is known as a “Virtuoso of color” and possesses an extraordinary talent for harmonious chromatic combinations. Explore her unique style with Midjourney and create stunning art pieces inspired by her distinctive aesthetic.
Here are some MidJourney prompts featuring famous artists:
- Greg Rutkowski – Slightly illustrated look
- Alphonse Mucha – Art Nouveau
- Carrie Ann Baade – Surrealism
- Michael Parkes – Magical realism
Alternatively, you can explore more historical options:
- Salvador Dali – Surrealism
- Pablo Picasso – Cubism
- Vincent van Gogh – Post-Impressionism
- Frida Kahlo – Naive Art
- Henri Matisse – Fauvism
- Jean-Michel Basquiat – Graffiti Art
- Banksy – Street Art
- Edvard Munch – Expressionism
- Gustav Klimt – Art Nouveau
- Ren̩ Magritte РSurrealism
- Marc Chagall – Modernism
- Wassily Kandinsky – Abstract Art
- Paul C̩zanne РPost-Impressionism
- Amedeo Modigliani – Modernism
- Egon Schiele – Expressionism
- Joan Miró – Surrealism
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec – Post-Impressionism
- Fr̩d̩ric Bazille РImpressionism
- Georgia O’Keeffe – American Modernism
- Mary Cassatt – Impressionism
- Willem de Kooning – Abstract Expressionism
- Jackson Pollock – Action Painting
- Mark Rothko – Color Field Painting
- Robert Rauschenberg – Neo-Dada
- Roy Lichtenstein – Pop Art
- Claes Oldenburg – Pop Art
- Tom Wesselmann – Pop Art
- Jim Dine – Pop Art
- Ed Ruscha – Pop Art
- David Hockney – Pop Art
- Jasper Johns – Neo-Dada
- Robert Indiana – Pop Art
- Richard Hamilton – Pop Art
- Yoko Ono – Fluxus
- Niki de Saint Phalle – Naive Art
- Keith Haring – Graffiti Art
- Jean Dubuffet – Art Brut
- Max Ernst – Surrealism
- Paul Klee – Expressionism
- James Rosenquist – Pop Art
- Daniel Arsham – Architectural Art
- Liu Bolin – Invisible Art
- Ai Weiwei – Political Art
- Banksy – Street Art
- Jenny Holzer – Conceptual Art
Using these famous artists’ names as prompts can generate AI-generated images in their respective styles or related art movements. Remember, MidJourney can provide great results even without explicitly using an artist’s name. Feel free to explore and experiment with different prompts and styles to achieve your desired artistic outcome.
AI Art and Copyright: Navigating the Commercial Landscape
The realm of AI art is gaining momentum, with major players embracing its potential and wide distribution, indicating its enduring presence. However, caution must be exercised when incorporating AI-generated art into commercial ventures or working with clients who may be unfamiliar with its origins. While not necessarily illegal, it’s crucial to be mindful of the prompts and subjects used in AI art to avoid potential legal ramifications.
It is essential to remember that claiming someone else’s AI-generated artwork as your own or misleadingly representing the creative process behind it is unacceptable. While copyright protection does not extend to artistic styles per se, caution should be exercised when dealing with copyrighted material such as specific movies, video game characters, brands, or celebrities. The intersection of fan art and commercial endeavors resides in a gray area, as engaging in selling such works can potentially lead to legal consequences, as demonstrated by a personal experience involving an oil painting inspired by “Angry Birds,” which resulted in a cease and desist notice.
Moreover, as an art history enthusiast, I aim to utilize these interim artistic prompts to foster learning, exploration, and appreciation for the exceptional talents of artists, thereby familiarizing individuals with diverse art styles and terminologies. This journey can serve as a valuable learning experience. However, one must be aware of the inherent risks involved. For instance, some AI-generated images may mistakenly appear in searches for living artists, inadvertently overshadowing the true creators. To counteract this, I encourage you to actively seek out and support these artists whenever possible.
By understanding and respecting the copyright implications of AI-generated art, we can navigate the commercial landscape while appreciating and promoting the genuine creators behind these works.
