Midjourney & You, How AI can make you a better designer

Alex
3 min readAug 23, 2023

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What is Midjourney?

So, you’re out there hustling as a product designer, juggling concept after concept. Enter MidJourney — a fairly powerful generative AI tool for imagery. It’s your ticket to innovation without the shakes. Imagine a toolbox of inspiration and a dash of creative guidance. A genie that grants you design wishes… without all the smoke and mirrors. You can access the tool by signing up for Discord and joining the Midjourney channels here. With every version released, a new wave of accuracy and possibilities is thrown into the mix. Key features include:

Image to text — Generate imagery with text
Vary — Create variations
Upscale — Enlarge or change zoom levels
Remix — Mix up your generations
Blend — Mix more than one image
Paint — Edit existing generations

Create meaningful imagery

Hold onto your many-wearing hats, folks, because here’s where MidJourney takes center stage. Whether you’re designing the latest app for cat lovers or a next-gen sandwich, MidJourney has your back. It’s essentially an insanely powerful visual search engine. It’s the GPS for your design road trip, steering you inspo and keeping you from unsightly speed bumps. From wireframing to mood boards, MidJourney’s got your workflow covered like a snuggie on a chilly winter’s night.

Lighting, Direction & Parameters are your Friends

Harness the creative prowess of MidJourney by seamlessly integrating lighting, art direction, and aspect ratio parameters into your design process. This helps avoid templatizing and following the herd. Understanding film and lighting types, as well as formatting to ensure a unique execution.

Sample Params:

--v 5.1 --stylize 0 --ar 4:3

Sample prompt format (note there are other approaches):

/Imagine: woman posing in a chair with large wire glasses, album cover, abstract angle, close up, fast shutter speed, risograph, Wes Anderson, 35mm, long shadows, Kodak mono chrome, super grainy, repeated double exposure, irregular light rays, --stylize 15 --style raw

Speed Up Your Workflow

Now, let’s talk speed. Quit hunting for the perfect image on Unsplash. MidJourney can accelerate your workflow. Say goodbye to endless searches that drag on longer than they should. Use vetted parameters, creative prompting, and a bit of patience — you’ll achieve a damn near perfect visual. It’s the sidekick you didn’t know you needed, making your design process smoother than butter.

Imagine & Inspire

Okay, let’s talk ethics. We’ve all heard “inspiration” stories that sound suspiciously like “copy-pasting with extra steps.” MidJourney’s here to redefine the game. It’s your muse, whispering creative suggestions in your ear while you sketch away. It encourages you to think outside the box, inviting innovation without trespassing into the “borrowed” territory. Just be conscious of how you blend and build content. Leverage your own work while harnessing the nature of ai.

MidJourney isn’t just a tool; it’s a design wingman. Embrace it, and who knows where it might take you. Go ahead, and get started here.

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Alex

FAANG & Startup Alum. Case Studies, Articles & Rants.