We've already talked about ChatGPT, now let's talk about neural networks, which threaten to take over the world of design and put us out of a job. Spoiler alert: for now you don't have to worry. But it's worth taking a closer look at these things. And take them into use in their work.
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a term from popular fiction, but a very real thing that has burst into our lives. There are many different ways to look at it. Elon Musk generally expresses strong concern about it and calls to stop developing AI, or else trouble awaits us.
And someone just takes it for granted and makes cool art on different topics.
Keep up with the trends, at least try to generate a couple of images in each of the neural networks below. You'll love it. Or maybe one of them will become your permanent assistant in everyday tasks.
1. Adobe Firefly.
Two options are available today: creating unique images and texts on demand. Other features have already been announced: the creation of fonts, audio, video and 3D-models.
Now Firefly already knows how to create your own artwork by description and on demand helps you edit images, modify them according to requirements, add effects, combine several different images into one, create templates for posts on social networks and make a full image from the sketch provided.
Adobe Inc is a market giant, no doubt about it. So they certainly couldn't afford to lose face. And they released a product worthy of attention.
Advantages:
- you can improve the generated pictures if there is something wrong with them;
- it is easy to make a request - just write it down and specify the desired style and conditions;
- after the beta testing, the grid will be available not only in the browser, but also in Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere Pro.
The grid was trained on images from Adobe Stock, which rules out copyright infringement. And the firm also promises to pay designers whose work will take part in further training of the neural network.
An interesting feature - the developers want to introduce the possibility of the network to work "for you". The option of introducing your own artwork and photos is planned, so that the product can then create images in your unique style. But the question is, won't unscrupulous people upload other people's work for this purpose - more famous and successful artists and designers? For now, Adobe Inc is pondering how to combat this.
Taken from AI Art Generator - Adobe Firefly
2. DALL-E 2.
The first version of DALL-E, was interesting as a phenomenon, but rather boring when it came to creativity and editing. But already the second generation, released in April 2022, impressed users.
The grid creates really high quality images and allows you to edit existing art in different ways. The new functionality exceeds the previous one significantly. And now beta testers have already gained access to the face editing feature - previously this feature was forbidden, as there were fears due to the use of such a wonderful tool by attackers.
Screenshot from DALL-E 2 website.
3. Midjourney.
Last year, this neural network created a furor in the digital world. And now a huge number of specialists are using it. Marketers create banners for their ads without the help of a designer. Bloggers get unique and original illustrations. Everyone who's too lazy to log in to Discord plays with the grid - because there's free access!
Taken from Midjourney
The average picture generation rate is 1 piece per minute. So a free 25 minutes a month is pretty good. For only $10 you can buy access for 200 minutes and generate yourself two hundred art already. And for $30 you get almost unlimited access.
When it comes to fantastic pictures and abstractions, Midjourney is awesome. But the standard problems of neural networks are also inherent. It often produces monsters when it creates art with people and animals, you have to ask several times to choose something decent. Or give up realism.
4. Dream
Like other neural networks, Dream generates pictures on the basis of a text query. You can set a task and choose one of 11 styles. Now we can say that it is nothing special. But just a year ago this tool was a breakthrough.
This is how freelancer turned out by my request. It is not clear why on that pose)
And here is one request, but two different styles:
Generated by Dream
5. AutoDraw
One of the oldest neuronics - the project was launched in 2016. It's a far cry from the masterpieces that come out with new products, but it's also an interesting concept.
It's sort of an improved graphics editor - it picks up what you want to portray and helps you do it beautifully. The usual Paint-like drawing, creating shapes, writing text, changing the background, and changing colors are available. In just one click, you can make a simple drawing out of a doodle. And if you work on it, you'll have some good art.
Made with AutoDraw
6. Looka
This is an interesting tool for generating logos. Very simple algorithm:
- You write the name of the company;
- Choose a line of business;
- Tick a few examples of logos you like;
- choose colors;
- add a slogan;
- voila, you're presented with dozens of options!
Generated with Looka
Each of the suggested logos can be customized, tweaked and redesigned.
In general, a designer can do better than that. But when inspiration is lacking and ideas are needed, why not take advantage of such a solution? We've written more about working guidelines for creating logos, take note.
7. RemoveBg
You can now remove the background from an image not manually, but with the help of a neural network. It takes literally seconds. Any photo - with or without people. All you have to do is upload an image to RemoveBg and get the result.
You can edit the background, upload your own or remove it partially. It cannot be called a professional and multifunctional tool, but it is convenient for ordinary users who are far from design, but want to make beautiful content.
Here's our freelancer now on a different background in 5 seconds:
How does this help you?
As someone has already clearly tweeted, neural networks can easily replace designers if the customer learns how to formulate the TOR clearly. So we have nothing to fear.
But we can use the benefits of the digital revolution very successfully. And if some of them look like tools and auxiliary programs, then Firefly, DALL-E and Midjourney can generate content for you.
Quality art from a neural network is indistinguishable from human-drawn art. Edit the options suggested by the grid, get inspiration from them, combine styles.
Of course it's important to know how to make a correct request. And also to have taste and an understanding of what is successful and what is not suitable. You have to be good at this, after all. Just to generate content for personal use, anyone can, but for commercial purposes it will not work that way.
To learn about design, gain skills with graphic tools, and develop your taste, come to our online course, "Graphic Designer: A Brand Vector". We teach from scratch and give you a new profession in just 3 months. Watch the program and apply to get into the next stream!