The AI art tools are all over the place! And we can't get enough of testing all the different tools either. For example, I have already delved deeper into artificial intelligence art in our blog: 'Everything you need to know about AI-generated art'. This made me enthusiastic, which resulted in me wanting to do further research into the different tools. Although I believe that AI art cannot completely replace the human brain and its creativity at a fundamental level, I am convinced that there are a lot of possibilities with AI-generated art. The blog, 'Everything you need to know about AI-generated art' gives you a general idea of what it entails, but in this blog, I will discuss one specific tool, which is Mid Journey. After the Gobsmacked® team has tried several AI art tools themselves, I would like to share these findings with you! Are you curious about all the possibilities of Mid Journey and what this can mean for your brand?
HOW IT ALL STARTED…
David Holz, the founder of Mid Journey, unfortunately, does not reveal much about the origin of the tool. What we do know about David Holz is that in 2008 he founded his own company called Leap Motion. This is a company that mainly worked on hardware sensors that can register different hand movements and convert them into input for a specific action on the computer. It was also at this stage in David’s life that his interest and fascination for AI began. 2021 was the year that David Holz left his company Leap Motion up a company within the AI art sector. He was soon surrounded by a specialized team, with whom they set to work to really get the company off the ground. Mid Journey was the name of the company, which currently has 11 FTEs.
According to the Mid Journey site itself, the AI-art tool can be described as: ‘An independent research lab that recognizes new ways of thinking and tries to expand the imagination of humanity with it’.
On March 21, 2022, Mid Journey was published as a “limited BETA”, meaning you had to get access from Mid Journey to use the tool. When the demand for Mid Journey became so high, they decided to make Mid Journey an open BETA on Discord on June 13, 2022. This means that everyone can just use this cool tool!
"An independent research lab that recognizes new ways of thinking and tries to expand the imagination of humanity with it." Mid Journey
HOW DOES MID JOURNEY WORK?
Mid Journey is an AI art generator based on text. The more specifically you describe what you want to see on the artwork, the better it will look. Everything you put in your so-called prompt will affect the final artwork. The prompt is the description of your artwork and is crucial to its outcome!
When you want to make a work of art in Mid Journey, you always start with /imagine , now ‘prompt:’ will appear, after which you have to put the prompt you made up. Try to describe a prompt as clearly as possible, if this is not the case, Mid Journey will fill in things itself or omit correct things, this ensures that the artwork does not match the expectations you have.
With a basic prompt, Mid Journey can already come up with cool art. By adding different specifications, a design can be shaped even more according to your own taste or idea. For example, consider adding words such as; ultra-realistic, HD, volumetric lighting, (color) mood lighting, shallow depth of field, highly detailed, 8k, van Gogh style, etc.
Prompt: ‘An engineer in a white helmet looking at his phone, wearing a blue shirt, factory environment, sunset clouds’
The technical specifications can be added at the end of your prompt. When these are not used, the basic specs apply to your artwork. My tip: use these technical specifications to sharpen the artwork and to ensure that it is entirely in the style you have in mind.
The quality of your artwork can be between 0.25 and 2 (based on 1). Keep in mind that the higher you set the quality, the longer it takes to generate. You set the quality by means of –q(x) after your specifications.
The basis of the aspect ratio of your artwork is 1:1. If you want to change this, add –ar (x:x) after your specifications. For example, think of ar 16:9, to make your artwork in widescreen format.
I understand that it is difficult to follow this story completely and to understand exactly what I mean by all the terms and where they should be placed… To clarify this story a bit below is an example prompt with some good specifications:
To get an idea of what the specifications do with a photo, I have included the following examples below to give you a good idea!
- Prompt: ‘A girl playing in an arcade hall’
2. Prompt: ‘A girl playing in an arcade hall, dark with neon lights, blue and purple’
3. Prompt : ‘A girl playing in an arcade hall, dark with neon lights, blue and purple, ultra realistic q2’
These three examples show the difference it makes when certain specifications are or are not applied in the prompt. How did I get started with Mid Journey? Just keep testing, that’s what I would tell everyone. Keep trying and you’ll find out what works and what doesn’t. Finally, you can always run the same prompt multiple times through the Mid journey generator, the end result is always different.
"With a basic prompt, Mid Journey can already come up with cool art. By adding different specifications, a design can be shaped even more according to your own taste or idea."
3 WAYS TO USE MID JOURNEY FOR YOUR BRAND!
As a brand:
It can be difficult to convert what you have in mind into an actual visual. Especially if it is related to your brand, you should also take into account that your house style is also taken into account. Try to visualize something for your brand with Mid Journey and bring it as close as possible to the corporate identity of your brand by means of specific prompts. With AI technology getting smarter, this could yield surprising results. Handy, right?
Prompt: ‘A big G written in neon letters, purple and blue with blue and purple neon lights’
For brands and agencies:
Textual descriptions are usually given during a brainstorm session to express an idea. Quickly visualizing ideas that would normally only be described textually can be an added value that Mid Journey can offer a brand and agencies. This way you can quickly create a visual reference during a brainstorm session to test a creative idea.
Prompt: ‘People working in the office of a creative agency, blue and purple neon lights’
For agencies:
As a creative agency with a love for film, we often work with storyboards. Still, you often only have such a storyboard illustrated when the concept is complete. Mid Journey offers an accessible way to quickly create a simple visual storyline to determine whether the concept will work.
Prompt: ‘A girl looking puzzled at an arcade cabinet , ultra realistic’
AI-generated art is really still in its infancy. For example, there are many brands that are not yet aware of the tool or have no idea that this tool can mean anything to the brand. However, we think differently, we are convinced that it can have added value for many brands. We are happy to share our enthusiasm about this tool & other AI tools with you! Do you want to spar with us about Mid Journey, join us in our enthusiasm and see what the possibilities are for your brand? Get in touch and let’s get creative.
