Tonight I had an ‘a-ha’ moment. Sitting in front of the television, a current affairs show promoted a chef’s new cookbook. This cookbook’s illustrations looked terrific. I saw the instant appeal of cookbooks and how they bring each dish to life. Cooking instructions are simple, linear and aim to encourage. Readers can dip into parts of their cookbooks at leisure. Cookbooks are a pleasure to read.
Yet I write business books. How could I combine the visual beauty of a cookbook with simple instructions? Could my book encourage my readers to dip into exciting parts of my book?
To achieve the idea of a ‘business cookbook’, I would need visual help. Cookbooks show images of food — each ingredient brought to life. Business ideas and ‘instructions’ are abstract. My mind went to surrealist artists like Salvadore Dali. I see the power of metaphors in top-flight business magazines and books. Yet can I tap into tremendous visual power without recruiting an artist?
What do you do when you need a cover for your magazine or an illustration for your blog? You can use a stock photo, but everyone knows what a stock photo is these days. Unsplash is amazing. Yet Unsplash and other stock photo sites saturate the internet. Readers get used to these images.
You can hire an artist to draw something, but they can be expensive and don’t always understand your vision. So why not let AI create some art?
Years ago, I discussed the future of artificial intelligence (AI) with a colleague. We both know AI would replace many mundane, repetitive job roles. We saw the decimation of repetitive knowledge work.
I remember saying to my colleague: “… I wouldn’t think AI could replace human empathy or creativity.”
Only a few years later, I can see the error of my thinking. How wrong I was. Why can AI perform higher-level thinking like abstract creation? This sacrosanct, complex and unique offering is not within the bounds of AI capability?
Artificial intelligence (AI) generators are finally easy for anyone to use. You don’t need any tech skills, only the ability to click a mouse. Tonight I prove this to myself.
How to generate new magazine art with Artificial Intelligence
As a writer, one always needs inspiration. Sometimes, it’s hard to find the right words or story plot that will capture your readers’ attention and keep them engaged in your article.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way we create. AI image generator tools like DALL-E were offered only to developers. The leading AI art generators are (as of mid-2022) not yet within the public’s grasp. Open AI’s DALL-E 2 and Google’s Imagen are two stand-outs.
Yet non-developers like me can now access other AI art tools. They are in their infancy but, in time should become formidable.
I found a useful (and free) AI image generation tool called DALL-E Mini. It didn’t take long tonight to create some of my first AI images. Being in a silly mood, I had a fun time playing around with DALL-E Mini’s capabilities. I tried out abstract and concrete ideas alike:
- Sad panda sitting in the desert
- Happy panda sitting in the desert (I was curious about the happy/sad contrast)
- Blue orange (the outer layer) with orange inside (The front cover of the book ‘Freakonomics’ had a cool-looking orange with a blue outer layer. Yet the image removed a segment of the ‘blue’ orange to reveal an orange inside. I loved it — and wanted to see AI re-create this).
- Organisational change manager chatting with stakeholders
I also had a play with Nightcafe. Nightcafe helps you create both images and videos. What I found impressive was the number of options available for image generation. You can choose from a dizzying array of artistic styles for instance.
- A blue frog eating a fly
The video option intrigued me — I bought credits from Nightcafe in short order. I became an ‘AI artist’ tonight, yet I’m trying to achieve a big ask of my new AI tools. Abstract concepts, like what I do for a living, are already on my AI tool’s radar:
- An organisational change manager trying to change an organisation
Why use AI art generators? Art or illustration, you decide.
AI art generators are a great way to create new art for your magazine articles and blog posts. These AI-created images might now substitute stock photos, which can be expensive. AI art generators also allow you to use an image that matches the theme of your article or post. Forget stock photos- your uber-creative image courtesy of AI might blow your reader’s mind. Yet you may need to trawl through many AI-generated images before you get to this point.
You can now produce excellent art for your magazine articles and blog posts.
You can now produce excellent art for your magazine articles and blog posts. AI art generators are a new tool for content producers, making generating new, unique artwork easy. Creative fields like writing and marketing can now use AI art generators.
Even if you are a skilled artist, these tools may serve as inspiration. You may find AI content creators may help you create valuable articles. Yet this AI-generated content still needs your spark, personal experience and insights. This content outlines your work but will not replace what you bring to the article. The same thinking applies to AI art.
New possibilities have indeed opened up for every content creator out there. Tonight I have morphed into a fledgling AI artist. I hope you can see the power of DALL-E Mini and Nightcafe as two tools in your creative arsenal.