Midjourney's New Style Reference Tool is a Big Deal! - AIxC: 40

Midjourney's New Style Reference Tool is a Big Deal! - AIxC: 40

+ Things that Don't Help and I Have an Idea for... Custom GPT

Welcome back as we revisit our Feb 06, 2024, newsletter #40. If you would like to get these newsletter updates as soon as they drop please subscribe here.  AIxCREATIVE Newsletter 

Today’s newsletter is exciting as we dive into a new tool Midjourney just made available. One that sets the tone for what’s to come with Ai tools.

  • Tips: Midjourney’s New Style Reference Tool
  • Crystal Ball: Things that Don’t Help
  • Strategy: I Have an Idea for…
  • Community: Consultations

01 / TIPS

Midjourney’s New Game-Changing Style Reference Tool

 

 

Midjourney recently released a new tool that gives designers more control, the Style Reference tool.

The tool references images you input and pulls out visual style cues, which it then includes in your outputs.

In the video above you’ll see that I started with the memorable Rabbit R1 and utilized that to create a range of products with a similar design language, ie rounded corners, minimal, orange, etc.

The results are not 100%, but that’s a symptom of limited time on my part and not limited capability of the tool. With more time and care, I’m confident I could really get the design language to come across even more.

My key takeaways:

  • SREF is a big deal, it will be a crucial part to the majority of prompting.
  • In our Midjourney Training Courses I often talk about the importance of term value dilution/boosting. This feature helps that out immensely.
  • The principles of IMAGELCP are still important, however SREF is taking a big role in communicating the attributes (A in IMAGELCP).
  • Use alongside other features like reference images / image weights for even better results.
  • Can get complicated with all the levers, but worth figuring out.

    Process shown here:

    1. Gather reference images.
    2. Upload to Midjourney.
    3. Build a trimmed down IMAGELCP prompt, ie model, guidance and maybe one more is enough.
    4. Add --sref and image links (up to 3). Would look like this /imagine: helmet, orange, front view --sref imageurl.
    5. Add --sw preferred weight (0 to 1000).
    6. Run permutations as needed. I suggest exploring --sw, --s and --iw and see how they impact things.
    7. Run everyting else we've learned to iterate: re-roll, vary subtle, vary strong, vary by region, remix, etc.

      I’ll be doing an entire module on this one. Coming soon.

       

      02 / CRYSTAL BALL

      This Doesn’t Help

      I see different posts like this almost weekly. It’s always tied to a new tool coming out and how it is ending a profession. Almost always it comes from someone not in the profession that is set to be “destroyed”.

      I get it, it gets clicks.

      Will new tools impact tasks we do in our professions? Yes.

      Will they alter our job roles? Yes.

      Will we need to adapt? Yes.

      Will we come out ahead? I strongly believe so.

      I think we’re just now starting to see the first glimpses as to what can happen when you combine Ai tools with professional human creative experience. It gives me a lot of hope as to how this will play out. And in my eyes, it’s far from the “destroyed” narrative.

       


      03 / STRATEGY

      I Have an Idea for…

      Late last year, Greg and I took part in this 4 day Ai Design Sprint. Since then, Greg has put a lot of work into refining the UX portion of this project, crafting a custom GPT that begins laying the front-end groundwork by simply typing “I have an idea for…”.

      It’s 20+ years of knowledge and real world experience packed into a custom GPT.

      If you haven’t yet, I’d highly suggest taking a look at Greg’s Gen Ai for UX/UI course. It’s four live sessions packed with everything you need to start down this path. Designed by professional for professionals.

       



      04 / COMMUNITY

      AIxC Consultation Calls

      Do any of these scenarios sound like you?

      • Have specific issues you want to tackle with Ai?
      • Have questions about a specific Ai tool?
      • Trying to figure out an Ai enhanced workflow?
      • Have a project that’s run into a dead-end?
      • Need to get a game plan together for how to start down the Ai path?
      • Need to better understand the lay of the land of Ai?

      If you can relate, book a consultation session with me to work through these or any other questions you may have. We can get into workflows, tool tips, how-tos, tackle a project… anything you need. 

      If you simply just want to chat 10,000ft view Ai or have questions about our services and how we can help, then book a free chat here on my Calendly.

      And if you're ready to jump in and see what you are capable of by learning Midjourney ai for design check out our Midjourney learning courses here


      As always, thanks for being a part of this community!

      Hector

      Back to blog

      Leave a comment

      Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.