10 Artificial Intelligence Tools Designers Should Explore This Year

Artificial intelligence isn't going anywhere. The cat is out of the bag. Pandora's box has opened. And there is no going back. These tools shouldn't replace every stage of the creative process. And I strongly advise designers to keep flexing those creative muscles by learning how to create work without instantly using artificial intelligence tools. However, designers, agencies, freelancers, and in-house teams can still benefit from learning about the new creative tools on the market to boost their workflow, increase productivity, and push ideas to new heights. So here are the top AI tools that designers should learn this year.

1. Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop might not come to mind when thinking about artificial intelligence, but most designers are already familiar with the software. Since 2023, Adobe has introduced artificial intelligence tools to Photoshop (as well as Illustrator and launched Firefly). The most revolutionary Photoshop tool is generative AI, allowing graphic designers and photographers to scale up images and create expanded backgrounds such as a clouded sky, ocean, etc. Its AI isn't perfect when removing small details, often leading creatives to go back to using classic tools such as the clone stamp or healing brush. The ability to save your working file means it can be shared with other designers making collaboration easy. But the Adobe price has its drawbacks and for those who have never used Photoshop, there is a steep learning curve. However, it has revolutionised the workflow of many designers and is the first of many AI tools that Adobe will be introducing over the months and years to come.

2. Autodraw

Autodraw is a free web-based tool that turns rough sketches into a selection of simplistic illustrations. The tool is very user-friendly, making it accessible to individuals with access to a desktop. The quick illustration capability makes it perfect for brainstorming ideas or rough storyboards in short time scales. However, it doesn't offer collaboration options. The other major issue is that every user who produces a rough sketch of a cat will end up with a similar-looking cat, preventing the ability to have bespoke illustrations. So, if you need custom-made illustrations for public-facing audiences, Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer are better tools. But for a quick free generative illustration tool for brainstorming ideas or adding a quick dash of creativity to internal pitches, Autodraw's worth exploring.

3. Canva

Canva is a dreaded word for many designers, so why have I included it? The online website allows designers, marketers, and clients to create presentations, social media posts, brochures, and more. It's recently added a new artificial intelligence tool called Magic Design which can help generate templates from word prompts and uploaded imagery. Canva offers collaboration capabilities, while it's very user-friendly as its target audience is small businesses and marketers. It's a great option to provide clients who want templates they can use after you finish a project with them. However, it does have a pricing tier system meaning all the best artificial intelligence tools are behind a paywall and Canva is best used as a complementary tool to your larger design software repertoire such as Adobe Creative Cloud.

4. FontJoy

FontJoy allows designers to generate perfectly paired fonts from various online typefaces. It's very similar to the website coolers, in that you click to generate then are allowed to lock the one you like and click again to create new matching options. There is no collaboration option with this tool but that's not needed when you can share your results with clients or colleagues. It's 100% free at the moment (spring 2024). The biggest drawback to FontJoy will be noticeable to in-house designers or creative departments with brand guidelines that prevent them from using new typefaces. But to agencies and freelancers with more creative freedom, FontJoy can offer a speedy solution to finding the perfect family of fonts. 

5. Remove.bg

Remove.bg is an online website that uses AI to remove backgrounds from photographs making it super fast to cut a model out of a busy setting. The tool is very user-friendly with a simple click and drag format for selection. But it does have a lot of limitations there are no collaboration capabilities, and once the background has been removed the final PNG doesn't allow for further finetuning. This means it's 100% destructible, unlike more advanced photo-editing software that works with layer masks providing the capability of adding the background back. Also, while the software is free there is a cap to how many images you can work on before you have to start paying for tokens. But for novice designers or marketers who lack the more advanced photo-editing software skills Remove.bg could be a useful tool.

6. Let's Enhance

If you have sourced the perfect photograph for a digital campaign but it's a little low res then Let's Enhance aims to increase quality and add clarity with one click. It's very user-friendly with a small menu of options and a click-and-drag marque box style selection. It's designed for novice photographers or designers with little experience in photo editing. With collaboration in mind, you could share login details but there didn't seem to be a working file option to keep editing images further down the line. Also in the free version, all the photographs will be watermarked. It's a useful tool for social media managers, amateur designers, or marketers who need to boost image quality. But if you're a professional designer or photographer you might already have the skills to do similar tasks in Adobe Photoshop, or Affinity Photo 2.

7. Khorma

When playing around with brand colour schemes Khorma has your back. This website allows designers to input up to 50 colours before generating typographic posters, images, gradients, and expanding colour palettes. It's relatively easy to use once you understand the premise. It has no collaboration capabilities other than sharing your final designs or colour palettes with your colleagues. It's also not a useful tool for in-house teams or designers as these individuals will have less control over working with new colours or typefaces. But as of writing (spring 2023) the free software is still a great option in generating new creative ideas for brand identity designers or to help students come up with new ways to push their creative artwork to the next level.

8. Artbreeder

Artbreeder is an online website that allows users to create digital artwork with features such as text-prompted artwork and image editing or splicing images together and even creating collages. It's easy to use as the artificial intelligence tools are accessed via their website and if you are only producing a couple of digital artworks each month then it's free to use. At the moment of writing (spring 2024), there doesn't seem to be any collaboration options. Plus, if you go over your free allowance the pricing can add up with the need to purchase tokens to create more artwork. Artbreeder also doesn't produce super realistic imagery meaning for realists out there your best bet is to look for an alternative text-prompted artificial intelligence generator. However, for designers who want to add some interesting artwork to their client projects or for those who want to dabble in AI without paying from the start, Artbreed is worth playing around with.

9. Uizard

Uizard allows designers to create wireframes, app designs, and web mockups in seconds, using text-prompted artificial intelligence algorithms. As well as offering designers a range of pre-designed templates. It is a great stepping stone for designers who want to move into UX/UI and don't have the time frame to learn Figma. However, it does have a paywall meaning that most templates aren't free and this is also the case for its collaboration capabilities. This is a huge con to Uizard especially as Figma has a better tier pricing system in comparison and is the overall better tool in the current design industry. Uizard is generally best for those starting in UX/UI design or for brand designs that want to show their client the web capabilities of their new brand identity.

10. Midjourney

And finally, if you're working in the creative industry, you won't be surprised that Midjourney has made it on this list. Midjourney is a generative artificial intelligence program that allows creatives to conjure up incredible artwork faster than before. It does have a paywall with the lowest pricing option enabling up to 200 text prompts with 4 outputs each time. There are no collaboration options and sharing keywords used to prompt design won't always result in the same artwork. Plus, it is accessed via Discord which can add an extra element of learning compared to Artbreeder which you use via the web. However, if you want to create the best text-prompted artwork for a reasonable price and already use Discord then Midjourney is something you should experiment with. You never know what client project could benefit from this powerful piece of artificial intelligence.

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If you enjoyed learning about these artificial intelligence tools and want more design, marketing, and branding knowledge. Check out my blog at jamesnealecreative.com