Boost Creativity with Ai Powered Content Creation
Summary/Overview
I’m sitting in front of my computer looking at an empty page. I know I need to create some blog content and eventually there will be a polished and complete blog. But now… nothing.
This is a process that most creatives are unfortunately familiar with. Once you gain momentum on a project, you can get into your creative flow, but building that momentum is a struggle.
That’s where I’ve begun using Adobe Firefly as a creative catalyst and co-pilot in my process. I don’t have to waste time or pixels on ideas that just don’t work. I can use Adobe Firefly and Adobe Express together to test ideas and see if they are viable to get my creative process and content creation started.
Before we start brainstorming with Adobe Firefly using Text to Image, we need to be sure we speak the same language. Talking to Generative AI is a bit different than having a conversation. But as creatives, it’s our job to translate written or spoken word into elements for visual communication.
How to communicate
Most visual communication is composed of three basic things; icons, indexes, and symbols. These are just like nouns, verbs, and prepositional phrases.
Icons look like what they represent, like an illustration of a donut looking like a donut. Indexes give information, like the color red meaning something is hot. Symbols are things that are only understood in a cultural context, such as creating in the renaissance style.
We can use these concepts to help Adobe Firefly understand what we are trying to create.
When writing prompts for Text to Image, start with any icons. Then incorporate your indexes to give Firefly more context — this is where you can refine your concept. If needed, add in any symbols last. It’s a good idea to separate each category with commas and pay close attention to the syntax of your prompts.
Pro Tip: If you are using Adobe Stock for initial research, try to incorporate the tags, or keywords you used to search for those images.
Example:
“I want to do a photoshoot for a canned tiki cocktail company. I’m imagining a can with jungle elements, but it’s in a studio on a pastel background of some sort.”
Let’s translate!
Icons: Aluminum Can, Jungle Elements,
Index: Pastels, In Studio
Symbols: Tiki
Prompt: Aluminum Can surrounded by jungle leaves and flowers, pastel background, studio shot, tiki style
Is the thing a thing?
Text to Image is great for testing your ideas. Like many creatives, I tend to think and brainstorm in ‘vibes’ and ‘aesthetics’. I end up spending time searching and finding a few images that I toss onto a mood board. Adobe Firefly can help do all those steps at once without losing time searching for images.
Simply type in the ‘vibe’ that you think you are going for to test if the elements and concept are going to work together. Once you have a generation, you can identify the pieces of your idea that may not work for the concept you’re trying to execute.
If there are pieces of the generation that are right, you can set that image as the reference and keep iterating until you land with a visual that you can use as reference.
Enhance your creations
My personal favorite use for Adobe Firefly in Adobe Express is to generate specific effects or textures to add some unique flair to my designs and animations. By combining Adobe Firefly, Blending Modes, and Animation, you can create some extremely striking social media graphics, or GIFs to be included in email campaigns.
Example: Let’s say you’re working on a holiday campaign. Instead of having static photos, you can easily add subtle animations and embellishment with Adobe Firefly and Animation.
Prompt: “Frozen window snowflakes frost on black background”
Choose the option that has the most black in the center. Then, set the blending mode to ‘Screen’ and you have a nice overlay on your image. You can even animate with a soft ‘Shrink In’ animation to add some motion.
Creative Collaboration
You can collaborate in real time with your team in Adobe Express. This allows your team to brainstorm quickly by having everyone generate concepts together to pick out the best ideas to execute.
Text Effects
Give your headlines some life with Text Effects in Adobe Express. Text Effects works best with short, punchy headlines.
Powerhouse Workflows
Mockups - If you need a quick mockup of a product or packaging, try generating with Adobe Firefly. Be sure to include ‘On a black background’. Then, you’ll be able to remove the background and put your mockup on whatever background you like.
Backgrounds - If you have photography of products or visual elements, use Adobe Firefly to generate abstract backgrounds or scenes to add context to your product shots.
Textures - Adobe Firefly will generate great textures that you can animate or overlay using Blending Modes and animation. Try using ‘crumpled paper texture, subtle grunge’ for a nice printed poster look.
Generative Actions - In Photoshop, you can record actions using Generative Fill or Generative Expand. Key workflows include batch processing, photo resizing, and object extraction. Record an action once and then use it again and again to speed up your workflows. If you are doing the same Generative Action on a bunch of photos, try using a batch with an action that incorporates Generative Fill or Expand.