AI Masterclass 1.7

How to create professional AI-generated images for your business

• AI-generated images are making it faster, cheaper and easier for small business owners to produce collateral for their brands.
• ChatGPT can help with images for everything from website banners and social media posts to product packaging and signage.
• Using AI design tools for small businesses helps you create visual mock-ups to share design concepts with other suppliers quickly and effectively. 

Business owners face a constant demand for quality imagery, whether it’s in an eDM, website banner, social media post or even product packaging – and that all comes at a cost. But these days, AI is democratising content creation and making it quicker, cheaper and easier to create on-brand images for your business.

Why use AI to create brand imagery?

Telling a story through images became a lot easier for May Pike, owner of gourmet marshmallow company Cloud Theory, when she discovered how to use AI to solve design pressures on her business. “I know a lot of people use ChatGPT for administrative tasks but we’ve come to rely on it for images and design,” she says.

As well as saving time, ChatGPT has helped with Cloud Theory’s bottom line. “We still photograph our products but, for example, we don’t have to go and create a campfire scene for one carousel about toasting marshmallows,” says May. “It helps to have ChatGPT create those types of images to tell the whole story.”

How to get the best results from AI-generated images

As with any ChatGPT prompt, the more specific and detailed you can be, the better the output you’ll get. “As well as telling it where we plan to use the images, I get specific on things like the style of the image, colours, mood and where I want to add text,” says May.

May recently used AI to create images for her new S’mores Kit. “I told ChatGPT the whole backstory behind the product – I wanted to create a kit with chocolate, marshmallows and a brand of biscuits found in the US called Graham Crackers."

“I had such a hard time finding them here we had to make our own,” she says. “I typed that story into ChatGPT and asked for a caption and a visual aid that would tell that story in a carousel. I also uploaded the image of my product to be used in the carousel.”

The creation process doesn’t stop there, though – it’s up to the user to offer feedback and suggestions to get the output just right. “We take the first image as a base and then refine it to make sure it matches our brand guidelines,” says May. “ChatGPT gives us a great place to start and really helps us tell the story.” 

Unlock the full potential of AI image creation

AI isn’t just handy for digital images, it can also crossover into tangible business branding assets, helping with artwork for packaging, signage and marketing collateral. May says its ability to translate her ideas into mockups has been invaluable.

“I’ve found ChatGPT great for packaging concepts,” she says. “Without AI, it was hard to tell suppliers what I had in mind for packaging, especially when dealing with overseas suppliers. Now we get AI to mock-up our designs to send to our manufacturers. It really cuts out the back and forth.”

3 prompts to try today

Here are a few prompts to try once you have told ChatGPT about your business.

1. ‘Suggest three visual concepts for an Instagram carousel that would grab the attention of my target audience.’

2. ‘Turn my most recent online reviews into a LinkedIn post, an Instagram Reel and a Facebook update.’

3. ‘Based on my business goals, draft a seven-day content calendar that includes all of my current social media channels and a mix of formats.’