Overview
You’re a designer, not a prompt engineer—but AI is changing your industry whether you’re ready or not. This two-day course shows you how to harness generative AI and emerging agentic AI tools as creative collaborators that enhance your work, speed up your process, and expand your creative possibilities without compromising your artistic vision or professional value.
You’ll master text-to-image generation for rapid concepting and iteration, integrate AI into your existing design workflow, use AI for tedious tasks while maintaining creative control, and understand where AI excels and where human creativity remains irreplaceable. Whether you’re doing branding, UI/UX, marketing design, or illustration, this course gives you practical skills to stay competitive while preserving what makes you valuable: your taste, judgment, and creative vision.
Format: 2 Days | VILT
Who Should Attend
- Graphic designers and visual communicators exploring AI capabilities
- UI/UX designers looking to accelerate wireframing and prototyping
- Brand designers and creative directors managing design teams
- Freelance designers competing with AI-assisted competitors
- Anyone who’s worried AI will replace them but wants to learn how to use it instead
What You’ll Learn
- Generate high-quality images with Midjourney, DALL-E, Adobe Firefly, and Stable Diffusion
- Craft effective prompts for consistent style, composition, and mood control
- Integrate AI tools into Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and your existing workflow
- Use AI for ideation, mockups, variations, and iterations while maintaining creative direction
- Understand agentic AI: tools that can make design decisions within your parameters
- Navigate copyright, ethics, and client disclosure with confidence
Course Outline
Module 1: Understanding AI in the Design Landscape
- Generative AI vs. Agentic AI: what’s the difference and why it matters
- What AI can do well: concept generation, variations, tedious tasks, exploration
- What AI can’t replace: taste, judgment, client relationships, strategic thinking
- The current AI design ecosystem: tools, platforms, and capabilities
- How top designers are already using AI to stay competitive
- The ethics conversation: transparency, attribution, and professional integrity
Module 2: Text-to-Image Fundamentals
- Getting started with Midjourney, DALL-E 3, and Adobe Firefly
- Anatomy of an effective image prompt: subject, style, composition, lighting, mood
- Controlling output: aspect ratios, stylization levels, and quality settings
- Using reference images and style consistency techniques
- Iterating and refining: variations, upscaling, and fine-tuning
- Understanding when generated images work as-is vs. need designer refinement
Module 3: Advanced Prompting and Style Control
- Creating consistent visual styles across multiple generations
- Using style references, artist influences, and design movement terminology
- Negative prompts: explicitly defining what you don’t want
- Compositional control: framing, perspective, and visual hierarchy
- Color palette specification and mood direction
- Building a personal prompt library for your signature styles
Module 4: AI Integration in Professional Design Tools
- Adobe Firefly and Generative Fill in Photoshop: practical applications
- Illustrator’s AI features: vector generation and text-to-vector workflows
- Figma AI plugins: mockup generation and design system assistance
- Canva’s AI tools for rapid social media and marketing design
- Using ChatGPT and Claude for design briefs, copy, and conceptual work
- Workflow integration: where AI fits in your creative process
Module 5: Agentic AI and Design Automation
- Understanding agentic AI: systems that make decisions within parameters
- Automated design systems: templates that adapt intelligently
- Brand kit automation: consistent application across deliverables
- AI-assisted design systems and component libraries
- Batch processing and variations: creating multiple versions efficiently
- Setting boundaries: when to let AI decide vs. maintain manual control
Module 6: Practical Applications Across Design Disciplines
- Branding and identity: mood boards, concept exploration, and asset creation
- UI/UX design: wireframes, mockups, placeholder content, and user flow illustrations
- Marketing and social media: rapid campaign asset production
- Illustration and editorial: concept sketches and reference imagery
- Presentation design: generating supporting visuals and data visualization concepts
- Client presentations: showing options and iterations faster
Module 7: Professional Practice and Future-Proofing
- Copyright and licensing: understanding AI-generated content ownership
- Client disclosure: when and how to communicate AI usage
- Pricing your work: valuing speed vs. maintaining professional rates
- Building your irreplaceable value: curation, art direction, and creative strategy
- Quality control: when AI outputs need your refinement vs. wholesale rejection
- Staying current without chasing every new tool: sustainable learning strategies
Prerequisites & Technical Requirements
- Professional design experience in any discipline (graphic, UX/UI, branding, etc.)
- Familiarity with at least one professional design tool (Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, etc.)
- Basic understanding of design principles: composition, color, typography
- Access to at least one AI image generation tool (Midjourney, DALL-E, or Firefly recommended)
- No coding or technical background required
Customization Options
This course can be customized for specific design disciplines—branding and identity work, UI/UX and product design, marketing and social media design, editorial and publication design, or packaging and physical product design. We can focus on the tools your team already uses or plans to adopt, and work with real client projects or portfolio pieces to develop immediately applicable AI-enhanced workflows.