Incorporating Abstract Expressions into Clothing Design with Midjourney!

Hello, I'm Sasaki, an intern.

Midjourney, an image generation AI, not only produces pictures of tangible subjects we encounter daily, like "cats", "oceans", and "dresses", but it also creates captivating images of imaginative scenes we've never seen before, such as "a rose floating in space" or "a fish swimming in the sky".

But what about more abstract subjects, like unseen emotions or sensations?

By "abstract elements", I refer to aspects that cannot be fully depicted in pictures or photos, such as emotions like "anger" and "sadness", or the sensation of "pain". We'll explore how Midjourney can express these abstract elements. 

This time, I want to use the "describe" feature of Midjourney to convert these abstract expressions into prompts and integrate them into clothing design.

What is "describe"?

While Midjourney primarily generates images from prompts, "describe" does the opposite – it creates prompts from images. Using this feature, we'll transform an abstractly expressed image into a prompt and then adapt that into clothing.

For more details about the describe function, please refer to the following blog post:

Introducing an Incredible Feature : The Basic Usage of Midjourney's "Describe" Command

For those of you thinking, "I don't understand what you're talking about", I'll delve into a step-by-step explanation, so please read on!

 

1. Generating an Abstract Expression Image

First, let's produce an image of an abstract expression.

This time, we'll try expressing the emotion "melancholy". The prompt will be:

"Abstract graphic. A melancholy atmosphere."

This is the image that Midjourney created to depict "melancholy".

At first glance, it might be puzzling if asked to "feel melancholy" by looking at this image. However, understanding that this is an AI-generated representation of "melancholy" might make it more relatable.

 

2. Trying out the describe feature

Now that we have our abstract expression image, let's use the "describe" feature to convert this image into a tangible prompt.

The image we'll be turning into a prompt is the one mentioned above.

Here are the generated prompts:

1. an abstract painting with shapes, in the style of graphic design poster art, mechanized abstraction, light indigo and dark amber, ink wash, bauhaus simplicity, smokey background, watercolor landscapes　

2.this is a digital illustration in black and orange, in the style of light indigo and amber, bauhaus influence, dreamy watercolor scenes, balanced composition, majestic composition, mike winkelmann, digitally enhanced

3. abstract painting with bright orange, yellow and brown, in the style of graphic design elements, ink wash, bauhaus, indigo and bronze, misty atmosphere, pristine geometry, emotive landscapes　

4. a yellow, brown and orange painting, in the style of bold graphic design elements, minimalist ink wash, dark cyan and amber, technological design, bauhaus influence, misty atmosphere, graphic illustration

The abstract expression has been converted into specific terms. As you can see, specifics such as colors (yellow, brown, orange, etc.) and the effects in the image (composition, atmosphere, etc.) are clearly mentioned.

Each prompt was regenerated as an image.↓

1

2

3

4

They all resemble the original image, so we can confirm a consistent level of accuracy.
 

3. Modify the Prompt and Turn It Into Clothing

I personally liked the graphic from the fourth one, so I'll modify that.

4. a yellow, brown and orange painting, in the style of bold graphic design elements, minimalist ink wash, dark cyan and amber, technological design, bauhaus influence, misty atmosphere, graphic illustration　　

First, I'll change the last part, "graphic illustration", to "dress"

Prompt:
a yellow, brown and orange painting, in the style of bold graphic design elements, minimalist ink wash, dark cyan and amber, technological design, bauhaus influence, misty atmosphere, dress

 

Two images of dresses were generated! However, since the word "dress" is positioned at the end of the prompt, it's likely considered a lower priority. Also, neither of the two generated images looks like a dress. So, I'll move the word "dress" to the beginning of the prompt.

a dress of a yellow, brown and orange painting, in the style of bold graphic design elements, minimalist ink wash, dark cyan and amber, technological design, bauhaus influence, misty atmosphere

 

A dress imprinted with the earlier graphic was created!

Let's see it on a fashion runway.

Prompt:
on a runway, a dress of a yellow, brown and orange painting, in the style of bold graphic design elements, minimalist ink wash, dark cyan and amber, technological design, bauhaus influence, misty atmosphere

 

 While the design of the dress itself has changed, the gradient of indigo and orange evokes an evening sky and personally made me feel the theme of "melancholy." How do you all feel?

 

Conclusion

Turning graphics or abstract paintings into prompts (words) can be challenging for humans. However, by utilizing the describe feature as demonstrated, I believe it expands the horizon of creative activities! I felt the freshness of something new emerging with AI assisting in areas where humans might struggle.

Even if you're not fluent in English, I believe this is approachable, so please give it a try.

 

 ※Note

One thing to be cautious about when using "describe" is the "use of proper nouns". Sometimes, proper nouns are suggested in the prompts generated by describe. In fact, it was observed in one of the prompts generated this time.

2. this is a digital illustration in black and orange, in the style of light indigo and amber, bauhaus influence, dreamy watercolor scenes, balanced composition, majestic composition, mike winkelmann, digitally enhanced

The prompt included what seems to be the name of an individual, "Mike Winkelmann". Upon researching, it turns out he is an actual digital artist from the USA.

For contest submissions on platforms like OpenFashion, from a copyright protection perspective, including "actual specific brand names" or "proper nouns" in the prompt is prohibited.

When participating in challenges like the AI Fashion Challenge, please be careful about using proper nouns!