Nov 30, 20233 min read

Imagine Anything: The Magic of Midjourney AI

I've decided that Midjourney is still my favorite out of all the AI art generation tools I've experimented with so far!

Admittedly, there's a sentimental element at play here - Midjourney was my first AI art app, which I began using in Summer 2022 when it debuted. However, my fondness is far from just nostalgia…

After pausing my Midjourney subscription to explore other programs (and there are so many out there now...), I found myself longing for Midjourney's unique and intuitive approach to visual creation, I had to come back.

Why Midjourney is my favorite

Midjourney’s ability to transform simple verbal prompts into stunning visuals is unmatched, in my experience. Yet it is very nuanced, which I also appreciate. One word can change the vibe entirely, or refine it into exactly what details you’re looking for, but the more details you give, the better. Your prompts can create both hyper-realistic photos or surreal chaos scapes, as intricate or vague as you can dictate.

While every generative art AI can perform similar feats, I feel like too many begin to repeat themselves or even seem to resemble all the other art everyone else generates from their model.

As a creative generative AI service, Midjourney stands out for its ease of use, community engagement, and most importantly, the sheer beauty and originality of the art it produces. Each prompt becomes a journey into multiple uncharted realms that seem more real than our own, sometimes.

Upon renewing my Midjourney subscription again last night, I stayed up way too late, unable to stop “imagining" my every whimsical thought. Check out these wild retro-futuristic images I made in the slideshows above and below, which are my favorite from last night’s binge session.

I started each prompt with "A faded vintage picture of," and then followed it up with phrases like "proof that God is a machine" and "occultist women in a secret society engaging with futuristic technology." The results were truly breathtaking… at least to me. Witness!

How to Imagine with Midjourney AI

Currently, Midjourney is still in Beta mode and operates exclusively within a Discord server.

With a basic plan account, a written prompt describing what you want to see, will generate four initial images, which is typed in a thread on a Discord channel that has the Midjourney bot set up. You can join the official Midjourney Discord server and generate away within their threads, should you desire, or, add Midjourney to your own.

Are you unsure what a “Discord server” is?

Here is a quick & handy video explaining how it works.
...and the step-by-step Midjourney guide to get started on Discord.

Your request queue will pop up in a comment below, where you can watch your images come to life and generate until they complete at 100% (which is fun, in and of itself!) You can then choose to upscale and create variances for some, or even scrap them all and start anew with four new ones to pick.

The subscription model is tiered, starting at $10 monthly for the Basic Plan and going up to $120 per month for the Mega Plan. Each tier offers increased generation speed and quantity, catering to different levels of usage and need. A cool community feature of Midjourney is the ability to rate images created by others for rewards. Top daily rankers earn extra GPU hours, which is some nice incentivizing.

Your generations ae subject to censoring for content, which can be a bit annoying, but all of the premiere art generators have restrictive measures in place to "keep it clean.".

If the censor bot makes any really inane miscalculations out of your words, it is ususally quick to appeal right there on the spot, or you can opt to contest beyond the first bot barrier.

Also... there may be ways you can word your prompts to get around the censors, or at certain times with little effort, but... we won't be going there right now.

I intend to dive into other AI art programs, comparing their features and creative potential in future posts. I felt it only proper to begin by singing the praises of my“first love", Midjourney, though. It continues to hold a special place in my heart and has remained a favorite tool in my creative process, it never ceases to both amaze and inspire me!