DesignBeginnerPreview
Midjourney for Designers
Learn to drive Midjourney like a deliberate design tool rather than a slot machine, using a repeatable prompt structure, the parameters that actually steer output, and image and style references to hit a target on purpose.
For designers, marketers, and brand owners new to Midjourney who want control and consistency, not lucky one-offs.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook turns the course into a repeatable Midjourney workflow you can run for any brief. You will set up the tool, write a structured prompt from a real brief, tune it with parameters and references, lock a consistent set, refine and finish the winner, and assemble a client-ready presentation slide with honest licensing notes. Work through the sheets and templates on one real project so you finish with both a skill and a delivered, presented image.
Getting Into Midjourney and Thinking in Briefs
Set up your account and modes, then write a six-line image brief for a real project before you generate anything.
Exercise: Run Your First Single-Variable Test
Generate one simple subject, then rerun it changing exactly one word, so you feel how literally Midjourney reads you. Keep both grids side by side.
- Generate: a single ripe lemon on a pale blue background, studio photograph. What did the grid of four give you?
- Rerun changing only studio photograph to watercolour illustration. How completely did one word change the result?
- Now swap only the lighting word (e.g. soft diffused light to hard direct sunlight). Did the mood shift as expected?
Worksheet: Six-Line Image Brief
Fill this in for your real project BEFORE you write any prompt. Each line will map onto a part of the structured prompt later.
- Purpose (where it lives and the job it does)
- Subject (the literal thing in the frame)
- Mood and tone (3-4 adjectives)
- Style and medium (photo / 3D / illustration / era)
- Format (exact aspect ratio + minimum resolution)
- Constraints and exclusions (brand colours, what to avoid, room for type?)
Checklist: Setup and Readiness Pass
- Paid Midjourney plan active (commercial rights confirmed for client work)
- Logged into the web app and located the imagine bar
- Tried the Discord /imagine flow at least once so both interfaces are familiar
- Understand Fast vs Relax mode and which I am currently using
- Six-line brief written and saved for the real project
- Decided the final aspect ratio from the brief, not by default
Prompt Structure and the Vocabulary of Control
Convert your brief into a structured prompt, then practise the named vocabulary that gives you precise control over the look.
Worksheet: Structured Prompt Builder
Translate each brief line into a prompt block in order. Front-load the subject and your most important quality. Assemble the blocks into one prompt line at the bottom.
- Block 1 - Subject (concrete)
- Block 2 - Medium (e.g. 35mm film photograph)
- Block 3 - Style and references
- Block 4 - Composition and lighting
- Block 5 - Mood and colour
- Block 6 - Parameters (e.g. --ar 16:9)
- Final assembled prompt (blocks joined in order)
Exercise: Vocabulary Dial Study
Pick one subject and hold it fixed. Generate it three times, changing only the lighting term each run, to build intuition for the vocabulary as dials.
- Run 1 with golden hour, Run 2 with soft diffused light, Run 3 with low-key chiaroscuro. Which mood did each produce?
- Which single lighting term best matched your brief's mood line?
- Now swap only the medium term (e.g. macro photograph to flat vector illustration). How much did the feel change?
Exercise: Clean Up With --no and Positive Phrasing
Take a prompt that keeps producing an unwanted element and fix it two ways: first by describing the positive scene more fully, then by adding the --no parameter.
- What unwanted element keeps appearing (people, text, clutter, extra objects)?
- Did fully describing the positive scene reduce it without using --no?
- What did adding --no [element] at the end change, and how clean is the result now?
Checklist: Prompt Quality Pass
- Subject and top quality are at the FRONT of the prompt
- Every block describes an appearance, not an abstract intention
- Used at least three named vocabulary terms (medium, lighting, composition)
- Prompt is focused, not a wall of forty adjectives
- Aspect ratio set with --ar to match the brief
- No request for readable text inside the image (type will be added later)
- Stubborn unwanted elements handled with --no
Parameters, References, and Consistency
Tune your prompt with parameters, direct it with reference images, and lock a consistent multi-image set.
Worksheet: Parameter Tuning Log
Record the parameter values you tried and the effect, so you learn what each dial does for your own work. Change one parameter at a time.
- Aspect ratio (--ar) used
- Stylize (--s) value tried
- Effect of stylize (more literal / more flair)
- Chaos (--c) value tried
- Effect of chaos (tight variations / wide spread)
- Weird (--w) value tried, if any
- Best combination for this brief
Worksheet: Reference Direction Sheet
Plan your reference images and tag each to the right channel. Record the strength values so the result is reproducible.
- Image prompt used? (what content/composition it brings)
- Style reference image (--sref) source and what look it borrows
- Style weight (--sw) value
- Character reference image (--cref) source, if any
- Character weight (--cw) value
- What each reference is responsible for (content / look / character)
- References and strengths saved with the prompt? (Y/N)
Exercise: Lock a Consistent Three-Image Set
Build a master style string (medium, lighting, palette, mood, plus a fixed --sref) and append a different subject for each of three images, changing nothing else. Aim for a set that reads as one campaign.
- What is your fixed master style string (everything except the subject)?
- Across the three images, does only the subject change, or did the look drift?
- Where did consistency still break (face, exact colour, rendering style), and would a seed or finishing fix it?
Checklist: Consistency and Control Pass
- Aspect ratio matched the brief on every image in the set
- Stylize tuned deliberately (lowered for accuracy, raised for flair)
- Chaos raised while exploring, lowered while refining
- Same --sref image fed to every image in the set
- Master style string reused with only the subject swapped
- Brand palette named in words in every prompt
- Seed captured and reused where tight variation was needed
- Prompt, parameters, seed, and references saved for each kept image
Refining, Finishing, and Presenting to Clients
Refine the winner with Midjourney's tools, finish it in a design tool, and assemble a curated, honestly-licensed client slide.
Exercise: Refine the Winner, Do Not Reroll
Take your best image and improve it using Midjourney's in-app tools instead of rerunning the prompt. Use Vary Region for a flaw, and Zoom Out or Pan if you need room for type.
- What flaw did you fix with Vary Region, and did it solve in one pass?
- Did you need Zoom Out or Pan to create negative space for a headline? What changed?
- Which upscaler (subtle vs creative) gave the cleaner result for your medium?
Worksheet: Finishing Handoff Sheet
Record what still must be corrected in a design tool, because Midjourney cannot guarantee these. Plan the handoff before delivery.
- Final medium and required resolution (e.g. A2 print at 300 ppi)
- Exact brand colour to correct to (hex)
- Real type / headline to be added (font and content)
- Logo to be composited (file and placement)
- Artefacts to retouch out (where)
- Design tool used for finishing (Photoshop / Illustrator / Figma)
- Layered master file saved? (Y/N)
Worksheet: Client Presentation and Licensing Sheet
Prepare what you will actually show and say. Curate to two or three resolved options in context, and write the licensing line in plain English.
- Number of options shown (aim for 2-3, in context)
- Mockup context for each (website hero / poster / social)
- Framing line (these are directions to be refined and finished)
- Plan: subscription plan confirming commercial rights
- Disclosure line (imagery is AI-generated, in plain words)
- Ownership note (copyright is unsettled for purely AI images)
- Iteration promise (what you can turn around fast vs not at all)
Checklist: Delivery and Presentation Pass
- Curated to 2-3 resolved options, not a wall of raw grids
- Each option shown in its real layout and format
- Winner refined with Vary Region / Pan / Zoom Out as needed
- Upscaled to the final medium and inspected for invented texture
- Colour corrected to exact brand hex in a design tool
- Real type and logo composited (not rendered by Midjourney)
- On a paid plan with commercial rights confirmed
- Client told, in plain words, that the imagery is AI-generated
- No mimicry of a living artist or trademarked character for commercial use
- Prompt, seed, and references archived as reproducible source
Your Action Plan
- Activate a paid Midjourney plan, log into the web app, and confirm commercial usage rights for client work.
- Write the six-line image brief for your real project: purpose, subject, mood, style, format, constraints.
- Convert the brief into a structured prompt: subject, medium, style, composition and lighting, mood, parameters, front-loading the subject.
- Run a single-variable test, changing one word at a time, to confirm Midjourney reads you literally.
- Tune the result with parameters: set --ar to the brief, adjust --stylize for obedience, raise --chaos to explore then lower it to refine.
- Direct content and look with references: an image prompt for composition, --sref for the aesthetic, --cref for any recurring character.
- Lock a consistent set by reusing one master style string and the same --sref, swapping only the subject, capturing seeds where needed.
- Refine the winner in-app with Vary Region for flaws and Zoom Out or Pan for headline space, then upscale to the final medium.
- Finish in a design tool: correct colour to the exact brand hex, composite real type and logos, retouch artefacts, save a layered master.
- Build the client slide: curate 2-3 options in mockup context, write the AI-disclosure and licensing lines, and archive prompts, seeds, and references.
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