Chatting with Midjourney AI artists: Alex Aperio & Dona Mara

Advancements in innovative AI technology are unleashing a new class of designers and artists. What used to be a space dominated by those with years of experience in mastering complex software is now becoming more accessible and introducing a new wave of designers and artists. This new generation of creatives is doing things that were once hard to imagine.

Now, with the new array of AI tools, these visionaries are creating works of art that are downright stunning. On top of this, they're producing visuals and making projects that used to take a team of skilled professionals to create.‍

It's because of these talented people and their art, the world of stock photos is literally evolving before our eyes. In the coming months, we'll shine a spotlight on celebrate some of the creators who are helping push the frontiers of artistic expression.

Meet Alex Aperio

Alex Aperio is a brand identity designer, creative director, and without a doubt, one of the most talented artists to contribute to Lummi.

One of the first things you notice about Alex's images is how lifelike they are. While many AI-generated visuals suffer from a level of uncanniness, Alex's images look like real photos shot with top-of-the-line cameras.

His work is special, and his visuals are the ideal addition for creatives searching for clean, high-end aesthetics.

Q: How have AI tools changed how you approach designing a brand’s identity?

As AI is still a very new tool and isn't perfect in its results, I'm still testing and learning how to implement it in my everyday projects. The main thing that I have how incredibly useful in generating imagery for my brand presentations for client work.

I often create art direction for initial ideas and backgrounds for my visual identity work. I also develop mockup backgrounds for products to sell a packaging idea. My portraits, for example, were created as part of a personal project to show creatives how to make their case studies and brand presentations look amazing.

My go-to platforms for customizing brand imagery are Midjourney, Visual Electric, and Lummi, and for anything else text-based and improving prompts, it's still ChatGPT.

Q: You make stunning AI portraits. What’s your take on brands using AI models for storytelling and marketing?

Thanks! I think it's great. You can really set the vibe for the brand's direction. Being able to quickly assemble a collection of portraits and tailor that to a target audience in hours is insanely powerful.

It means I can turn around a project in days/ weeks instead of months.‍I see AI as a tool to generate radical ideas we may have never thought of before by combining multiple visuals to create collaborations with brands and share them.Before, we may have only been able to talk about ideas to a client; now, we can show them a concept.

Q: Describe the moment you first realized AI tools could help you with your creativity.

I had seen some Instagram pages posting weird visuals and fun fictional collaborations with brands. Once I started to play with Midjourney on my own time I realized that we can harness AI to create whatever we want now.

Q: How do you envision the future of AI creativity? Do you see AI tools playing a bigger role in the final result of projects?

I see most creatives using AI just to make their jobs quicker and more efficient. I certainly have experienced this myself already. Once AI can generate text and vectors better, we will be able to create what we want in seconds rather than days. I'm all for getting saving more time.

Meet Dona Mara

Dona Mara is a true believer in the power of AI creativity, and her work highlights how deep her understanding is when it comes to making beautiful art with artificial intelligence. Her work often strikes a perfect and magnetic blend of surreal and editorial, which makes her images genuinely unique and surprisingly versatile for creative projects.

For creatives out there who need to add a dreamy and stunning touch to their designs, Dona's visuals are an excellent place to start.

Q: Your style is very editorial. Do you feel AI images will become more popular in the future with major publications?

I believe AI is a tool, the most innovating, groundbreaking tool we ever had available. To anyone. Ever.

Most talk about replacement, or that AI is killing "insert list of every jobs here" and I don't believe that, not as dramatically as every YouTube thumbnail seems to inform us. In photography, some stopped working because they could adapt to digital, "film is photography" and they were left behind. Others adapted and thrived.

With AI, we're not replacing one job. We're trying to replace a team of 8, 10, or 100 people with years of knowledge and experience with one person with access to the internet.

Yes, we can do it faster, but not better. A lot will be lost if we go that way.

But your question was about "popular." The short answer is yes, it's already happening, and when it's done right, we don't even notice it.

Q: Is there a design or visual trend you’ve been using on your creations lately? If so, which one and why do you have a crush on it?

I'm in my experimental phase. I started meddling with AI in February 2023 with all the "free tokens" platforms I could find. I'm putting on paper ideas I couldn't produce 5, 10, 15 years ago. I had no camera, lens, time, money, models, or space—just ideas.

Now, all of this is possible!

I'm just trying to figure out how to do it and have fun with it.

Q: You mentioned that your work reflects “the deep understanding of the relationship between technology and creativity”. How do you see this relationship growing in the coming decades?

Ohhh predictions, such a hard question!

I can't take a week off without returning to 5 upgrades, 7 new tools, 37 new sites, 12 new models, and 27 updated samplers. It's hard to keep up with all the updates. You asked me for "coming decades"? I see 5 YouTube videos every week about "the Midjourney killer."

No predictions from me at this time.

Q: How would you describe your illustration style? Where does the inspiration for these visuals come from?

My style is experimental, emotional, dreamy, and weird. I'm still working on finding my voice with AI. Inspiration? Films, music videos, lyrics, fashion, photographers, designers, music, my own experiences, how they all affect me, how they are connected to my memories and emotions.

Your projects, their visuals

As AI tools continue to evolve, so does the world of design, and seeing this visual revolution unfold is something that every artist and creative person should appreciate.

Without the incredible work of these artists, Lummi would not exist, and thanks to them, we are blessed to see new and unique works of artistic expression daily. ‍

If you love their work, go ahead and follow Alex Aperio on twitter and Dona Mara on Instagram!