Designing learning opportunities with AI image generation
By Trudi Barrow; CLEAPSS D&T Adviser
This article is a follow-up to the one featured in the Summer 2023 edition of Futureminds, click below to read it:
In the Summer Edition article, I discussed how AI can be used in D&T, predominantly for resource generation. Below I am going to look into how we can start to use some visual generative AI tools for learning opportunities for the students. I will share examples of use of Newarc.ai and the Padlet AI generator.
'a stunning colourful dress on a mannequin made out of old magazines and newspapers' - Midjourney
'intricate laser cutting example being put together carefully' - Midjourney
Newarc.ai
Newarc.ai is getting a lot of attention from the design community and from the design education community. The concept is simple - input a 'starter image' alongside a prompt to create beautiful renders. It can be used in many different ways, here are just a few examples.
For fashion design, textiles design or costume design:
NewArc.ai boasts some very influential design clients, many of them are in the world of fashion and textiles. This is mostly down to the superior quality of the rendering, and the capability to show fabric differences in the renders. It can be used by designers and students of design to 'try out' their design in several different fabrics or styles.
sketch
wool
silk
cotton
For product design:
Designers and student designers can also render sketches of products in materials that they wish to try.
For interior design:
Architectural sketches can be rendered with materials and environments taken into account. The weather and light quality can also be specified.
For architecture:
Architectural sketches can be rendered with materials and environments taken into account. The weather and light quality can also be specified.
Ella Camporeale goes into more detail about generative AI within architecture education in her article in this edition.
:Padlet
Many teachers already use padlet in their lessons. It came into its own during the pandemic when we were able to share a whole class of work instantaneously. Students use the 'post-it' style function to share their work in a gallery/pinboard interface. It is a fantastic tool for sharing visual photographs of practical work or design drawings as a class. If the students are using devices they can all see each other's contributions and the teacher may choose to share the 'board' on the classroom big screen. There are also brilliant opportunities for peer assessment, where the class teacher can share a criterion and students can assess each other live using the 'comment' function.
One of padlet's newest most exciting functions is (unfortunately) called 'I can't draw'. This is the function where students can enter a prompt and receive 4 AI generated images in a few seconds. When the student selects their favourite, or the image most suited to their brief it will then be shared to the class board. Above is an example from a year 8 starter activity. The aim of this simple activity was for students to consider creative, descriptive vocabulary. All students were encouraged to close their eyes and imagine a bike of the future. They were encouraged to imagine a futuristic motor bike or e-bike from the year 2100. They were encouraged to be really imaginative. They then were asked to open their eyes and share their idea verbally with their partner using their descriptive vocabulary. Once shared they then summarised their description into a written prompt and chose the image that most closely resembled what was in their minds eye. They also shared their written prompt with the rest of the class.
In another lesson, I flipped this model and had students hide their prompts when designing toothbrushes for specific clients. Students then had to discuss the images and decide who the client may have been for the designer/prompt writer and why.
A small side note: I do hope padlet change the name of this tool from ‘I can’t draw’ to something a little more positive like ‘let’s imagine’ or ‘bring my idea to life’ as I find using it contradicts the hours we spend convincing our students that they can in fact draw!
Follow these links to the example boards and to set up your own padlet page.
...and finally...
...and finally why not try using image generators to produce ideas for crossover projects. These dresses were created using Midjourney as part of a 'sustainability in fashion' brief.
Using one of the image generators students can merge two worlds together to create new innovative starting points for projects. For example:
'What if cars were designed by fashion houses?'
'What if chocolate brands designed buildings?'
'What if a specific design movement influenced my product?'
'What if a specific artist designed my product?'
'What if textiles were made from food?'
...what could your students merge together?
