Playground AI is a creative tool dedicated to enlivening design ideas through generations or template designs. It boasts an expansive library of features and templates that are diverse enough to give rise to unique graphic designs with varying visual elements.
Main Features
1. Text Prompting
Users enter prompt descriptions of elements (color, lighting, composition, texture) they would like to see in the design. This applies to template edits and the generation of new designs. This is possible through the system’s diffusion models, which interpret prompts using text encoders and then generate visuals.
You have the option of starting from scratch, working with a template, or creating a new image. The design options are exhaustive: logos, T-shirts, social media posts, art, event signs, phone case covers, ads, and many more.
I decided to start from scratch, and with a simple prompt, “a mythical forest with a glistering river.” This was the resulting image.
I decided to incorporate some manual editing by uploading an image of an angelic figure. Then, I layered it over the image of the garden and reduced the opacity. This cast a divine, surreal atmosphere over the present magical one.
Next, I decided to play around with the color palette. I selected “green forage” and found that making significant changes to the theme, like the palette or style, undoes the edits. The tool gives a similar, but new generation to work with. This, however, takes away from the flexibility of the features.
2. Templates
Playground AI has a variety of pre-made templates to hasten the image generation process. It also makes it feel intuitive, especially when design skills are minimal. The templates come tailored for different purposes: posters, social media graphics, digital art, product mockups, or concept illustrations.
With text prompts, the templates can be customized to varying design ideas. There are also filters that apply an overall guiding aesthetic to designs. The presence of style filters can be combined with different templates for designs that are truly unique.
To explore this feature, I started with a Summerween template. Then I asked the AI to change a core part of the template: summer.
The AI did adhere to the prompt; however, it did not overhaul the theme of the template.
Just like I asked, a moon did replace the sun. But it looked more like a bright, glowing sun than a moon. This shows the extent of commitment to the overarching theme.
Next, I switched to another theme (modern minimalist). I chose a simple template that featured a plant bathed in ample sunlight, and placed against a plain white background.
For the modification, I only asked for one object to be incorporated: a cat.
Aside from text-based editing, there is a list of other editing tools. The image size and color palette can be adjusted, as well as a few other things. You can also make manual edits to the image by drawing lines, erasing objects, and adding text.
One really convenient thing is the undo and redo options. They allow switching between versions of edits and branching off in a new editing direction altogether.
The Bottom Line
Playground AI is a great tool for producing a variety of designs. However, as with many text-prompted AI tools, it has reduced granular control in comparison to dedicated tools like Adobe Firefly.