Last year I spent a lot of time testing different AI tools in my work. There are a lot of them out there, but as a designer I needed tools that would actually save me hours of work.
And eventually I found a few that really help.
Important: AI won’t replace you and won’t do all the work for you. But the right tools can speed up your workflow two or even three times.
Let me share the ones I use most often.
First — where to find all these AI tools
At first I spent a lot of time jumping from one website to another trying different tools.
Eventually I found an AI tools hub where many neural networks are collected in one place — everything from ChatGPT to audio and image generation tools.
It’s really convenient. I’ve been using it for a couple of months now and mostly work directly from my phone.
First AI Tool — Nanobanana
You can open the hub, go to the menu and select Nanobanana.
Yes, the name sounds funny, but I was genuinely surprised by what it can do.
One of the most useful things for me is generating visual concepts.
When starting a project, I usually need to present several visual directions to a client.
Before AI my workflow looked like this:
searching references
collecting inspiration
making rough sketches
Now I can generate multiple visual concepts in seconds.
How to use it?
Just open Nanobanana and describe the scene, style, or atmosphere in your own words.
You can also upload a reference image and ask the AI to reinterpret it in another style.
Runway — video generation
I don’t work only with static design. Sometimes I also need to show a client an idea for a video or animation.
For this I use Runway.
The process is simple.
Generate an image in Nanobanana
Upload that image to Runway
Describe what should happen in the video
The AI will animate the image and generate a short video clip.
Usually these clips are around 5–10 seconds long, which is enough to demonstrate an animation idea.
ChatGPT
This one is obvious, but it’s still one of the most useful tools.
ChatGPT helps me with:
brainstorming ideas
writing texts
structuring concepts
solving small problems during projects
And yes — it’s also available in the same AI tools hub I mentioned earlier.
The biggest advantage of AI tools
AI tools don’t replace designers.
But they are perfect for speeding up routine tasks.
They help with:
generating ideas
creating quick concepts
testing visual directions
The final work and decisions are still made by the designer.
If you use other AI tools in your work — I’d love to hear about them.
What tools are part of your workflow?
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