As a tween, I used to spend hours cutting up magazines and creating collages and mood boards. I loved how shapes and colors could overlap and create something new -- at the time, I was particularly fascinated with typography creating shapes reminiscent of body parts.
I recently saw that Canva launched Dream Lab, its artificial intelligence text-to-image generator, late last year, and that Dream Lab has the capability to create digital mood boards.
Competitors include Dream by WOMBO, Adobe Express, Dall-E and Midjourney (which all create images that can then be uploaded onto Canva). But Dream Lab integrates within Canva's broader ecosystem.
This streamlines the design process and makes pushing assets into a workflow pretty seamless and accessible for Dream Lab's target audience: creatives across industries, small-business owners and artistic hobbyists.
The last time I made a mood board was over a decade ago. This time, thanks to AI, I'd have more creative possibilities to play with, and the process itself would be expedited.
Maybe it was time for a change... or a reminder. Didn't someone once say that the creative adult is the child who never died?
How to use Canva's Dream Lab
Dream Lab is pretty accessible and using it is pretty simple. Here's how:
First, log in to Canva from your desktop or phone. You can access Dream Lab via Canva's homepage or your personal design workspace. (Look for the Apps to Explore section, usually found on the left-hand side toolbar.) You can also search for Dream Lab or Text to Image with Canva's search feature.
Once inside Dream Lab, you can generate images with AI's help, based on the prompts you feed it. This is the ideation zone. What kind of theme or atmosphere do you want your mood board to evoke? Your answer to this question will inform your text-to-image prompt. For instance, I usually lean toward images that are "warm yet dreamy" and inspire feelings of "awe and wonder."
It may be helpful to customize settings, like adjusting the parameters or the dimensions of your images, before generating an image. Now type your descriptive prompt into Dream Lab's text interface. Use vivid language to help AI pick up on your ideal creation.
Let AI create visuals, but keep in mind that you may generate multiple options -- don't be discouraged if you don't love your results right away. Review your images and select the ones that best capture the mood or aesthetic you're going for. Since mood boards usually have different types of images overlapping one another, you'll likely run various prompts, and iterations of those prompts. After final picks, you can save your favorite images to your Canva library or drag them into a new design file to start placing.
You can select Choose a Template from Canva's homepage or design dashboard and search for mood board templates. You'll find grid or collage-style layouts that are a starting point. Once you select a template, click on it to open it in Canva's editor.
Time to assemble! Drag and drop your generated images into the template by clicking them and dragging them into the design. Once they're situated, you can spruce up the template and add other elements, like additional images and descriptive words or titles. Experiment with backgrounds and colors to overlay elements and tie everything together.
Review your mood board to make sure the overall composition reflects your desired mood and that the visuals complement one another. Once it feels complete, click the Download button to save your mood board, or share it directly with friends and family through text or on social media by way of a copy-and-paste link.
Who should use Dream Lab?
Dream Lab is simple and efficient and helps you flesh out ideas pretty quickly. Canva as a standalone platform is aimed at various audiences, from hobbyists and marketers to designers and small-business owners. With various companies launching AI-powered tools, it's nice to see a familiar name when you're trying to navigate the creative process.
Seasoned creatives might stick with Adobe's set of tools or use Pinterest's visual search, and tech enthusiasts may go for a blend of Dall-E and Midjourney, but Canva's Dream Lab doesn't steer you wrong -- especially if you're already familiar with Canva.
Dream Lab has various uses beyond creating mood boards, ranging from text-to-image generation, AI-powered image editing and further creative experimentation.
Plus, you access most of Dream Lab's offerings through Canva's free subscription model, which gives you some freedom when you're trying it out (20 Dream Lab credits on the free tier, 500 Dream Lab credits on the paid tier).
Canva's Dream Lab can be a great offering for stimulating creativity while streamlining the process. Enjoy.