Google Mixboard: Your AI-Powered Visual Brainstorming Canvas

Google has unveiled an exciting experimental project from Google Labs called Mixboard. This AI-powered tool acts as an intelligent concepting board, allowing you to visually explore, expand, and refine your ideas on an interactive canvas. Think of it as a dynamic mood board that not only collects images but also generates new ones based on your creative direction. Whether you’re a designer brainstorming a new product, a marketer creating a campaign, or just someone looking to bring an idea to life, Mixboard offers a powerful and intuitive platform to generate multiple images and iterate on concepts all at once.

[0:01.815]

Mixboard is a versatile tool designed for a variety of creative tasks. You can use it for high-level visual brainstorming, where you generate a wide range of images to explore a theme. It’s also perfect for ideating, allowing you to start with a broad concept and gradually refine it into a single, polished image. Furthermore, it excels at creating sequences or multiple variations for a single project, such as developing a consistent character across different scenes or generating a series of themed designs for merchandise.

[0:13.911]

As of this writing, Mixboard is completely free to use. However, access may be limited by geography, with initial availability reported to be in the US.

Getting Started with Your First Project

[0:26.155]

To begin your creative journey, navigate to the Mixboard page and click “Get started.” After logging in with your Google account, you’ll be welcomed with a few sample projects to explore. To create your own, simply click the "+ New project" button.

[0:36.009]

This will open a blank, dotted grid which is your canvas. At the bottom of the screen is the prompt box, where you’ll interact with the AI. Mixboard offers some starter ideas like “Plan a party,” which pre-fills the prompt box. For our first example, we’ll start from scratch with a custom prompt.

Create some cartoon animals on plain backgrounds

[0:56.969]

After you enter a prompt, Mixboard gets to work. From this initial simple instruction, the AI will generate a batch of 15 distinct images and place them on your canvas, giving you a wide variety of styles and subjects to start with.

[1:01.899]

Once your images are on the canvas, you have full control. You can click on any image, or “block” as Mixboard calls them, to select it. Corner handles will appear, allowing you to easily resize it by clicking and dragging. This simple interaction lets you organize your visual workspace and focus on the images you like most.

[1:08.979]

When you select an image, a small toolbar appears above it, offering several powerful options to refine your creation:

• Regenerate image: Creates a new version of the selected image, replacing the old one.
• More like this: Generates additional images in a similar style without replacing the original.
• Remove background: Automatically cuts out the background from your image.
• Duplicate block: Creates an exact copy of the selected image on your canvas.
• Download image: Saves the image to your computer.

Iterating and Refining Your Ideas

[1:43.268]

The true power of Mixboard lies in its iterative process. You can curate your canvas by deleting the images you don’t like and keeping the ones that fit your vision. By grouping images with a consistent style, you can then prompt the AI to generate more images that match that specific aesthetic. If you enter a prompt with nothing selected, Mixboard uses all images on the canvas for context. If you select one or more specific images, it will use only those as a reference. For example, by selecting just the dog and prompting again, we can generate new animals in that exact style.

show me more animals in this style

[2:05.978]

This iterative prompting allows you to build a cohesive set of characters. Once you have a collection you’re happy with, you can take it a step further. By selecting all the characters on the canvas, you can use a new prompt to combine them into a single scene.

[2:34.028] [A successful group photo image showing all six cartoon animals (dog, fox, alligator, penguin, tiger, bear) posing together.] We’re going to try that again, putting the characters together, posing for a picture. This time, we select all of the characters on the canvas. And it worked! The AI successfully created a group photo featuring all six of our animal characters posing together.

Adding Text and Creating Composite Images

[3:24.778]

Mixboard isn’t just for generating images; you can also integrate text. Using the Add text button on the left toolbar, you can create a text block. A formatting bar allows you to change the font, size, color, and style. To combine text with an image, simply select both the text block and the image block and enter a descriptive prompt.

Put the text across the bottom of the image in a fun, bold font

[3:50.018]

This feature is incredibly useful for creating logos, posters, t-shirt mockups, or any design that requires text and graphics to be integrated seamlessly.

Personalizing Creations with Your Own Images

[4:07.039]

You can also upload your own images to use as a base for generation. By dragging a photo onto the canvas or using the Upload image button, you can place yourself, your product, or any subject into entirely new contexts. After uploading a photo, a prompt can generate a variety of scenes.

[4:12.789]

Now for the prompt, let’s say “Put this man in some everyday life scenes.” The AI generates several new images, realistically placing the subject from the original photo into different scenarios, demonstrating a powerful face-swapping or re-contextualizing capability.

This is a fantastic way to quickly visualize yourself in different settings or clothing styles. You can experiment with different historical periods, professions, or fantastical scenarios, making it a fun tool for creating personalized avatars or brainstorming character designs.

Advanced Creativity and Use Cases

Mixboard’s flexibility opens up endless possibilities. You can use it to create a series of themed images for social media, design merchandise, or develop a consistent mascot for your brand.

[8:27.420]

One powerful use case is generating variations of a single design concept. By uploading a t-shirt design and prompting the AI to create variations for different professions, Mixboard can quickly produce a whole product line. It intelligently swaps out both the text and the associated graphics while maintaining the core design structure.

[8:46.339]

Another great application is creating seasonal or holiday-themed versions of a character or mascot. By providing a base image of a character, you can ask Mixboard to style it for different events.

Style this character in various themes including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and St Patrick's Day.

[8:58.759]

The results are impressive, with the AI maintaining character consistency while adding relevant props, clothing, and backgrounds for each theme. This makes Mixboard an invaluable tool for anyone needing to create a large volume of themed visual content quickly and efficiently.