Summary

An individual used ChatGPT and Midjourney to create a magazine series, pivoting from a profit-driven approach to a creative outlet following a personal life change, and learned to navigate image copyrights in the process.

Abstract

The author of the article transitioned from using generative AI tools like Midjourney for financial gain to employing them for personal enjoyment and creativity after facing marital separation. They utilized their existing Serif software license to design the magazine and learned about copyright limitations when considering using images from Midjourney. Instead, they recreated images inspired by others found on the platform to ensure originality and legality. The magazine features AI-generated artwork paired with literary pieces created by ChatGPT, which include stories, poems, and fake news articles. The author has already produced multiple issues, iteratively improving the publication through self-taught design skills and is seeking user feedback for further enhancement.

Opinions

The author initially viewed AI as a means to make money, which led to stress and dissatisfaction.
After the author's personal circumstances changed, they found a new purpose in using AI creatively rather than commercially.
The author values the importance of understanding and adhering to copyright laws when using AI-generated content.
They believe in the potential of AI to create compelling visual and written content, as evidenced by their use of Midjourney and ChatGPT.
The author is committed to improving their craft, as seen in the iterative development from the first to the second issue of the magazine.
They are open to and actively seeking constructive feedback from readers to enhance future issues of the magazine.

I used ChatGPT & Midjourney to Start A Magazine Series!

A couple of weeks ago I posted a story called “I’ve Been Using Midjourney (and all Gen AI) Wrong This Whole Time”. One of the statements I made in that story is that I was not having fun using Midjourney, or gen AI at all for that matter. This is because I was stressing myself out using it as purely a money-making tool. I stated in the story that I would begin to use it as more a source of fun going forward, and that I would not spend as much time using it in order to not abandon my wife and kids.

Well, fast-forward a few days from writing that article and a lot has changed. My wife informed me that she feels it’s in our best interest to separate and terminate our marriage, and that it’s too late to go back and fix anything, resulting in very little dialogue between us.

Well, now I’ve got all sorts of time on my hands once the kids go to bed. So, I figure, let’s learn how to make a magazine! I had already purchased a universal license from Serif, Inc. to use their Affinity Designer and Photo applications, and that license is good for Affinity Publisher as well.

I installed that app on my Mac and watched a couple of tutorials on YouTube about how to use it. I also browsed the web and found some inspiration on creating simple magazine spread layouts.

My initial strategy was going to be to use the “Explore” section of the Midjourney Alpha site to find the best of the best images to showcase in the magazine. Keep in mind, I really had no interest in distributing the magazine, but wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t at some point. Because of this, I felt it was important to read the fine print in the Terms and Conditions and determine if I were even able to use images directly from Midjourney in my own publication. It turns out that, no, this is not permitted and is probably illegal, at least without written permission from the creator of each image. Given that there’s no way to contact a user on Midjourney, getting in touch with a user to gain permission to use their image was going to be impossible. As an interesting sidenote, Midjourney has written into the terms that all users grant Midjourney use of their creations for its own purposes, even though the creator retains the copyright. This is how Midjourney is able to use your images to create their own print magazine without worrying about legal repercussions.

With this limitation, I altered my strategy. I still used the Midjourney Alpha site to find the best of the best images, but rather than taking them directly from the site, I used Midjourney to try and recreate what I saw on my own. In most cases, I borrowed some attributes from the original prompts and built in things that would make the resulting image similar to what I was trying to recreate, but uniquely mine. Doing this actually led me to create images that I liked better than the originals I found on Midjourney’s site in most cases!

I decided that the purpose of the magazine would be to showcase awesome artwork and the prompts that created each piece. If you browse the magazine contents below, you’ll see really quickly that every image in the magazine is accompanied by the prompt I used to create it.

This was going to be a pretty boring magazine, though, if all it were to be was a picture book with prompts (which are pretty bland to read). So, I chose to loop in the creative abilities of ChatGPT to make up stories, poems, quotes, fake-news from the future, and more.

My workflow was this:

Create an image using Midjourney that is unique, interesting, and worthy of distribution in a formal magazine
Feed the image to ChatGPT and prompt for an appropriate piece of literature to accompany the image. This could be asking for a short story, a critique of the artwork itself, a fake news article, or something else, depending on the image and where it would be placed in the magazine.
Using the resulting text and the image(s), create a spread to showcase the image and the prompt and incorporate the text from ChatGPT.

Doing this led to the creation of the magazine you see below, and the total project took me about 3 nights. In fact, I’ve already completed the second issue as well, and am now working on the third. I’ll admit that the second issue is far better than the first in terms of layout and creativity. But I’m a Product Manager by trade, and I literally earn my living by creating iterations of products that are better than the previous iteration. It’s just in this case, I didn’t get any user feedback to inform how the second issue should be, my skills with Publisher just happened to improve significantly through practice.

So, in a way, this is an attempt to get some user feedback. Medium isn’t the ideal forum to present a magazine and get feedback, but I anticipate that at least a handful of you will look through what I’ve put together and leave a comment that I’ll be able to use to improve future issues.

Take a look at my magazine below, and please feel free to leave feedback in the comments! I’d really appreciate it!