Designing The Ultimate Cocktail Discovery App Through AI Imagery

Clink is an image-heavy app that helps drinkers find their next best cocktail, providing a visually engaging and intuitive user experience. As the content lead for Clink, I developed a comprehensive cocktail database, detailing ingredients and creating all images using AI and Midjourney. Ensuring consistent, high-quality visuals was crucial for the app's appeal. This project, part of an eight-month senior effort, involved extensive communication and agile development. The consistent imagery significantly enhanced the user experience, making the app feel cohesive and engaging.

The Blueprint

Start With Reference

I started with a reference image of a cosmopolitan but needed to create our own unique image to avoid potential legal issues. Using original images ensured that we had a consistent aesthetic app-wide and weren't susceptible to facing legal complications.

Theme Testing and Adjustments

At this stage, we were uncertain about incorporating both light and dark themes. I tested the design with a "light theme" prompt to explore possibilities. The result, however, did not align with our goals and required further adjustments to meet our design standards.

Prompt Testing and Observations

Prompt:
“Cosmopolitan cocktail, clean background without too much distraction, isolate the drink with a transparency channel, dark theme, garnsih with a lime”

The initial result looked promising but had some issues. The drink was correctly isolated with a lime garnish, but the background was completely blank and lacked the desired subtle details. This highlighted the need for further refinement to achieve the right balance of visual appeal and thematic alignment.

Refining the Cosmopolitan Prompt

Prompt:
“Cosmopolitan cocktail, garnish with a lime wheel, camera at an angle, bar scenery, not a busy background, drink is highlighted”

After getting these results, I conducted further research and discovered that by entering more specific settings, such as those mimicking a real-life camera setup, I could achieve more accurate and visually appealing results. This approach allowed for a better representation of the desired scene, enhancing the overall quality and realism of the image.

Achieving Consistency with Camera Settings

Prompt:
“Cosmopolitan cocktail with a lime wedge garnish viewed from above, cinematic, 35mm lens, f/1.8, accent lighting, global illumination”

This prompt provided everything needed for consistent and visually appealing images. Using specific camera settings, the results maintained a cohesive look. By selecting the bottom left photo, Midjourney could replicate similar aesthetics for all subsequent images, ensuring uniformity across the project. This method allowed me to create all the required visuals effectively.