Designs.ai is a highly automated online suite of graphic design tools. You can use it to create logos, videos, designs, graphics, convert text to speech, and lots more. Thanks to the intuitive interface, it is particularly beginner-friendly.
PROS
- Simple and intuitive tools guide you through the whole process.
- Integrated 123RF library for smoother design creation.
- 30-day free trial.
- Works from browser
- Saves all your projects in a cloud
CONS
- Sometimes gets stuck on a task and you have to refresh it.
- Loads slowly
- More expensive than competitors
Designs.ai is a relatively new online graphic design platform that’s becoming a fierce competitor to giants such as Canva and Snappa. The one question is, is it better?
Compared to online graphic design platforms that you’re used to, Designs.ai is a vastly more comprehensive collection of tools. In addition to the Graphicmaker, there are also Logomaker, Videomaker, Designmaker, Speechmaker, Color Matcher, Font Pairer, and Social Calendar.
Granted, Designs.ai is marginally more expensive than its competitors, but if you consider the value of the entire collection, you’re saving a lot of money, which you would otherwise spend on several separate tools.
For now, Designs.ai is only available with subscriptions and not as a one-off purchase. But luckily, the team was kind enough to give all Photutorial readers a 30-day free trial for the basic plan, so you can try it risk-free.
Without further ado, let’s check my full Designs.ai review…
Designs.ai Price
With the plan choice being the main variable for what you can and cannot do in Designs.ai, let’s talk about it first.
Designs.ai is only available as a subscription plan, meaning when you stop paying, you cannot use it anymore. Or rather, your account is downgraded to a free plan. You can choose between one free plan, which gives you a taste of what the paid plan is going to look like. The free plan only gives you access to basic features, while downloads are watermarked.
There are three paid plans: Basic, Pro, and Enterprise. The pricing starts at $39/month if you pay yearly, or $49/month if you pay monthly. They differ in the number of team members, monthly images you can use from 123RF or GettyImages, and access to the branding tools.
I partnered with Designs.ai and they generously offered a 30-day free trial for all Photutorial readers. Use my promo code PHOTUTORIAL30 to claim the trial. You get it by signing up and then clicking “Do you have a voucher?”. You won’t have to pay anything.
Logomaker
Designs.ai Logomaker helps you create logos even if you have no prior experience in logo design. A simple interface will guide you through the whole process by following the breadcrumbs. You start by entering your brand name and a slogan (optional), choosing from 21 preset styles, and a colour template.
Next, you need to choose from 10,000+ icons, which will become your new logo. Using the already designed icons is a beginner-friendly approach. However, you might end up having the same logo as someone else who also used the Designs.ai Logomaker.
The AI will automatically create several propositions that are just different variations of the icons you chose, your brand name, and the colour. After you choose the logo that you like best, you can either download it and start using it, or you can edit it even further, which I recommend you do.
If you choose to edit the logo design, you enter an editor that allows you to choose all the settings you previously had to enter. Importantly, you can change the font of your logo, which is beside the colour one of the main factors when you’re creating your own brand. Unfortunately, you cannot add your own font, which is my biggest argument against the Logomaker. However, if you’re not that nitpicky, Logomaker has 1,000+ built-in fonts that you can use for free.
The editor simply requires you to click on buttons or drag sliders, and it will automatically make all the changes to your logo design. Beyond changing the colour, name, and fonts, you can choose the layout of the logo, change its size, or add containers (shapes) around it.
When you’re happy with the result, you can proceed to the final step, and that’s downloading the logo. You get a choice to either download the logo for free or pay $30 to build your entire brand around it. Choosing the free version instantly downloads a zip file containing JPG, PDF, PNG, and SVG versions of your logo, which you can immediately start using.
The premium paid version also downloads a zip file that contains a lot more. In addition to everything you get in a free version, you receive the versions of your logo tailored to the size of social media platforms, all the specifications of your logo saved in a branding kit, and the icon only.
In conclusion, I was happy with the simplicity of the Designs.ai Logomaker workflow, which lead me through all the steps. Even when I first used the tool, I immediately grasped the concept. I believe that beginners will find a lot of value in Logomaker, as it does all the work for you.
However, I have some second thoughts. If you only need to create one logo for your brand, you don’t need the entire Designs.ai subscription, but you should rather use the free trial. Furthermore, if you’re either a designer, you should create your own logos, especially icons, because your client might get unhappy if they discover you just took an icon anyone else can use.
Designmaker
Designs.ai Designmaker is all about creating social media posts, ads, cards, and quotes as easily as possible. If you’ve ever used Canva (review), you’ll quickly understand how Designmaker works as it’s quite similar.
You start by selecting a preset project, which is already optimized for a specific use, such as Instagram Ad, Facebook cover, or Story post. If you don’t find the right preset for your project, you can use custom dimensions and thus start fresh.
Once you create your project, Designmaker quickly recommends hundreds of templates that are already neatly formatted and have an optimal layout. Of course, you can tweak the template to your liking. You can easily do that by clicking on the elements (text, shapes, images) and changing the settings in the editor.
To add new elements, you use the drag-and-drop editor. This easy to use solution allows you to create sophisticated designs without any prior experience in this field or with professional software. The menu contains backgrounds, shapes, images, and mockups, as well as your brand kit, which allows you to get the most out of your branding.
Images are provided by 123RF (review), a renowned stock photo agency. With the paid plan, you get a couple of already included (free) image, as well as premium images that cost you 1 credit. Similarly to Adobe Stock’s (review) integration to Adobe Creative Cloud (review), Designmaker allows you to use 123RF images in your design before paying for them. Of course, they are watermarked until you purchase them, but you can see how they fit into your design. I liked that you can also upload your own images.
When you’re happy with your result, you click Download in the top right corner, pay for the images you used (if any), and download the design as either a JPG, PNG, or PDF.
Graphicmaker
Graphics are an important part of any visual representation. They are especially useful for illustrated PPT presentations and blogs. Graphicmaker by Designs.ai is a collection of beautifully drawn illustrations and cartoons of professions (doctor, painter), activities (cooking, advertising), various concepts (404 pages, logging out), and maps.
You can’t change the shapes or layout of any of the illustrations, but you can change colours by choosing from a small palette. When you’re happy with the result, you can download SVG or PNG files.
While the graphics are professionally drawn, I’d discourage any large worldwide brand from using them. If you can use them, it means that anyone else in the world can use them as well. On the other hand, if you’re an individual or a small business, illustrations from Graphicmaker will save you a lot of money, which you would otherwise spend on a freelance artist.
Videomaker
I’ve always hated making videos due to all the little tweaks you have to do for even just a short clip, and Videomaker makes this process slightly easier. For starters, it has fewer tools and options than a conventional video maker, such as Camtera, which I usually use.
To create a video in Designs.ai Videomaker, open the tool directly from the dashboard or go to the menu Create > Videomaker. First, Videomaker prompts you to give your project a title, type in a script, and choose an end screen message. Next, you select an industry you work in, based on which Videomaker creates a template for your video.
If you added a script in the first step, you have to choose and a language and select a voiceover. Voiceover is an artificial speech that reads your script out loud instead of you. You can choose between several both male and female speakers.
When you’re all set and done, Videomaker opens a video editor with a video template prepared. At this point, you can already download the video, or you can tweak it further. Adding images, text, transitions and audio is trivially easy with the drag-and-drop editor. I recommend you also add your company’s logo to improve your brand’s worldwide recognition.
Finally, you can download the video in several aspect ratios. I liked that you can download the video as a watermarked draft without paying for the stock content, but it’s only available with the Pro and Enterprise plans.
In summary, I think that Videomaker is an excellent tool for creating quick and simple videos. It’s comparable to Flexclip (review), but overall better due to more features and better workflow. However, in my opinion, it’s not suitable for advanced users due to a lack of effects and options.
Speechmaker
Speechmaker is a straightforward text-to-speech tool. It works by you entering some text and Speechmaker converts it to a voice.
Currently, you can choose between dozens of languages, each with at least two voiceovers – female and male. Also, the English language offers several dialects and voices, including US, UK, and Australian.
A single speech can be up to 1,000 characters long, which is not a lot. In general, 1,000 characters is around 100-300 words. Therefore, if you need longer speeches, you need to stitch several converted text-to-speeches.
Conversion works very fast, so you can use it almost immediately get it by downloading the mp3 file.
For now, artificial voices are easily distinguishable from human voices due to their robot-like accents. However, this is not just the shortcoming of the Speechmaker by Designs.ai. Recently, I reviewed a couple of text-to-speech tools and they are all still pretty bad.
FAQ
When I was reviewing Designs.ai, a couple of questions popped into my head, which is answer below.
I believe, you have the questions of your own, so feel free to ask more in the comments below.
Is Designs.ai free?
Designs.ai offers both a free trial for its paid plans and a free plan. Free trial gives you a full access to the paid plan for 30 days, while free plan lasts indefinitely but locks a lot of features.
Is Designs.ai a one-time purchase?
Being an online service, Designs.ai is only available with subscription plans starting at $39/month. The continuous payment guarantees all the most recent updates without the need to purchase them.
Is Designs.ai good for beginners?
Being focused around simplicity and intuitive use, Designs.ai is especially good for beginners as it requires no prior knowledge in design or video making. Pros will also find a lot of value Deisgns.ai, particularly if they’re looking to streamline their workflow.
Is Designs.ai legit and safe?
Designs.ai has hundreds of positive review all over the internet. In addition, their support team is quick, helpful, and always ready to lend you a hand. In my experience, Designs.ai is 100% safe and all your purchases are risk-free.
How to use Designs.ai?
First, you need to create an account. I recommend you use the free trial. From the dashboard, you can start using any tool your want. Breadcrumbs will lead you through the whole process of either logo, video, or design creation.
Designs.ai Review Conclusion
In conclusion, Designs.ai is a good alternative to Canva, Snappa, and other online graphic design platforms. Compared to those, Designs.ai is not as laser-focused only on graphic creation, but it also offers several other tools such as video maker, colour palette, font pairer, and social calendar.
Therefore, if you need all of these tools, Designs.ai is without a doubt the cheapest and the most useful solution for you. But if you only need one or two tools from the collection of Designs.ai, I recommend cheaper options, such as Canva.
About your guide
Matic Broz is a multifaceted creative professional, with experience as a photographer, graphic designer, and business owner. He has a decade of experience in helping other creatives improve their craft and start their own businesses. His writing and research have been featured in notable publications such as The Guardian, PetaPixel, and USA Today. Additionally, his scientific research has been recognized with a cover feature in the prestigious MDPI-owned journal. In his leisure time, he enjoys photography, hiking, and spending time with dogs. Read more
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