5 Best Midjourney Prompts: August 2023

Another monthly dose of modifiers to use in your Midjourney prompts.

Daniel Nest

Aug 31, 2023

It sure has been a Midjourney kind of month.

But I can’t leave you without the regular round-up of the best Midjourney prompts.

So let’s wrap August up with the last MJ-focused article, and I’ll try to dive into another topic next week.

Off we go!

Note: All sample images are generated using Midjourney Version 5.2.

Prompt #1: Faces. Faces everywhere.

This is one of the not-so-practical-but-fun prompts.

Midjourney prompt:

[subject], pareidolia

What it does:

You know how you might sometimes look at the bubbles in your Tuesday morning glass of beer and be 100% sure you see a face in there, telling you to make healthier life choices?

That’s pareidolia, the human mind’s tendency to see faces in all sorts of inanimate objects. Using it in your Midjourney prompt will end up anthropomorphizing your subject and giving it a face. Some results are way too wacky, but some can almost pass for a true instance of pareidolia.

Sample images:

Car, socket, clock pareidolia images from Midjourney — Car, socket, clock

Prompt #2: Generate clean and vibrant visuals

This is perfect for colorful illustrations or logo inspiration.

Midjourney prompt:

[subject], vector art

What it does:

Vector graphics are all about using geometric shapes to create images. The practical benefit of actual vector art is that it can scale without becoming pixelated (because pixels are not involved). You can’t expect to get this effect directly out of Midjourney, but it does kind of mimic the “vector” look.

Sample images:

Saturn, toy truck, watch vector art out of MJ — Saturn, toy truck, watch

Prompt #3: Add a new dimension to your image

This one’s great for a 3D look and feel.

Midjourney prompt:

[subject], 3D rendering

What it does:

3D rendering takes 3D models as input and turns them into a 2D image, complete with any required stylization effects. Midjourney tends to spit out Pixar-like scenes for animal prompts and computer game graphics for inanimate objects. (But it’s not a precise science.)

Sample images:

3D renderings by Midjourney of a warrior, koala, and locomotive — Warrior, koala, locomotive

Prompt #4: Sculpt things using clay

Any fans of Chicken Run or Wallace and Gromit? You can now make your own clay figures.

Midjourney prompt:

claymation [subject]

What it does:

As you might expect, claymation (aka clay animation) is when you use clay to…uh…animate stuff. It’s behind lots of stop-motion movies and series. Midjourney tends to be very good at producing clay-like figures and scenes for this prompt.

Sample images:

Claymation figures of a carousel, turtle, and violin from Midjourney — Carousel, turtle, violin

Prompt #5: Take to the streets. Virtually.

If you like a dash of street art, this one’s for you.

Midjourney prompt:

[subject], graffiti illustration

What it does:

I shouldn’t have to explain this one. You all know what graffiti is.

Using “graffiti” as a prompt modifier by itself is usually enough, but it does sometimes make subjects appear real-yet-graffiti-colored. Adding “illustration” at the end helps to reduce those types of results.

Sample images: