NICOLA GINZLER

Senior Graphic Designer
Search
Close this search box.

AI generated images of 9 Phyla in Kingdom Animalia

Type of Work: , ,
Type of Client: ,

This artwork is from some recent exploration of AI image generation.

I used Midjourney software (https://www.midjourney.com/app/) on their Discord server, with a Mac desktop computer.

I created the images for sticker designs to possibly be distributed to all Burning Man 2023 attendees. The theme this year is “Animalia” and for this project I decided to take it literally! I used prompts such as taxonomy, phylum, phyla, animalia, the Latin name of an organism, the English name of an organism, brightly colored, white background, soft light, white light, other prompts relating to the source and quality of the light and shadow, and many more. Each iteration of prompts gave me four images, any one of which I could then accept or make variations on, or else reject all and start over. This helped both refine my vision and give me new ideas. I find that the process is very similar to thinking up useful prompts to winnow down images on a stock images website to a small number of possibilities.

These images represent the 9 Phyla, in the taxonomy of living things, in the Kingdom Animalia:

AI-generated image of a brightly colored, roughly spherically shaped sea sponge on a white background. Bottom of sphere is roughly textured blue, changing to roughly textured green higher up. Top half of sphere is purple, shading through red to orange, with strong protrusions ending in truncated yellow circles.

This image represents Porifera, including sea sponges.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored jellyfish on a white background. Top of jellyfish is transparent blue with yellow underneath; tentacles are yellow shading down to red and then blue.

This image represents Cnidaria, including jellyfish, coral and others.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored flatworm on a white background. Long shape, ruffled on sides, is bright yellow-orange shading to white further out, with red edge. Blue-white dots appear to float over the body.

This image represents Platyhelminthes, or flatworms.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored roundworm on a white background. Long, smooth shape coiled neatly, with outermost end sticking out. Coil is olive green at the edges, shading to white, pink, purple, turquoise and green, moving towards the center.

This image represents Nematoda, or roundworms.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored segmented worm on a white background. Worm is coiled sideways around itself; its segments, moving around the coil, are red, orange, green, turquoise blue and purple. Spikes or feet protrude from each side, orange on one side and magenta on the other. Worm has orange segmented horns and black eyes.

This image represents Annelida, or segmented worms.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored snail on a white background. Snail shell spirals from turquoise to red to yellow, with contrasting bumps along the coil. The snail’s body is yellow orange, shading to pure yellow at the edges. Protruding horns are yellow with brown tips.

This image represents Mollusca, or mollusks.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored starfish on a white background. Starfish color shades radially from orange at the center to red, purple, blue to turquoise. Shallow bumps in contrasting colors radiate along the arms.

This image represents Echinodermata, including starfish, sea urchins and others.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored iridescent beetle sits on a white background and is reflected in the white ground surface. Wing cases are shiny yellow-orange shading to blue. Back of head is blue, shading to teal on the sides. Head is teal on top, shading to green on the sides. Antennae are segmented and black. There are too many legs, due to a glitch in the AI generating software: 5 on one side and 2 at the front.

This image represents Arthropoda, including insects, spiders and others. Note that there are too many legs on the insect, a common glitch in AI image generation processes, although the software is getting better.

AI-generated image of a brightly colored red fox against a white background. Fox is in profile, facing left, and has red-orange fur, shading to white around the jaws and ears. Brilliant blue-green feathers are interspersed with orange down on the fox’s neck and back.

This image represents Chordata, home of humans (and imaginary fox-birds).

Chordates are divided into three subphyla: Craniata or Vertebrata (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals); Tunicata or Urochordata (sea squirts, salps); and Cephalochordata (which includes lancelets). All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages, five synapomorphies, or primary physical characteristics, that distinguish them from all the other taxa: a notochord, dorsal hollow nerve cord, endostyle or thyroid, pharyngeal slits, and a post-anal tail. 

Wikipedia, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chordate
A square sticker with a white background: on it, arranged in a grid, are brightly colored AI generated images for the 9 phyla of the Animal Kingdom. L to R and top to bottom: sponges; jellyfish and coral;"3 kindsa worms, representing flatworms, roundworms and segmented worms; mollusks, "starfish + Lots more"; insects "+ lots more"; and "mammals and lots more."

I sent a number of submissions to the sticker design call for entries at the Burning Man organization. Above is a design, enlarged, using the phyla images. The sticker size is 3″ x 3″ so the design is probably too complex. It would appear more like this:

A square sticker with a white background: on it, arranged in a grid, are brightly colored AI generated images for the 9 phyla of the Animal Kingdom. L to R and top to bottom: sponges; jellyfish and coral;"3 kindsa worms, representing flatworms, roundworms and segmented worms; mollusks, "starfish + Lots more"; insects "+ lots more"; and "mammals and lots more."
The owner of this website has made a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, please report any problems that you encounter using the contact form on this website. This site uses the WP ADA Compliance Check plugin to enhance accessibility.