Navigators AI School: We test Flair AI

Have you been thinking about trying AI but don't know where to start? Don't worry, in our AI School we explore and evaluate the industry's leading AI tools. In today's article, we're testing Flair AI, a program that lets you create product images with one click.

To make it easier for you as a marketer to navigate the AI jungle, we have developed Navigators AI School. A series of articles where we examine the industry's leading AI tools. How do they work? What should they be used for? And above all, are they worth learning?

In the past we have investigated the copy program Jasper AI and the image program Midjourney. This time it's the turn of Flair AI. A design program for creating product images.

This is Flair AI

Flair AI is a design program specifically geared towards product images. By giving the program instructions on environment, light and background, it can generate specific product images. Flair AI describes its tool as an "AI product photographer" and that's pretty accurate. In many ways, the program works like a regular photo studio, only the AI does all the work.

In this article, our copywriter Klara and our digital strategist Mattias test the program and share their thoughts. Stay tuned!

Our first impression

When we surf to flair.ai, we are greeted by a black homepage with white and lime green text. The page immediately gives us two choices; to start our creation with Flair or to watch a demo video. We choose the latter.

The video contains brief information on how the program works. A screen recorded walk-through with voiceover. Nothing flashy but the information is clear and we understand the principles. It seems hands-on and our first impression is that it seems relatively easy to learn.

Registration and start-up

We decide to start our test. We click "Create with Flair" and end up on a registration page. The registration process is simple and a minute later we are in the program. As a new user, we are automatically assigned the program's basic subscription, which allows us to generate 30 product images at no cost. If we then want to take out a subscription with an unlimited number of images, it costs about SEK 110 a month.

Test 1: Pharmaceutical packaging in forest

Once inside the program, we are greeted by a black dashboard where we are asked to create a new project. We click "Create New Project" and land on a new page where the first step is to upload an image of our product. Since we at Navigator work a lot with healthcare, we choose to upload a generic image of a drug package.

The product image is uploaded and appears in the left column under the "Assets" tab. Here we also find some sample products in the form of perfumes, scented candles and coffee mugs. If we navigate to the tab below, "Generate", we get suggestions for backgrounds that we can use for our product image. Sunny sandy beaches, snowy mountain landscapes or more abstract themes.

We choose a theme with a forest filled with ferns and press "Generate".

The result is okay, but does not quite match the template we chose earlier. The product is, as in the template, placed on a stump but the forest background is replaced by a lake and the ferns that would surround the product are replaced by reeds. The medicine bag feels rather clipped and has no direct shading around it. Not quite what we ordered, unfortunately.

Test 2: Snuff box in abstract environment

For the next test, we don't want to use the ready-made image templates but decide to create a product image directly from scratch. Under "Generate" we move on to "Editor" where we can enter our own prompt. Unlike Midjourney, where you can fart freely, here you have to stay within certain predetermined parameters. The parameters you can work with are; product, placement, surrounding and background.

This time, we choose to skip the pharmaceutical packaging and instead focus on a more commercial product. We feel that Flair AI is better at this type of image. We upload an image of a snuff box that we have photographed ourselves, and with the help of the program's various concept suggestions, we enter the following prompt:

"circle standing on circular reflective platform surrounded by dried bark with rose, in front of soft shadows"

That's great! This picture would actually fit in a campaign. The proportions of the snuff box itself are slightly skewed, but that's probably because the original photo is not very good. On the whole, the image is nice and it generally feels like the program works best when we don't give it too much information but stick to short fairly standardized prompts.

Test 3: Person on a summery beach

As a final test, we decide to challenge the program properly. Although we understand that Flair AI is primarily intended for product images, we still want to test what happens if we use an image of a person. We take a picture of Mattias and upload it to the program. The program automatically exposes the image and we are both surprised how good the exposure actually is. In addition to a piece of his arm, the program has captured Mattias' entire body.

When the picture of Mattias is uploaded in the program, we start thinking about a prompt. We want to try to create something fun so we write:

"a person standing on a beach surrounded by palm trees, in front of sunset in the background"

Oh dear, what happened here? Mattias has moved to a sandy beach, just as we wanted, but suddenly he has a bag in his hand. His shoes are very blurry and there is a blue circle around his torso. Something seems to have gone wrong, and this is where it becomes clear that Flair AI is primarily intended for products - not people.

Reputation

Flair AI is an intuitive program that is easy to understand and easy to get started with. The program has a fairly narrow focus, product images, but if that's something you work with a lot, it might be worth exploring.

The functions are quite limited and when it comes to prompts you are very much guided by the preset fields that are available. It is difficult to prompt on your own and you must always stick to the already set fields. The best way is to use the suggested keywords such as "a marble block" and "orange sunset".

In general, you should not have too high expectations of the program and let it operate a bit on its own. If you start from the templates and the suggested keywords, you will get the best results.

Benefits and advantages

• Easy to learn
• Good exposure tools
• Can create image series with similar feel
• Free (max 30 images)

Disadvantages

• Product often looks clipped in
• Specific area of use
• Dark interface
• Not very fast

Final rating

For those who want to start exploring AI and use a simple program that is free, Flair AI can be a good start. You'll get clear guidance on what to do, and by following the templates and suggested keywords, you can produce decent results.

For creating a fun social media campaign, the program can absolutely work, but for a major product launch, we would not recommend it. As a free program, Flair AI is fine, but we wouldn't choose to pay for it.

Rating: 3 out of 5