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Which AI tool should I use for design and marketing assets?

Design and marketing asset generation splits into two different problems: assets with text in them (logos, posters, social graphics, ad creative with copy) and assets without text (hero images, product shots, background illustrations, lifestyle imagery). These require different tools because text rendering in AI-generated images has been a consistent failure mode across almost every platform — except Ideogram, which is specifically trained for it.

The other split is between one-off generation and pipeline-scale production. A designer creating occasional concept images has different needs than a marketing team generating hundreds of ad variants per week. API access, batch generation, custom model training, and token economics matter at scale in ways they don't for occasional use.

Quick answer

You need images with readable text — logos, posters, social graphics with headlines, ad creative with copy→ Ideogram — purpose-built for text rendering in images; API from ; batch generation via CSV on Pro

You need a visual asset pipeline with consistent style across many outputs — game assets, product images, brand illustrations→ Leonardo AI — LoRA custom model training, ControlNet for structural precision, API from Artisan

You need photorealistic creative images or concept art for presentations, advertising, or editorial use→ Midjourney — highest artistic output ceiling; no API on standard plans; images public by default on Basic/Standard

You're exploring AI image generation for design and want to test before committing→ Ideogram free tier or Leonardo free tier — both with free tiers and private generation on paid plans on paid plans from $7–

When it matters

The tool that produces the most impressive images in a side-by-side comparison is not necessarily the tool that fits a design production workflow. Workflow fit — API access, batch generation, private generation, text accuracy, and custom model training — determines production value more than raw image quality on one-off generations.

Text in images

Ideogram is the only platform specifically trained for text rendering accuracy — logos, poster titles, ad headlines, social graphics with readable copy
Midjourney, Leonardo, and NightCafe treat text rendering as a secondary capability — letters frequently distort, words misspell, complex layouts fail
For design assets where any text appears in the image, Ideogram should be the default before testing alternatives
Ideogram text rendering is strongest on English; Spanish, French, German, and Japanese have documented limitations; complex or long text strings still occasionally glitch

Brand consistency across a project

Leonardo's LoRA custom model training is the key capability for brand consistency — train a model on your visual style and generate consistent assets at volume
Midjourney's Style Reference (--sref) extracts color palette and atmosphere from a reference image but doesn't produce pixel-identical consistency; suitable for directional consistency, not mechanical uniformity
Ideogram's color palette control on paid plans allows constrained color output but doesn't support custom model training
NightCafe doesn't support custom model training — each generation is independent

API and pipeline access

Leonardo: API from Artisan $30/month — most accessible API entry point in the category
Ideogram: API from Plus $15/month — lowest API entry point; batch generation via CSV (500 prompts) on Pro $42/month
Midjourney: API restricted to Enterprise only — no programmatic access on standard plans
NightCafe: no documented public API

When it fails

AI image tools fail at design-specific tasks in ways that matter differently than they matter for creative or artistic use.

Brand system compliance — AI tools generate individual assets, not brand systems. Ensuring consistency across primary logo, variations, icon versions, color-on-dark and color-on-light treatments requires significant manual work regardless of the generation tool.
Legal and trademark clearance — AI tools don't check whether generated imagery resembles existing trademarks or copyrighted designs. For commercial logos and brand marks, trademark search is a legal necessity that AI can't automate.
Print production files — AI tools generate raster images (pixels). Print production for large formats requires vector files (SVG, EPS, AI). AI output requires human conversion to vector before production at scale.
Character and product consistency across campaign — AI generates frames independently. Maintaining a recognizable product, person, or mascot across many images requires either LoRA training (Leonardo) or significant prompt and reference engineering, with documented variation even then.
Copyright clarity on generated output — purely AI-generated images lack human authorship for copyright purposes per US Copyright Office guidance. Commercial use is permitted; copyright protection of the raw output is not established. This matters for marks and logos.

How providers fit

Ideogram fits if any design asset requires readable text within the image — social graphics, poster headlines, ad creative with copy, logo explorations. The Basic plan at $7/month gives private generation and commercial rights; the Plus plan at $15/month adds API access; the Pro plan at $42/month adds batch generation via CSV for volume production. No custom model training is available.

Leonardo AI fits if you're building a visual asset pipeline that needs consistent style across many outputs. LoRA custom model training — 1 slot on Apprentice, 5 on Artisan, 20 on Maestro — lets you fine-tune a model on your specific visual style. ControlNet (OpenPose, Canny, depth map) adds structural precision for compositions that need architectural accuracy. API access from Artisan $30/month supports integration into production workflows.

Midjourney fits if image quality and artistic range are the primary criteria and pipeline access is not a requirement. Concept art, photorealistic hero images, editorial illustrations, and advertising creative all benefit from Midjourney's output ceiling. The hard constraints: no API on standard plans, images publicly visible by default on Basic and Standard tiers, no text rendering reliability.

The practical design stack

Text in image → Ideogram. Brand-consistent assets at volume → Leonardo with LoRA. One-off high-quality concept images → Midjourney. These three tools cover different parts of the design use case and are not interchangeable for the tasks they're optimized for.

AI image generation — full overview→AI for text in images — logos, posters, and graphics with readable type→AI for logos and brand assets→AI for character and visual consistency across a project→