For Instructional Designers ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll be generating custom, professional-quality illustrations for your eLearning courses — workplace scenes, abstract concept visuals, diverse character graphics, and scenario illustrations — without needing stock photos, a graphic designer, or Photoshop skills. Your courses will look more tailored to the actual learner context instead of obviously pulled from a generic image library.
What you'll need
Go to discord.com → create a free account → then go to midjourney.com → click Join the Beta → this opens a Discord invite → click Join Midjourney → Midjourney's Discord server appears in your Discord sidebar.
What you should see: The Midjourney Discord server with multiple channels in the left sidebar.
In the Midjourney server → go to any channel → type /subscribe → press Enter → click the link that appears → choose the Basic plan ($10/month) to start.
What you should see: A Midjourney subscription page. Complete checkout and return to Discord.
For privacy (so clients don't see your prompts), click the Midjourney Bot in the server's member list → click Message → this opens a direct message with the bot where only you see your work.
What you should see: A direct message chat window with Midjourney Bot.
Type /imagine → press Tab or Space → type your image description (your "prompt") → press Enter.
Example prompt for an eLearning illustration:
/imagine flat vector illustration, diverse group of three warehouse employees
in safety vests reviewing a safety checklist together, professional workplace setting,
clean white background, muted blue and grey palette, no text --ar 16:9
What you should see: Midjourney generates 4 image variations in about 60 seconds.
Review the 4 variations → click U1, U2, U3, or U4 to upscale (enlarge and enhance detail) your preferred option.
What you should see: A larger, higher-resolution version of your chosen image appears.
Click on the upscaled image to open it full size → right-click → Save image as → save to your course assets folder.
Import into Canva, Articulate Storyline, or Rise:
For workplace scenes (adapt the setting and role):
/imagine flat vector illustration, [job role description] in [specific workplace setting],
[what they're doing], professional, diverse representation, [color palette], no text --ar 16:9
For abstract concept visuals (compliance, leadership, communication):
/imagine minimal flat illustration, concept of [abstract concept],
symbolic visual metaphor, clean background, [color palette], professional, no text --ar 16:9
For consistent character across multiple slides:
/imagine character sheet, single [description] character, flat illustration style,
multiple poses (standing, sitting, pointing), white background,
consistent style, no text --ar 16:9
(Add --seed [same number] to subsequent prompts to maintain visual consistency)