2024 AI Side Hustles: Pumping Up Your Product Design Game

Leverage AI to Generate Design Ideas

You're a product designer looking to spice up your portfolio and earn some side money in 2024. The rise of AI is opening up new opportunities to leverage your skills in creative ways. Forget the old freelancing grind - it's time to get innovative with AI side hustles tailored to product designers like you. We've got the inside scoop on the top five AI gigs gaining traction that you can jump on right now to start pumping up your product design game and income. From creating digital assets to training AIs, these hustles let you showcase your talents in exciting new territories. Read on to discover how to capitalize on red-hot AI trends and take your product design career to the next level with smart side hustles. The future is here - let's help you grab it.

Offer AI-Powered Logo Design Services

Generate color palette ideas

AI tools can analyze millions of color palettes to suggest complementary color schemes for your product designs. Plug in your brand colors or an image of your product, and the AI will provide a selection of on-trend palettes to spark new ideas.

Get alternative layout designs

Need a fresh take on your product's layout or user experience flow? AI design tools can generate hundreds of unique layout options based on your existing designs. Pick and choose elements from different options to create something totally new.

Find trending icon and image options

Staying on top of the latest design trends means constantly searching for stylish icons, illustrations, photos, and other visuals. But AI can do that search for you. Just describe the type of image you need, and the AI will provide a curated collection of options in the latest styles.

Generate product mockups

Creating realistic product mockups takes time and skill. With AI, you can generate professional mockups in minutes. Just upload your product designs or photos, and the AI will transform them into mockups on t-shirts, business cards, app interfaces or whatever product you specify. Review the options and pick your favorites!

AI will never replace human designers, but it can boost your productivity and creativity in amazing ways. The key is finding AI tools that fit your unique design process and style. With some experimentation, AI could become your new secret weapon for pumping up your product design game. The future is here, so start leveraging AI today!

Create Custom 3D Models With AI

If you have a knack for creating eye-catching logos, put your skills to work and offer logo design services powered by AI tools. AI-based design software can help generate unique logo concepts that you then refine and customize for your clients.

Promote your services on freelance websites like Upwork and Fiverr. Many small businesses struggle with logo design, so you'll likely get plenty of interest. When a new client contacts you, schedule a video call to discuss their business and brand vision. Come prepared with some initial logo ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

Use AI tools like LogoJoy or Looka to generate a variety of logo options based on the client's input. Then review the options and tweak or combine them to create customized logo concepts aligned with the brand identity. Present 3-5 of your best options to the client for feedback. Be open to revising the logos based on their input.

Once you land on a design the client loves, provide the logo in multiple file formats (PNG, JPG, and vector) so they can use it on their website, business cards, and marketing materials. You should also offer "brand board" services where you generate complementary visuals like color palettes, fonts, and more to help them define their brand style guide.

Helping companies establish a strong brand identity through logo design and brand strategy consulting is a valuable service. While AI tools speed up parts of the process, your creative eye and ability to understand clients' needs are what will set you apart. With the right approach, this side hustle could turn into a thriving full-time business. The future is bright for designers who embrace AI as a creativity booster rather than a threat.

Generate Product Renderings and Mockups

AI Image Upscaling

A great side hustle for product designers is using AI image upscaling to create high-resolution 3D models from low-res images. AI models like ESRGAN can take a low-quality image and upscale it by up to 4x the resolution. This means you can find free 3D model images online, upscale them, and sell the high-res versions. People will pay good money for print-ready 3D models they can use for renders, VR experiences, and more.

3D Model Enhancement

Once you have a high-res 3D model, you can use AI to enhance and modify it. Tools like 3D-CODE can add realistic textures, materials, lighting, and details to make the model ultra-realistic. They can also modify models by adding or removing parts, changing poses, and adjusting proportions. Enhanced 3D models are in high demand and can be sold for a premium.

Create 3D Models From Scratch

If you want to get really advanced, you can use AI generative models to create 3D models from scratch. Models like CLIP-Guided Diffusion and StyleGAN-3D can generate 3D models after being trained on datasets of 3D objects. You give the AI model a text description of the object you want, and it will generate a 3D model to match. The results aren’t always perfect, but with some refinement, you can get high-quality models to sell.

The world of 3D modeling and design is evolving thanks to AI. As a product designer, you’re in a prime position to take advantage of these new AI techniques. Whether you want to dabble in it as a side hustle or make it your main focus, AI-powered 3D modeling offers a lot of opportunities. With some practice, you’ll be creating and selling amazing 3D designs in no time. The future is now.

Automate Image Editing Tasks

As a product designer, one of the most useful side hustles is generating 3D product renderings and mockups for clients. Designers with 3D modeling and rendering skills are in high demand. You can leverage your design talents to create realistic product visuals for brands, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs.

Build a Portfolio of 3D Design Work

The first step is to build up a portfolio of 3D design projects to showcase your skills. Pick some products you’re interested in and create fully rendered 3D models. Include details like materials, lighting, and backgrounds to make the renderings as realistic as possible. Post your designs on platforms like Behance, Dribbble or your own website to start attracting potential clients.

Offer Your Services on Freelance Websites

Once you’ve built up a solid portfolio, offer your 3D design services on websites like Upwork, Fiverr, or 99Designs. You can provide product rendering and mockup design for things like electronics, furniture, packaging, and more. Charge between $50 to $200 per rendering based on the complexity. As you gain more experience, you can increase your rates.

Reach Out to Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs

Don’t wait for clients to come to you. Reach out directly to product manufacturers, designers, and entrepreneurs who might need 3D renderings and mockups. Explain your services and share examples of your work. Many new products start as a vision, and 3D models are extremely useful for gaining investor support, crowdfunding campaigns, marketing materials, and more. If you can help turn their ideas into visual reality, you’ll find lots of interested potential clients.

With time and practice, 3D rendering and mockup design can become a lucrative side hustle for product designers. The key is developing a stunning portfolio, finding clients, and providing the highest quality 3D visuals to meet their needs. Before you know it, you’ll have more work than you can handle!

Design Chatbots for Clients

As a product designer, you likely spend a good amount of time editing images - resizing them, cropping them, adjusting colors, etc. These tasks can eat up hours in your week and reduce the time you have for more creative work. Luckily, AI has come to the rescue with tools that can handle many of these routine image editing jobs for you.

Resize and Crop

AI-based tools like Landscape can resize and crop images in bulk. Just upload your images, enter the dimensions you want, and Landscape will resize and crop them all to the exact same size so they’re ready to use in your designs. This can save you tons of time resizing iconography, product photos, and more.

Color Correction

If you have a batch of product photos that need color correcting to match, an AI tool can help. For example, Luminar uses AI to analyze your images and make color corrections to create a consistent look and feel across photos. You can adjust things like white balance, contrast, and saturation with just a few clicks. The AI handles the adjustments to each individual photo.

Remove Backgrounds

Removing photo backgrounds manually is extremely time-consuming. But with AI-powered tools like remove.bg, you can erase backgrounds from images in seconds. Just upload your image, and the AI will detect the main subject and remove the background. The results are surprisingly accurate and can save you 30-60 minutes of work per image. You can then drop your subject onto any new background with ease.

Enhance and Sharpen

For quick image enhancements, sharpening and noise reduction, AI services like Anthropic Photo Enhancer can help. Their AI looks at your photo and makes subtle enhancements to improve sharpness, clarity, and quality. The changes are designed to look natural while still significantly improving the image. They offer free trials so you can see how much time their AI could save you.

By leveraging AI for these routine image editing tasks, you can focus your time on the more creative parts of product design. The AI handles the tedious parts of photo editing at lightning speed while you craft beautiful designs. It’s a match made in heaven!

Offer Voice UI Design Services

As an AI product designer, one lucrative side hustle is designing chatbots for clients. Chatbots are software programs that can have conversations with people via messaging apps, websites, and voice assistants. They are a fast-growing area of AI, and many businesses want to implement chatbots to improve customer service, marketing, and sales.

Learn the basics.

To get started, learn the fundamentals of chatbot design. The two most popular platforms are Dialogflow by Google and Watson Assistant by IBM. Both offer free tiers to build and test chatbots. Study examples of chatbots from companies like Anthropic, Anthropic, and Spotify to see what works well.

Find your niche.

Think about the types of clients and chatbots you want to focus on. For example, you might specialize in chatbots for ecommerce companies, travel brands, or healthcare organizations. Build a few sample chatbots in your target niche to showcase your skills. As you get more experience, you can expand into other areas.

Set your rates and promote your services.

Charge between $50 to $150 per hour for chatbot design, depending on your experience. Promote your services through your website, social media, freelancing platforms like Upwork, and your professional network. Offer a free initial consultation to discuss the client’s needs and propose a custom solution. Be prepared to provide samples, references, and a solid portfolio of your work.

Keep learning.

The field of chatbots and AI is constantly evolving. Stay up-to-date with the latest chatbot platforms, tools, design techniques, and examples. Continuously improve your skills through online courses and resources. Practice building a variety of chatbots for both real and sample clients. Over time, you’ll gain valuable experience to become an expert chatbot designer.

With hard work and persistence, designing chatbots can become a lucrative and rewarding side hustle. The key is to start learning, find your niche, set competitive rates, and keep honing your craft through continuous practice. Before you know it, you'll have a growing roster of chatbot clients and projects.

Create Interactive VR/AR Experiences

Voice user interfaces (VUIs) are all the rage these days. Smart speakers and voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant have introduced millions of people to the power and convenience of voice commands. As a product designer, you have skills that are directly transferable to voice UI design. VUI design is an up-and-coming field with lots of opportunities for side work and freelance gigs.

Learn the basics of conversational design

The core principles of VUI design center around creating an engaging conversational flow. Study how people naturally speak and interact. Learn strategies for overcoming common issues like incorrect or ambiguous requests. Familiarize yourself with best practices for voice menu prompts, error handling, and contextual awareness.

Focus on the user experience

A good VUI should be simple, intuitive, and pleasurable to use. Put yourself in the user’s shoes to determine how they might interact with the system and where they could run into problems. Sketch out user flows and storyboards to map out key paths through the voice interface. Get feedback from actual users through testing to identify any pain points. Your goal is to craft an experience that feels seamless and delights the customer.

Keep expanding your knowledge

The world of voice technology is rapidly changing. Stay on the cutting edge by regularly researching advancements in speech recognition, natural language processing, and voice design. Take free or low-cost courses on Udemy, Coursera, and Udacity. Follow thought leaders and news sites focused on voice and AI. Over time, you’ll build up expertise that will make you an attractive hire for voice UI design projects.

With the right skills and persistence, offering voice UI design services could be a lucrative and rewarding side hustle. Brush up on the fundamentals, focus on delivering amazing user experiences, and keep learning—the voice field needs talented designers to help shape the future of this fast-growing technology. Before you know it, you’ll be designing voice interfaces for some of the biggest tech companies around.

FAQ: How Can AI Help My Product Design Business?

As a product designer, you likely have experience creating engaging user experiences and interfaces. Why not leverage your skills to build interactive virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences? With the growing popularity of VR/AR devices like the Oculus Quest, Vive Cosmos and HoloLens, companies are looking for designers who can craft immersive experiences for their customers.

You could create product demos, training simulations, or even full games and interactive stories. Some options to explore include:

-VR product demos: Give customers a chance to virtually experience and interact with a product before buying. This could be anything from a new gadget to a house.

-Educational experiences: Design interactive lessons, training modules or simulations for skills development. Things like public speaking practice, empathy building, or job interview prep.

-Gaming and entertainment: Unleash your creativity to build fun, engaging games, interactive stories or virtual adventures. The possibilities here are endless.

To get started, you'll need to learn skills like 3D modeling, animation and coding for VR/AR. Many of the tools are free or low-cost, like Unity, Unreal Engine, and Blender. You can then deploy your experiences to headsets or even mobile AR.

This type of work allows you to push the boundaries of design and really reimagine how people can interact with virtual and augmented environments. While competition in this space is growing, demand for high-quality, custom experiences remains strong. If you have a knack for innovative, user-centric design, building VR and AR experiences could be an exciting and lucrative side hustle. Why not give it a shot? The future is calling.