IllustraAI: An AI-Powered Illustration Studio for Figma
Generating DALL-E 3 illustrations in bulk, directly onto the canvas, without leaving Figma.
The Problem
Refreshing our illustration design system
We needed to move away from our old illustration style. After team voting, 3D style won, but we had a problem: dozens of screens needed new illustrations, from empty states to onboarding to loan success screens.
We tried Claude
As of April 2026, it cannot generate raster images.
We tested Midjourney
Beautiful, but wildly inconsistent. Same prompt → wildly different outputs. Too artistic, not product-friendly.
Finally: DALL-E 3 via OpenAI
The most accurate: 3D outputs, material consistency, colour adherence, all top-tier. Haven't looked back since.
The Solution
A Figma plugin that generates DALL-E 3 illustrations in bulk, queues multiple prompts simultaneously, and inserts them directly onto the canvas, eliminating the download-paste dance.
Project Details
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Role
Product Designer / AI Design Lead -
Tools
Figma Plugin API, DALL-E 3 API, Async Job Queue -
Duration
5 Weeks -
Impact
Hours → minutes per feature launch
The Tedious Status Quo
5 steps, repeated 15 times per feature launch
"What if designers could queue 5 prompts, walk away, and come back to all 5 illustrations ready inside Figma?"
Goals & Success Criteria
Tab 1
Browse Library
Launch plugin → Browse tab shows previously generated illustrations as thumbnails → Click any to insert directly onto the Figma canvas. No re-generation. No re-prompting. Just place and go.
Tab 2
Generate Queue
Add up to 8 prompts at once → Hit "Generate All" → Each runs in parallel via async job queue → Results appear as thumbnails as each completes → Click any to insert.