Being a design student abroad means constantly juggling assignments, presentations, emails, and group work. I quickly realized that working smarter—not harder—was key to staying creative without burning out. That’s when AI tools became my everyday support system.

Here’s a personal list of the AI and productivity tools I used throughout college—each one beginner-friendly, mostly free, and super helpful for design students like me.

Everyday Assistants: ChatGPT & Gemini

I used ChatGPT and Gemini nearly every day—for brainstorming, organising ideas, summarising articles, or just asking questions I didn’t want to Google endlessly.

They were beneficial during presentation planning or when I needed quick clarity on UX concepts.

Tip: Use AI to support your creativity, not replace it. Think of it as your thought partner.

Presentation Creators: Canva, Prezi, SlidesAI

Canva: My go-to for clean, aesthetic presentation designs. The free templates, fonts, and drag-and-drop interface made everything look professional, even when I was rushing.

Prezi: Perfect for storytelling-style, dynamic presentations. It helped me stand out in class with movement-based slide transitions.

SlidesAI.io: A smart tool that can generate slides from your notes or outlines. Super useful when I had the content ready but no time to design.

Reminder: Always credit your image sources in presentations—it’s professional and respectful.

Polished Writing: Grammarly

Grammarly wasn’t just for grammar—it helped me write clearer emails, fix tone, and format academic reports better.

Especially helpful when English isn’t your first language (like me).

Image & Design Enhancers

Remove.bg: One-click background remover. Great for portfolio thumbnails, presentation visuals, or LinkedIn headers.

Smartmockups / Magic Mockups: Used these to place my UI screens inside realistic phone or laptop frames.

Leonardo AI: For generating creative images, concept art, or unique blog visuals.

These tools added a spark of originality to my projects and saved hours on sourcing images.

Group Work & Note Taking: Miro + Trello

Miro: My team used this online whiteboard for brainstorming, user journey mapping, and collaborative mood boarding. It is a great visual tool for remote design teamwork.

Trello: A clean and simple way to organise project tasks, write down ideas, or build timelines. I also used it solo to manage my thesis work.

Are These Tools Free & Beginner-Friendly?

Final Thoughts

AI didn’t just make me faster—it made me more confident in how I presented my ideas, wrote my reports, and collaborated on projects.

To any student reading this: Start with one tool. Explore. Experiment. Grow. These tools won’t just help you pass—they’ll help you shine.