LayoutCraft vs Nano Banana (2026): Specialist vs Generalist AI Design

Nano Banana is impressive. Powered by Google's Gemini models, it generates stunning images across every style imaginable — photorealistic portraits, abstract art, product mockups, you name it. For general-purpose AI image generation, it's one of the best tools available in 2026.

But there's a difference between generating images and generating marketing designs. And that difference is costing marketers hours every week.

The Core Problem: Images ≠ Designs

AI image generators — Nano Banana, Midjourney, DALL-E — share a fundamental approach: they generate pixels. Every output is a flat raster image. Text, graphics, backgrounds, and layout are all baked into one inseparable layer.

This matters because marketing designs aren't just images. They have structure:

• Headlines that need to be readable at a glance
• Body text that needs to be legible at small sizes
• Visual hierarchy that guides the eye from headline to CTA
• Consistent branding across multiple formats and campaigns
• Multiple dimensions for different platforms — all from one concept

When your design is a flat image, changing any single element means regenerating the entire thing. Need to fix a typo in the headline? New image. Want it in a different size? New image. Want the same design but in Story format instead of square? New image — and good luck making it look consistent.

Nano Banana's Fatal Flaw: The Generalist Trap

Nano Banana excels at being a generalist. Ask it to create a cyberpunk cityscape, a watercolor landscape, or a product photo on a marble countertop — it delivers. Its creative range is genuinely best-in-class.

But ask it to create a "blog header for a SaaS product launch with the headline 'Ship Faster' and a subheading about the new pricing tier" and you hit the wall:

• Text rendering is unreliable. Generalist models treat text as visual elements, not semantic content. "Ship Faster" might come out as "Shp Fastr" or render beautifully but in an unreadable decorative font baked into the image.
• No layout intelligence. The AI doesn't understand that a blog header needs a specific visual hierarchy. It generates an aesthetically pleasing image that may or may not work as a functional marketing asset.
• One size at a time. Need that blog header (1200×630), plus an Instagram post (1080×1080), plus a Story (1080×1920)? That's three separate prompts, three separate generation sessions, and zero guarantee of visual consistency.
• No refinement workflow. Generated a design that's 90% right but the color palette is wrong? You're re-rolling the entire thing. There's no "keep the layout, change the colors" option.

The generalist approach gives you maximum creative flexibility at the cost of marketing utility. It's like hiring a brilliant painter to design your business cards — technically capable, but not what the job requires.

The LayoutCraft Difference: Built for Marketing

LayoutCraft is a specialist. It doesn't try to generate photorealistic art or abstract paintings. It generates structured, layout-aware marketing designs with one specific goal: producing professional campaign assets that are ready to use.

Structured layouts, not pixel blobs

When LayoutCraft generates a design, it understands the structure: where the headline goes, where the subheading sits, how the CTA should be emphasized, and how the visual elements support (not compete with) the text. The result isn't a flat image that happens to have text on it — it's a deliberate marketing layout.

Multi-format from one prompt

Describe your campaign once. LayoutCraft generates every platform format simultaneously — blog header, social square, Story, Twitter post, YouTube thumbnail — all visually consistent, all correctly dimensioned. One prompt, five formats, 60 seconds. (See our complete format guide for all supported sizes.)

Refine instead of re-roll

With LayoutCraft Pro, you can refine generated designs without starting from scratch. "Make the background darker" or "try a bolder headline" — the structure is preserved, only the requested changes apply. No more losing a great layout because you wanted a different color scheme.

Brand Kit integration

Upload your brand colors and fonts. Every generation automatically respects your brand guidelines. This is something generalist image generators fundamentally can't do — they have no concept of "your brand."

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

When to Use Which

Choose Nano Banana if:

• You need photorealistic or artistic images — product scenes, concept art, creative photography
• You're generating hero images without text for websites or articles
• You want maximum creative flexibility and don't mind iterating on output
• You're exploring visual ideas or creating mood boards
• You need AI-generated images for non-marketing purposes

Choose LayoutCraft if:

• You need marketing campaign assets — social posts, banners, headers, ads
• You need readable text in your designs (headlines, CTAs, pricing)
• You run campaigns across multiple platforms and need consistent formats
• You want to refine designs iteratively without starting over
• You need brand consistency enforced automatically

Be honest: LayoutCraft's limitations

LayoutCraft intentionally trades creative breadth for marketing depth:

• Not a general-purpose image generator. You can't generate photorealistic scenes, abstract art, or creative photography. That's by design — LayoutCraft specializes in structured marketing layouts.
• Less artistic flexibility. Nano Banana can mimic any artistic style. LayoutCraft offers curated style presets (Minimal, Bold Geometric, Neon/Tech, Vibrant) optimized for marketing effectiveness, not artistic expression.
• No standalone image generation. LayoutCraft generates complete marketing assets. If you just need "a cool picture of a robot," use Nano Banana.

Think of it this way: Nano Banana is a brilliant generalist photographer. LayoutCraft is your in-house marketing design team. Different jobs, different tools.

The Workflow Test

Here's a practical scenario. You're launching a feature and need campaign assets for your blog, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube:

The Bottom Line

Nano Banana is arguably the best generalist AI image generator available. If you need creative images, it's a fantastic choice.

But "creative images" and "marketing designs" are different things. Marketing designs need structure, consistent text, multiple formats, brand compliance, and the ability to iterate without starting over. That's the specific problem LayoutCraft was built to solve.

The smartest workflow? Use both. Nano Banana for creative imagery and visual exploration. LayoutCraft for campaign assets that need to ship yesterday.