Maria Zhukova

Recraft

An AI image generation tool whose model topped the benchmarks. I made sure people heard about it, found it through search, and kept coming back.

Role
Head of Copywriting
Duration
09/2024 – 05/2025
Category
AI design tools, US / UK
Scope of work
Launch PR
Homepage rewrite
SEO & blog
Case study program
Lifecycle email
Tone of voice

Launch & PR

How a codename became a headline

An anonymous model called red_panda jumped to #1 on the Artificial Analysis leaderboard. Two days later we revealed it was Recraft V3. I wrote the announcement.

Anonymous #1 on benchmark Press release Tech media coverage Official model description
my headline recraft.ai/blog · October 30, 2024

Recraft introduces a revolutionary AI model that thinks in design language

Recraft V3: #1 on the Text-to-Image leaderboard with an ELO of 1172, text of any size and length inside images, and precise control over where text and elements sit.

Read the release

8.5M+

runs of Recraft V3 on Replicate, where the model page still opens with the first lines of my release. See it on Replicate

Search & email

Organic growth in the first seven months

I built the blog and SEO pages with my team and ran onboarding and promo emails, tuning copy for each user segment.

250+blog and SEO pages, built with my team
~614Korganic clicks
12.2Msearch impressions
~5%click-through rate
70.65%best email open rate
2.04%best click rate
~1–2%unsubscribe rate

Search figures cover my first 7 months at Recraft.

Lifecycle email

Onboarding, one feature at a time

The series walks a new user through the product feature by feature, from the welcome to the upgrade. Promo, feature and digest emails sit alongside it. The open and click rates are in the numbers above.

WelcomeUpscalerIterateScalable vector imagesRemove backgroundStylesAdjust level of detailMockupizePlay with colorsBecome Pro
The onboarding series, laid out in Figma.
The onboarding series, laid out in Figma.

Email library

The emails that sit alongside the series

Open any email to read it in full, or open them all at once.

A promo email: the Black Friday offer.
The Black Friday offerA promo email
A feature email: inpainting and outpainting.
Inpainting and outpaintingA feature email
The monthly digest: “What’s New”, August recap.
“What’s New”, August recapThe monthly digest

Case studies

Customers as the protagonists

I came up with the case study program and launched it: designers and teams telling, in their own words, how they work with Recraft. Artists, art directors, a design studio, a game studio, an AI startup, a brand team.

Recraft case studies: Jenia Filatova, Mindset Design Studio, Christophe Nutoni, Playgama, Duos AI, Viggle AI, Craft, Chatfuel
Recraft blog, January–March 2025
70%

higher retention reported by Duos AI after using Recraft to make job interviews interactive.
See all case studies

Announcements

New models, styles and features, announced

Blog posts that tell users what is new in the product, each with its own cover.

Announcement posts on the Recraft blog, with their cover visuals.
Announcement posts on the Recraft blog, with their cover visuals.

Tone of voice

The Jester, built for professionals

Recraft’s tone of voice and positioning doc was written under the founder’s guidance, and I worked on it alongside her: brand versus product messaging, audience, archetype, and rules for each channel.

This is an internal document, so I am not sharing it.

Product copy

Words inside the product

Screens from the Recraft editor and onboarding, grouped by what the user is doing at that moment.

01Learning the product

Onboarding, tips, empty states and announcements.

Onboarding: “How do you plan to use Recraft?”
Onboarding: “How do you plan to use Recraft?”
A template in the editor: “Generate posters with text”, in five steps.
A template in the editor: “Generate posters with text”, in five steps.
A tip while you work: cropping an image.
A tip while you work: cropping an image.
A tip while you work: editing the colors of a vector image.
A tip while you work: editing the colors of a vector image.
The editor with the “Earn while you learn” panel.
The editor with the “Earn while you learn” panel.
An empty state: “No Workspace Yet? Let’s Set One Up!”
An empty state: “No Workspace Yet? Let’s Set One Up!”
A new-features announcement inside the product.
A new-features announcement inside the product.

02Deciding to pay

The upgrade screen, the confirmation and the team workspace.

The upgrade screen: “Generate images that are not public in community gallery”.
The upgrade screen: “Generate images that are not public in community gallery”.
After paying: “Hurray! You are now a subscriber!”
After paying: “Hurray! You are now a subscriber!”
Setting up a team workspace.
Setting up a team workspace.

03Bringing others

The referral page.

Referral: “Invite friends. Get credits.” The personal invite link is hidden.
Referral: “Invite friends. Get credits.” The personal invite link is hidden.

04Service messages

Legal and account notices.

A service message: updated Terms of Service.
A service message: updated Terms of Service.

Website

A homepage that says what the product does

When I joined Recraft I rewrote the homepage. These are the banners and slogans for its blocks.

Teams: “Canvas: where teams collab”.
Teams: “Canvas: where teams collab”.
Collaboration: comments and cursors on the canvas.
Collaboration: comments and cursors on the canvas.
Branding: “Branding made easy”.
Branding: “Branding made easy”.
Craft: “Serious work, fun creative process”.
Craft: “Serious work, fun creative process”.