The AI is most powerful when you give it specific, intentional directions. Here's how professionals think — and how to translate that into prompts that get exceptional results.
The Golden Rule
Be specific about one thing at a time. Broad instructions like "make it better" produce safe, average results. Precise instructions like "change the primary colour to #1A3A2A and remove all rounded edges" produce intentional, distinctive ones.
Name specific hues
"Change the primary colour to deep forest green (#1A3A2A) — keep everything else."
Use mood descriptors
"Make the palette feel cooler and more clinical — think surgical steel, white linen, pale arctic blue."
Reference known aesthetics
"Shift the colours toward a Parisian apothecary — dusty rose, aged cream, verdigris."
Set contrast intention
"High contrast dark background with a single gold accent. Everything else secondary should recede."
Specify tracking and weight
"Give the logo widely-tracked, all-caps thin letterforms — very architectural and spacious."
Describe letter personality
"The brand name should feel like it was carved into stone — geometric, structural, no flourishes."
Reference real typographic styles
"Inspired by 1930s Art Deco poster typography — strong verticals, decorative serifs, gold on black."
Handmade vs engineered
"More hand-lettered and organic — like it was written with a brush, imperfect but intentional."
Control the symbol vs wordmark balance
"The logo should be a wordmark only — no icon or emblem. The name itself is the identity."
Describe negative space usage
"Use negative space cleverly — the icon should have a hidden element that rewards closer looking."
Specify orientation
"Horizontal layout only — icon to the left of the text, vertically centred."
Frame and canvas fill
"Logo should fill 90% of the canvas with consistent 5% padding on all sides. No floating in a sea of white."
Stack two contrasting references
"Dark academia meets Japanese minimalism — aged textures, quiet luxury, earthy tones."
Name a decade or design movement
"Late 90s Tokyo streetwear — clean grids, technical typefaces, monochrome with a single neon accent."
Describe the customer feeling
"I want the brand to feel like opening a gift from yourself — indulgent, ceremonial, worth it."
Set the environment
"This should look at home on a marble bathroom shelf in a Paris apartment, next to a candle and linen towels."
Specify hierarchy clearly
"Brand name dominant at top in large text. Product name in a smaller secondary weight below. Ingredients in micro text at the base."
Describe the finish
"Label should feel like premium embossed print — like it belongs on a £60 serum."
Badge placement
"The quality badge should sit in the bottom-right corner, small and discreet — a nod to quality, not a shout."
Shape and proportion
"Tall, narrow label — portrait orientation. Clean top and bottom borders with generous internal spacing."
Lighting direction
"Soft directional light from the upper left — one strong shadow to add depth. Clinical clean background."
Lifestyle context
"Studio shot on a raw concrete surface next to a single eucalyptus sprig. Minimal, high-end editorial feel."
Material texture
"Show the matte texture of the bottle clearly — I want the frosted surface quality to be the hero."
Multiple angles
"Show the bottle at a 3/4 angle so both the label and the cap profile are visible."
Quality signal words
"High-resolution, sharp edges, print-ready, vector-style, professional commercial photography"
Restraint instructions
"Keep it simple. Remove all decorative elements that are not essential to the identity."
Precision anchoring
"Change ONLY the colour of the icon — do not alter the typeface, layout, or proportions."
Comparison references
"It should look like it belongs in the same visual universe as Aesop, Le Labo, or Byredo."