Turn one reference image into a brand kit

1. 01Done

   Pick one reference and write a short brief

   Choose one image whose feel is right for you. It doesn't need to be from your industry. Then write a brief of four lines: the brand name, what you sell, who buys it, and the range (flavours, services, sizes).

   That's the shape of the brief Amir Mušić used when he turned one Pinterest image into a full brand system for a drink called Juicee. His workflow runs: reference, deconstruction, an anchor brand kit, guidelines, a lock, then campaign assets and packaging.

   Alex from Relate Studio adds one thing about references: "Don't limit yourself to references that look exactly like the final result."

   Checkpoint

   One reference image and a four-line brief.

   Copy step as prompt

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2. 02Done

   Decode the rules, not the look

   the step that pays off

   Paste the image and the brief into the prompt below. In Mušić's words, a reference should inform the logic, not the design output (In the margin: rules, not the look.). His reference gave him four rules to carry over: split-screen composition, real ingredient photography, bold typography, simple starburst elements.

   Read the "must not be carried over" list twice. It's how a brand inspired by an image stays a different brand.

   Decode the reference into rules you can reuse

   Copy

   Attached is one reference image. I do not want to copy it. I want the
   rules that make it work, so I can apply them to a different brand.
   Return:
   1. Four to six transferable rules, each one line, each about structure
      and not about this image's content. Examples of the kind of rule:
      composition, type weight, how photography is used, how much empty
      space, how many graphic elements.
   2. For each rule, one line on what it communicates in the reference.
   3. For each rule, one line on how it could express the brand in the
      brief below instead.
   4. What in the reference is specific to it and must not be carried over:
      its logo, its colours, its product, its exact layout.
   Do not describe the image in general terms. Do not suggest a logo.
   Brief:
   """
   {{BRAND_BRIEF}}
   """

   Checkpoint

   Four to six rules, each rewritten for your brand.

   Copy step as prompt

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3. 03Done

   Generate the anchor, then cut it down

   Give the rules and the brief to an AI image tool and ask for a single brand kit board: logo idea, palette, type, graphic elements, one product or service shot. Mušić used Lovart Agent (his post is sponsored by Lovart). Relate Studio explores in Krea and refines in Nano Banana 2.

   The first board will do too much. Mušić's first kit "mixed too many styles, patterns, effects, and typography directions", and his note back was: "Use more white space, less graphic devices, and one clear direction." Cut before you add. Make one change per request, the way Relate Studio's Alex does: "Instead of trying to solve everything in one huge prompt, I usually make small changes one at a time."

   Stop when one board is right. That board is the anchor.

   Pro tip

   Approve the concept before spending credits on assets. It's one of the five things Mušić says to remember.

   Checkpoint

   One approved brand kit board.

   Copy step as prompt

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4. 04Done

   Lock the kit in writing

   An image is hard to follow and easy to drift from. Turn the approved board into written rules with the prompt below, and answer every [DECIDE: ...] yourself.

   Mušić locked the same list at this stage: logo concept, colour palette, typography (free Google Fonts in his case), brand graphics, and the rule for photography.

   Write the locked kit from the approved anchor

   Copy

   Attached is the brand kit image we approved. Write the one-page rules
   that every future asset for this brand must follow, taken from what is
   in the image and from the brief below. Where the image does not settle
   something, write [DECIDE: the question] instead of choosing.
   Sections, in this order:
   - Logo: how it is used, minimum clear space, what never happens to it.
   - Colour: each colour, with where it is used and where it is not.
   - Type: which typeface for headlines and which for body, and the weights.
   - Graphic elements: which ones exist, and the most that appear at once.
   - Photography or illustration: the one rule for what is shown.
   - Never: five things this brand never does.
   Under 400 words. Plain lines, no adjectives about the brand's mood.
   Brief:
   """
   {{BRAND_BRIEF}}
   """

   Checkpoint

   A one-page kit with every decision made by you.

   Copy step as prompt

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5. 05Done

   Make assets and check each one for drift

   Now make what you need: a social post, a flyer, a menu board. Give the image tool the anchor board and the written kit every time.

   New references pull outputs off the kit. Mušić hit this when he added nine scene references, and his answer was deciding what each reference is and isn't allowed to control. Run every asset through the drift check below before it's used.

   Check a new asset against the kit

   Copy

   Attached is a new asset for our brand. Check it against the kit below.
   Do not judge whether it is attractive. Only whether it follows the kit.
   Return a list, one line per rule in the kit: PASS, or DRIFT and what
   exactly differs. Then one line: ship as it is, fix the drifts listed, or
   start again.
   Kit:
   """
   {{KIT_FROM_THE_LAST_STEP}}
   """

   Checkpoint

   Assets that pass every line of the kit.

   Copy step as prompt

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