Lesson 7. AI visuals for brand and social media
Social media may require 10-20 images per week. With AI, this process can be accelerated 5-10 times — if a consistent brand visual language is established. In this lesson, we create a system of prompts for brand palette, tone, and platform formats.
Topic breakdown
Visual brand consistency — uniform color palette, style, and mood. For AI work, you need to lock key visual parameters into a prompt template and use it constantly.
Platform formats: Instagram feed 1:1 or 4:5, Instagram Story 9:16, Facebook cover 820x312, LinkedIn 1200x627, Twitter/X card 1200x675.
Key brand visual parameters: color code or palette name, typography (serif/sans-serif, bold/light), visual tone (minimalist, bold, playful, luxury).
Ad creatives have special rules: a clear zone for a CTA, product in the center, non-distracting background. This can also be set via negative prompts.
What you'll learn
- Create a repeatable prompt template for the brand
- Prepare images in the correct format for each platform
- Know the principles of composition and color for ad creatives
- Systematically build a brand AI visual library
Deep dive
In brand content, the main goal is not one strong picture, but the consistency of the series. When the audience sees several posts together, they should immediately recognize it's the same brand.
Therefore, in the prompt library, it's important to separate the constant and variable layers. Palette, general mood, and composition rules remain constant, while the subject, props, and details change for the campaign.
Space for text needs to be planned in advance. You'll add text later in Canva or Figma anyway, so without intentionally left negative space, the image might be useless for an actual post.
Lesson plan
Visual brand system: key to consistency
A successful system includes color (primary, secondary, neutral), style (minimalist/bold), and mood (premium/playful), clearly fixed in a prompt template.
Adapting to platform formats
One image does not work for all platforms. The correct aspect ratio and composition (space for text, object position) change depending on the platform.
Ad creative composition
In ads: the product is clearly visible, there is room for text, a visual call to action. Specifying this in the prompt makes the result much more targeted.
Library of repeatable prompts
Create 3-5 base templates for the brand: product flat lay, lifestyle, texture/material, highlight, story format. Use them with minor variations.
Weak vs strong prompt
a coffee shop social media post
artisan coffee cup with latte art, cozy cafe atmosphere, warm bokeh lights in background, dark wood table, clean minimalist aesthetic, warm amber and brown tones, centered composition with negative space on right, natural morning light, lifestyle photography --ar 4:5 --q 2
The second prompt sets brand aesthetics (minimalist), color (amber/brown), platform format (4:5 Instagram), composition (space for text), and lighting. This is a repeatable template for a series.
Ready visual prompt template
Copy and adapt[product or object], [brand style: minimalist/bold/luxury], [brand color palette], [platform composition], [lighting], [additional brand elements], --ar [platform format]
Why it works
Brand style: 'clean minimalist design', 'bold vibrant commercial', 'luxury high-end aesthetic', 'playful and colorful'.
Color palette: 'pastel pink and white palette', 'deep navy and gold', 'earthy tones with forest green accents'.
Platform composition: 'product centered, negative space for text', 'wide banner layout, text on left side'.
Lighting: 'flat lay, even studio lighting' (for product), 'lifestyle shot, natural light' (for brand mood).
--ar 1:1 (Instagram feed), --ar 9:16 (Story), --ar 16:9 (banner/YouTube).
Practice
- Imagine: you are creating an Instagram post for a natural cosmetics brand.
- Brand style: 'clean minimalist, natural aesthetic'.
- Prompt: 'glass bottle of natural face serum, green leaves background, clean minimalist style, soft diffused lighting, earthy green and cream palette, centered product shot, Instagram post format --ar 1:1'.
- Negative prompt: 'cluttered background, text, logo, watermark, low quality'.
- First use this prompt, then change the color palette.
Checklist
Common mistakes
- writing a new prompt every time instead of saving a brand template
- trying to add text and logos through AI (renders poorly)
- making all posts with identical composition — monotony
- failing to specify the brand color palette
Lesson FAQ
Can I add text (a headline) using AI?
Not reliably yet — AI renders text poorly, letters are often distorted. Add text in Canva, Adobe Photoshop, or Figma after generating the image.
Can I create consistent series with one character?
This is the hardest thing in AI. In Midjourney, --cref (character reference) and --sref (style reference) parameters help with consistency. DALL·E has similar functionality.