🔥 Just Released: 250+ AI Marketing Prompts
use this prompt when:
- You’re establishing or refreshing your brand’s visual identity across digital and physical touchpoints
- Your marketing team needs clear guidance to maintain visual consistency across campaigns
- You’re onboarding new designers or creative partners who need to understand your visual standards
- Your visual content isn’t effectively differentiating your brand from competitors
- You’re expanding to new content formats or channels and need to extend your visual identity
The prompt
Create a comprehensive visual content style guide for <business name> that ensures our visual content consistently reinforces our brand identity and effectively communicates our messages to <target audience>. Include guidelines for photography style, illustration approach, data visualization standards, video production elements, colors, typography, and layout principles. Provide examples of on-brand visual executions across different content formats and channels. Focus on establishing a distinctive visual identity that differentiates us from <key competitors> and visually communicates our brand attributes of <brand attributes>.
How to customize
Variables
Description
Variables
business nameDescription
Enter your company or brand name that the visual style guide is being created for.Variables
target audienceDescription
Define your primary audience segments with relevant characteristics (e.g., "health-conscious millennials," "busy parents seeking convenience," "sustainable luxury consumers").Variables
key competitorsDescription
List 2-4 direct competitors whose visual identities you want to differentiate from in the marketplace.Variables
brand attributesDescription
Identify 3-5 core brand personality traits or values that should be visually expressed (e.g., "playful, innovative, authentic," or "premium, trustworthy, heritage-focused").
Example Output
Visual Content Style Guide for Bloom Botanicals
Brand Visual Identity Foundation
Bloom Botanicals’ visual identity should embody our core brand attributes of sustainability, authenticity, and modern wellness while appealing to our target audience of environmentally-conscious millennials and Gen Z consumers who prioritize natural ingredients and ethical sourcing. Our visual identity must clearly differentiate us from competitors like Herb Essentials, Pure Leaf, and Nature’s Way who utilize similar natural imagery but lack our modern, science-backed approach.
Photography Guidelines
Style: Bright, airy imagery with natural lighting that highlights the vibrant colors of botanical ingredients. Photos should feel authentic rather than overly styled.
Subject Matter: Feature our ingredients in their natural state alongside finished products. Include diverse models of various ethnicities in natural settings using our products in everyday wellness routines.
Technical Specifications:
- High contrast with slightly desaturated greens to create our signature earthy look
- Shallow depth of field to create focus on key elements
- Avoid harsh shadows or overly filtered looks that appear artificial
- Minimum resolution of 300 DPI for print materials, 72 DPI for digital
Examples: [Brief description of 2-3 example photography styles]
Illustration Approach
Our illustration style uses hand-drawn botanical elements with a modern, minimalist approach:
- Fine line drawings of plants and botanical ingredients
- Watercolor wash backgrounds in our secondary palette
- Limited color palette (no more than 3 colors per illustration)
- Ample white space to create a clean, contemporary feel
Usage: Illustrations should complement photography, not replace it. Use illustrations primarily for:
- Ingredient visualization in educational content
- Iconography in product packaging and digital interfaces
- Supporting graphics in social media content
Color System
Primary Palette:
- Forest Green (#2C5545): Use for primary text, headers, and backgrounds
- Soft Cream (#F8F4E3): Use for backgrounds and negative space
- Terra Cotta (#D85C27): Use as accent color only (less than 10% of any design)
Secondary Palette:
- Sage Green (#C2C5AA)
- Pale Pink (#F5D6C6)
- Earth Brown (#5E4B3E)
Usage Guidelines:
- Always maintain 60% (primary) / 30% (secondary) / 10% (accent) color ratio
- Ensure sufficient contrast between text and backgrounds (WCAG AA minimum)
- Reserve Terra Cotta for call-to-action elements and important highlights
Typography
Primary Typefaces:
- Headings: Canela (print) / Georgia (digital)
- Body: Avenir (print) / Open Sans (digital)
Typographic Hierarchy:
- H1: 32pt/32px, Canela Medium, 1.2 line spacing
- H2: 24pt/24px, Canela Regular, 1.3 line spacing
- Body: 11pt/16px, Avenir Book, 1.5 line spacing
- Captions: 9pt/12px, Avenir Light Italic, 1.4 line spacing
Text Treatments:
- Avoid all caps except for small labels and buttons
- Maintain generous white space around text blocks
- Left-align all text except for centered headlines on hero images
Data Visualization Standards
All charts and graphs should follow these principles:
- Use primary color palette with Forest Green as the dominant color
- Employ minimalist design with clean lines and limited elements
- Include appropriate white space and clear labels
- Avoid 3D effects, shadows, or decorative elements that don’t add meaning
- Ensure accessibility with patterns in addition to color coding
- Maintain consistency in style across all data presentations
Video Production Elements
Visual Treatment:
- Natural lighting with warm undertones
- Slow, deliberate camera movements
- 16:9 aspect ratio for YouTube/website; 9:16 for Instagram Stories/TikTok
- Opening and closing frames include logo with consistent placement
B-Roll Guidance:
- Include macro shots of botanical ingredients
- Show production process emphasizing handcrafted aspects
- Feature diverse customers using products in natural settings
Sound Design:
- Acoustic instrumental background music
- Natural environmental sounds where appropriate
- Clear, conversational voiceovers without heavy effects
Layout Principles
- Embrace negative space (minimum 20% of layout should be white space)
- Use asymmetrical balance rather than centered compositions
- Implement a modular grid system with 12 columns for flexibility
- Maintain consistent margins (minimum 12px digital, 0.25″ print)
- Layer transparent botanical elements as subtle background texture
Channel-Specific Guidelines
Instagram:
- Grid: Alternate between product, lifestyle, and educational content
- Stories: Vertical format with minimalist text overlays
- Reels: Quick transitions between scenes with prominent type animation
Website:
- Large hero images with minimal text overlay
- Consistent spacing between content sections (40px minimum)
- Product photography on white backgrounds with shadow consistency
Packaging:
- Matte finish with subtle texture
- Transparent elements to showcase natural product color
- Limited information on front panel with expanded details on back/sides
Implementation Examples
[Brief descriptions of 4-5 examples showing the style guide applied across different channels]
Pro tips
- Create a living document – Build your style guide in a collaborative platform like Figma or Notion so it can evolve with your brand and be easily accessible to your entire team.
- Include before/after examples – Show side-by-side comparisons of content that doesn’t meet guidelines versus properly executed examples to clearly illustrate the impact of following your style guide.
- Develop a quick-reference version – Create a condensed one-page “cheat sheet” of your most critical visual guidelines for freelancers and agency partners who need the essentials at a glance.
- Schedule regular style guide reviews – Set calendar reminders to review your style guide quarterly to ensure it remains relevant as your brand evolves and new visual trends emerge.
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