Image prompt basics for designers

Just ordering your prompt as subject, style, composition and light makes a difference. Here's how to write prompts that multiply your concepts fast.

Step by step

1. 1

   Write subject → style → composition → light

   Put what you want first (subject), then the feel (style). Adding composition and light makes results far more consistent.

   Swap vague adjectives like "pretty" for visible qualities like "muted colors" or "soft afternoon sunlight."

   The same image, described vaguely and slot by slot

   Slot	Vague	Specific
   Subject	A mug	A white mug and a laptop on a wooden desk
   Style	Pretty	Minimal product photography, muted colors
   Composition	(none)	45-degree overhead angle, empty space on the right
   Light	(none)	Soft afternoon sunlight from a window on the left

   Subject: a white mug and a laptop on a wooden desk
   Style: minimal product photography, muted colors
   Composition: 45-degree overhead angle, empty space on the right
   Light: soft afternoon sunlight from a window on the left

   Check it

   • Hold the result up against the four slots. If one slot missed, rewrite only that slot more specifically.
   • Composition instructions like "empty space on the right" land differently from image to image, so generate a few and pick the closest.
2. 2

   Change one thing at a time

   Once you like a result, keep everything else fixed and change one element. You learn what actually moved the image, and you build a library of prompts you can reuse.

   A sample concept log: one slot changes at a time

   Version	Slot changed	Change	Note
   A	—	Base prompt	Baseline
   B	Light	Warm orange sunset light	Warmer mood
   C	Style	Film photo look, light grain	Adds texture
   D	Composition	Straight on, mug in the center	Product reads bigger

   Keep everything from the last result, but change only the light to warm orange sunset light, and give me three versions.

3. 3

   Spell out brand colors and things to avoid

   Name brand colors precisely — "deep navy (#1E3A8A)" rather than "blue" — and list what you don't want, such as text, faces or logos.

   Some models struggle with "don't include" instructions. Describe what you want instead — "an empty street" rather than "no people" — or use the tool's exclusion field (a negative prompt) if it has one.

   Add this to the prompt above.
   Brand colors: deep navy (#1E3A8A) as the accent, white and light grey for the rest
   Leave out: text, faces, logos

   Check it

   • Sample the result's colors with your editor's eyedropper and compare them with the brand colors. Image generators often miss exact color codes, so final colors are safer to fix in your editing tool.
   • If something you asked to leave out still appears, rephrase the request as what you do want.
4. 4

   Before you use it commercially

   Each service has its own terms for commercial use. Steer clear of results that resemble real people, famous characters or other companies' logos.

   Also, Korean and US government guidance both say images made by AI alone are hard to protect by copyright. Even if the terms allow commercial use, you may not be able to stop others reusing the same image — so rework key brand assets substantially by hand.

   Check it

   • Read the commercial use and the copyright or ownership sections of your service's terms.
   • Look again for any resemblance to real people, famous characters or other companies' logos.