ChatGPT is the brainstorming buddy that is going to change your design and brand strategy process forever.

If you’re not using ChatGPT behind the scenes in your design business yet, we’re here to give you the kick-start you need. We want to not only help you to get a handle on using ChatGPT in your design business but we also want to give you some prompts that are actually helpful! 

Learning how to use ChatGPT is going to save you a ton of time and help you create even better results for your clients. Whether it’s for content creation, creative process, conceptual work, communication or business efficiencies, you are going to want to use these, we promise. 

If you’re a bit skeptical and so far you haven’t been getting good results with ChatGPT, we suspect it’s all about the quality of the instructions you are giving ChatGPT. Context is EVERYTHING.

Your job is to get really good at giving ChatGPT the right instructions (the right context) and that’s exactly what we’re going to help you achieve with these tips.

This is part 1 of a 2 part series – we started this as a ’20 ChatGPT prompts’ list which quickly grew into 60+ prompts. Of course this is only the tip of the iceberg and we are anticipate we’ll be diving even deeper in the future.

In this part one we are focusing on design process and brand strategy.

Stay tuned next week for part two, which will be all about content creation, marketing and lead generation, time management, efficiencies and business strategy. So much juicy stuff!

All the prompts and instructions below have been designed for use within ChatGPT 3.5 (the free version).

FIRST UP, GET CHATGPT TO UNDERSTAND WHO YOU ARE

This is your foundational step, one not to be missed. Firstly, you need to be crystal clear on your brand voice  (your unique way of communicating, your personality and what you stand for) before asking chatGPT to help you out with any writing. 

None of the prompts we share below are going to work unless you know exactly who you are and share that with ChatGPT.  It’s also important to know exactly who you are so you can tell when ChatGPT is off or doesn’t resonate with your brand.

You need to share this intel with ChatGPT through ’Custom Instructions’.

Custom Instructions are an important pre-step to give more relevant responses.

They act like sticky context in your content. That is, context that sticks throughout all your chats.

Head to Custom Instructions by clicking on your username within the ChatGPT 3.5 interface, bottom left. A window will pop up with two questions for you to complete.

CUSTOM INSTRUCTIONS QUESTION 1:

What would you like ChatGPT to know about you to provide better responses?
You can have up to 1500 characters in here and we recommend using them! Give ChatGPT as much information as possible, in order to get more predictable outputs in your future chats.

Here’s the type of intel you can include in question 1:
1. A description of your business and the type of work you specialise in.
2. What is your current focus or challenge with your business? Let ChatGPT know what you want to achieve in your business, and the obstacles that feel in your way right now.
3. Give a good description of who your target audience is – who are your dream clients? What sort of results are you hoping to get for your clients?
3. Describe your values and ethics, for example, you could say you value integrity and the power of emotional connection.
4. Your personal background – let ChatGPT know about your experience in business and with your career so far.
5. Describe your goal is for using ChatGPT – what do you want to achieve by using it? For example, ‘My goal is to produce high-quality copy for [insert medium] that helps to convert sales with my ideal audience of [insert]’. Or perhaps your goal is to use ChatGPT as a brainstorming partner. Either way, let ChatGPT know.

CHATGPT CUSTOM INSTRUCTIONS QUESTION 2:

How would you like ChatGPT to respond?
ChatGPT gives you some helpful ‘thought starter’ prompts that you can use here:
1. How formal or casual should ChatGPT be?
2. How long or short should responses generally be?
3. How do you want to be addressed?
4. Should ChatGPT have opinions on topics or remain neutral?

This is a great place to put your brand personality and tone of voice. You can instruct ChatGPT to respond in a certain way, for example:
I like responses that mimic the natural flow and rhythm of spoken language, however I still want to grab attention and be engaging. I am fine with long answers and if I need something to be simplified I will ask. I’m fine with opinions as long as you back it up with a good explanation. I like witty responses and you can use emoji’s if you like. Please call me [insert name].

You can also include an example of your writing style here – obviously you would only include the very best example. You can say ‘This is an example of my writing: [insert an example]’ and tell ChatGPT to use a similar style for all responses.

Always use an example of writing where you think, yup, that’s me – this expresses who I am, I’m proud of the way it’s written and it represents my business with integrity.

You can even set something called ‘temperature’ in this section (or you can omit this for now and add into individual chats if you prefer).

Use “Set the temperature to 0.1” for a direct, less creative, and expected answer. Or write, “Set the temperature to 0.8” for a more creative response. The temperature settings range from 0 to 1, and finding the right balance is the key. For straight up answers, just type 0.

If you’re brainstorming concepts for a design and want more diverse, left-of-field creative responses, you could set the temperature higher.

So now you have your custom instructions saved, get ready to have some good chats!

BRAND STRATEGY CHATGPT PROMPTS

This is so incredibly exciting for ideas generation and brainstorming.

✴ What are 10 brands that have a unique brand voice?

✴ Can you please describe the brand voice of [Insert company name, for example, Ben and Jerry’s / Apple]? 

For the following instructions, we want you to give ChatGPT a design brief you are working on.

I’m creating a brand for a client with the following brief [Insert brief]…

✴ If this brand was a movie, what genre would it fall into, and who would play the lead role? 

✴ If this brand had a signature scent, what would it be? How does it contribute to the overall brand experience?

✴ Help me brainstorm taglines that capture the essence of this brand. Play with words, and don’t be afraid to be a little spicy [insert appropriate adjective e.g witty, funny, playful, bold, irreverent, sexy, cheeky etc].

✴ If this brand had a theme song, what would it sound like? Describe the melody, lyrics, and the feelings it evokes.

✴ Imagine this brand as a person’s best friend. What advice would it give, and what kind of support does it offer during tough times?

✴ Condense this brand’s essence into a snappy Instagram bio that communicates [insert objective or transformation]

✴ What emojis would suit this brand?

✴ Based on the brief, what is the most fitting brand archetype? or, How do I align the identity with a powerful archetype?

✴ If this brand could collaborate with any other brand or personality, who would it be and why?

✴ If this brand had a colour palette, what emotions or associations would each color evoke?

✴ If this brand was a superhero, what would be its unique superpower in the market?

✴ Imagine this brand’s Instagram feed. What kind of content would it share, and how would it engage with followers

✴ Describe the brand story of this business

✴ I’m struggling to find the unique selling proposition for this  brand. What strategies can I use to highlight what sets them apart in a crowded market?

When you get a response from ChatGPT, ask follow-up questions to go deeper. And don’t be afraid to disagree! ’ChatGPT I think you’ve missed the mark there. Please explain.’

There are SO many more questions that can be asked, and if you’re wondering how would you put this all together in a format that can be presented to your client, we cover this in such a powerful (and fun!) way as part of The Design & Prosper Academy – our business school for designers.

DESIGN PROCESS CHAT GPT PROMPTS

These prompts are designed to collapse time with your design process – be prepared to have your mind blown.

✴ Create a summary of the following brief, maximum 250 words [insert brief].

✴ Based on the brief, please articulate the main goal of the business in one paragraph [insert brief].

✴ Help me brainstorm ideas for symbols and icons based on the following brief [insert brief].

✴ Can you think of any symbols or metaphors that could be incorporated into a logo for this business? [insert business description or brief].

✴ What are symbols associated with the following key words? [insert key words] Note: this is a great approach for brainstorming highly conceptual, divergent ideas without revealing the whole brief.

✴ I have chosen the colours [insert] and [insert] for a brand based on the following brief. [enter brief summary]. Using colour theory, describe why these colours are appropriate and answer the brief.  What emotions are expressed with the colours? Note: You could try including the colour number (pantone or hex code).

✴ I’ve created a brand with the Pantone colour 109C. What is the psychology behind this colour and why is it a great choice for this brand? [insert brief]

✴ Tech support! What is the key command for kerning in the latest version of Indesign? For a mac please.

✴ I need a font that oozes [insert adjective, e.g. sophistication] for a [insert adjective, e.g high-end] brand for [insert industry/product/service]. Suggestions, please!

✴ Throw some design challenges my way! I’m ready to level up my skills. Surprise me! Note: If you have been specific about your business goals in custom instructions, ChatGPT should know the type of projects you want to work on.

✴ I’m digging into a new project, and I want to understand the target audience better. Here’s what I know about them so far. [insert target audience details]. Can you help me unpack it further?

✴ I really want this brand I’m creating to evoke a strong emotional connection. Based on the brief below, what direction do you think I should go in for the symbolism? [insert brief]

CRITIQUE YOUR WORK

Feel like you’re creating in an echo chamber? Get some feedback and develop a deeper understanding of your existing content. 

✴ Critique this post from the perspective of a social media specialist and tell me what else I could have included to achieve [insert your goal]

✴ Critique this email from the perspective of a sales and marketing expert and tell me what is missing and what needs improving to help me [insert your goal]’

✴ Following is an example of writing that I use in my business. Please analyse my brand voice.  

✴ Here is some copy my client has supplied me to use in their brochure. The purpose of the brochure is [insert goal] and they are targeting [audience] who want to [achieve goal]. Please provide recommendations for improvements.  

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So much fun, right? You can keep asking questions with a chat, keeping asking ChatGPT to refine the answer. Go on a different tangent. It’s all about experimentation. 

But circling back to the very beginning, your number one task right now is to get your custom instructions set up. 

And side note, this is all still FAR from perfect. Whenever we ask ChatGPT to write for us, it uses phrases like “Hey there design enthusiasts” It’s can be quite funny! If this happens to you, be sure to tell ChatGPT to avoid certain words and phrases if they keep coming up.

Much love,
Kris & Donna xo

For full transcript click here