Set the image and layout style

Complete Choose type rules first.

Images and layout carry brand tone even when the words are removed. This lesson asks you to make an image and layout style guide, not a vague creative preference. The output should be specific enough that Claude, Canva, Adobe Express, Claude Design, or a designer can use it without guessing.

Here is the before and after: Before, each asset uses a different photo crop, icon style, and spacing rule. After, the brand has image subjects, crop rules, graphic style, layout density, and examples to follow. For example, a solo service brand should show who it helps, what promise it makes, what proof supports that promise, and where the identity must appear first. A company brand should add rules for collaborators, templates, and repeated use.

Now try it: Ask Claude to write image and layout rules for the chosen visual direction. Make one choice before asking Claude to write: audience, promise, reference, asset type, tool, launch context, or review risk. That choice keeps the work from turning into generic brand inspiration.

The lesson is done when the artifact can guide a real brand asset and survive one honest review.

Create image and layout rules for this brand direction: [paste]. Include image subjects, crop rules, lighting or texture, illustration or icon style, layout density, spacing rules, what to avoid, and examples for a website, deck, and social post.

If any input is missing, ask me up to three questions before producing the artifact. Then return five sections: Finished Artifact, Realistic Brand Example, Assumptions To Check, What I Should Use In The Next Lesson, and One Risk If I Use This Publicly Without Fixing It. Keep the answer practical enough that I can paste it into my brand working doc.

Finished Artifact:
- an image and layout style guide
- Why it matters: it gives the brand system a concrete thing to inspect instead of a vague intention.
- Use it next: paste this artifact into the next lesson before asking Claude to write, build, import, publish, or review anything.

Reality Check:
- The artifact names the user, input, decision, owner, or proof it depends on.
- The weakest assumption is visible.
- The next step can be completed in one sitting.

What good looks like

• Image subjects and crop rules are named.
• Graphic or icon style is named.
• Layout density and spacing rules are included.
• Examples cover at least three asset types.

Without rereading the lesson, explain why an image and layout style guide matters in three bullets. Then apply it to a second brand example: [describe a different solo brand, company, or project]. Return What Changed, What Stayed The Same, What To Check Before Public Use, and the exact next action.

Transfer Check:
- What changed: the second example has a different audience, input, or delivery context.
- What stayed the same: an image and layout style guide still needs a source, a review check, and a next step.
- Before trusting it: inspect the brand review check that would catch a wrong assumption.
- Next action: run the check once, then carry the revised artifact into the next lesson.

What good looks like

• You explained the lesson idea from memory before applying it again.
• The second example changes the artifact instead of copying the first answer.
• The public-use check names a real risk.
• The next action can be done in one sitting.