How to write a useful design-image brief
A practical checklist for purpose, composition, text, hierarchy and review before you generate a design image.
A useful image prompt starts with a communication problem. What should someone understand after looking at the finished design for two seconds? A sale poster, a café menu and a presentation cover need different kinds of answers.
Start with the placement
Name the format and intended destination. A portrait poster gives you a tall reading path; a wide website banner usually needs a clear area beside the subject. Write the brief for that shape before choosing decorative details. Avoid trying to make one composition fit every channel through cropping alone.
Put exact words in quotation marks
Separate the headline from supporting copy. Short, specific text is easier to review than an entire paragraph. Ask for the exact wording and explicitly say whether extra text is unwanted. Always check the result manually: a plausible looking word is not necessarily a correctly spelled word.
Describe hierarchy and space
Specify what comes first, second and third. “A large headline above a small illustration, with the date in a clear footer” gives a model a usable structure. “Beautiful, professional, high quality” tells it much less about the design. Leave room for functional details such as a location, URL or call to action.
Change one thing at a time
When an image misses the brief, identify the most important problem. Ask for a larger title, a simpler background or more separation between two elements. Keep the other instructions stable so you can tell whether the revision helped. If your selected model supports references, use only material you have rights to upload and check whether important details survive the edit.
Review at the real display size
A poster can look convincing at full resolution but unreadable on a phone. Check text, contrast, crop, prices, dates and any implied factual claims. Use an editor for verified data, exact typography and the final handoff when required. A generated bitmap is not automatically a layered or print-ready design.
Read the independent Canva Craft guide for original example briefs, or open our separate image workspace to choose a Studio model and inspect its controls. CanvaCraft AI does not run Canva Craft and is not affiliated with Canva. Official model access is available through Canva's own product; our accounts and credits are independent.