Branding prompts

I like option [NUMBER] best.

What works: [say what you like, in your own words]
What does not work: [say what is wrong]
[Optional] What I would add: [anything missing]

Give me 5 new options that keep what works and fix what does not.
Do not repeat the options you already gave me.
Make each one more specific than the last round, not more general.

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which of the 5 you think is weakest,
and why. Then stop and ask me again.

That round is too generic. Every option would still work if a competitor
put their name on it.

Do it again with these rules:
- Base each option on a specific, concrete detail of what I actually do:
 a tool, a material, a step in my process, or a place.
- No abstract concepts: trust, quality, excellence, passion, partnership.
- None of these words: empowering, elevating, unlocking, redefining,
 seamless, innovative, solutions, premium, bespoke, journey.
- At least two options must be things a template or a logo generator
 would never produce.

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

Stop. Go back to step [X] only. Give me 5 options for that step and
nothing else. Wait for my answer before moving on.

I am starting a small business in South Africa. I am the owner and the
only worker. Help me build my brand. Judge everything you give me against
what a professional brand studio would present to a paying client.

Here is my business:

1. What I sell:
2. Who buys it (age, income, where they live, what they care about):
3. Who it is NOT for (the customer I would rather turn away):
4. Where I sell it (town/city, online, market, my home, customer's place):
5. What makes me different from the nearest competitor:
6. Price level (cheapest / middle / premium):
7. Languages my customers speak:
8. What I want customers to feel about my business:
9. Businesses I admire and why:
10. Anything I definitely do not want:
11. One specific, physical detail of my work that an outsider would find
 interesting (a tool I use, a material, a step in the process, a place
 I work):

Write this back to me as a brand brief using exactly these headings, one
or two sentences under each, no more than 200 words in total:

OFFER (what I sell, in plain words)
AUDIENCE (who buys, and who I turn away)
DIFFERENCE (why me and not the competitor, stated as a fact I can prove)
TONE (three words for how the brand should feel)
DISTINCTIVE DETAIL (the physical detail from question 11)
CONSTRAINTS (languages, price level, things to avoid)

Use simple English. Then tell me the three biggest gaps or weak points in
what I told you, and ask me the questions you need answered to fix them.

Do not suggest names, logos, or colours yet.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

Write 5 different one-sentence descriptions of my business. Each must say
who I help, what I do for them, and why me and not someone else.

Before you write them, list 5 different angles you could take (for example
speed, price, quality, convenience, local knowledge, specialisation,
guarantee, who I refuse to serve). Then write one option per angle, so
the 5 are genuinely different.

Rules:
- Maximum 20 words each
- Plain English a Grade 8 learner can read
- No marketing words: premium, innovative, solutions, passionate,
 bespoke, trusted, seamless
- Must be true and provable from the brief
- Must stop working if a competitor swapped their name in

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop and
ask me which is closest and what I would change.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

I want to understand what branding already exists in my market in
[TOWN/CITY], South Africa, for [BUSINESS TYPE].

Based on what is typical for this kind of business in South Africa,
describe:

1. The colours most competitors in this trade use, and why
2. The name patterns they use (surname plus trade, place plus trade,
 invented word, and so on)
3. The logo styles they use
4. The claims they all make
5. The three most common visual clichés in this industry

Be clear that this is your general knowledge of the industry, not a
survey of my actual town. I will check real competitors myself.

Then give me 5 specific ways I could look deliberately different without
looking unprofessional or untrustworthy. For each, say what the risk of
that choice is.

Number the 5 ways 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

Here is my one-sentence description:

[PASTE THE ONE YOU CHOSE]

Here is how my competitors actually look, from my own search:

[PASTE WHAT YOU FOUND]

Suggest 5 names for this business in South Africa.

Rules:
- Easy to say out loud over a noisy phone line
- Easy to spell after hearing it once
- Works for customers who speak English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa
 or Sesotho
- Not almost the same as a big South African brand
- Short enough to fit on a vehicle door and an Instagram handle
- Not tied to one town, unless I said I only serve that town
- Not tied to one product, unless I said I only sell that product
- Not following the naming pattern most of my competitors use

Give me a mix: at least one using my own name, at least one built on the
distinctive detail from my brief, and at least one plain and descriptive.

For each name give me:
- The name
- What it means or where it comes from
- One risk or weakness of this name
- Any word in any South African language that sounds similar to it, so
 I can check the meaning with a speaker of that language. Do not tell
 me it is safe. List what sounds close and let me check.
- A suggested .co.za domain

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

My business name is: [NAME]

Write 5 taglines.

Rules:
- Maximum 6 words
- Says what I do or what the customer gets
- No rhyming, no puns
- Banned words: excellence, quality, trusted, passion, empowering,
 elevating, unlocking, journey, solutions, partner
- No three-word slogans with full stops
- A stranger should understand it without knowing my business
- It must stop working if a competitor swaps their name in

For each, tell me in one line why it works, and what it promises that I
would have to deliver.

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

My business name is: [NAME]

Describe 5 different logo directions. Do not generate an image.
Describe them in words, precisely enough that a designer could draw
each one without asking me a question.

For each direction tell me:
- The idea in one sentence
- Type only, or type plus a mark
- If type only: the ONE deliberate modification that makes it ownable
 (a changed letter, a joined pair of letters, one letter in colour, a
 device replacing a letter, unusual spacing). "Just the name in a nice
 font" is not a direction.
- If a mark: exactly what real object or shape it shows, and how it
 relates to the distinctive detail in my brief
- A suggested typeface from Google Fonts, and why
- Why it suits my customers
- Where it would look weak (small on a phone, on a vehicle, in one
 colour, embroidered on a shirt)

Rules:
- At least two directions must be type only
- At least one must use the distinctive detail from my brief
- No swooshes, leaves, infinity loops, hexagons, globes, or abstract
 human figures made of circles and arcs
- No gradients, no 3D, no shadows, no glows
- Nothing that would make equal sense for a completely different industry
- Do not suggest Montserrat, Poppins, Raleway or Lato

This logo must work:
- Very small, as a profile picture, about thumbnail size
- In one colour only, for a stamp or embroidery
- Printed in black and white on a cheap invoice
- Large on a vehicle, readable from across a road

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

I chose this type-only logo direction:

[PASTE THE DIRECTION]

My business name is: [NAME]

Give me step-by-step instructions to build this in Inkscape (free), for
someone who has never used it. Cover:
- Which Google Font to download and install
- Typing the name and setting size and letter spacing
- Converting the text to paths so the font is no longer needed
- Making the one deliberate modification from the direction
- Exporting an SVG, a PNG with transparent background at 2000px wide,
 and a one-colour black version

Then give me the same instructions for Canva's free plan, and tell me
honestly what Canva cannot do that Inkscape can.

Keep the language simple. Number the steps.

I chose this logo direction, which includes a mark:

[PASTE THE DIRECTION]

Write 5 prompts I can paste into an AI image generator to produce the
MARK ONLY. No text, no letters, no words anywhere in the image.

Each prompt must ask for:
- A flat, single-colour black symbol on a plain white background
- Simple geometric shapes, no fine detail, no texture
- Centred, with empty space around it
- No gradient, no shadow, no 3D, no glow, no bevel, no reflection
- Vector-style, like a stencil or a stamp

Vary the 5 prompts by construction (geometric, hand-cut, line-only,
solid silhouette, negative space). Keep the same object throughout.

Then tell me:
- Which current image tools handle logo-style marks best, and what
 syntax each one prefers
- What image tools usually get wrong with this kind of mark
- The exact things to check in the output before I use it

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

My business name is: [NAME]
My logo direction is: [PASTE IT]
My competitors mostly use these colours: [PASTE FROM YOUR OWN SEARCH]

Give me 5 complete colour and type systems.

For each one give me:
- One main colour, with the hex code
- One supporting colour, with the hex code
- One accent colour for buttons and highlights, with the hex code
- A dark colour for text and a light colour for backgrounds
- One heading typeface and one body typeface, both free on Google Fonts
- Suggested sizes for heading, subheading, body and small print
- One sentence on why this suits my customers
- A warning if any colour prints badly, fades in sunlight, or is hard to
 read

Rules:
- Do not suggest Montserrat, Poppins, Raleway or Lato.
- At least two systems must avoid the colours my competitors use.
- Avoid colours strongly linked to South African political parties,
 banks or mobile networks. Tell me if one has that problem.
- No gradients.
- For each text-on-background pair, state which pairs you INTEND to be
 readable. Do not claim to have calculated contrast. I will check them.

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

My colours are: [PASTE HEX CODES]

Write 5 different photography directions for my business.

For each one describe:
- What the photos show (the work, the product, the process, me, the
 customer)
- Lighting (I only have a phone and daylight)
- Background and setting
- What is always in frame, and what is never in frame
- One rule that makes every photo recognisably mine

Rules:
- I shoot on a phone, alone, while working. Nothing that needs a second
 person, a studio, or equipment I do not have.
- No stock photos and no AI-generated people.
- At least one direction must be repeatable in under 2 minutes per photo.

Then give me a short shot list of the 8 photos I should take first.

Number the directions 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why.
Then stop.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

Write 5 different versions of a brand voice guide for my business.

Each version must include:
- Three words that describe how my business sounds
- Do say: 5 example phrases
- Do not say: 5 example phrases
- The same message written in that voice, three times, for:
 a) a WhatsApp message to a customer
 b) a quote email
 c) a social media post
- How the voice changes when a customer is angry
- How the voice says no to a job I do not want

The message to use for a), b) and c): I am delayed by two days on
their order.

Rules:
- Simple language. My customers are not all first-language English
 speakers.
- No corporate filler: "we strive to", "at [name], we believe",
 "your satisfaction is our priority".
- It must sound like a person, not a company.

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

Here is my brand brief:

[PASTE YOUR BRAND BRIEF]

My business name is: [NAME]
My voice is: [PASTE THE THREE WORDS AND THE DO / DO NOT LISTS]

Write 5 versions of a short "about" paragraph for my business.

Rules:
- Maximum 60 words
- First person ("I", not "we", because it is only me)
- Says what I do, who for, where, and the one thing that makes me
 different, stated as a fact
- Includes the distinctive detail from my brief
- No banned words: passionate, trusted, quality, solutions, journey
- Ends with what to do next (message, call, visit)

Number them 1 to 5. Then tell me which is weakest and why. Then stop.

Here is everything I chose for my brand:

Business name: [NAME]
One-sentence description: [PASTE]
Tagline: [PASTE or write "none"]
About paragraph: [PASTE]
Logo direction: [PASTE]
Colours: [PASTE hex codes, after I checked contrast]
Type: [PASTE typefaces and sizes]
Photography direction: [PASTE]
Voice: [PASTE the three words and the do / do not lists]

Write this up as a one-page brand guide I can send to any designer,
printer, sign maker or freelancer. Use exactly these headings, in this
order:

1. WHO WE ARE (the one-sentence description and about paragraph)
2. NAME AND TAGLINE (with the registered company name if different)
3. LOGO (the direction, clear space rule, minimum size, and the one-colour
 and reversed versions that exist)
4. COLOURS (hex codes, and a line saying CMYK values to be confirmed with
 the printer)
5. TYPE (heading and body typefaces, sizes)
6. PHOTOGRAPHY (the direction and the one rule)
7. VOICE (three words, do say, do not say)
8. RULES FOR ANYONE WORKING ON THIS BRAND (5 rules a printer or sign
 maker can follow without asking me a question)

Use simple English. Keep it to one page.

1. What I sell: used bakkies and small vans, 5 to 12 years old, under
 R250,000, mostly to tradespeople.
2. Who buys it: men and women 28 to 55 who run a trade or a small delivery
 business, buying a work vehicle, not a family car. They care about
 whether it will run, and whether they can trust me.
3. Who it is NOT for: people wanting a cheap car with no questions asked.
4. Where I sell it: a small yard on the industrial side of Paarl, plus
 Facebook Marketplace.
5. What makes me different: I was a diesel mechanic for 14 years. I
 inspect every vehicle myself and write down every fault before I
 list it.
6. Price level: middle.
7. Languages: Afrikaans and English, some isiXhosa.
8. Feel: like buying from a mechanic you already know.
9. Admire: a local tyre shop where the owner is always on the floor.
10. Do not want: anything that looks like a big-city dealership, no
 chrome, no "luxury".
11. Physical detail: I keep a clipboard on every vehicle with the fault
 list, and the customer takes the clipboard with them.

OFFER: Used bakkies and small vans, 5 to 12 years old, under R250,000,
inspected and fault-listed before sale.
AUDIENCE: Tradespeople and small delivery operators in the Paarl area
buying a work vehicle. Not for buyers who want cheap and no questions.
DIFFERENCE: The owner is a diesel mechanic with 14 years' experience who
inspects every vehicle personally and gives the buyer the written fault
list.
TONE: Straight, practical, unhurried.
DISTINCTIVE DETAIL: The clipboard fault list that goes with the vehicle.
CONSTRAINTS: Afrikaans and English first. Middle price. No dealership
gloss, no chrome, no luxury language.

1. Van Wyk Bakkies
 From the owner's surname plus what he sells. Plain, honest, local.
 Risk: common surname, so the domain may be taken. Sounds like: nothing
 problematic known, check with an isiXhosa speaker.
 Domain: vanwykbakkies.co.za

2. Clipboard Motors
 From the fault list the buyer takes home. Says "we write it down".
 Risk: needs one line of explanation the first time. Sounds like:
 nothing close in Afrikaans; check "clipboard" is understood by isiXhosa
 speakers. Domain: clipboardmotors.co.za

3. Fault List Bakkies
 Blunt. Turns the industry's weakness into the selling point.
 Risk: "fault" may read as negative to some buyers. Sounds like: "fout"
 in Afrikaans means mistake, which reinforces the meaning rather than
 undermining it. Domain: faultlist.co.za

4. Werksbakkie
 Afrikaans for "work bakkie". One word, easy on a vehicle door.
 Risk: less clear to English-first buyers. Sounds like: nothing
 problematic in English; check isiXhosa. Domain: werksbakkie.co.za

5. Paarl Diesel Yard
 Place plus trade. Very searchable.
 Risk: tied to Paarl, which the brief allows. Generic pattern, which the
 competitor scan warned against. Domain: paarldieselyard.co.za

Weakest: option 5. It follows the exact naming pattern most competitors
use, and "Diesel Yard" could belong to any workshop. It would survive a
competitor swapping their name in.