Make it look like a real brand, not a template
Turn the generic AI-generated look into something that feels like your business.
When to use this
Right after your first version exists and the layout is roughly right — before you show it to anyone.
Before you start
- A first version of your site that already has the right pages.
- Your colors, if you have brand colors. No brand colors yet? Name two you like plus a neutral — you can refine later.
- Optional but powerful: a link to a site whose look you admire, to mention in the brackets.
The prompt
Restyle the whole site so it feels like a real brand instead of a default template. Keep every page, section and piece of text exactly where it is — this is a visual pass only. Brand: [BUSINESS NAME]. The feeling I want: [THREE ADJECTIVES, e.g. calm, premium, warm]. Colors: main [COLOR OR DESCRIPTION, e.g. deep navy], accent used sparingly for buttons and highlights [COLOR], background [LIGHT/WARM WHITE/DARK]. Make sure text always has strong contrast against its background. Typography: headings [e.g. a confident serif], body text [e.g. a clean readable sans-serif]. Set a consistent type scale so every heading level looks deliberate, and make body text comfortable to read on a phone. Spacing and shape: [GENEROUS AND AIRY / COMPACT AND EFFICIENT]. Use consistent rounded corners and a single subtle shadow style, applied the same way everywhere. Also: keep the same styling on every page including forms, error messages and empty states, so nothing looks like it came from a different site. Do not add stock images, do not generate or invent photos during this pass, and leave all my real images and image placeholders exactly as they are.
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Build it on
What this creates
- Consistent colors, fonts and spacing across every page
- A readable type scale instead of random heading sizes
- Uniform buttons, cards and form styling
- The same look applied to the parts people forget: forms, errors, empty states
Check it worked
Paste the prompt, wait for the build to finish, then confirm these — in plain language, no technical checks needed:
- Every page looks like it belongs to the same site
- Your text is comfortable to read on a phone without zooming
- Buttons look clickable and consistent everywhere
- Nothing changed structurally — same pages, same words, same sections
- No stock photos appeared out of nowhere
Something missing? That's normal — ask for it in one short follow-up message rather than re-running the whole prompt.
Next steps
Tighten one page you're not happy with
After the general pass, when one page still feels off
The [PAGE NAME] page still feels [TOO CRAMPED / TOO EMPTY / UNBALANCED]. Adjust only this page: [DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WANT, e.g. more space between sections, a larger heading, images side by side instead of stacked]. Keep the site's existing colors, fonts and components.
You'll know it worked when: That page looks right and every other page is untouched.
Add a dark mode
If your audience is design- or tech-leaning
Add a dark mode with a toggle in the header that remembers the visitor's choice. Make sure every page, form, card and image caption stays readable in both modes, with strong contrast in each.
You'll know it worked when: Switching modes keeps everything readable and the choice survives a page refresh.
Make the first screen sell
Once the styling is settled
Rework only the top section of the home page — the first thing a visitor sees before scrolling. It should state clearly who this is for and what they get, in my words: [ONE SENTENCE]. Add one main button [BUTTON TEXT] and keep everything else on the page unchanged.
You'll know it worked when: A stranger can tell what you offer and who it's for without scrolling.
Watch out for
- Restyling can quietly break contrast. Light grey text on a white background looks elegant on your big screen and is unreadable on a phone in daylight — check outdoors before you fall in love with it.
- Don't restyle and restructure in the same message. Combine them and you'll spend the next hour untangling which change did what.
- Three adjectives beat a paragraph. "Calm, premium, warm" produces better results than a long description of your feelings about your brand.
Platform notes
All three core platforms handle a visual pass like this well. Lovable tends to produce the most polished result from a single description; on v0 you can go further by attaching a reference image or your own mockup.
Spend fewer credits
Every builder charges you for the work its AI does — so the cheapest habit is thinking before you build. These six rules cut most of the waste, whichever platform you choose.
- Plan in a free chat first. Sketch the whole thing in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini — pages, features, what each form collects, what it should look like. Thinking there is free; thinking inside a builder is billed.
- Start from a written prompt, not a sentence. "Make me a website" is the most expensive sentence in AI building. A complete first prompt — like the ones on this site — saves dozens of correction rounds.
- Don't be lazy with the details. Every detail you leave out comes back as a correction you pay for. Business name, colors, every page, every form field, what happens after someone submits — put it all in the first prompt.
- One change per message afterwards. "Fix the header, and the form, and the colors" produces a tangle that costs more to unpick than it saved.
- Stuck? Stop patching. If the same fix fails about three times, don't send a fourth correction — describe the whole section's desired end state in one fresh message instead.
- Start free. Upgrade when you need more. Use the free allowance to build and explore your first version. Upgrade when you need more usage or paid features, and check any connected service costs before launch.
The prompts on this page are written to do most of this work for you — that's the point of them.
Read the full guideRelated playbooks
Last reviewed: 2026-07-27