For Graphic Designers ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a Claude Project set up for one of your major ongoing clients — with their brand guidelines, voice and tone, past feedback patterns, and campaign history loaded in — so every new design task starts with an AI that already knows the brand as well as you do.
What you'll need
What you should see: A new project page with a panel on the right side for adding knowledge files.
What you should see: The file appears in the Project Knowledge list with a checkmark. Claude can now answer questions about the brand guidelines directly.
Tip: If the brand guidelines are very long (50+ pages), upload just the relevant sections: logo usage, color palette, typography, photography style. The more focused the content, the more precise Claude's answers.
This is the most valuable step — it teaches Claude what you've learned about the client through experience, not just what's in the official guidelines.
Create a plain text or Word document with sections like:
CLIENT: [Name]
Industry: [Industry]
Main contact: [Name, role]
BRAND PERSONALITY
[3-4 sentences describing how the brand sounds and feels]
AESTHETIC PREFERENCES (things they love)
- [Examples of designs they've approved enthusiastically]
- [Visual styles they respond to]
- [Photographers/brands they've referenced as inspiration]
THINGS TO AVOID
- [Feedback patterns — "they always push back on X"]
- [Design choices they've rejected and why]
- [Copy language they dislike]
CURRENT PROJECTS
- [Project name]: [Status, key constraints]
TONE OF VOICE NOTES
[How to write copy for this client]
Upload this document to Project Knowledge.
What you should see: Two documents in your Project Knowledge: the brand guidelines and your preferences notes.
Claude Projects have a "Project Instructions" field — a standing prompt that's included in every conversation. Click Set Instructions and write:
You are a design assistant helping me with brand work for [Client Name]. You have access to their brand guidelines and my notes about their preferences.
When I ask for help with a design task:
1. Reference the brand guidelines for color, font, and logo usage
2. Apply the aesthetic preferences from my notes (what they love, what to avoid)
3. Write all copy in the client's voice and tone
4. Flag any suggestions that might conflict with their guidelines
Always ask for the specific project context before generating options.
What you should see: The instructions are saved and visible in the project settings.
Start a new conversation in the project and try a task:
Test prompt:
I need to create a social media post announcing the launch of a new seasonal menu. The post will have a food photography hero image. Suggest:
1. 3 layout directions for the post
2. Headline copy options (3 variants)
3. Caption copy (150 words max)
Apply the brand guidelines and preferences from the project knowledge.
What you should see: Claude produces suggestions that reference the specific brand — mentioning the right colors, the correct typeface names, and reflecting the tone-of-voice patterns you documented.
Briefing a new project task:
New project: [describe briefly]. Client expectations: [what they care about]. Constraints: [time, format, budget]. Using the brand knowledge in this project, suggest 3 approaches.
Checking brand compliance:
Review this copy for brand alignment: [paste copy]. Does it match the voice and tone guidelines? What would you change?
Generating on-brand copy variants:
Write 5 headline variants for [describe the design]. Each should be under 8 words. Apply the client's tone of voice.