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Brief it like a campaign

The four decisions we make before every prompt, purpose, composition, light and style, each shown on one ORRA shot with the exact prompt behind it.

Step 02 of 15 · Brief it firstFree guide · no sign-up · updated 16 Oct 2026
00 · Before you start
01

One clean photo

Phone is fine: daylight from a window, a plain wall or sheet behind, the label facing the camera and sharp. No flash. For a person in the shot, add a character sheet of your model: front, 3/4, profile and a smile. The ones we used are shown below.

02

An image AI that takes a photo

Gemini or ChatGPT both work. Upload your photo first, then paste the prompt.

03

Paste, generate, check

One prompt per image. Before you use one, check the label against your real product, letter by letter.

ORRA concept brand, gold hoop earrings: The packshot — the inputInput 01 · packshot
ORRA concept: the model character sheet, front, three-quarter, profile and smileInput 02 · character sheet
THE BRIEF

Four lines, before the prompt.

Everyone has the same models now. What changes the result is the brief: the four decisions a real campaign makes first. Fill these in, then write the prompt from them.

The four-line brief
Purpose: [sell on the product page / explain / stop the scroll in an ad]
Composition: [where the product sits], [where the text goes]
Light: [one source], from [which side], [soft or hard]
Style: [three colours] and [the mood], the same words in every prompt
ORRA concept brand, gold hoop earrings: Purpose — the scroll-stopper
01

Purpose

What must this image do?

Scroll-stopping ad shot against a saturated solid sage-green backdrop: one gold hoop earring hangs from the tip of the index finger by gravity, the hand in a long ivory knit sleeve, hard direct light with realistic reflections and one crisp shadow. Natural hand anatomy: one thumb, four fingers.
ORRA concept brand, gold hoop earrings: Composition — space for the headline
02

Composition

Where does the text go?

Editorial close-up of the model in side profile wearing the earrings, her face in the left third of the frame and a plain warm ivory wall filling the right two-thirds as clean empty space for a headline.
ORRA concept brand, gold hoop earrings: Light — one hard source
03

Light

One source, from where?

The product on a rough pale travertine stone in one hard beam of late-afternoon window light from the left, long crisp shadows and a bright glint on the gold, the rest of the frame falling into soft shadow.
ORRA concept brand, gold hoop earrings: Style — the brand's palette
04

Style

The palette, word for word

Flat lay in the brand's palette: the sage-green box, folded ivory linen, a sprig of olive leaves and a small ivory ceramic dish, soft even daylight from above, calm and consistent.

Same model, different brief. “Gold earrings, a woman, nice lighting” leaves every decision to the AI. Four lines take them back, and the set stops looking like everyone else’s.

! Where DIY stops

This gets you most of the way.

The last part is where most sets fall apart. It’s the part we do, from $199.

  • Where it breaksWhat we do
  • The label drifts. A letter changes, the logo moves, the colour shifts.We check every image against your real product, word for word.
  • Hands and faces go wrong. An extra finger, or a face that changes from shot to shot.We count, crop and redo before you see anything.
  • The set doesn’t match. Light, colour and the model wander from image to image.One art direction across the whole set, so it reads as one campaign.
  • Video drifts. Clips morph after a few seconds.We plan the shots, keep the clean seconds and cut it on the beat.
→ Want this for your product?

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We’ll send a direction.

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Step 03: put it in a scene.

All fifteen steps
BLOOM concept brand, raw wildflower honey: Hard shadowStep 03
Put it in a scene

5 scenes that sell any product

Window light, hard shadow, the pour, in hand, the table: five prompts for anything you sell.

[ Open the guide → ]
AURA concept brand, wireless headphones: Late-afternoon windowStep 04
Write your own prompt

The anatomy of a real-looking prompt

Who, what, scene, light, lens, one flaw. The full prompt behind the AURA image, part by part.

[ Open the guide → ]
NUMI concept brand, gentle baby balm: The nursery shelfStep 05
Build a brand world

Don't copy a prompt. Build a world.

Palette, light, place and props written once, then used in every shot, so the set reads as one brand.

[ Open the guide → ]

Every concept from our posts: