Prompting like an art director

An art director rarely draws every line. Their job is to hold the vision: to set a direction, give the team what it needs, and then look at the work and say, clearly and kindly, what should change. It is a skill built on years of practice, and good art directors are worth their weight in gold.

When you design a site with an AI tool, you step into a small version of that role. The tool does the making; you do the directing. You don't need an art director's experience to borrow a few of their habits, and those habits make a noticeable difference to the results.

Habit 1: Set a direction before you ask for anything

Art directors often begin a project with a short statement of intent: what the work should make people feel, and what it must never feel like. That second half is underrated.

Before you open a chat, try writing two lines:

• "This site should feel..." (pick two or three words, such as quiet, confident, handmade)
• "It should never feel..." (such as corporate, cluttered, salesy)

Including the "never" in your first prompt gives the tool a boundary as well as a target. "Warm and friendly, but not childish" will produce something quite different from "warm and friendly" alone.

Habit 2: Bring references, described in words

Art directors build mood boards: collections of images, textures, type samples and colours that capture a feeling. You can do the same thing verbally.

Describe the qualities of things you like, rather than naming a brand to imitate:

• "Like a well-designed exhibition catalogue: lots of white space, small captions, big images."
• "Like a handwritten recipe card: warm paper colour, a slightly informal heading style."
• "Like a good train timetable: very clear, no decoration, information first."

These descriptions translate into concrete design decisions about spacing, colour and type, and they keep you clear of copying anyone's identity.

Habit 3: Give constraints, not just wishes

Constraints are a designer's friend. They focus decisions and rule out a lot of weak options at once. Useful constraints for a website might be:

• "No more than two colours plus black and white."
• "Only one typeface, in two weights."
• "The home page must fit the essentials into four sections."
• "Every section needs a single clear purpose."

Constraints also make results easier to judge. Either the draft respects them or it doesn't.

Habit 4: Critique the effect, then suggest a cause

When an art director reviews work, the most useful feedback names what the viewer experiences, and only then proposes a fix. Compare:

• "Change the font." (a fix with no reason)
• "The headings feel shouty and compete with the photos. Try a lighter weight or a smaller size." (an effect, then a possible cause)

The second version helps the tool, because it explains what you are trying to achieve. If the suggested fix doesn't work, there are other ways to reach the same effect, and the tool knows what it's aiming for.

A simple structure for feedback: "When I look at [part], it feels [effect]. I'd like it to feel [goal]. Maybe try [suggestion]."

Habit 5: One note at a time

In a review, experienced art directors often prioritise. Rather than listing twenty changes, they pick the two or three that matter most, because fixing the big things often resolves the small ones.

With an AI tool this is doubly sensible. If you request six changes at once and the result is worse, you can't tell which change caused the problem. Make one meaningful request, look at the result, then move on. In Katzero every version is kept, so you can always step back to the last one you liked.

Habit 6: Say what to keep

Feedback tends to focus on what's wrong. Art directors make a point of naming what's working too, because it protects good decisions from being undone.

"Keep the layout and the photos exactly as they are. Only change the colour of the background to something warmer." This kind of instruction stops a small adjustment turning into an unwanted redesign.

Habit 7: Look at the whole, then the parts

Art directors step back. They look at the full composition before getting close to the details. With a web page, that means:

1. Scroll the whole page quickly. Does it have a clear rhythm, or does it feel like a list of unrelated blocks?
2. Squint. Blurring your eyes slightly reveals the visual hierarchy. What stands out? Is it the right thing?
3. Check on a phone. Many visitors will see this first on a small screen.
4. Then read closely. Now look at wording, spacing and individual elements.

Starting with details is tempting, but polishing a section that later moves or disappears is wasted effort.

Habit 8: Know when it's done

A final art direction skill is recognising when more changes stop improving things. Signs you might be there:

• You're swapping between two options that both work.
• Your notes are getting smaller and more about taste than function.
• The page clearly does its job: visitors can understand what you offer and take the next step.

At that point, publish. You can always return and refine. A good site that exists beats a perfect one that doesn't.

A sample session

Here is how these habits might combine for an imaginary ceramics studio:

1. Direction: "A site for a small ceramics studio selling handmade tableware. It should feel calm, tactile and unhurried. Never glossy or luxury-brand."
2. Reference: "Think of a quiet gallery: muted stone colours, generous space, large photographs of the pieces."
3. Constraint: "Keep it to one page with no more than five sections."
4. First critique: "The intro text feels long and pushes the photos down. Keep the photos, cut the intro to two sentences."
5. Second critique: "Good. The shop section feels crowded. Try showing three pieces per row instead of four."
6. Keep and finish: "Keep everything else. Make the contact button the same colour as the headings."

Each step is small, clear and purposeful.

The craft behind the role

It's worth remembering that real art directors bring far more than a few habits: deep visual literacy, knowledge of print and production, and the ability to lead a creative team through a complex brand. If your project needs that, hire one. For a straightforward site, though, thinking like an art director, even for an afternoon, will make you a much better collaborator with your tools.