Guide
Ask for a visual style
How to describe a look without using words that mean nothing.
Difficulty: beginner
1. Stop using the word modern
Modern, clean, professional, and sleek are the four words everyone reaches for and they carry no information. Every agent has a different default for them.
Instead of "make it modern", say what you actually want: lots of white space, one accent colour, no drop shadows.
2. Name two feelings that pull against each other
One adjective is bland. Two in tension describe something specific, and the tension is where the character comes from.
Friendly but not childish. Premium without feeling cold.
3. Give colours, not colour words
Say the actual colours and where they go. "Warm" is a feeling, not an instruction.
Cream background, dark green for headings and buttons, one warm orange used only for the main action.
4. Say something about the type
Typography does most of the work in how a site feels, and it is the thing people forget to mention.
A rounded serif for headings, a plain sans serif for everything else. Headings should be large and confident.
5. Say what you do not want
Ruling things out is often faster than describing what you want, especially when you know it when you see it.
No stock photos of people in offices, no gradients, no icons that look like generic clip art.
The test for a style prompt is whether two different agents given your words would produce recognisably similar things. If your prompt would let one produce a dark tech site and another produce a pastel bakery, it is not finished.
Structure first, style second, always. Describe the look before the sections are settled and you will get layout decisions made to serve an aesthetic you had not finished explaining.