Creating impressive background images is essential for establishing a solid foundation for your designs. When utilized properly, these images can serve multiple functions, such as:

• Setting the Atmosphere: A dark background can instill a feeling of mystery, while a lighter one can evoke calmness.
• Adding Depth: Using varied textures can create a sense of three-dimensionality, or layering elements can enhance spatial perception.
• Emphasizing Content: Light backgrounds can help text stand out, while specific patterns can draw attention to key elements.
• Enhancing Visual Appeal: Unique textures can elevate the visual interest of your designs, and a consistent color scheme can foster harmony.
• Reinforcing Brand Identity: Incorporating brand colors or logos into background images can establish a cohesive brand image.

Most brands streamline their graphic design process by developing a collection of uniform backgrounds or templates. By limiting background variations, finished images remain recognizable in social media feeds, avoiding monotony.

Design teams often compile a folder of 5 to 15 base images for content creators to adapt when crafting essential visuals. These foundational images are typically safeguarded, highlighting their significance for brand coherence.

In the past, achieving high-quality backgrounds was challenging, prompting designers to maintain strict control over these assets. Content creators would then layer icons or text onto the base images for social media and articles.

However, creators often appreciate these guidelines, as they expedite asset production. With a limited set of approaches, they can quickly generate important visuals, allowing them to focus on creating additional content.

That was the situation until recently.

Now, powerful generative AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E have emerged, enabling creators who once relied on standard backgrounds to generate custom, high-quality images.

But how can you maintain brand consistency with these tools? In this article, I will guide you through the process of creating images that align with your brand's standards.

# Begin With Your Objective

As with any project, it’s crucial to start by assessing your goals and requirements. Having a clear objective can enhance the quality of your outcomes.

• Design Objective: What are you aiming to achieve? What feelings do you want to evoke? The background should support the overall design goal.
• Intended Audience: Who will view your design? What appeals to them? The background should resonate with their preferences and tastes.
• Design Aesthetic: What is the overall look and feel? What are the dimensions? Is there a style guide to follow? The background should harmonize with the design instead of clashing with it.

# Crafting Your Midjourney Prompt

Once you have a list of descriptive words for your image, it's time to formulate your prompt!

Keep in mind that Midjourney only processes the first 60 words of a prompt, giving more significance to the initial phrases. Therefore, it’s better to use clear phrases separated by commas rather than full sentences. Start with the type of image you wish to create in the first few words to enhance the consistency of your results.

Also, focus on descriptive phrases, as much of a sentence may be ignored anyway.

[content type], [description - subject + adjectives], [style], [composition]

1. Specify the Content Type: Clearly state you are looking for a background image.
2. State the Style: Position the stylistic description second in your prompt, mentioning a specific artist or technique to influence the style.
3. Describe the Content: Provide detailed descriptions to avoid ambiguity.
4. Include Brand Colors: Specify colors using hex codes, such as #e34b44.
5. Exclude Unwanted Elements: Explicitly note what should not be included, such as --no letters words people animals.