My Weekend Project, Your New Playbook

A free guide to get you started, and the full playbook for paid subscribers.

Happy Monday!

I’ve been having an incredible amount of fun testing Nano Banana Pro in the Gemini App, and one of its most powerful features is its ability to take precise art direction. You can move beyond simple descriptions and start acting like a true art director, guiding the model toward a specific, polished aesthetic.

To do that, I’ve found it helpful to have a vocabulary of styles on hand. This is the secret to getting truly unique and professional-looking results. Today, I’m giving everyone a quick guide to get started, and sharing my complete personal list with my paid subscribers.

How to Get Started

The structure is simple. Start with a clear description of your subject, and then append a style prompt to transform its look and feel.

1. Start with your base prompt:

I decided to use one of my favourite subjects, a Golden Retriever…

A golden retriever lying in a grassy green field with a giant grin on her face. The sun is shining bright overhead. The sky is blue with a few giant puffy clouds.

2. Then add the style directive:

Illustrated in the style of: [insert style here]

This is where the list of 102 art styles comes in handy ;)

And that’s it. This simple framework is your key to unlocking endless creative possibilities.

Three Styles to Try Today

To show you the power of this approach, here are three of my favorite styles. They are incredibly versatile and produce fantastic results.

• Modern Whimsical Storybook

  • Use this for: Creating warm, charming illustrations with a handcrafted feel.

  • The Prompt: Modern whimsical storybook illustration with digital mixed-media textures, rounded shapes, warm color palettes, and a soft handcrafted feel. Clean digital edges blend seamlessly with tactile materials like cut paper, pastel strokes, and light watercolor washes.

• Tilt-Shift Miniature Photo

  • Use this for: Transforming epic landscapes or cityscapes into miniature toy sets.

  • The Prompt: Real-world scenes rendered with shallow depth, toy-like scale, and hyper-saturated highlights. Everything appears miniature and crafted.

• Claymation

  • Use this for: Giving your images a tactile, stop-motion look with charming imperfections.

  • The Prompt: Stop-motion clay aesthetic with sculpted textures, fingerprints, and handcrafted imperfections. Subtle surface roughness, practical lighting, and slightly exaggerated proportions give a tactile, artisanal feel.

Your Turn: Start Exploring

The best part about this moment is that the internet is overflowing with inspiration. I encourage everyone to start your own collection - find styles you love, experiment, and see what happens. The most important thing is to just start creating.

As a special thank you to my paid subscribers for supporting this work, I wanted to give you a head start. Below, you’ll find my complete, hand-curated collection of all 102 style prompts, complete with the image each one generated.

It’s a ready-made inspiration library to have on hand for your next project.