(01) AI SYSTEMS
Your brand guidelines were written for people. Now your team asks ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot to write the post and make the image, and the AI has to guess. The hard part isn’t the AI. It’s deciding which rules make your brand recognizable every time. That’s the design work I do. Then I build it into files and tools your AI follows.
I’ve done this inside a product team too: at Futures I designed Sage, an AI guide, and the design system its team and AI tools both use.
A page from the brand guide I made for the Brain Trauma Foundation. Made for people to read.
# Brain Trauma Foundation
## Voice
- Mature and credible, but approachable and friendly.
- Speak with the authority of the research and the warmth of people who want every patient to recover.
- Clear before clever, always.
- Integrity: cite the research, name the source, never overstate a result.
- Helpful: write for patients and families as well as physicians.
- Innovative: show what is new and what it changes.
## Words
- evidence-based, not expert opinion
- recovery, not cure
- patients and families, not victims
- concussion, not getting your bell rung
## Color
navy #192C56 leads
white #FFFFFF gives it room
orange #FF9E16 the signature
sky blue #46A8C6 supports
## Type
Brandon Text Black, all caps, for headlines. Brandon Text for body.The same rules in a brand.md, plain text your AI tools load every time.
(02) WHAT I BUILD
(01) BRAND FILES
I turn your guidelines into plain-text files your AI tools load every time: how you sound, the words you use and avoid, and your logo, color and type rules. Then I test them with real prompts until the work comes back on‑brand.
(02) DESIGN SYSTEM
Your colors, type and spacing as tokens, plus the components built from them, so AI coding tools, site builders and Claude Design use the real thing instead of guessing at it.
(03) CUSTOM TOOLS
A GPT, a Claude project or a Claude skill that writes in your voice, an image GPT that makes on-brand pictures from a few choices, a helper for your team, or an assistant on your website, like my project estimator. Every one runs on your brand files.
(03) HOW IT WORKS
AI follows the rules. I decide what they are.
I start with what you have: guidelines, past work and how your team uses AI today.
I decide which rules make your brand recognizable, then write them so AI can follow them.
I run real prompts through ChatGPT, Claude and the rest, and fix what drifts.
Versioned files, a short how-to and me to call when the models change.
(04) SEE IT WORKING
(01) ESTIMATOR
It runs on Claude, talks in my voice and knows my packages and prices. It’s the same kind of tool I build for clients.
Try the estimator →(02) CASE STUDY
Sage, the AI guide inside the app, and a design system the team and its AI tools both apply.
See the case study →(03) NEW BRANDS
Every new brand I make comes with a brand.md, so it’s ready for AI on day one.
See my work →(05) FAQ
No. If you have brand guidelines, I start from them, even if they’re a PDF nobody opens. If you don’t, my brand packages include a brand.md, so a new brand is ready for AI on day one.
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot, plus Claude Design, coding tools like Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, and site builders like Framer and Webflow. The brand files are plain text, so they go wherever your team goes.
Files your tools load every time: your voice, the words you use and avoid, logo, color and type rules, and a brand.md that ties them together. With a custom tool, you also get the GPT, Claude project, Claude skill or assistant itself, set up with you in your accounts, plus a short how-to so your team knows how to use it.
AI brand files from your existing guidelines take 1 to 2 weeks, and with a custom tool it’s 2 to 4 weeks. Both are usually under $5K. Bigger builds, like design system tokens or an assistant on your website, run $5K – $10K over 4 to 8 weeks.
For a number on your project, tell the estimator what your team uses and what keeps going off‑brand.
I test the files again and adjust what drifts. Some teams keep me on a small retainer for that; others call me when something starts to look off.
No. AI follows the rules; people write them. I decide what your brand says and what it leaves out, and I review every file before it ships.