MICHAEL
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AI Q · Guide 3

How to define your brand with Claude

Every post, cover and video Claude makes for me follows two files: a brand doc I can read and a spec a machine can read. Here's how I built mine, so you can build yours.

Time one long sitting to start, then it grows Cost nothing beyond your Claude plan; the fonts are free Level you finished guide 2

Prologue

Before Claude makes anything, it needs to know who you are

In guide 2 you gave Claude a job. Now you write its most important doc: your brand. Thought to motion, at the end of this road, needs your look and voice written down.

  1. 1Set up Claude
  2. 2Give Claude a job
  3. 3Define your brand
  4. 4A content inbox
  5. 5A free publishing stack
  6. 6Timing and comments
  7. 7Thought to motion

Where you are

Claude has a project with a job. Ask it for a post and you get a generic one, in a generic look.

What you'll have

  • Named series
  • Voice rules from your edits
  • A catchphrase
  • A look per series, plus an identity look
  • A brand doc and a spec

How I came to it

  1. The lookcame first
  2. The voicefrom rewriting Claude's early drafts
  3. The series namessettled later
  4. Every decisioninto the doc the day I made it

Before you start

What you need

Tick these off. Ticks are saved in this browser.

The picture

One doc in, everything out

Tap a box to jump to its step.

Series, voice, catchphrase, looks and identity feed one brand doc. The brand doc becomes a brand spec, and posts, covers, videos and the website are built from the spec. Your seriesstep 1 · what you post Your voicestep 2 · from your edits A catchphrasestep 3 A look per seriesstep 4 · colours, fonts Identity layerstep 5 · banner, profile Brand docfor people Brand specstep 6 · for machines Posts Covers Videos Website

On a narrow screen, swipe the picture sideways.

The build

Six steps

Each step adds one section to your brand doc. Do them all in one chat in your project.

1

Name what you post about

1Paste your topics
2Pick 2 to 4 seriesfewer is easier to keep
3One line eachplus an overlap rule
Here's everything I post about, or want to: [paste your list].
Group it into 2 to 4 content series. For each series give me:
- a short name a stranger would understand from a cover alone
- one line on what goes in it
- 3 example posts from my list
Then write an overlap rule: when a post fits two series, which one wins.
Don't add topics I didn't mention.
How I do it

My three directions became three series. The names took a few rounds. My test: a stranger gets the channel from the cover alone.

AI Q

AI's own niche.

a queuea questiona hint of IQ

off the queueoff the AI QAI Q

slow thoughts

Anything personal.

memy feelingsmy relationshipsmy experiences

slow thoughts

pro notes

Any profession I can add to.

marketingsupportactingentrepreneurshipoperationssalessocial media

notespro notes

Try my overlap rule. Click each one.

A video about a skill you built with AI

AI QAI is the subject.

A marketing idea where AI was only the tool

pro notesAI is only the tool.

A thought about what you felt this weekend

slow thoughtsPersonal.

A cooking video

side noteNot a series for me. Not everything needs one.

Task
2

Build your voice from your own edits

1Claude draftssomething real you did this week
2You rewrite itdon't explain what's wrong
3Paste bothinto the prompt
4Each changebecomes a voice rule
Repeat with every draft you edit.
Here's your draft:
[paste Claude's draft]

Here's how I rewrote it:
[paste your version]

List every change I made: words I cut, words I added, how I opened, how I ended, the order of ideas.
For each change, write one voice rule for my brand doc, with my words as the example.
Only rules my edit actually shows. Don't guess the rest.
How I do it

One early rewrite became my voice reference. Every edit since becomes a rule.

Claude wrote

"Tonight"

I wrote

"On Saturday"

RuleConcrete, true timing.

Conversational asidesYep, that game from the 90's
Candid fairnessJust to be fair, sometimes we lose
The lesson as a run of actions
Professional more directPersonal warmerDefault short
Task
3

Pick a catchphrase

  1. Look for a line you already say. Invented ones rarely stick.
  2. Cut it until it's short enough to be a title.
  3. Write down exactly where it goes.
Here are things I've written or said: [paste posts, notes, transcripts].
Find lines I repeat or that sound most like me. Suggest 5 catchphrase options, using my words only.
For each: the shortest version that still works, and where it could appear (bio, video end card, last slide).
How I do it

Mine is "Life has its own soundtrack". It comes from my love for music: any moment in life can have its soundtrack, like in movies. It's a title, so no full stop.

End of every videoIn English, even on Hebrew videos
Closes my bioEverywhere
Last carousel cardNext to my follow line
Slide counterA play button and a progress line
Task
4

Give each series its own look

Changes per series
Background Text colour Accent Headline font Key word emphasis
Same everywhere
Wordmark Body font Layout

Render them side by side. Choose by looking, not by hex codes.

For each series in my brand doc, propose 2 looks: background colour, text colour, one accent colour, a headline font from Google Fonts, and how a key word is emphasised.
Keep my name as the wordmark on every look, in the same body font.
Show them to me as HTML cards, 4:5, side by side, with the series name on each.
Check the text is readable on each background.
How I do it

One brand, three moods. A post uses one, never two.

AI QSpace Grotesknavy, teal
slow thoughtsFrauncescream, terracotta
pro notesPlayfair Displaynear-black, amber
Same on every visualMICHAEL wordmarkseries labelsoundtrack bar
Tried and droppedCormorant GaramondInstrument SerifSyne
MICHAELAI Q

AI, and only AI

MICHAELslow thoughts

Anything personal

MICHAELpro notes

Any field I can add to

Check each Google Font's licence on its page before you use it.

Task
5

Make the identity layer

Banners, profile picture and website say "this is me". This layer shows all your series at once.

1List your surfacesbanners, covers, profile picture, website, bio
2One layoutall your series, in their colours
3One picture, one bioon every channel
Design a banner for [channel] at [size] that shows all my series at once, using their colours and fonts from my brand doc.
Include my name and my catchphrase. No photos, no icons, no extra taglines.
Give me 3 directions as rendered images, and check each one on a phone-sized preview.
How I do it

Three panels, one per series, always in this order. My name and catchphrase split across them. One channel keeps a ventures cover: a channel with its own job can bend the rule.

Task
6

Save it twice: a brand doc and a spec

1Brand docsteps 1 to 5, plus a dated decision log
2Brand specexact values, as JSON

Your projectProject knowledge+Upload both

Every chat uses them. Then add one line:

Put everything we decided in this chat into one brand doc, in plain language:
1. Series (names, one-line definitions, overlap rule)
2. Voice (rules from my edits, each with my words as the example; what changes per series)
3. Catchphrase (exact wording, where it goes)
4. Looks per series (colours, fonts, emphasis, what's the same on every visual)
5. Identity layer (banner, profile picture, bio)
6. Decision log (date, what I decided, what I rejected)
Only what I actually said or chose. Mark anything still open as OPEN.
Turn my brand doc into a brand spec for machines: one JSON block with the exact fonts and weights, every colour as a hex code per series, the emphasis style, the identity layer and the catchphrase.
At the top, write: "If this spec and the brand doc disagree, the brand doc wins. Tell me, and fix this spec in the same session."
Then check the spec against the doc and list any differences.
How I do it

The doc is the source of truth. The spec is the same look as exact numbers, for the agents that build my visuals:

"AI Q": {
  "paper": "#0F1B2D", "grid": "#16253B", "gridStep": 60,
  "ink": "#FFFFFF", "accent": "#2EC4B6", "accent2": "#FF6B4A",
  "headline": "Space Grotesk 700",
  "emphasis": "key words in teal",
  "labelRule": "always 'AI Q' with a space"
}
Screenshot coming: a project's knowledge with the brand doc and the spec (names blurred)
Task

Check it works

Ask for one post

Open a new chat in your project, so today's chat can't help. Paste this with something real.

Draft one short post about [something real I did this week, who was there].
Before the draft, tell me: which series it belongs to and why, which voice rules you used, and which colours and fonts its first card would use.
Use only the facts I gave you.
Task

If it misses, fix the doc, not just the post.

My mistakes

What went wrong for me

Every one of these became a line in my brand doc.

What happened

A draft ended with an engagement question. I removed it everywhere.

What I do now

No closing question by default. End on what I did.

What happened

A caption stated the idea in general terms. Correct, but it "lost my personal voice".

What I do now

Lead with what I did and who was there. The idea comes after.

What happened

An early cover described me by something I can't do.

What I do now

No self-limiting labels. AI stories are about the magic of the tools and the democratization of software.

What happened

My banner went dark twice: "mediocre", then "looks like a memorial".

What I do now

No dark, solemn looks. No face on banners: it lives in the profile picture.

Keep it yours

My do's and don'ts

Do

  • Rewrite drafts yourself. Edits teach more than descriptions.
  • Log every decision the day you make it.
  • Choose colours and fonts by looking.
  • Keep the doc as the source of truth.

Don't

  • Describe your voice with adjectives like "bold".
  • Mix two series looks in one post.
  • Rename your series every week.
  • Keep your brand only in your head.

Epilogue

Claude knows who you are now

You have series with names, a voice built from your own edits, a catchphrase, a look for each series and one for you. It's all in a brand doc and a spec that live in your project, so every chat starts from them. From here on, everything Claude makes for you starts on brand.

In guide 4, I'll show you where the raw material comes from: one inbox I drop thoughts into, and a run that drafts from it every day, in my voice.