Platform Instagram Visual System

Instagram Visual Identity System

This skill produces a written visual brief and standards document. It defines what the visual system should look like — it does not produce graphic designs, images, or visual assets. That production work is handled by the client's designer or content creator using this brief.

Cross-reference:

• platform-instagram — full Instagram strategy (audience, content, growth tactics)
• 04-brand-voice-intake — brand standards intake (voice, tone, existing brand manual)
• playbook-social-media-brand-style-guide — broader brand style guide across all platforms

Use When

• Create or revise a Instagram Visual System-specific presence, growth or publishing plan.
• Translate a confirmed audience, offer and objective into channel decisions.

Do Not Use When

• The task is cross-channel operating procedure; use the closest playbook-* skill.
• The task is choosing channels or business direction; use strategy-channel-architecture.

Required Inputs

Capability and Permission Boundaries

Read supplied artefacts and search relevant evidence. Treat review, audit and planning as read-only. Editing the requested draft is allowed; publishing, messaging, production changes, personal-data processing, spending, destructive actions and certification claims require explicit authority. Use network access only for authorised verification.

Degraded Mode

If accounts, files, network, rendering or current evidence are unavailable, return the narrowest useful qualified Instagram Visual System channel plan plus an evidence-gap list. Mark each unavailable check not assessed; never convert it into a pass.

Decision Rules

Workflow

1. Confirm the consumer, objective, market, decision owner and permission boundary; stop if the objective or owner is missing.
2. Inspect supplied evidence and verify volatile claims; record missing inputs rather than filling them with assumptions.
3. Apply the decision rules, preserve useful existing material and draft the Instagram Visual System channel plan.
4. Test each action against platform, privacy, safeguarding, brand and approval constraints; stop and escalate a blocking risk.
5. Run the quality and anti-slop gates. If a check fails, correct the draft and rerun it before handoff.

Outputs

Evidence Produced

Quality Standards

Use British English and the specified market context. Recommendations must be executable with the stated capacity, current claims must be verified or qualified, and acceptance conditions must be observable. A worked example must use a labelled scenario, not fabricated client evidence.

Anti-Patterns

• Inventing a client fact, benchmark, budget or approval. Fix: cite the source or label the assumption and its effect.
• Copying one channel or client pattern unchanged. Fix: tie each choice to the named audience, objective and evidence.
• Stating volatile platform or legal details from memory. Fix: verify the current official source or omit the claim.
• Treating an inaccessible account, file or metric as healthy. Fix: mark it not assessed and bound the conclusion.
• Publishing, spending, messaging or changing production state from planning authority. Fix: obtain explicit action authority.
• Delivering actions without owner, timing or acceptance. Fix: assign all three or return the item as an unresolved gap.

References

• Anti-AI-slop production gate
• East African English standard
• Use the directly cited sources and companion skills in the domain guidance below; verify time-sensitive claims before use.

Required Inputs

Before generating any deliverable, ask for the following:

1. Client business name and brief description of what they do
2. Industry (e.g., hospitality, retail, professional services, healthcare, FMCG)
3. Country/city (defaults to Uganda/East Africa if not specified)
4. Existing brand manual or logo — request HEX codes if a brand manual exists; note if starting from scratch
5. Products/services to be featured on the feed
6. Primary target audience — age range, gender skew, income level, city/urban-rural split
7. Competitor accounts to reference — for differentiation, not imitation; request 2–4 Instagram handles
8. Content types available — professional photography / smartphone photos / graphics only / a mix
9. Who will produce content — designer, in-house team, or client themselves; approximate skill level

Section 1: Feed Grid Planning

The Instagram feed is viewed as a 3-column grid. The visual impression of the grid matters as much as individual posts. Plan the grid before producing individual posts.

Grid Layout Options

Choosing the Right Grid for an EA SME

• Most EA SMEs: recommend alternating or free-flowing — they require less planning and are sustainable with limited content budgets and irregular posting schedules.
• Avoid row-by-row unless the client has a dedicated photographer or content creator producing weekly batches of 3+ images per shoot.
• Select the grid style explicitly and state the reason for the recommendation in the brief.

Grid Planning Tool

Recommend one of the following free tools to visualise the feed before posting:

• Later — desktop/mobile; drag-and-drop grid preview
• Preview App — mobile; popular with solo creators
• Canva Instagram Grid Template — works within existing Canva workflows

Section 2: Mood Board Creation

A mood board defines the visual direction before any content is produced. It prevents inconsistency and gives designers, photographers, and content creators a shared reference point. The client must approve the mood board before content production begins.

What to Include in the Mood Board

1. Colour palette — 3–5 brand colours with their HEX codes
2. Inspiration images — 9–12 images representing the desired visual feel (source from Pinterest, Unsplash, or Pexels — not competitor accounts)
3. Typography samples — 2 fonts (one for headlines, one for body text in graphics)
4. Tone examples — 3 existing brand photos that represent the desired photography style
5. Rejected direction — 2–3 examples of visual styles to explicitly avoid; this prevents ambiguity when briefing designers and photographers

EA-Specific Mood Board Considerations

Apply the following standards when selecting inspiration images for East African clients:

• Natural light: Bright, abundant natural light is characteristic of the EA environment. Lean into it rather than correcting for it in post-production. Source images shot in natural light where possible.
• Authentic environments: Images of EA markets, offices, street scenes, and community settings outperform generic stock imagery with EA audiences. Flag this in the mood board direction notes.
• Skin tone representation: Ensure colour palettes complement darker skin tones. Avoid colour treatments — particularly high-contrast, desaturated, or cool-toned presets — that flatten or grey out darker complexions. Note this explicitly in the rejected-direction section.
• Avoid: Overexposed "Western aesthetic" editing, green screen or unnatural studio backgrounds, overly formal or stiff poses.

Tools for Creating Mood Boards

• Canva (free) — drag-and-drop mood board templates; easiest for client sharing
• Pinterest board (free) — collect and organise inspiration images with the client
• Google Slides (free) — shareable with clients for approval and commentary

Section 3: Colour Palette

Selecting the Palette

If the client has an existing brand identity: Extract 3–5 colours from the brand manual. Request HEX codes; do not rely on approximations from a logo image.

If building from scratch: Apply the following proportional structure:

• 1 dominant colour — 60% of feed visual weight; the colour most associated with the brand
• 1 secondary colour — 30% — accents, contrast elements, call-to-action graphics
• 1–2 neutral colours — 10% — backgrounds, body text, breathing room between elements

Colour Harmony Rules for Instagram

• Warm palettes (oranges, reds, yellows, earthy tones) perform well in EA consumer markets. They align with natural light conditions and cultural colour preferences. Recommended for FMCG, food and beverage, retail, and lifestyle brands.
• Cool palettes (blues, greys, whites) work well for professional services, healthcare, finance, and technology sectors.
• Use no more than 5 brand colours. Feeds with more than 5 colours appear chaotic and undermine the perception of a professional, cohesive brand.

Palette Documentation

Record every colour in all three formats. Include this table in the visual standards document:

Note: Pantone equivalents are required only if the client produces print collateral.

Section 4: Editing and Filter Consistency

Visual consistency on Instagram comes from applying the same editing adjustments to every post photograph. Define and document these settings as a replicable preset.

The 7-Adjustment Editing Standard

Apply these adjustments in the following order for every photo. Values below are starting points; calibrate to the client's specific palette and photography conditions.

Calibrate each value specifically for the client during onboarding. Document the final agreed values in the visual standards document as a named preset (e.g., "BrandName Lightroom Preset").

Filter Recommendation

Instagram native filters are inconsistent — they apply different effects to different source images and cannot be saved as a replicable preset. Do not use Instagram native filters for brand accounts.

Recommend instead:

• Lightroom Mobile (free tier) — create and save a custom preset; shareable with the content team via preset export
• VSCO (free tier) — consistent preset application; popular with smartphone-first creators

Save the agreed preset settings within the tool and share access with anyone producing content for the account.

Section 5: Brand Visual Standards Document

Compile all outputs from Sections 1–4 into a single written visual standards brief. This document is the deliverable. A designer or content creator must be able to implement it without further instruction from the consultant.

Document Structure

Produce the brief with the following sections in order:

1. Feed Grid Style State the chosen grid style, explain why it was selected for this client, and list any grid-specific rules (e.g., "every third post must be a quote graphic").

2. Colour Palette Include the full colour table (HEX, RGB, Pantone, and usage rule for each colour).

3. Typography

• Headline font: name, weight, size range, where it is used
• Body font: name, weight, size range, where it is used
• State where fonts can be downloaded or accessed (Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts, etc.)

4. Photography Style

• Lighting preference (natural light, golden hour, indoor artificial light, etc.)
• Composition notes (rule of thirds, negative space, close-up product shots, etc.)
• Backgrounds to use (e.g., plain white wall, wooden surface, outdoor market)
• Backgrounds to avoid (e.g., cluttered desks, green screen, competitor signage)

5. Graphic Template Rules

• Logo placement and minimum clear space
• Text coverage rule: text must not exceed 20% of the image area
• Any fixed graphic elements (borders, watermarks, icon sets)

6. Editing Preset Settings List the 7 calibrated adjustment values by name. State the tool used (Lightroom Mobile or VSCO) and where the saved preset is stored.

7. What to Avoid A named list of visual styles, colours, editing approaches, or content formats that are explicitly rejected for this account. Include 5–8 items minimum. This section is as important as the positive standards — it prevents scope creep and brief drift when working with external creators.

Output Format

Generate the visual standards brief as a structured markdown document with clear section headings. Use tables for the colour palette, editing preset, and typography. Use numbered lists for the mood board checklist and the what-to-avoid section.

The brief must be self-contained. Do not reference this skill or the consultant's process — the document is written for the client and their creative team.

Quality Criteria

• Colour palette is documented in HEX, RGB, and a clear description of when each colour is used; approximations or colour names alone are not acceptable
• Grid style is explicitly chosen with a stated reason for the selection; do not present all five options as equally valid — make a recommendation based on the client's content capacity
• The mood board creation process produces a deliverable the client must formally approve before any content production begins; approval is a required gate, not optional
• The 7-adjustment editing standard is calibrated with specific starting values for this client; vague instructions ("adjust to taste") are not acceptable
• EA-specific photography notes address skin tone representation, natural light conditions, and authentic East African environments where relevant
• The visual standards document is a standalone brief — a designer can implement it without further instruction from the consultant
• Scope is stated clearly: this skill produces a written brief, not graphic design, image files, or visual assets of any kind
• The "what to avoid" section contains at least 5 named items specific to this client and brand, not generic advice