---
title: "How to make on-brand ad creative with AI | Rainbrand"
description: "Image models make ad variants quickly, and every variant is another chance for a redrawn logo, a changed product or a misspelt offer. Brief what stays fixed and what varies, keep the product true to approved photos, add the logo and words yourself at each platform’s sizes, and check every variant before it runs."
url: "https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/on-brand-ad-creative-with-ai/"
---

By [Tomas Ward](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasward1/)

Published 6 Nov 2026

4 min read

# How to make on-brand ad creative with AI

Image models make ad variants quickly, and every variant is another chance for a redrawn logo, a changed product or a misspelt offer. Brief what stays fixed and what varies, keep the product true to approved photos, add the logo and words yourself at each platform’s sizes, and check every variant before it runs.

## TL;DR

Fix the product, logo, offer and required copy before generating variants. Let the model make scenes from approved references, then place exact artwork and words at each platform’s size. Branch variants from the approved master and check every export, including changes the ad platform makes.

## Why ad sets drift

A regenerated variant can change more than its background: product details, lettering and logos can move too. Variants built from earlier variants compound those changes, while resizing through generation creates another composition to check.

Ad platforms can add their own backgrounds, copy or videos. Include those outputs in approval.

## Decide what stays fixed

| Fixed for the campaign | Allowed to vary |
| --- | --- |
| Original logo and product details | Scene, setting and composition |
| Offer, price and legal lines | Headline within voice rules |
| Approved fonts and claim wording | Crop/size for each placement |

Put exact elements into a layout your agent exports; generate the scene around them. [Video creative](https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/on-brand-video-with-ai/) follows the same split.

## Write the ad brief

Specify audience/angle, approved offer and dates, placements/safe zones, exact image and platform-field copy, claim sources, references and the one thing each round varies.

Rainbrand maintains the shared voice, palette, fonts, assets and claim guidance. A [Brief](https://docs.rainbrand.com/guides/request-brief) selects what the campaign needs. Describe its task-specific copy/placements and keep current product references in the [Brand Library](https://docs.rainbrand.com/guides/manage-brand-library).

Resolve missing prices or unsupported claims before generating.

## Get the sizes right

Use current platform specs. In the October 2026 [Meta](https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/update/image/instagram-feed) and [Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17091269) sources:

| Placement | Ratio | Recommended pixels |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Facebook/Instagram feed | 4:5 | 1440 × 1800 |
| Stories/Reels | 9:16 | 1440 × 2560 |
| Performance Max landscape | 1.91:1 | 1200 × 628 |
| Performance Max square | 1:1 | 1200 × 1200 |
| Performance Max vertical | 4:5 | 960 × 1200 |
| Performance Max logos | 1:1 / 4:1 | 1200 × 1200 / 1200 × 300 |

- **Safe zones:** Meta’s [Stories](https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/update/image/instagram-story) and [Reels](https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/update/image/instagram-reels) guidance leaves roughly 14% top, 35% bottom and 6% sides free of key elements.
- **Model dimensions:** [GPT Image 2.5](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/image-prompting) requires multiples of 16, so generate at a supported larger size with the same ratio, then crop/scale to the final size.
- **Separate assets:** [Responsive display](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6363750) assembles images, text and logos. [Performance Max](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14530211) recommends a clean image per ratio and content within the centre 80%.
- **White backgrounds:** avoid a white transparent logo that disappears when the platform places it on white.

Performance Max headlines are limited to 30 characters. Decide which words belong in platform fields and which in the picture.

## Keep the product real

[FTC guidance](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/advertising-faqs-guide-small-business) assesses pictures as well as words. Invented features or altered packaging can misrepresent the product.

| Route | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Approved photo in a new scene | Preserve the product; [composite](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/image-prompting) where pixels must remain identical |
| Generate from official references | Check every product detail and label |
| Generate from words only | Explore layouts internally; do not publish guessed product details |

For Eager, a juice brand, Claude used Rainbrand to make a blackcurrant-flavour campaign concept. A carton’s lettering used the wrong type/weight; Review flagged it and Claude reset the type:

![Before: Eager carton lettering in the wrong type and weight](https://www.rainbrand.com/examples/eager/review/loop-type-round-2-v1.webp)

![After: the same Eager carton lettering reset in P22 Mackinac Pro Medium](https://www.rainbrand.com/examples/eager/review/loop-type-round-3-v1.webp)

The next typography check passed. This is one image, not a certified resized set; inspect the corrected master’s lettering again in each placement. The [full example](https://www.rainbrand.com/examples/eager/) keeps the findings.

## Set the words last

Place the original logo and exact copy in the layout, using the approved fonts and clear space. This keeps offers editable and avoids asking a model to redraw the mark.

If text belongs inside the generated scene, follow [OpenAI’s](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/image-prompting) exact-wording guidance and [Google’s](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/image-generation) advice to settle copy first. Read every letter at the final size. [Voice-guide instructions](https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/write-a-brand-voice-guide-for-ai/) cover headline rules.

## Vary one thing at a time

1. Use one completed campaign Brief with each supported [AI Gateway](https://docs.rainbrand.com/guides/use-ai-gateway) request; Rainbrand adds guidance/assets. With [other tools](https://docs.rainbrand.com/guides/use-your-own-generation-tools), supply that context yourself.
2. Branch from approved references and the master, not the last generated variant.
3. Crop/re-layout when sufficient; generation for a new ratio needs another check.
4. Retain prompts, references, model and settings for each approved variant.

The [campaign image-set guide](https://docs.rainbrand.com/use-cases/campaign-image-set) shows separate 1:1 and 16:9 generations from a 4:5 master.

Platform settings matter:

- [Meta](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/marketing-api/creative/generative-ai-features) enables generation/expansion per ad and requires previewing generated creative.
- Google may enhance assets; [Final URL expansion](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17091269) can generate text, and missing video orientations can trigger generated videos.
- Check inferred [Performance Max brand guidelines](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14934472) against the actual brand.

Ask your agent

```
Request a Rainbrand Brief for [your brand] for the attached ad campaign. Use its approved offer, exact copy, audience, claims and placement requirements. Flag missing or conflicting facts before generating. Make background options without text, logos or invented product details and show them to me. Once I choose one, adapt it to the required sizes and safe areas. Place the approved product image unchanged, set the exact copy in the supplied fonts and use the original logo file. Export each final placement, keeping clean images where the ad platform needs them. Request a Review of each finished image with its expected copy and show me any uncertainty. Wait for approval before publication.
```

## Check every variant before launch

| Check | Confirm |
| --- | --- |
| Brand | Original logo, allowed colours, actual fonts and voice |
| Product/claim | Accurate details; exact offer, dates and required lines |
| Placement | Dimensions, safe zones and phone readability |
| Platform | Required clean assets; AI changes previewed or disabled |
| Release | Rights, claim evidence and required labels |

Use [Rainbrand Review](https://docs.rainbrand.com/guides/request-review) on each final image with expected copy and relevant exceptions, such as intentionally different packaging colour. Revise confirmed failures and keep uncertainty for the decision-maker.

Save the Brief with variants. If the brand changes, decide which ads need updating and retrieve a fresh Brief before revision.

[Google’s image guidance](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14530211) describes AI-label settings and market rules; the [client-approval guide](https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/client-approval-for-ai-brand-work/) covers disclosure. Start with one existing campaign using the [image-set workflow](https://docs.rainbrand.com/use-cases/campaign-image-set).

## More in Images and design

[All 5 Images and design articles](https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/topics/visuals/)

- 6 Nov 2026 6 min read

    ### [Which AI design tools support your existing brand kit?](https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/ai-design-tools-that-support-brand-kits/)

    Canva, Adobe Express, Kittl, Copilot, Gamma, Pitch, Figma and Paper apply different parts of a brand kit. Compare what reaches the design, what agents can use, and what needs attention when the brand changes.

- 6 Nov 2026 4 min read

    ### [How to make on-brand presentations with AI](https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/on-brand-presentations-with-ai/)

    AI deck tools fall back on a generic look unless you give them more. Put the look in one template the tool can learn from, brief each deck with the brand’s current voice, facts and files, and check the exported slides before they go out.

- 6 Nov 2026 4 min read

    ### [How to make on-brand video with AI](https://www.rainbrand.com/blog/on-brand-video-with-ai/)

    Video models can animate your product, but they redraw logos, garble labels and drift on colour. Decide what the model generates and what you place from approved files, storyboard every shot, then check stills and playback before the video ships.

One brand, every agent.

[Connect your agents](https://docs.rainbrand.com/mcp/getting-started)