# How to Lock Down AI-Generated Slide Design

Koshi Nakamura
We've been receiving feedback from customers reporting "inconsistent slide designs" as if it were a bug:

> "Every time I generate slides for the same project, the fonts and colors are different."
"I used the same prompt yesterday, but today the layout came out completely different."


**This isn't a bug—it's how AI works.** When you don't explicitly tell the AI what colors, fonts, or layouts to use, it makes its own choices each time. Even within the same conversation, results can vary.

This article shows you a simple way to fix this using a single configuration file. **No coding required.**

## Prerequisites: What You Need to Know

This solution uses Treasure AI Studio's **Project feature**, which allows you to save instructions that the AI will remember across all chats within that project.

- **New to Projects?** Read our [Project Setup Guide](/blog/treasure-ai-studio-project-setup) for a complete walkthrough.
- **Want to learn more?** See [Projects in Treasure AI Studio](/products/ai-studio/concepts#projects) for detailed concepts.


**You do NOT need to:**

- Write code
- Understand SQL
- Be a technical user


**You WILL need to:**

- Create or have access to a Treasure AI Studio project
- Upload two simple text files to your project


## Why Does Slide Design Vary?

When you ask Treasure AI Studio to create slides, it uses a built-in skill (a template for how to make slides) that includes **examples** of color schemes and fonts—not fixed rules.

Think of it like this: if you ask someone to "pick a nice color," they'll choose differently each time based on their mood, context, or what they think fits. The AI does the same thing.

**The solution:** Stop asking the AI to "pick a nice color." Instead, tell it: **"Always use this exact color."**

## Step-by-Step Solution

### Step 1: Create or Open a Project (REQUIRED)

**What:** You need a Treasure AI Studio project where you'll save your design settings.

**Why:** Projects remember your instructions across all conversations. Without a project, you'd have to repeat these instructions every single chat.

**How:**

1. Go to Treasure AI Studio
2. Click "New Project" (or open an existing project where you create slides)
3. Give it a name like "Marketing Slides" or "Monthly Reports"


**Note:** If you already have a project for your slide work, you can use that—no need to create a new one.

### Step 2: Prepare Your Design Settings (REQUIRED)

**What:** You'll prepare two pieces of content: instructions for `CLAUDE.md` and your design specifications for `slide-style.md`. You'll ask Treasure AI Studio to create these files for you in the next step.

**Why:** Having the content ready makes it easy to paste into the chat and have the AI create the files correctly.

**How:** Copy the templates below and customize them with your brand colors and fonts.

**Template for `CLAUDE.md` instruction:**


```markdown
## Slide Generation
When generating slides from scratch, ALWAYS read `slide-style.md` first.
Apply ALL settings written there.
Do NOT use default palettes or font suggestions.
Settings in `slide-style.md` OVERRIDE everything else.
```

**Template for `slide-style.md`:**


```markdown
# Slide Design Standards

## MANDATORY STYLE — Do not deviate from these settings

> **Note**: Write color codes WITHOUT `#` (example: `1A1A2E`)

### Colors (DO NOT CHANGE)

- Primary: 1A1A2E
- Accent: E94560
- Background (light): FFFFFF
- Background (dark): 1A1A2E
- Body text: 333333
- Muted text: 6B7280

### Typography (DO NOT CHANGE)

- Title: Georgia, 40pt, bold
- Section heading: Arial, 24pt, bold
- Body: Calibri, 16pt, regular
- Caption: Calibri, 11pt, muted

### Layout Rules

- **Title slide**: Dark background (primary color 1A1A2E), white text
- **Content slides**: White background (FFFFFF)
- **Final slide**: Dark background (primary color 1A1A2E) — maintain "sandwich structure"
- Max 5 bullet points per slide
- EVERY slide must include a visual element (chart, graph, icon, or shape)
- NEVER use the same layout on consecutive slides

### Shadow Settings

- Use `opacity: 0.12` (do NOT use color hex opacity notation)
- Upward shadow: `angle: 270`

### Visual Elements

- Use simple geometric shapes (rectangles, circles) with accent color E94560
- Icons should be minimalist and use primary or accent colors only
- Charts should use accent color E94560 as the primary data color

### Prohibited

- No accent line under titles (to avoid "AI-generated" feel)
- No center-aligned body text
- No Unicode bullet symbols (•) — use `bullet: true`
- No gradients on text
- No repeating the same layout on consecutive slides
- No rainbow color palettes or multi-color schemes beyond the defined palette
```

**To customize:** Replace the colors (1A1A2E, E94560, etc.) with your brand colors. Replace the font names (Georgia, Arial, Calibri) with your brand fonts.

### Step 3: Create the Files via Chat (REQUIRED)

**What:** Now you'll ask Treasure AI Studio to add the slide generation instructions to `CLAUDE.md` (or create it if it doesn't exist) and create `slide-style.md` using the content you prepared in Step 2.

**Why:** Since Treasure AI Studio doesn't currently support uploading `.md` files directly, we use the chat to instruct the AI to create or update these files in the project.

**How:**

**Step 3a: Add to CLAUDE.md (or create it if it doesn't exist)**

Open a chat in your project and paste this prompt:


```
Please add the following section to CLAUDE.md in this project. If CLAUDE.md doesn't exist yet, create it with this content. If it already exists, append this section to the existing content:

## Slide Generation
When generating slides from scratch, ALWAYS read `slide-style.md` first.
Apply ALL settings written there.
Do NOT use default palettes or font suggestions.
Settings in `slide-style.md` OVERRIDE everything else.
```

The AI will add this instruction to `CLAUDE.md` (or create the file if it doesn't exist).

**Step 3b: Create slide-style.md**

In the same chat, paste this prompt (replace `{...}` with your customized content from Step 2):


```
Please create a file called slide-style.md in this project with the following content:

{paste your entire customized slide-style.md template from Step 2 here}
```

The AI will create `slide-style.md` with your exact design specifications.

**Treasure AI Studio will now automatically apply these instructions to all future chats in this project.**

### Step 4: Test It (RECOMMENDED)

**What:** Create a test slide deck to verify the design is consistent.

**Why:** This confirms your settings are working before you use them for real work.

**How:**

1. In your project, start a new chat
2. Ask: "Create a 3-slide presentation about our Q1 results. Include a title slide, one slide with bullet points, and a final slide."
3. Generate the slides
4. Check: Do the colors match what you specified in `slide-style.md`?
5. Generate slides again with a different topic—the colors should be the same


**What happens if it doesn't work?**

- Make sure both files are uploaded to the project
- Check that there are no typos in `CLAUDE.md` (especially the instruction to read `slide-style.md`)
- Verify your color codes don't include the `#` symbol


## Beyond Slides: Use This Approach for Other Content

The same technique works for any AI-generated content where you want consistency:

| Content Type | File Name | What to Specify |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly reports | `report-style.md` | Table formats, section order, metric definitions |
| Email campaigns | `email-style.md` | Tone, greeting/closing, prohibited phrases, CTA format |
| Data dashboards | `dashboard-style.md` | Chart types, color schemes, axis labels, KPI definitions |


**How it works:** Create a style file (like `report-style.md`), add an instruction in `CLAUDE.md` to read it, and upload both to your project.

## Summary

| What You Do | Why It Matters |
|  --- | --- |
| Create `CLAUDE.md` with an instruction to read `slide-style.md` | Tells the AI to always check your design settings |
| Create `slide-style.md` with specific colors, fonts, and layout rules | Locks down every design detail—no room for AI to improvise |
| Upload both files to your project | Makes the AI remember these settings across all chats |
| Use REQUIRED / NEVER language | Eliminates vague "recommendations" that the AI might ignore |


**The result:** Every slide deck you generate in this project will use the exact same colors, fonts, and layout rules—automatically.

## Related Resources

- **[Treasure AI Studio Project Setup Guide](/blog/treasure-ai-studio-project-setup)** — Detailed walkthrough of creating projects and managing context
- **[Projects in Treasure AI Studio](/products/ai-studio/concepts#projects)** — Technical documentation on how Projects work
- **[From Segment Analysis to Customer Journey Creation](/blog/treasure-ai-studio-audience-to-journey)** — More use cases for Treasure AI Studio