Getting Started with Prompt Writing in Palazzo: Style Transfer and Design Iteration

There are a lot of ways you can design with Vinci, Palazzo's AI-powered design assistant, so it can be tough to know how to start prompting a conversation! In this blog, we will go over two easy ways to experiment with creating spaces in Palazzo, including our Style Transfer feature and how to prompt Vinci to make changes to a design.

Chatting with AI is pretty new for a lot of people, and we know that it can be easier to understand prompt writing when you actually see it in action. To help out with that, we’ve added in real-life examples of recent conversations that our Head of Marketing, Stephanie, had with Vinci. Read through them to see how we on the Palazzo team talk to Vinci, then try the conversations out for yourself! We’ve even included prompt libraries to each section for easy copying and pasting.

Let's get prompting!

Bringing inspo photos to life with Style Transfer

First up, we have Palazzo’s Style Transfer feature. Vinci can take any inspiration photo that speaks to you and infuse the design elements, style, and colors into your space. From rooms you love to personal photos to famous artwork, the possibilities are endless.

Before we jump into how to prompt Vinci to try Style Transfer, let’s take a look at a couple of tips to get started:

• Style Transfer starts with a photo, so make sure your inspiration images are high quality and clear. This helps Vinci better understand the desired style and details you want to incorporate.

• Remember, inspiration can come from anywhere! Whether it's a space from a movie, a page from a magazine, or a photo from your travels, all of these can guide your design.

• When discussing your inspiration photos with Vinci, be specific about what you like. Is it the color palette, the furniture arrangement, or the overall vibe? Sharing these details will help Vinci know where to start.

Now, let’s take a look at Style Transfer in action, featuring one of Stephanie’s conversations with Vinci!

Stephanie started her session by uploading a photo of the space she wanted to redesign - this beautiful kitchen, featuring dark green cabinets and marble accents.

As stunning as the kitchen was, Stephanie wanted to see it reimagined in a completely different way. She was feeling inspired by this light and airy kitchen, featuring soft grey cabinets and lots of natural light. It’s tough to imagine the previous kitchen looking so different, which is where Style Transfer comes in!

At the beginning of the conversation, Vinci offered up Style Transfer as one of his suggested design paths for the photo. All you have to do to get started is click the button that says I want to upload a photo of a room I like and use its style. So that’s exactly what Stephanie did!

She then picked Inspiration photo as the type of photo that she wanted to upload to guide her design, and Vinci was off to work!

If these options don’t show up for you when you’re ready to get started with Style Transfer, don’t worry! You can just type that same prompt from above into Vinci’s chat box: I want to upload a photo of a room I like and use its style.

After a moment of thinking, Vinci offered the kitchen transformed into the following design. As you can see, it blends those distinctive elements from the inspo photo – a light and airy feel, soft grey cabinets with gold tones and light wood, and lots of natural light – with the structure and layout of the original kitchen.

It was exactly what Stephanie was looking for, so she closed out the convo by giving Vinci feedback that she loved the design. After all, Vinci learns what you like (and don't like - that's coming up next) when you tell him!

If you are new to prompt writing and designing with Vinci, trying out Style Transfer is a great place to start. You don't need to describe - or even know - exactly what you're looking for when you have a photo to do the heavy lifting! Experiment with a range of different inspo photos on your spaces and see what you get.

And remember, you can upload an inspo photo at any point in your conversation with Vinci - not just the beginning! Just use one of the prompts below.

Here are some prompts to get you started using Style Transfer – try pasting these into Vinci’s chat box!

• "I’d like to use an inspiration photo."

• "Here’s something I love; can we model my room after this style?"

• "I really like the color palette in the inspiration picture I uploaded. Can you design my living room using the same colors?"

Prompting Vinci to iterate on your designs

Now, Vinci does not always get it right on the first try like in the example above - and that’s okay! We designed Vinci with the flexibility to keep iterating within styles or even start fresh based on your feedback. Each change can reveal new possibilities, so keep an open mind and stay receptive to Vinci's more…unexpected suggestions.

If you’re not seeing what you like right off the bat but you are happy with the instructions you gave Vinci, one easy way to try again is to ask Vinci to generate four new designs using your same prompt by saying show me four more options.

Once you get the four new images, select the one that is closest to your vision to continue tweaking. Don't be afraid to ask for even small changes if you're not seeing what you want in the first round!

Occasionally, Vinci goes a little off the rails and serves up some extreme designs. When that happens, try not to get frustrated. Vinci just needs a little guidance to know what you like and don’t like. So, if he takes it too far, let him know!

Here’s an example from one of Stephanie’s recent design sessions that showcases exactly how she iterates with Vinci:

Stephanie was looking to transform a living room into a colorful space featuring a green and orange color palette and a retro, mid-century modern feel. She typed this prompt into Vinci’s chat box and hit generate to see what he came up with. This was the first result.

I mean…sometimes you swing and miss. This room is certainly colorful and retro, but not the most inviting place to relax after a long day. Vinci also seemed to think that Stephanie had need of a three-legged safe that doubled as an ottoman – the natural choice for storing both your bowl of oranges and anything you might need to keep locked up.

Stephanie was blunt with Vinci that this was not what she had in mind. When he asked for feedback, she gave it to him straight with the below prompt.

And Vinci took that feedback to heart! One of the great things about working with an AI-powered design assistant is that he will always be friendly and helpful, with no ego to get in the way of your design ideas. So speak your mind!

Stephanie let him know that she was looking for a more muted color palette, and Vinci applied that correction to his style parameters. His second generation was much more in line with what Stephanie was looking for: a retro, mid-century modern living room featuring olive accents and warm wood tones. Also - no safe-turned-ottoman in sight.

It doesn't have to be as extreme as this example either - you can ask Vinci to make smaller changes if he's headed in the right direction, but you want to see your design with different colored walls or a more cozy feel. You can see a great example of a prompt below for refining a few elements in a design.

And that's all there is to it - clear communication! Jump in and follow along with Vinci. If you are imagining your design in a different way, experiment with iteration using some of the below prompts.

Here are some prompts to help guide changes to your designs – try pasting these into Vinci’s chat box!

• "Show me four more options."

• "Vinci, I don't like this design – the colors are way too bright. Can you tone it down a little?"

• "This is a great start, but can we try adding more natural light?"

• "I love the style but would prefer a different color palette. Do you have any suggestions for what would look great?"

• "I didn’t want to change the colors of my walls. Can you fix that?"

Try your hand at prompt writing with Vinci

We hope this has been helpful, and you feel you have all the tips and guidance you need to make the most of your conversations with Vinci. Stay tuned for in-depth looks at using some of our other design features, including using your Aesthetic DNA quiz results and more!

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your favorite inspiration photos, fire up Palazzo, and start prompting Vinci with your design ideas! If you have any questions along the way, don't hesitate to reach out to the Palazzo team by emailing us at vinci@palazzo.ai. We're more than happy to share our prompting secrets!