Blogs | How to Reverse-Engineer Any Image to Build a Visual Brand System with ChatGPT

How to Reverse-Engineer Any Image to Build a Visual Brand System with ChatGPT

Ever looked at a well-designed banner or social post and thought: “I want more stuff like this, but for my brand”?

Here’s the cool part: You can upload that image to ChatGPT, extract its structure as Image JSON, and then reuse it to generate consistent graphics. It’s like reverse-engineering a design system from a single image.

This method is perfect if you:

Want to scale your design system fast
Need quick mockups that look on-brand
Don’t want to rebuild the same design from scratch again and again

Let’s break it down into a real workflow:

Step 1: Upload an Image and Ask ChatGPT to Analyze It

Start with any visual you like — it could be:

A banner from your last campaign
A competitor’s landing section
An Instagram post or carousel
A YouTube thumbnail you admire

Prompt to use:
"Can you break down this image into an image JSON format that describes the layout, colors, font styles, and content structure?"

To demonstrate this, I have uploaded the below image from Socials Instagram page in chatGPT

ChatGPT will return something like this:

{
  "layout": {
    "backgroundColor": "#F57C00",
    "alignment": "left",
    "sections": [
      {
        "type": "graphic",
        "position": {
          "top": "10%",
          "left": "10%"
        },
        "content": "Crescent moon formed with white smoke"
      },
      {
        "type": "text",
        "position": {
          "top": "10%",
          "right": "10%"
        },
        "content": "DAAWAT BUT\nMAKE IT\nS(#)CIAL",
        "font": {
          "size": "extra large",
          "weight": "bold",
          "style": "stencil/modern",
          "case": "uppercase"
        },
        "color": "#FFFFFF",
        "lineSpacing": "tight",
        "specialFormatting": {
          "S(#)CIAL": {
            "symbol": "#",
            "replacing": "O",
            "emphasis": true
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "text",
        "position": {
          "top": "50%",
          "right": "10%"
        },
        "content": "Order home a range of delight this festive season",
        "font": {
          "size": "medium",
          "weight": "normal",
          "style": "sans-serif"
        },
        "color": "#FFFFFF"
      },
      {
        "type": "logos",
        "position": {
          "top": "60%",
          "right": "10%"
        },
        "logos": [
          "zomato",
          "swiggy",
          "dotpe"
        ],
        "alignment": "horizontal",
        "spacing": "medium"
      },
      {
        "type": "image",
        "position": {
          "bottom": "0",
          "left": "0"
        },
        "content": "Bowl of biryani with garnishes and visible steam",
        "style": {
          "realism": "high",
          "lighting": "well-lit",
          "shadows": "subtle drop shadow under bowl"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "visualHierarchy": [
    "DAAWAT BUT MAKE IT S(#)CIAL",
    "Biryani image",
    "Order home a range of delight this festive season",
    "Brand logos (Zomato, Swiggy, DotPe)"
  ]
}

This becomes your brand DNA in JSON form.

Step 2: Repurpose the JSON to Create Other Graphics

Once you have the image JSON, this is where it gets powerful. Now you can say:

“Use the same layout and styles, but change the text to: ‘New Feature: AI Integration’ and add a button that says ‘Try it Now’.”

Or...

“Generate a version of this graphic sized for Instagram Story, keeping the same colors and fonts.”

ChatGPT will either give you a new image directly or update the JSON so you can generate a fresh graphic from it. It’s like remixing your original design over and over again, without losing consistency.

To demonstrate this, I will update a few things in JSON and ask to create a new image, I uploaded back the below JSON. I have basically tired here to create a post for diwali.

{
  "layout": {
    "backgroundColor": "#F57C00",
    "alignment": "left",
    "sections": [
      {
        "type": "graphic",
        "position": {
          "top": "10%",
          "left": "10%"
        },
        "content": "diya in top-left corner"
      },
      {
        "type": "text",
        "position": {
          "top": "10%",
          "right": "10%"
        },
        "content": "MAKE YOUR DIWALI SPECIAL\WITH\nS(#)CIAL",
        "font": {
          "size": "extra large",
          "weight": "bold",
          "style": "stencil/modern",
          "case": "uppercase"
        },
        "color": "#FFFFFF",
        "lineSpacing": "tight",
        "specialFormatting": {
          "S(#)CIAL": {
            "symbol": "#",
            "replacing": "O",
            "emphasis": true
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "text",
        "position": {
          "top": "50%",
          "right": "10%"
        },
        "content": "Order home a range of delight this festive season",
        "font": {
          "size": "medium",
          "weight": "normal",
          "style": "sans-serif"
        },
        "color": "#FFFFFF"
      },
      {
        "type": "logos",
        "position": {
          "top": "60%",
          "right": "10%"
        },
        "logos": [
          "zomato",
          "swiggy",
          "dotpe"
        ],
        "alignment": "horizontal",
        "spacing": "medium"
      },
      {
        "type": "image",
        "position": {
          "bottom": "0",
          "left": "0"
        },
        "content": "Bowl of gulab jamuns",
        "style": {
          "realism": "high",
          "lighting": "well-lit",
          "shadows": "subtle drop shadow under bowl"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "visualHierarchy": [
    "MAKE THIS DIWALI SPECIAL WITH S(#)CIAL",
    "Gulab jamun image",
    "Order home a range of delight this festive season",
    "Brand logos (Zomato, Swiggy, DotPe)"
  ]
}

Final output image by the chatGPT

Note: Output is not perfect, but you can keep refining it for better results.

Why This Works (and Why It’s Awesome)

By extracting Image JSON from a reference image:

You're not guessing design styles — you're literally reading the blueprint.
You create a reusable structure for future assets.
You can keep your entire visual language on-brand without a design team.

It’s the same idea as having a Figma component library — except AI helps build it from scratch.

Example Workflow

Let’s say you’re building a product launch kit:

Upload your first product banner to ChatGPT
Ask it: “Give me this in image JSON”
Then say:
- “Create a social post with launch date and CTA”
- “Make a blog thumbnail with the same fonts & colors”

Done. It’s like having an AI brand designer at your side.

Bonus: Use Cases That’ll Blow Your Mind

🧵 Instagram carousel with consistent style from just one post
🛠️ Product features highlight graphics that feel cohesive
📊 Infographics that look like your brand deck
🎨 Moodboards based on your reference shots

Build Once, Scale Everywhere

The ability to extract design DNA from one image and reuse it at scale is a superpower. With ChatGPT and Image JSON, you're no longer starting from scratch. You’re starting from structure, and structure = scale.

Start with one image → extract its JSON → remix it endlessly → look on-brand every single time.

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