Playbook
Visual Asset Prompt Pack
Basketball-native prompts for generating hero art, share cards, icons, and ambient textures that still feel like nbadb.
Visual Asset Prompt Pack
Use this guide as the art department bench for nbadb. It is the prompt library for generating visual assets that match the docs system instead of drifting into generic sports wallpaper or AI sludge.
The goal is not maximum spectacle. The goal is a repeatable visual language: hardwood geometry, scoreboard hierarchy, film-room annotation energy, and enough restraint that the data still leads the possession.
Treat these prompts as a starting rotation, not a frozen artifact. Preserve the visual constraints even when you swap subject matter, crop ratios, or color emphasis.
Brand pillars
Court-first geometry
Use center lines, arcs, lane rectangles, score ribbons, and telestrator marks as the structural backbone. The site should feel like it borrowed from coaching diagrams and arena graphics, not a generic SaaS dashboard.
Editorial clarity
The background should support the information architecture. Use contrast, motion, and texture to frame content, not to compete with headings and code blocks.
Broadcast energy
Favor dramatic but composed lighting: arena spotlights, soft lens bloom, scoreboard glow, subtle hardwood grain, and controlled color accents from the site palette.
NBA without IP drift
Capture the feeling of pro basketball presentation without depending on player likenesses, team logos, or trademark-heavy poster language. Build from abstractions, silhouettes, ball movement, and court marks.
flowchart LR
A[Brand pillars] --> B[Hero art]
A --> C[OG cards]
A --> D[Icons]
A --> E[Ambient textures]
B --> F[Homepage + section headers]
C --> G[Social sharing + previews]
D --> H[Favicons + badges]
E --> I[Subtle backgrounds + overlays]
F --> J[Readable, court-first docs shell]
G --> J
H --> J
…Universal constraints
Use these clauses in nearly every prompt.
basketball-native documentation art direction, editorial sports graphic design,
hardwood court geometry, scoreboard rhythm, film-room telestrator details,
clean hierarchy, restrained composition, premium but practical, atmospheric lighting,
text-safe framing, negative space for headings, no logos, no jersey branding,
no player likeness dependency, no cluttered UI mockup, no random floating widgetsNegative prompt baseline
generic dribbler poster, esports neon overload, cyberpunk HUD clutter,
photoreal celebrity face, trademarked logos, watermark, low-contrast mud,
cheap lens flare, fake 3D dashboard mockup, glossy crypto aesthetic,
oversaturated purple gradient, unreadable typography area, posterized skin,
busy background noise, clip-art basketball, toy-like renderPrompt roster
| Asset | Recommended ratio | Best use | What matters most |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero artwork | 16:9 or 3:2 | homepage and section hero backplates | text-safe framing and strong central geometry |
| Open Graph card | 1200x630 | page sharing and previews | bold title space, fast legibility, clear visual motif |
| Icon tile | 1:1 | favicon and app icon derivations | simple silhouette, strong contrast, recognizable at 32px |
| Ambient texture | wide crop | subtle shells and overlays | low-noise detail and non-distracting patterning |
| Section variant | 4:3 or 3:2 | schema, lineage, endpoints, guides hubs | match motif to the page role, not just to basketball in general |
Master prompt for homepage hero art
Use this when you want a dominant landing image or poster plate behind the main homepage shell.
Create a cinematic editorial background for an NBA data documentation homepage.
The composition should feel like a hybrid of a television scoreboard package,
a coach's whiteboard, and a premium hardwood-court broadcast graphic.
Visual ingredients:
- half-court arcs and lane lines used as geometric framing devices
- soft spotlight bloom from the top edge, as if arena lights are hitting polished wood
- subtle telestrator circles, path arrows, and scouting marks
- disciplined red, blue, gold, cream, and graphite palette
- layered but low-noise background with negative space reserved for a large heading block
- no logos, no player faces, no team marks, no fake UI panels
Style:
editorial sports design, premium documentation backdrop, tactile hardwood grain,
scoreboard typography energy, minimal but dramatic, readable, intentional,
text-safe, modern, grounded, high contrast, elegant restraintOpen Graph card prompt
Use this for page-share images, social previews, and card crops used outside the live docs UI.
Design an Open Graph preview card for a basketball analytics documentation site.
Format: 1200x630.
Composition:
- left or upper-left text-safe block for a short title
- right side anchored by bold half-court geometry and scoreboard strip details
- layered hardwood texture and calm arena lighting
- one accent motif from the page topic: schema nodes, lineage arrows, endpoint scouting icons, or guide-route arrows
Look and feel:
crisp editorial sports graphic, premium, modern, restrained, clear hierarchy,
designed for immediate readability at small preview size, no logos,
no player portrait dependency, no noisy photoreal crowd backgroundTopic overlays for OG cards
| Topic | Add this clause |
|---|---|
| Schema | entity-relationship node clusters, clean table-group geometry, warehouse map feel |
| Lineage | flow arrows, dependency chains, replay-path energy, ball-movement metaphor |
| Endpoints | scouting-report markers, grouped coverage zones, system inventory feel |
| Guides | playbook card layout, route arrows, drill sequencing, practice-facility mood |
Icon prompt
Use this when you want a favicon, app tile, or small square mark derived from the same visual language.
Create a square app icon for a basketball analytics documentation platform.
Simple, bold, and legible at small sizes.
Core motif:
- abstract half-court line work
- one central scoreboard or data-grid cue
- strong silhouette that reads at 32px and 64px
Palette:
cream background, deep graphite base, controlled red and gold accents,
optional blue accent line
Avoid:
mascot imagery, player faces, logo lookalikes, excessive detail, tiny text,
3D bevel effects, clutter, neon cyberpunk gradientsAmbient texture prompt
This is for subtle plates behind cards, sections, or page shells.
Generate a subtle background texture for a basketball analytics documentation site.
The result should look like premium printed sports editorial stock mixed with faint
hardwood grain and diagram overlays.
Requirements:
- very low contrast
- repeated court-line fragments, score ticks, and telestrator marks
- soft paper or hardwood texture
- no focal subject
- usable behind text and UI without distractionSection-specific prompt variants
Schema
Emphasize table-group geometry, clean blocks, and disciplined line work. Think warehouse blueprint on top of a court diagram.
basketball data warehouse blueprint, half-court geometry merged with table clusters,
precise lines, dimensional blocks, analyst-ready calm, premium editorial sports graphicEndpoints
Use scouting boards, grouped zones, and inventory language. It should feel like coverage mapping.
endpoint scouting board, grouped coverage zones, coach's route markers,
systematic inventory, disciplined scoreboard graphics, basketball analytics moodLineage
Favor motion, arrow paths, and dependency chains. The metaphor is ball movement through the pipeline.
dependency replay graphic, ball-movement arrows, possession chain, flowing links,
layered but readable, premium sports diagram, no generic flowchart UIGuides
Lean into practice-facility cues, play cards, and route sequencing instead of abstract data nodes.
practice-facility visual system, playbook cards, route arrows, court tape marks,
editorial sports instruction graphic, crisp and invitingRecommended generation workflow
- Start with the master prompt plus one asset-specific prompt.
- Add exactly one topic overlay if the asset belongs to a section.
- Generate 4 to 8 candidates, then reject anything that breaks text-safe composition.
- Downshift contrast and reduce detail before shipping into the docs shell.
- Crop once for the destination surface instead of forcing a single image to do every job.
Review checklist
| Check | Pass condition |
|---|---|
| Text-safe area | Headings and badges can sit on the image without emergency overlays |
| Brand fit | Court geometry and scoreboard logic are visible even before reading copy |
| Restraint | The image supports the page instead of hijacking attention |
| Share legibility | OG crops are still readable in small link previews |
| System reuse | The asset can spawn icons, detail crops, or section variants without starting over |
If the first result looks like a sports poster instead of a documentation system, simplify the prompt. Remove athlete-centric language, reduce photoreal spectacle, and increase references to geometry, hierarchy, and negative space.
Best next stops
- Go back to Guides to slot this into the broader authored workflow set.
- Open Architecture if you want the design language to mirror how the pipeline actually behaves.
- Use Pipeline Flow when a visual asset should echo the system's real movement and handoff structure.
Keep moving
Stay in the same possession
Keep the mental model warm with adjacent pages, section hubs, and search-friendly routes into the same topic cluster.