How to design on-brand Instagram carousels
Make Instagram carousels that look designed, not templated — point your AI at one design.md and every slide shares your brand's color, type, and style.
Why it matters
Random templates make slide 1 and slide 5 look like different accounts. Visual consistency is what makes people swipe to the end — and follow.
Tools
Required: A design tool — Canva (easiest) or Figma. Set up a Canva Brand Kit with the kit's colors, fonts, and assets (Canva Pro) so every slide is on-brand.
Optional: Use your AI to draft the slide layouts and copy first. Claude produces vector/HTML layouts and text — not photos — so photo-based slides are finished in Canva.
How it works
- 1. Pick a system — Browse 100+ systems and download the zip — design.md, a full palette, font files, icons, and assets. One file; no setup.
- 2. Set up a Canva Brand Kit — or have AI draft the layouts — In Canva (Pro), load the kit's colors, fonts, and assets into a Brand Kit so every slide is on-brand. Alternatively, point your AI at design.md to draft the slide layouts and copy first.
- 3. Build in Canva and export each slide — Design the carousel in Canva using your Brand Kit. Export each slide at 1080×1350px (portrait) for maximum feed space, or 1080×1080px square.
Common questions
- How many slides can an Instagram carousel have?
- Up to 20 slides. 5–8 is the sweet spot for reach — a strong hook, a few value slides, and a clear CTA.
- What size should each slide be?
- 1080×1350px (4:5 portrait) gets the most feed space. 1080×1080px square also works.
- Do I need Canva?
- For photo-based carousels, yes — Canva or Figma. The kit gives you the colors, fonts, and assets to drop in; your AI can draft the layout first.
- Will it match my other posts?
- Yes. Once your Canva Brand Kit is set up from the same system, every post — carousel, single image, Story — shares the same visual language.