🌀 Web Design Mastermind – Session One: Vision & Clarity

Theme:
 Laying the foundation — brand clarity, emotional resonance, and the power of co-creation with AI.

Duration:
 3 hours

✨ Session Objectives

  • Clarify your brand’s purpose, tone, audience, and emotional core

  • Learn how to use AI as a co-creator and idea expander

  • Begin visually mapping your brand identity

  • Start connecting intuitive insights with practical tools

🔹 Session Flow

  1. Opening Circle (10 min)

    • Welcome & grounding

    • Set intention for the session

    • Quick round of introductions (if needed)

  2. Deep Dive into Brand Clarity (45 min)

    • Group discussion around the 12 Clarity Questions

    • Focus on 2–3 foundational questions in real time

    • Live brainstorming or journaling insights

    • Discussion of the importance of emotional resonance in design & messaging

  3. Intro to AI as Creative Copilot (40 min)

    • Teach participants how to use ChatGPT to expand their brand thinking

    • Demonstrate the prompt for turning workbook answers into draft messaging

    • Live demo + practice

    • Support setting up ChatGPT accounts (if needed)

  4. Brand Moodboard Foundations (40 min)

    • Explain the importance of visual branding and emotional translation

    • Set up or refine Pinterest accounts

    • Begin collecting imagery for their Branding board (goal: 40+ pins by next session)

    • Examples shown: moodboard → finished website progression

  5. Homework Assignment (10 min)

    • Complete Content Workbook

    • Curate 40+ images to reflect their brand personality

    • Optional: Try a short homepage copy draft using their clarity answers and AI

  6. Closing Circle (5 min)

    • Share one insight or surpris

    • Grounding + encouragement

    • Preview of next session: moodboards, architecture, and homepage layout magic

Perfect — that means you’re ready to go deeper and start building from what they’ve already uncovered.

Here’s how you could structure Session Two based on where they are now:

✨ Web Design Mastermind: Session Two

"From Vision to Structure"

1. Moodboard Completion (45–60 mins)

  • Open Pinterest boards together

  • Ask each person to share a few of their favorite images and what they evoke

  • Discuss emerging brand tones (e.g., playful, refined, earthy, luxe, etc.)

  • Pull 5–7 images into Canva and create a moodboard

  • Optional: Have them assign a “brand character” (from a film, series, archetype)

2. AI Co-Writing: Homepage Layout (45 mins)

  • Use their completed content workbook answers to prompt ChatGPT:


    “Based on these answers, write a homepage layout for my business. Include sections like hero, intro, offers, testimonials, CTA, and footer.”


  • Review what AI gives them. Have them tweak copy to sound more like their voice.

3. Offer & Architecture Refinement (30 mins)

  • Quick group review: What’s your primary offer? Supporting offers?

  • Show a simple sitemap (Homepage → About → Work With Me → Contact)

  • Have them sketch their own sitemap

  • Add any special pages (FAQs, blog, podcast, freebies, etc.)

4. Intro to SEO (30–40 mins)

  • What it is and why it matters

  • How keywords help Google match you to the right people

  • Use AI to brainstorm keywords based on their offer & ideal client

  • Optional homework:

    • Find 3–5 keywords for their homepage

    • Use AI to help write an SEO description + meta title

5. Homework for Next Session

  • Finalize homepage copy (based on AI outline)

  • Build out their sitemap

  • Write SEO title + description

  • Begin playing with color palette based on moodboard

  • Optional: Bring 2–3 sites they love the look of


Great question — especially since most people either overcomplicate SEO or think it’s too techy to touch. For beginners, the best way to use AI for SEO is to treat it as your brainstorming partner, clarity coach, and copy editor — not a one-click magic wand. Here's a simple breakdown of how to use it wisely:

🔍 The Best Way to Use AI for SEO (Especially for Beginners)

1. Keyword Brainstorming

Use AI to generate keyword ideas based on your niche, audience, and offer.
Prompt example:

“Give me 10 long-tail keywords someone might search if they’re looking for [insert your offer], written in the tone of a soulful wellness brand.”

You can also say:

“I help [type of client] do [thing you help them do]. What SEO keywords should I use on my homepage?”

2. Create Your SEO Title & Meta Description

Once you have a couple of keywords, ask AI to write these for your homepage.
Prompt example:

“Write a homepage meta title and meta description that includes the keyword ‘conscious brand strategy’ and speaks to creative business owners who want clarity and alignment.”
Then tweak it until it sounds like you.

3. Optimize Page Headings & Section Copy

Have AI help you rewrite key sections of your homepage to include natural keyword placement — especially in headlines and the first paragraph.
Prompt example:

“Rewrite this homepage hero section to include the keyword ‘web design for healers’ in a natural and engaging way.”

4. Generate Blog Post Ideas (and SEO Optimize Them)

Blogs are great for SEO. Use AI to brainstorm topics around your keywords.
Prompt example:

“Give me 10 blog post ideas that support the keyword ‘branding for soulful entrepreneurs.’”
Then pick one and say:
“Outline a blog post titled ‘Why Your Brand Needs More Soul’ with SEO-friendly headings.”

5. Bonus Tool: AI + Google Combo

Take your AI-generated keywords and run them through:

That way you can double-check what real humans are typing — and ask AI to refine your list accordingly.

Perfect. With just 3 students, you have the rare luxury of going deep and giving individualized attention — which is gold. Based on your goals, here's a focused and intimate Session Three outline that hits:

  • Homepage layout completion

  • Personalized site architecture feedback

  • Hands-on design coaching

Let’s call it:

🎨 Web Design Mastermind – Session Three

Design Polish & Personal Feedback
 Make it real. Make it beautiful. Make it yours.

🌀 Theme:

Final refinements and visual alignment — shaping the homepage, streamlining the structure, and learning the small design details that make a big impact.

✨ Session Objectives:

  • Finalize homepage layout with strong visual flow and clear messaging

  • Review each student’s full sitemap and page structure

  • Learn pro-level but simple design tips that make a DIY site look elevated

  • Leave with clarity on next steps and confidence in your creative direction

🔹 Session Flow (3 hrs)

1. Opening Check-in (10–15 min)

  • Quick share: What’s feeling strong? What still feels fuzzy?

  • Set a shared intention for completion + clarity

2. Homepage Layout Finalization (60 min)

Purpose: Help each student lock in their homepage structure

  • Review homepage copy from Session Two

  • Demo a strong homepage flow (section-by-section walkthrough)

  • Check for:

    • Clear hero section (who it's for + what you offer)

    • Emotional connection (values, tone, imagery)

    • Clean offer structure (1 main offer, maybe 1–2 secondary)

    • Testimonials or proof

    • Clear CTAs (what’s the next step?)

  • Live work time: Each student edits/tweaks their homepage with your guidance

  • You rotate between them to give direct feedback

3. Sitemap & Structure Feedback (30–40 min)

Purpose: Ensure the full website plan supports their goals

  • Each student shares their draft sitemap (from Session Two homework)

  • Quick hot seat for each:

    • Does this structure support your offers?

    • Are any pages redundant or missing?

    • What’s the natural flow for a first-time visitor?

  • Suggestions + notes in real time (Google Doc, Miro, or just verbally)

4. Design Tips to Elevate Your Site (30–40 min)

Purpose: Teach simple design upgrades that make a big difference

  • Share quick examples or a slideshow if helpful

  • Topics to cover:

    • Visual hierarchy: font sizing, spacing, rhythm

    • Consistency: padding, color usage, alignment

    • Imagery: how to choose and crop strong visuals

    • Buttons and CTAs that stand out without shouting

    • White space = luxury

    • Less is more: avoid clutter, stick to one idea per section

  • Live audit: offer each student 1–2 custom suggestions based on their design-in-progress

5. Final Q&A + What’s Next (15–20 min)

  • Any final design/tech/platform questions?

  • Each student shares:

    • 1 thing they’re proud of

    • 1 clear next step

  • Invite them to schedule a 1:1 (if that’s part of your offer)

  • Remind them of post-session support (group call, resource library, etc.)

📝 Optional Pre-Class Prep

Ask students to bring:

  • Their homepage copy from Session Two

  • A rough layout in Canva, a wireframe tool, or inside their website platform

  • Their sitemap sketch

  • 1 site they love (for a mini deconstruction if time allows)

Want me to turn this into a facilitator version with talking points + pacing? Or into a student handout? I can also help you prep a quick design cheat sheet (“Top 10 Design Tricks for a Professional-Looking Website”) if you’d like.


🎨 Design Concepts & Techniques to Cover

1. The Fibonacci Spiral / Golden Ratio

  • How natural balance and flow make a design feel “right”

  • How to loosely apply this spiral to layouts: hero sections, focal points, visual rhythm

2. The Rule of Thirds

  • Grid-based design = harmony

  • Use this for image cropping, page sections, or aligning text blocks

  • Helps avoid centering everything (which can feel amateur)

3. Layering for Depth + Interest

  • Layering text over images (with color overlays or blur for legibility)

  • Layering decorative elements like shadows, shapes, icons


4. Using Background Images Well

  • High-resolution, subtle images that don’t overpower text

  • Add a dark or color overlay for readability

  • Use background video carefully (subtle motion, small file size)

5. Creating Visual Hierarchy

  • Contrast in size, weight, and color guides the eye

  • “Not everything can be bold”

  • H1 → H2 → body copy → buttons (establish a rhythm)

6. Whitespace = Luxury

  • Teach them to let it breathe

  • Padding/margin = spaciousness, clarity, calm

  • Avoid cramming too much above the fold

7. Color Psychology + Balance

  • Use brand palette with purpose: 1 primary, 1–2 accents, 1 neutral

  • Apply with consistency: buttons, headings, hover effects

  • Watch contrast ratios for accessibility

8. Typography Hierarchy

  • Heading font vs. body font (with contrast in style or weight)

  • Avoid too many font changes

  • Use consistent spacing between lines and sections

9. Alignment + Grid Systems

  • Keep elements aligned left, right, or center — not all at once

  • Use platform guides or columns (Wix/Squarespace/WordPress tools)

10. Micro-Interactions + Movement (Optional, if your students are ready for it)

  • Hover states, subtle animations, fade-ins

  • Gentle movement adds polish, but keep it intentional

🧠 Teaching Tip:

Frame these not just as “design rules” but as ways to create trust and emotional resonance. When a site is well-designed, people subconsciously feel:

“This person is thoughtful. This person knows what they’re doing. I feel safe here.”