Creative recipes

Most ad tools give you a prompt box and hope. Hermoso works from a catalog: a named format with a known shape, a known beat structure and a known set of rules about what must not happen inside it. When you ask for a 360° product spin, the render is governed by a format that knows a spin whose background stays still is a turntable and not an orbit — and refuses to produce one.

This is that catalog, published in full. 141 formats across three families. Each page says what the format is, when a marketer should reach for it, what usually goes wrong with it, and — where the format has one — the beat-by-beat structure the render is held to.

The three families

How to read a recipe page

Every format page carries the same four things. What it is, in plain terms. When to use it, including when not to. The beat structure, where the format has a fixed one — and several do, because the difference between an unboxing ad and a box on a table is entirely in the order things happen. And the thing to get right: the specific mistake that ruins that particular format, which is usually not the one you would guess.

A note on the beat structures, because they are the genuinely unusual part. A format like the packshot orbit is not a look, it is a set of constraints — one direction of travel, one fixed distance, one continuous take, a revolution that must complete. Those constraints exist because each of them is a way a real render has failed. Publishing them is publishing the accumulated corrections, not a prompt.

What is not on these pages

The art direction itself. Each recipe carries a paragraph of internal shot direction that the planner uses to write the ad, and that is product rather than documentation, so it is described here rather than reproduced. What is published is the shape: the format, the beats, the rules and the judgement about when to use it.

Creator & UGC video (28)

Formats built around a person on camera — the talking-head, the unboxing, the try-on, the demo. These are the highest-volume paid-social formats on TikTok, Reels and Shorts, and the ones where realism matters more than polish.

• UGC talking-head — a real creator reviewing/recommending the product straight to camera (TikTok/Reels)
• UGC unboxing — a creator excitedly opening/unpacking the product
• UGC tutorial / demo — a creator demonstrating how the product works, step by step
• UGC try-on / haul — a creator receiving, trying on or using the product (fashion/beauty/lifestyle)
• UGC product hero — UGC where the PRODUCT is the sole focal hero — close, tactile, hands-on (little/no creator face)
• This gadget saved me — a creator framing the product as the thing that fixed a specific everyday frustration ("this literally saved me")
• Secret hack reveal — a creator revealing a surprising clever hack or hidden use for the product ("nobody knows you can do this")
• Obsessed with it — a creator playfully obsessed — can't-put-it-down, reaching for the product everywhere through their day
• Crush / durability test — a satisfying crush, stress or durability test that proves the product holds up (oddly-satisfying, ASMR-leaning)
• POV product moment — immersive first-person POV — the viewer IS the person receiving/using the product ("POV: you finally...")
• Couple sharing at home — a couple / two people casually sharing and enjoying the product together at home
• Mystery box reveal — a suspenseful mystery-box build-up and reveal of the product
• Reboxing / restock — a satisfying repackaging / restock reveal — the product re-wrapped or restocked in oddly-satisfying order
• Customer testimonial — a real, relatable customer giving a sincere on-camera review (social proof)
• Storytime — a relatable first-person story told to camera ("the time I…")
• Street interview — a man-on-the-street / vox-pop style Q&A clip
• Get ready with me — a "get ready with me" routine clip while talking to camera
• Reaction / duet — a creator reacting to something on screen (duet/stitch style)
• ASMR / satisfying — an oddly-satisfying / ASMR sensory clip
• Q&A / answering — a creator answering a common question to camera
• Myth-busting — a "myth vs fact" debunking clip
• Skit / comedy bit — a short acted comedy skit — a relatable scenario with a punchline (the creator may play multiple characters)
• Virtual try-on — apparel/beauty shown ON the body — a clean try-before-you-buy demonstration (full-body, detail, movement)
• How-to tutorial — a clean step-by-step how-to-use walkthrough — clear, instructional, each step shown in order
• Product review — an authentic, balanced to-camera review of the product — honest reviewer energy, not a hard pitch
• Podcast clip — a viral podcast-clip ad — two people at a mic'd table mid-conversation, one telling the product story as an authentic sit-down excerpt, captions-forward
• Transformation — a before→after video transformation — space, skin, hair or outfit — with the reveal as the payoff beat
• Green-screen reaction — a creator green-screen composited over a full-bleed on-screen element (a review/article/product screenshot) they point at and react to — hook-first talking-head

Organic social video (9)

Video formats aimed at reach rather than a click — founder takes, behind-the-scenes, slideshows and swipeable carousels. They are written to look like content, not like an ad.

• POV meme — a "POV: …" text-over-video relatable meme clip (TikTok/Reels native)
• Founder hot-take — founder/creator talking to camera with an opinion or hot take (thought leadership, not selling)
• Behind-the-scenes — authentic behind-the-scenes / day-in-the-life footage
• Trend / relatable — a trend-style relatable scenario reel (riding a format/sound)
• Photo slideshow — a TikTok/IG photo slideshow — a sequence of vertical text-forward slides (hook → points → CTA)
• Voiceover B-roll — aesthetic b-roll under a first-person voiceover
• Day in the life — a "day in my life" vlog montage of a creator’s real day (first-person)
• Listicle carousel — a swipeable tips/listicle CAROUSEL — one tip per slide
• Carousel ad — a multi-image swipe AD carousel (Meta/IG) — sequential selling slides

Cinematic & brand film (19)

Directed, produced-looking spots: the commercial, the hero product film, the manifesto, the animated piece. Longer beat counts, a story shape, and a look that is meant to read as a budget rather than a phone.

• Giant product — the product at impossible giant scale in a real environment — a surreal, scroll-stopping spectacle played straight
• Classic meets modern — a stylish split between timeless/heritage and contemporary — the product bridging classic and modern worlds
• Cinematic / narrative — a filmic, emotional, story-driven brand film
• TV commercial — a glossy, broadcast-quality 15s commercial
• Product hero film — photoreal product cinematography — the product is the star
• Animated / cartoon — a 2D/2.5D animated, illustrated or motion-graphic spot
• Kinetic typography — type-as-hero — bold animated text drives the message (minimal imagery)
• Explainer / data — an animated explainer or data/infographic motion piece
• High-energy reel — a fast, punchy, hyperkinetic social reel
• Classic brand promo — a clean, general-purpose motion-design promo / brand reel — the catch-all when nothing more specific fits
• Movie trailer — an epic cinematic trailer — escalating tension, dramatic title cards, a climactic reveal
• Music video — a stylized, rhythm-driven music-video — performance + narrative cut to a beat
• Fashion film — an editorial fashion film — high-style, mood-driven, runway/lookbook energy
• Food / culinary film — mouth-watering food cinematography — sizzle, pour, steam, the hero dish
• Brand anthem / manifesto — an emotional aspirational brand-manifesto film (Nike/Apple-style)
• Stop-motion / claymation — a handcrafted tactile stop-motion / claymation spot
• Anime — an expressive Japanese-animation-style spot
• Hyper motion — a fast, dynamic product-ONLY highlight — energetic camera moves, speed-ramps, no talking
• Faux OOH spectacle — the viral fake out-of-home spectacle — a giant product dropped into a real street scene (building wrap, oversized on a truck), shot to look like real footage

Viral product formats (8)

Eight fixed creative concepts built on one product photo — an orbit, a peel, a thaw, a render breakdown. Each has a single locked idea and a one-way rule that stops the render dissolving into generic product footage.

• Packshot orbit (360°) — one unbroken 360° camera orbit around a stationary product on a clean set — the loop-ready e-commerce spin every DTC brand pays a studio for
• Collectible figure reveal — the product staged as a boxed collectible on a retail blister card, then lifted out of the moulding by hand
• Clay collectible — the product as a hand-sculpted matte clay collectible on a turntable, match-cutting to the real thing
• Sticker peel — the product peeled off its own flat printed photo like a die-cut vinyl sticker, the background locked dead still
• Render breakdown — a CG render breakdown — wireframe to clay to materials to the lit beauty pass, each wiping across one locked frame
• 3D hero render — a premium CG-grade hero render — the product in a void with the LIGHT RIG orbiting it, not the product spinning
• Orbital zoom hook — one continuous accelerating dive from orbit down onto the product — a HOOK for the top of an ad, not a whole ad
• Frozen reveal — the real product locked in clear ice, thawing and cracking away to release it — reads as a freshness / premium-ingredient demo

Image ads (32)

Static, direct-response creative for the feed: the headline, the offer, the proof, the comparison. Every word on these is composited by the app after the picture is rendered, so the copy comes out exactly as written.

• Social media ad — a finished, scroll-stopping Meta/IG feed ad — headline + supporting line + CTA baked in (the catch-all for "make me an ad")
• Bold graphic poster — a striking typographic poster / bold graphic ad
• Infographic — a static infographic / data-driven visual
• Before / after — a before-and-after transformation visual
• Comparison / vs — an "us vs the old way / competitor" comparison ad
• Testimonial / review — a customer testimonial / 5-star review ad graphic
• Offer / promo — a sale/offer/promo ad with a bold deal + CTA
• Problem → solution — a problem-agitate-solution ad (the pain, then the fix)
• Mystery / curiosity hook — a curiosity-gap / open-loop ad that withholds the payoff to earn the click
• Bundle / value stack — a bundle or value-stack offer ad — multiple items + the total value + the deal
• As-seen-in / press — a press-credibility ad — "as seen in" outlet logos / a press-quote screenshot
• App / product screenshot — an app or product-UI screenshot ad — the real interface framed in a device with callouts
• Bold headline statement — a headline-led statement ad — one punchy line is the whole creative (minimal imagery)
• Benefits / feature grid — a feature/benefit grid ad — the product surrounded by labelled icon callouts
• Viral comment / reaction — a screenshotted social comment or reaction styled as the ad hero — native, scroll-blending
• Star review card — a 5-star rating review card — the rating + a short review quote as the trust hero
• Founder / personal note — a personal handwritten-style note from the founder — behind-the-product, trust-building
• Editorial / magazine — an editorial magazine-cover/spread layout — premium, type-led fashion-mag energy
• Bold color-block graphic — a bold geometric color-block design — the product popped on flat brand-colour blocks
• Lifestyle + stat overlay — a lifestyle photo with bold stat/number overlays — proof composed onto a real moment
• Annotated callouts — the product annotated with handwritten-style callout notes + arrows pointing at features
• Native / organic post — an ad disguised as an organic native social post — blends into the feed, low ad-vibe
• Whiteboard explainer — a hand-drawn whiteboard/sketch explainer — the concept or how-it-works sketched out
• UGC side-by-side — a split-screen UGC comparison — two real moments side by side (problem vs solution / before-after in-use)
• Pattern-interrupt — a deliberate pattern-interrupt that breaks the feed — unexpected visual that forces a stop
• Unexpected twist — a setup→subverted-expectation twist — the headline flips what you assumed, paired with a reveal
• Highlighted-text hook — a bold sentence with the key phrase highlighted/marker-styled — the hook IS the design
• Product spotlight — a dramatic single-product spotlight — the hero lit in a pool of light against dark, premium
• Why we're different — a single sharp differentiator statement — what sets the brand apart vs the old way
• Social proof wall — a logos + big-numbers social-proof ad — a wall of trust signals (counts, ratings, outlet/partner logos)
• Press clipping screenshot — a real-looking press/article clipping or headline screenshot framed as the ad hero
• Customer story — a narrative before→after customer journey ad — a real person's transformation told with their photo + a short story

Product photography (5)

Commerce imagery built from your real packshot — studio hero shots, in-use lifestyle frames, flat-lays and marketplace listing images.

• Studio product shot — a clean studio hero photo of the product (e-commerce/premium)
• Lifestyle / in-use — the product in an authentic real-world, in-use setting
• UGC-style photo — a candid, phone-camera, real-person photo (feels organic, not an ad)
• Flat-lay / marketplace — a top-down arranged flat-lay or clean marketplace listing image
• Marketplace listing — a clean white-background marketplace/Amazon listing hero with callouts

Organic graphics (6)

Shareable, low-ad-vibe graphics: memes, quote cards, stat cards, saveable checklists. Built for the feeds where an obvious ad gets scrolled.

• Meme — a relatable image-macro meme (overlaid/top-bottom caption on a funny or relatable image) — organic reach
• Comparison meme — a two-panel "this vs that" / Drake-style comparison meme
• Quote / hot-take — a bold quote or hot-take text graphic (shareable, engagement)
• Stat / did-you-know — a surprising statistic / "did you know" graphic
• Tweet / X post — a viral-style X/Twitter screenshot post graphic
• Checklist / save this — a "save this" checklist / tips graphic

Production assets (3)

Things that are not an ad but feed one — a video thumbnail, a locked character reference sheet, a restyled interior.

• Interior / real-estate restyle — a listing-grade restyle of an interior/property photo — virtual staging, modern renovation, declutter or day-to-twilight — the SAME room, improved
• YouTube / video thumbnail — a click-driving YouTube / Shorts / IG video thumbnail or cover — MrBeast-grade packaging for a video (use POST /api/thumbnail or make_thumbnail for the full pipeline: frameworks, emotion casting, identity lock, takes)
• Character / model sheet — a multi-view character reference sheet (full body + close-up, turnaround or expression grid) of ONE original person — the identity lock other creatives reference

Beyond the catalog

A format is only half of an ad. The other half is what is already running in your market — Hermoso researches the ads live in the public Meta, Google and LinkedIn ad libraries plus organic TikTok, so a concept starts from patterns that are already working rather than from a blank prompt. Once the ad exists you can schedule it across nine channels or push it into a paused Meta or Google campaign to review before it spends anything.

Every area works on its own. Take the research and use it in whatever tool you already like; bring creative you already have and use only the scheduler; connect an ad account and use only campaign management. Making the ads is one way in, not a step you have to pass through.

Driving it from an agent

Every format on this site is reachable from an AI agent as well as the web studio. Hermoso ships an MCP server, so Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and any other MCP client can call plan_ad to draft the creative and render_ad to produce it, name a format as the recipe, and get a finished file back — with the same brand grounding and the same composited-text guarantees. The MCP and CLI overview covers the setup, and the generated tool reference is the complete list.