It’s Moodboard Monday, and this week we’re exploring a style we’re calling Jelly Pop, inspired by the textures of candy.

A quick and easy way to maintain a consistent visual style across outputs is to repeat key descriptors in the prompt. In this case we used: translucent materials, bright candy-colored palettes, and strong direct lighting.

As a result, the style remained visually consistent across very different subjects, like a handbag, a jelly burger, and a gummy bear jacket.

Below, we break down how we got there, and how you can use a similar process in your own work.

01: Jelly purse

This was the first image we made in the series. It set the style for Jelly Pop and became the base reference for lighting, material, and color palette.

The subject was a green designer handbag, written in the prompt with strong weighting to make sure it stayed the focus of the image: “a green designer handbag floating through the sky:1.3).”

We also included phrases like “photographed in intense sunlight” and “overexposed edges with radiant lens flares” to create that glowing, overexposed look.

Prompt: “Ultra-realistic, high-gloss, translucent jelly texture, bright candy-colored palette pinks, oranges, purples, yellows, blues:1.3), soft rounded forms with a toy-like, surreal aesthetic, (a green designer hand bag floats through the sky:1.3) glowing highlights and subtle inner refractions, (overexposed edges with radiant lens flares, sparkling reflections, photographed in intense sunlight:1.2), background is a vivid, saturated blue sky with minimal cloud coverage, airy and clean atmosphere, object appears to glow from within, shallow depth of field, soft bokeh in the distance, magical and whimsical.”

02: Gummy shell figure

We used the Jelly Purse output as a reference image, then changed the subject to a character wearing a gummy bear hoodie. The prompt kept the same material and lighting language.

Here's how we made the Gummy shell figure output:

Step 1: Initial prompt + jelly purse reference

We reused the same material and lighting prompt from the Jelly Purse and applied it to a new subject: a seated figure in a hoodie made of clustered gummy bears. The result leaned slightly too realistic, with detailed facial features that didn’t feel toy-like.

Prompt: “Ultra-realistic, high-gloss, translucent jelly texture, bright candy-colored palette pinks, oranges, purples, yellows, blues:1.3) (wearing a gummy bear hoodie, hoodie is made of an organized cluster of translucent gummy bears :1.3) soft rounded forms with a toy-like, surreal aesthetic, glowing highlights and subtle inner refractions, (overexposed edges with radiant lens flares, sparkling reflections, photographed in intense sunlight:1.2) (highly stylized intense sunlight portrait of woman, freckles, gap in teeth, skin blemishes, natural skin texture, looking upward, expression is confident attitude:1.3), background is a vivid, saturated blue sky with minimal cloud coverage, airy and clean atmosphere, object appears to glow from within, shallow depth of field, soft bokeh in the distance, magical and whimsical.”

Step 2: Prompt simplification

We simplified the prompt by removing descriptors related to human features. Specifically, we took out phrases like "freckles," "skin blemishes," "gap teeth," and "expression is confident attitude." We also removed character-focused terms like "highly stylized portrait of a Gen Z woman." The figure lost facial identity and started to resemble a toy instead of a person.

Prompt: “ High-gloss, translucent jelly texture, bright candy-colored palette pinks, oranges, purples, yellows, blues:1.3) (wearing a gummy bear hoodie, hoodie is made of an organized cluster of translucent gummy bears :1.3) soft rounded forms with a toy-like, surreal aesthetic, glowing highlights and subtle inner refractions, (overexposed edges with radiant lens flares, sparkling reflections, photographed in intense sunlight:1.2) background is a vivid, saturated blue sky with minimal cloud coverage, airy and clean atmosphere, object appears to glow from within, shallow depth of field, soft bokeh in the distance, magical and whimsical.”

Step 3: Final style transfer

We blended the simplified figure with the material and lighting prompt used for the Jelly Purse. The final result looked like a candy-coated character sculpted from translucent material.

03 Jelly girl

Where previous outputs centered around toy-like subjects, this image focused on a human character.

Here’s how we made the Jelly Girl output:

Step 1: Structure + prompt

We used ControlNet with both Canny and Depth to lock in the subject’s pose and face shape. Canny helped capture the outline of the figure, while Depth preserved the 3D structure. We then applied a base prompt that used the same jelly material and direct sunlight traits from earlier images to stay consistent with the style.

Prompt: “Magazine cover photography, editorial, mid shot from low angle of an:1.5) (woman with, realistic skin, blemishes on face, gap teeth, chapped lips, full brow, small nose:1.4) (ultra-realistic, high-gloss, translucent jelly texture, bright candy-colored palette pinks, oranges, purples, yellows, blues:1.3) (wearing a gummy bear hoodie, hoodie is made of an organized cluster of translucent gummy bears:1.3) surreal aesthetic, glowing highlights and subtle inner refractions, (overexposed edges with radiant lens flares, sparkling reflections, photographed in intense sunlight:1.2) (intense sunlight portrait of woman, freckles, gap in teeth, skin blemishes, natural skin texture, looking upward, expression is confident attitude:1.3), (background is a vivid, saturated blue sky with minimal cloud coverage, airy and clean atmosphere:1.4), shallow depth of field, soft bokeh in the distance, magical and whimsical.”

This combination gave us a stylized portrait that adhered to our Jelly Pop style.

Step 2: Outpainting the frame

We used outpainting to turn a vertical portrait into a square image by extending the edges outward. This gave the subject more space and let us keep the lighting and color consistent while extending the background.

Step 3: Prompt variation

We softened the woman’s facial expression by adding “innocent ethereal expression :1.5” to the prompt. This prompt addition gave a dreamier feel to the image.

Prompt: “(Magazine cover photography, editorial, mid shot from low angle, innocent ethereal expression :1.5) (innocent looking woman woman with, realistic skin, blemishes on face, gap teeth, chapped lips, full brow, mouse nose:1.4) (ultra-realistic, high-gloss, translucent jelly texture, bright candy-colored palette pinks, oranges, purples, yellows, blues:1.3) (wearing a gummy bear hoodie, hoodie is made of an organized cluster of translucent gummy bears :1.3) surreal aesthetic, glowing highlights and subtle inner refractions, (overexposed edges with radiant lens flares, sparkling reflections, photographed in intense sunlight:1.2) (intense sunlight portrait of woman, freckles, gap in teeth, skin blemishes, natural skin texture, looking upward, expression is confident attitude:1.3), (background is a vivid, saturated blue sky with minimal cloud coverage, airy and clean atmosphere:1.4), shallow depth of field, soft bokeh in the distance, magical and whimsical.”

Step 4: Color treatment

We brought the final image into Photoshop and used Camera Raw Filter: a built-in editing tool that lets you adjust brightness, contrast, color temperature, and sharpness.

We reduced the contrast, increased warmth, and added a soft lens flare. This step did not change the content of the image. It only polished how it looked and made it feel more like a finished photo.

04: Jelly crab

This was a simple prompt-only output with no ControlNet or reference. We wanted to see how the style would apply to an animal shape with no structure guidance.

We changed the prompt to remove texture detail and emphasize soft, rounded, puffy shapes. We reused the same lighting and material language from the Jelly Purse and Jelly Girl prompts.

Prompt: “A stylized crab made entirely from (translucent gummy material:1.5), floating gently in a bright blue sky filled with soft, puffy clouds. The crab’s body and legs are smooth, rounded, and slightly inflated, with a (glossy jelly surface:1.3) that catches and refracts the sunlight. The entire form glows softly from within, like a candy sculpture suspended midair. Its shape is simplified and surreal, no sharp claws or realistic textures, just puffy forms and soft edges. The atmosphere is dreamy and playful, with gentle gradients and a sense of weightlessness, as if the crab were made of light and sugar.”

05: Jelly burgers

For this output, we started with a reference image of a hamburger and used ControlNet with Canny + Depth to maintain the shape.

Here’s how we made the Jelly burger output:

Step 1: Structural reference + initial prompt

We started with the reference image below, using both the Canny and Depth ControlNet. Canny keeps the edges sharp, and Depth gives a sense of 3D shape. This helped the model keep the burger's structure while we applied a base prompt focused on toy-like visuals.

The shape came through, but the materials looked too flat and plastic. The lighting was also missing the glowing, sunlit look we wanted for Jelly Pop.

Prompt: (Light, desaturated, pastel pinks, purple, blue, orange, yellow, lens flares:1.4), (translucent gummy texture:1.4) (Scattered hamburgers, different angles, depth of field, floating in the air again a bright blue sky with minimal cloud coverage, translucent gummy material:1.5) (high-gloss jelly, gummy, inflated surface:1.3) (puffy soft-edged form:1.3) (slight internal glow:1.1) (soft cinematic lighting:1.2) surreal, (reflective surface:1.2), gradient backgrounds, simplified or toy-like anatomy.”

Step 2: Prompt adjustments

We rewrote the prompt to better emphasize the jelly-like material and bring in more sunlight.

We added stronger lighting terms like "intense sun," "overexposed edges," and "radiant lens flares." We repeated material terms like "translucent," "gummy," "high-gloss," and "jelly," and weighted them between :1.3 and :1.5 so they would be prioritized. We also added terms like "puffy soft-edged form" and "toy-like aesthetic" to remove realism from the image.

Prompt: (Ultra-realistic, high-gloss, translucent glowing jelly material, bright candy-colored palette pinks, oranges, purples, yellows, blues:1.3) (high-gloss jelly, gummy, intense sun:1.3) (puffy soft-edged form:1.3) soft rounded forms with a toy-like, surreal aesthetic, glowing highlights and subtle inner refractions, (overexposed edges with radiant lens flares, sparkling reflections, photographed in intense sunlight:1.2) (Scattered hamburgers, different angles, depth of field, floating in the air again a bright blue sky with minimal cloud coverage, translucent gummy material:1.5.)”

Prompting tips

These are the specific methods we used to get the Jelly Pop look to show up consistently across different subjects:

Weight key terms: In every prompt, we used syntax like :1.3 or higher to tell the model which words were most important. For example, we wrote “translucent gummy texture:1.4” or “floating in a bright blue sky:1.5.” This made sure the model prioritized those exact elements.
Outpaint to expand: We used outpainting to extend the image beyond its original frame. This let us add extra sky or background while keeping the same lighting and material.
Reduce prompt detail: When the image looked too realistic, we removed parts of the prompt that described fine details like the face, skin, or clothing. This helped simplify the subject and gave it a more stylized, toy-like look.

What’s next

We’ll be back next week with another board, a new direction, and a breakdown of how an idea moved from exploration to execution.

In the meanntime, check out our last Moodboard Monday: Tonal Edge.

Moodboard Monday: Jelly Pop