Open any new "AI Wrapper" or SaaS landing page launched in the last six months. What do you see?
Dark mode. A slightly purple gradient background. A glowing border. Inter generic sans-serif font.
It’s what I call "Frontend Slop." We have reached a point where everyone is using the same LLMs to generate the same Tailwind code, resulting in an internet that looks exactly the same. If you are building a product, this is a death sentence. If your app looks generic, users assume your code is generic too.
But here is the good news: The problem isn't the AI. The problem is your vocabulary.
The "Lazy Dev" Problem
When you open Claude or v0 and type: "Make me a landing page for a notes app," you are essentially asking the AI to give you the average of the entire internet. And the average is boring.
You cannot prompt for what you don't know. If you don't know the difference between Padding and Margin, or if you think Flexbox is a gym term, you are going to struggle.
There are two types of developers using AI right now:
- The Noob: Has zero fundamental knowledge.
- The Architect: Knows exactly what they want but uses AI to type it faster.
If you are the first one, go study CSS. Seriously. If you are the second one, you just need a better vocabulary.
The Cheat Codes: Design Vocabularies
To get better outputs, you need to stop asking for "modern websites" and start asking for specific aesthetic styles. Here are three distinct styles you can use to instantly differentiate your app from the "Purple Glow" crowd.
1. Neubrutalism (The "Raw" Look)
This is my personal favorite for developer tools. It rejects the polished, soft look of modern web design.
- The Vibe: High contrast, ugly on purpose, confident.
- The Characteristics: Thick black borders, hard shadows (no blur), unaligned elements, and clashing colors.
- The Prompt: "Neubrutalism style, hard edges, thick black strokes (3px), high contrast colors, raw aesthetic, brutalist layout."
It looks distinct. It signals to the user that you care about function over fluff.
2. The Bento Grid (The "Organized" Look)
If you have a lot of data or features to show, don't just stack divs on top of each other. Use a Bento Grid. This is popularized by Apple’s promotional materials and is incredible for dashboards.
- The Vibe: Structured, modular, dense.
- The Characteristics: Everything is a box. Rounded corners. strict grid alignment. Content density is high.
- The Prompt: "Bento grid layout, highly structured, modular cards, uniform gap, soft gray background, rounded corners (xl), information density."
3. Glassmorphism (The "Clean" Look)
This is risky. If done wrong, it looks like Windows Vista. If done right, it looks like the future.
- The Vibe: Translucent, depth, layers.
- The Characteristics: Background blur (backdrop-filter), white opacity at 10-20%, subtle white borders, vivid background blobs to show depth.
- The Prompt: "Glassmorphism, frosted glass effect, backdrop-filter blur, translucent cards, subtle white border, noise texture overlay."
The Final Attack: Typography and Color
Once you have the structure, you need to kill the "Default" vibe.
1. Kill the Default Font The easiest way to spot a lazy developer is the default Inter or Roboto font. Import a custom font. Use a Monospace font for technical headers. It adds immediate personality.
2. Use Specific Hex Codes Don't tell the AI to "make it blue." AI's definition of blue is usually that terrible default link blue. Give it specifics: "Use #0047AB for the primary action button and #F0F0F0 for the background."
Conclusion
AI is a multiplier. If you give it zero input, you get zero (or average) output. But if you give it specific design terms, strict constraints, and a clear vision, you can build UIs that look like they were designed by a human, not a machine.
Stop being lazy. Learn the vocabulary. Build something that doesn't look like everything else.