Designing a Startup from Scratch with AI: Essentials for a Health App in 30 Days

MealPreply began as an idea of personal meal-planning assistant. It’s designed for people aiming to lose weight, maintain a vegetarian diet, boost athletic performance, or simply eat healthier amidst busy schedules. The app helps users prep a week’s worth of meals in a single day, offering convenience without compromising on nutrition or taste.

‍The concept was initiated by Angelina, INSAIM’s Growth Lead, who brought her vision, insights about the target audience and Pinterest references. The mission: create a platform that simplifies meal planning, recipe management, and grocery shopping—starting with a strong brand identity and engaging website.

Briefing and Research

We kicked off with a focused briefing session to define deliverables and objectives, followed by research on target audiences and best mobile app designs.

Main audiences included:

1. Individuals aiming to lose weight.

2. Vegetarians and vegans.

3. Busy professionals.

4. Parents prioritizing family nutrition.

This phase provided the foundation for a strategic approach to mobile app design and branding.

Building the Brand

Starting from scratch, we focused on creating essential brand assets:

Visual Identity

‍We designed a fresh, energetic color palette and style guide to reflect MealPreply’s values, ensuring the branding would later align with the mobile app interface design. Once the color palette was finalized, we applied this style to various formats to evaluate how it would function and evolve over time.

Logo Design

‍After exploring text-based and graphic logo options, we finalized a clean text-based design with a custom font.

AI-Generated Characters and Photos

‍To engage diverse audiences, we created cartoon-style characters—one for each target group. AI tools like ReCraft helped generate illustrations, which were then refined manually. Accessories like dumbbells, glasses, and bags highlighted their connection to specific audience groups.

The characters were designed to function not just as visual elements but as key tools for social media communication and marketing.

For the website, we created realistic photos in MealPreply’s color palette, also using Recraft.

Website Design

While mobile app prototyping is planned for the next phase, the immediate focus shifted to creating a website and pitch deck.

Website features:

1. Interactive animations, such as character eyes following the user’s cursor. Using characters was our strong point.

2. We created blog and category pages even though there was no content for them yet, knowing that the blog and SEO would soon become essential parts of the marketing strategy.

Current Progress

We’ve completed branding, character design, and the website’s landing page. Currently, the website is being prepared for development, followed by the pitch deck. Next, we’ll dive into app development and leverage the branding for future marketing campaigns.

Completed phases:

1. Branding development (characters, logo, and style guide).

2. Landing page design (including blog and homepage with animations).

In Progress:

1. The landing page is being prepared for development.

2. A pitch deck will follow the website launch.

Future Plans:

1. Continue app development for MealPreply, focusing on mobile app interaction design and mobile app prototyping.

2. Leverage branding elements in marketing campaigns and social media.

1. Start with the Essentials: A clear brand identity and a professional landing page set the tone for future growth and build trust with your audience.

2. Phased Approach: Prioritizing critical deliverables ensures efficient resource allocation and early impactful results. Focus on what matters most at each stage of your startup’s journey.

3. Leverage AI Tools Smartly: AI tools like ReCraft sped up visual content creation and freed up time for strategic refinements. However, you can’t do everything with AI—human touch remains essential for truly unique and impactful designs.

4. Unified Branding and Design: By building everything from scratch—logo, website, and characters—consistency was maintained, avoiding the pitfalls of adapting outdated designs.

5. Think Long-Term: Create assets that can evolve with your startup. It’s good practice to work with a single team to ensure your app design process remains cohesive—from logos and branding guidelines to a custom mobile app design ready for development.

“I love cooking, and creating delicious dinners for loved ones is my love language. I wanted a tool to plan meals, create shopping lists, and simplify the process of cooking tasty, healthy food. Talking to others, I realized many people face the same challenge. That’s why MealPreply exists—to help anyone prioritize health while managing a busy life.” — Angelina, Founder

With a strong start, MealPreply is set to evolve from a practical idea into an indispensable tool for health-conscious individuals.

Have an idea for an app or digital solution? Let us help you turn your vision into reality with a tailored app design process. Whether it’s building a cohesive brand, creating engaging mobile app UX, or developing a fully functional app, our team is here to guide you every step of the way.