diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ca552f8d43..0f5e00516e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### New features
+
+- [#1906: Improved messaging when creating a prototype](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-prototype-kit/pull/1906)
+
 ### Fixes
 
 - [#1887: You no longer need to press ctrl-c to exit if you say no to a new port](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-prototype-kit/pull/1887)
diff --git a/bin/cli b/bin/cli
index 1645bcdb03..eae5e15616 100755
--- a/bin/cli
+++ b/bin/cli
@@ -16,9 +16,19 @@ const kitRoot = path.join(__dirname, '..')
 const kitVersion = require('../package.json').version
 
 const argv = parse(process.argv, {
-  booleans: ['no-version-control']
+  booleans: ['no-version-control', 'verbose', 'running-within-create-script']
 })
 
+const verboseLogger = !argv.options.verbose
+  ? () => {}
+  : function () {
+    console.log('[verbose]', ...arguments)
+  }
+
+const progressLogger = function () {
+  console.log(' - ', ...arguments)
+}
+
 const npmrc = `
 audit=false
 `.trimStart()
@@ -52,13 +62,33 @@ async function updatePackageJson (packageJsonPath) {
   await fs.writeJson(packageJsonPath, newPackageJson, packageJsonFormat)
 }
 
+function displaySuccessMessage () {
+  console.log('')
+  console.log('Prototype created')
+  if (argv.paths.length > 0) {
+    console.log('')
+    console.log('Change to your prototype directory:')
+    console.log(`  cd ${argv.paths[0]}`)
+  }
+  console.log('')
+  console.log('To run your prototype:')
+  console.log('  npm run dev')
+  console.log('')
+}
+
 async function initialiseGitRepo () {
-  if (argv.options['no-version-control']) {
+  const noVersionControlArg = 'no-version-control'
+  if (argv.options[noVersionControlArg]) {
+    verboseLogger(`User specified --${noVersionControlArg}, skipping.`)
     return
   }
+  progressLogger('Initialising git')
   try {
     await exec('git init --initial-branch=main && git add -A .', {})
   } catch (e) {
+    verboseLogger('Failed to initialise git')
+    verboseLogger(e.message)
+    verboseLogger(e.errorOutput)
     return
   }
 
@@ -143,6 +173,23 @@ function warnIfNpmStart (argv, env) {
   }
 }
 
+function writeEmptyPackageJson (installDirectory) {
+  return fs.writeJson(path.join(installDirectory, 'package.json'), {})
+}
+
+function getArgumentsToPassThrough () {
+  const additionalArgs = Object.keys(argv.options).map(name => `--${name}="${argv.options[name]}"`)
+  return additionalArgs
+}
+
+function initialiserRequiresOldInitSyntax () {
+  const dependencies = require(path.join(getInstallLocation(), 'package.json')).dependencies || {}
+  const kitVersionParts = (dependencies['govuk-prototype-kit'] || '').split('.')
+
+  const requiresOldInitSyntax = kitVersionParts[0].endsWith('13') && Number(kitVersionParts[1]) <= 2
+  return requiresOldInitSyntax
+}
+
 async function runCreate () {
   // Install as a two-stage bootstrap process.
   //
@@ -157,6 +204,7 @@ async function runCreate () {
   // as possible into stage two; stage one should ideally be able to install
   // any future version of the kit.
 
+  console.log('')
   const installDirectory = getInstallLocation()
   const kitDependency = getChosenKitDependency()
 
@@ -167,25 +215,34 @@ async function runCreate () {
     return
   }
 
-  await fs.writeJson(path.join(installDirectory, 'package.json'), {}, packageJsonFormat)
-
   console.log('Creating your prototype')
 
+  await writeEmptyPackageJson(installDirectory)
+
+  progressLogger('Installing dependencies')
+
   await npmInstall(installDirectory, [kitDependency, 'govuk-frontend'])
 
-  const additionalArgs = Object.keys(argv.options).map(name => `--${name}="${argv.options[name]}"`)
+  let runningWithinCreateScriptFlag = '--running-within-create-script'
+
+  if (initialiserRequiresOldInitSyntax()) {
+    runningWithinCreateScriptFlag = '--'
+  }
+
+  progressLogger('Setting up your prototype')
 
-  await spawn('npx', ['govuk-prototype-kit', 'init', '--', installDirectory, ...additionalArgs], {
+  await spawn('npx', ['govuk-prototype-kit', 'init', runningWithinCreateScriptFlag, installDirectory, `--created-from-version=${kitVersion}`, ...(getArgumentsToPassThrough())], {
     cwd: installDirectory,
     stdio: 'inherit'
   })
+    .then(displaySuccessMessage)
 }
 
 async function runInit () {
   // `init` is stage two of the install process (see above), it should be
   // called by `create` with the correct arguments.
 
-  if (process.argv[3] !== '--') {
+  if (!argv.options['running-within-create-script'] && process.argv[3] !== '--') {
     usage()
     process.exitCode = 2
     return
@@ -201,7 +258,8 @@ async function runInit () {
     fs.writeFile(path.join(installDirectory, '.npmrc'), npmrc, 'utf8'),
     copyFile('LICENCE.txt'),
     updatePackageJson(path.join(installDirectory, 'package.json'))
-  ]).then(initialiseGitRepo)
+  ])
+    .then(initialiseGitRepo)
 }
 
 async function runMigrate () {
@@ -271,6 +329,8 @@ function runServe () {
 }
 
 ;(async () => {
+  verboseLogger(`Using kit version [${kitVersion}] for command [${argv.command}]`)
+  verboseLogger('Argv:', argv)
   switch (argv.command) {
     case 'create':
       return runCreate()
diff --git a/bin/utils/argv-parser.js b/bin/utils/argv-parser.js
index d434f8a7f7..00f8a04497 100644
--- a/bin/utils/argv-parser.js
+++ b/bin/utils/argv-parser.js
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ function parse (argvInput, config = {}) {
   }
 
   args.forEach(arg => {
+    if (arg === '--') {
+      return
+    }
     if (arg.startsWith('-')) {
       const processedArgName = processOptionName(arg)
       if (booleanOptions.includes(processedArgName)) {
diff --git a/bin/utils/index.js b/bin/utils/index.js
index 3a5bd1ce90..d2aa3b7e06 100644
--- a/bin/utils/index.js
+++ b/bin/utils/index.js
@@ -8,13 +8,10 @@ async function npmInstall (cwd, dependencies) {
   return spawn(
     'npm', [
       'install',
-      '--no-audit',
-      '--loglevel=error',
-      '--omit=dev',
       ...dependencies
     ], {
       cwd,
-      stdio: 'inherit'
+      stderr: 'inherit'
     })
 }
 
diff --git a/migrator/file-helpers.js b/migrator/file-helpers.js
index 9b309bdeb8..082f6a4429 100644
--- a/migrator/file-helpers.js
+++ b/migrator/file-helpers.js
@@ -9,13 +9,18 @@ const fse = require('fs-extra')
 // local dependencies
 const { packageDir, projectDir } = require('../lib/utils/paths')
 const { log, sanitisePaths } = require('./logger')
+const { parse } = require('../bin/utils/argv-parser')
+
+const argv = parse(process.argv, {
+  booleans: ['no-version-control', 'verbose']
+})
 
 async function verboseLog () {
   await log(...arguments)
-  if (process.env.GPK_UPGRADE_DEBUG !== 'true') {
+  if (process.env.GPK_UPGRADE_DEBUG !== 'true' || argv.options.verbose) {
     return
   }
-  console.log(...arguments)
+  console.log('[debug]', ...arguments)
 }
 
 async function verboseLogError (e) {