diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 77a1d1f9..7ecf797d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 - Fixed displaying of status code without a status message on non-`auto` themes. ([#1300](https://github.com/httpie/httpie/issues/1300))
 - Fixed redundant issuance of stdin detection warnings on some rare cases due to underlying implementation. ([#1303](https://github.com/httpie/httpie/pull/1303))
 - Improved regulation of top-level arrays. ([#1292](https://github.com/httpie/httpie/commit/225dccb2186f14f871695b6c4e0bfbcdb2e3aa28))
+- Improved UI layout for standalone invocations. ([#1296](https://github.com/httpie/httpie/pull/1296))
 - Double `--quiet` flags will now suppress all python level warnings. ([#1271](https://github.com/httpie/httpie/issues/1271))
 
 ## [3.0.2](https://github.com/httpie/httpie/compare/3.0.1...3.0.2) (2022-01-24)
diff --git a/httpie/cli/argparser.py b/httpie/cli/argparser.py
index f9d6674b..c632774d 100644
--- a/httpie/cli/argparser.py
+++ b/httpie/cli/argparser.py
@@ -48,12 +48,39 @@ class HTTPieHelpFormatter(RawDescriptionHelpFormatter):
         text = dedent(text).strip() + '\n\n'
         return text.splitlines()
 
+    def add_usage(self, usage, actions, groups, prefix=None):
+        # Only display the positional arguments
+        displayed_actions = [
+            action
+            for action in actions
+            if not action.option_strings
+        ]
+
+        _, exception, _ = sys.exc_info()
+        if (
+            isinstance(exception, argparse.ArgumentError)
+            and len(exception.args) >= 1
+            and isinstance(exception.args[0], argparse.Action)
+        ):
+            # add_usage path is also taken when you pass an invalid option,
+            # e.g --style=invalid. If something like that happens, we want
+            # to include to action that caused to the invalid usage into
+            # the list of actions we are displaying.
+            displayed_actions.insert(0, exception.args[0])
+
+        super().add_usage(
+            usage,
+            displayed_actions,
+            groups,
+            prefix="usage:\n    "
+        )
+
 
 # TODO: refactor and design type-annotated data structures
 #       for raw args + parsed args and keep things immutable.
 class BaseHTTPieArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
-    def __init__(self, *args, formatter_class=HTTPieHelpFormatter, **kwargs):
-        super().__init__(*args, formatter_class=formatter_class, **kwargs)
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
         self.env = None
         self.args = None
         self.has_stdin_data = False
@@ -116,9 +143,9 @@ class HTTPieArgumentParser(BaseHTTPieArgumentParser):
 
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, *args, formatter_class=HTTPieHelpFormatter, **kwargs):
         kwargs.setdefault('add_help', False)
-        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        super().__init__(*args, formatter_class=formatter_class, **kwargs)
 
     # noinspection PyMethodOverriding
     def parse_args(
@@ -529,3 +556,21 @@ class HTTPieArgumentParser(BaseHTTPieArgumentParser):
         for options_group in format_options:
             parsed_options = parse_format_options(options_group, defaults=parsed_options)
         self.args.format_options = parsed_options
+
+    def error(self, message):
+        """Prints a usage message incorporating the message to stderr and
+        exits."""
+        self.print_usage(sys.stderr)
+        self.exit(
+            2,
+            dedent(
+                f'''
+                error:
+                    {message}
+
+                For more information:
+                    - Try running {self.prog} --help
+                    - Or visiting https://httpie.io/docs/cli
+                '''
+            )
+        )
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_ui.py b/tests/test_cli_ui.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..35faf37f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_cli_ui.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import pytest
+import shutil
+import os
+import sys
+from tests.utils import http
+
+
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 9):
+    REQUEST_ITEM_MSG = "[REQUEST_ITEM ...]"
+else:
+    REQUEST_ITEM_MSG = "[REQUEST_ITEM [REQUEST_ITEM ...]]"
+
+
+NAKED_HELP_MESSAGE = f"""\
+usage:
+    http [METHOD] URL {REQUEST_ITEM_MSG}
+
+error:
+    the following arguments are required: URL
+
+For more information:
+    - Try running http --help
+    - Or visiting https://httpie.io/docs/cli
+
+"""
+
+NAKED_HELP_MESSAGE_PRETTY_WITH_NO_ARG = f"""\
+usage:
+    http [--pretty {{all,colors,format,none}}] [METHOD] URL {REQUEST_ITEM_MSG}
+
+error:
+    argument --pretty: expected one argument
+
+For more information:
+    - Try running http --help
+    - Or visiting https://httpie.io/docs/cli
+
+"""
+
+NAKED_HELP_MESSAGE_PRETTY_WITH_INVALID_ARG = f"""\
+usage:
+    http [--pretty {{all,colors,format,none}}] [METHOD] URL {REQUEST_ITEM_MSG}
+
+error:
+    argument --pretty: invalid choice: '$invalid' (choose from 'all', 'colors', 'format', 'none')
+
+For more information:
+    - Try running http --help
+    - Or visiting https://httpie.io/docs/cli
+
+"""
+
+
+PREDEFINED_TERMINAL_SIZE = (160, 80)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
+def ignore_terminal_size(monkeypatch):
+    """Some tests wrap/crop the output depending on the
+    size of the executed terminal, which might not be consistent
+    through all runs.
+
+    This fixture ensures every run uses the same exact configuration.
+    """
+
+    def fake_terminal_size(*args, **kwargs):
+        return os.terminal_size(PREDEFINED_TERMINAL_SIZE)
+
+    # Setting COLUMNS as an env var is required for 3.8<
+    monkeypatch.setitem(os.environ, 'COLUMNS', str(PREDEFINED_TERMINAL_SIZE[0]))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(shutil, 'get_terminal_size', fake_terminal_size)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    'args, expected_msg', [
+        ([], NAKED_HELP_MESSAGE),
+        (['--pretty'], NAKED_HELP_MESSAGE_PRETTY_WITH_NO_ARG),
+        (['pie.dev', '--pretty'], NAKED_HELP_MESSAGE_PRETTY_WITH_NO_ARG),
+        (['--pretty', '$invalid'], NAKED_HELP_MESSAGE_PRETTY_WITH_INVALID_ARG),
+    ]
+)
+def test_naked_invocation(ignore_terminal_size, args, expected_msg):
+    result = http(*args, tolerate_error_exit_status=True)
+    assert result.stderr == expected_msg