# Design Best Practices

> Comprehensive library of professional document design best practices sourced from top consulting firms (McKinsey, Deloitte, BCG), tech leaders (Stripe, Apple, Google), and typography/layout research. Use this skill when making design decisions, choosing fonts, colors, layouts, or when the user asks for a "professional" or "corporate" look.

- Skill: `agents-store/design-best-practices` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add agents-store/design-best-practices`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/agents-store/design-best-practices/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Design & Media
- Author: agents-store (https://skillmd.com/u/agents-store)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/agents-store/design-best-practices

---


# Design Best Practices Library

Actionable design guidelines sourced from top companies and research. Use these as the default standard for all generated documents.

## 1. Proposal Design (McKinsey / Deloitte Style)

### Structure
- Cover page: title pushed to upper-center area (not dead center), accent line above title, meta block (prepared by/for, date)
- Executive summary on page 2 — single page max
- Clear section breaks with generous whitespace between major sections
- About/team page near the end, not the beginning

### Layout Principles
- Left-aligned body text always (never centered body copy)
- Action titles on every section — articulate the key takeaway, not just the topic
- One idea per page/section — do not stack unrelated content
- Use line-based separators (1px rules) over box-based containers
- Generous whitespace signals sophistication; cluttered layouts signal amateur work

---

## 2. Invoice Design (Stripe / FreshBooks Model)

### Layout
1. Subtle top bar (4-5px solid color) — visual anchor without heaviness
2. Header: company name + details left; "INVOICE" label + number + dates right
3. Bill-to section: plain text, uppercase muted labels (9px) above client info (14px bold)
4. Amount Due: right-aligned, large bold (18px)
5. Line items table: dark header row with white text, alternating white/#F8FAFC rows, no vertical inner borders
6. Totals: right-aligned, line-based — subtotal/tax in muted, 1.5px divider, total in bold
7. Payment details: separated by thin rule, 2-column label+value grid
8. Subtle bottom bar (4px)

### Principles
- Minimalism outperforms cluttered designs
- White space is "breathing room" — cramped invoices feel chaotic, spacious invoices feel trustworthy
- Sans-serif fonts work best for invoice data
- No colored background cards for info sections — use plain text with thin separators
- No navy fill boxes on totals — bold text + border-top rule instead

---

## 3. Report Design (McKinsey / BCG Style)

### Brand Colors (Reference)
- **McKinsey**: Primary blue #2251FF, dark #051C2C, white #FFFFFF
- **Deloitte**: Green #86BC24, Black #000000
- **BCG**: Off-white #F5F5F5, dark #222222, blue #005EB8, gray #A2AAAD

### Layout Principles
- Every slide/page needs an "action title" — the key takeaway, not a topic label
- White and dark backgrounds alternated for contrast and hierarchy
- Color used sparsely — vivid colors highlight key data only
- Well-organized layouts with bold headings, bullet points, numbered lists
- Simple, minimalist, monochromatic icons from a consistent set

### Report Structure
- Cover page with clear title hierarchy
- Table of contents for 10+ page documents
- Executive summary (1 page)
- Key findings with action titles
- Data tables with dark header rows, light zebra striping
- Appendices separated clearly

---

## 4. Presentation Design (Apple Keynote / TED Style)

### Core Principles
- One core message per slide — prevent information overload
- Build slides last — first develop message, structure, supporting points
- Bold typography can serve as the visual element itself
- Use simple, punchy images that amplify spoken words

### Text Rules
- 4-5 words per bullet point maximum
- 4-5 bullet points per slide maximum
- Sans-serif fonts for clean screen readability

### Sizes
- Title slide heading: 40pt Bold, white on dark background
- Slide header: 16pt Bold, white on navy bar (0.75" height)
- Subtitle: 20-22pt Regular, muted color
- Body/bullets: 16-18pt Regular
- Agenda numbers: 24pt Bold, accent color

### Patterns
- Title slide: full navy background + accent stripe + left-aligned text
- Content slides: navy header bar + accent line + white body area
- Agenda slides: numbered items with accent-colored numbers + dividers
- Summary slides: two card boxes with top accent stripe

---

## 5. Contract / Legal Document Formatting

### Typography
- Serif fonts preferred for printed legal documents (traditional, authoritative)
- Recommended: Georgia, Garamond, Source Serif 4
- Font size: 12pt standard (courts recommend 12pt)
- Bold for section titles, italics for references/citations, avoid underlining

### Spacing
- Line spacing: 1.5-1.7 for legal documents
- Line length: 60-75 characters per line, never more than 90
- 12pt of space between paragraphs
- Hanging indent for numbered sub-clauses: padding-left 2.2em, text-indent -2.2em

### Margins
- Standard: 1" on all sides
- Left margin slightly wider (1.25") if bound

### Layout
- Centered title block: title in Bold uppercase with letter-spacing 0.08em
- Contract number + date in muted text below title
- Article/section dividers: full-width primary background bars with white uppercase text
- Two-column signature blocks at end
- Page numbering starting on page 2, upper right

---

## 6. Typography Best Practices

### Font Pairings by Context

**System-safe (DOCX/PPTX):**

| Use Case | Headings | Body |
|----------|----------|------|
| Proposals, Reports | Georgia (serif) | Arial (sans-serif) |
| Presentations | Georgia (serif) | Arial (sans-serif) |
| Contracts, Legal | Georgia (serif) | Georgia (serif) |

**Embedded/PDF:**

| Use Case | Headings | Body |
|----------|----------|------|
| Invoices, Reports | Source Serif 4 | Inter |
| Contracts, Acts | Source Serif 4 | Source Serif 4 |

**Premium pairings (reference):**
- Helvetica + Garamond: authority + elegance (academic, government, law)
- Inter + Garamond: modern screen clarity + warm body text
- Montserrat + EB Garamond: geometric modern + classic (free Google Fonts)

### Font Size Scale

| Element | Print (pt) | Screen (px) |
|---------|-----------|-------------|
| Document title | 28-32 | 26-32 |
| H1 | 18-20 | 20-24 |
| H2 | 14-16 | 16-18 |
| H3 | 12-13 | 14-15 |
| Body text | 11-12 | 12-16 |
| Captions/meta | 8-9 | 10-11 |
| Table body | 10-11 | 12-13 |
| Table header | 10-11 | 10.5 |

### Spacing
- Line height: 1.3 for business docs, 1.5-1.7 for legal, 1.0 for presentations
- Paragraph spacing: 8-12pt after paragraphs
- Letter spacing: 0.08-0.12em for uppercase labels; 0 for body text

---

## 7. Color Palette Best Practices

### The 60-30-10 Rule
- **60%** — Dominant (white/off-white page background)
- **30%** — Structure (navy headers, table headers, headings)
- **10%** — Accent (blue highlights, underlines, key values)

### Corporate Palette

| Role | Hex | Usage |
|------|-----|-------|
| Primary (Deep Navy) | `#1E3A5F` | Table headers, title bars, key amounts |
| Accent (Corporate Blue) | `#2563EB` | Underlines, bullet markers, highlights |
| Text (Dark Slate) | `#1E293B` | Body text, names, amounts |
| Muted (Slate Gray) | `#64748B` | Labels, captions, secondary info |
| Border (Light) | `#E2E8F0` | Table borders, dividers |
| Background (Off-white) | `#F8FAFC` | Alternating table rows only |

### Guidelines
- 5-8 colors total: 1-2 dark anchors, 1-2 light surfaces, 1 accent, supporting tints
- Use off-white (#F8FAFC) instead of pure white for premium feel
- Keep saturation low for multi-color palettes
- Reserve bright/vivid colors for key data highlights only
- Never use colored fill boxes as section backgrounds in PDFs

### Document-Type Variations
- **Formal/Legal**: darker palette — primary #1E293B, accent #1E3A5F
- **Business/Corporate**: standard — primary #1E3A5F, accent #2563EB
- **Creative/Tech**: warmer accent (teal #0D9488, terracotta #C2410C)

---

## 8. Multi-Language Document Design

### RTL (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian)
- Entire layout flips: navigation, columns, margins all mirror
- Use CSS logical properties (margin-inline-start not margin-left)
- Numerals, punctuation, brand names, and URLs remain LTR
- Arabic text needs 20-30% more vertical space than Latin
- Arabic fonts: Noto Sans Arabic, Noto Naskh Arabic, Amiri

### CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
- No word spaces in Chinese/Japanese — text is continuous
- CJK text needs larger line-height (1.5-1.8 recommended)
- Recommended: Noto Sans CJK / Noto Serif CJK (covers all three scripts, 7 weights, free)

### Cyrillic (Ukrainian, Russian)
- Source Serif 4: designed specifically for Cyrillic+Latin — ideal
- Inter: excellent Cyrillic support for sans-serif body text
- Both embedded as WOFF2 in this plugin's font system

### General Guidelines
- Always verify font coverage for target scripts before selecting
- Use font-family stacks with fallbacks
- Allow 20-40% text expansion for translations (German, Finnish expand significantly from English)
- The `language` field in document data controls localized labels (act headers, table columns, signature blocks)

---

## 9. Logo Placement Best Practices

### Primary Placement: Top-Left
- Users are 89% more likely to remember logos placed top-left vs top-right
- Left-aligned matches natural F-pattern eye scanning

### Size Guidelines
- Minimum resolution: 300 DPI for print
- Typical size: 120-180px wide for PDFs, 1.5-2.5" for print
- Always maintain clear space around logo equal to at least the height of the logo mark

### Placement by Document Type

| Document | Logo Position | Notes |
|----------|--------------|-------|
| Invoice | Top-left of header row | Paired with company info |
| Proposal/Report | Top-left or on cover page | Can be larger on cover |
| Contract | Top-center or top-left | Formal centered placement acceptable |
| Presentation | Title slide + small in header bar | Subtle on content slides |

### Technical Requirements
- Use SVG or high-res PNG (transparent background) for digital
- Embed as base64 for self-contained PDFs
- Logo is auto-constrained to max-height 56px, max-width 160px in this plugin

---

## 10. White Space and Margins

### Margin Standards

| Document Type | Top | Bottom | Left | Right |
|--------------|-----|--------|------|-------|
| Proposals/Reports (DOCX) | 1" | 1" | 0.75" | 0.75" |
| Contracts (DOCX) | 1" | 1" | 1" | 1" |
| PDFs (via Playwright) | 28mm | 22mm | 18mm | 18mm |

### Spacing Grid (8px base)
Use multiples of 8px for all spacing: 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64px.

### Section Spacing (DOCX twips)

| Element | Before | After |
|---------|--------|-------|
| H1 | 480 (24pt) | 60 + accent line |
| H2 | 320 (16pt) | 120 (6pt) |
| Body paragraph | 0 | 160 (8pt) |
| Bullet item | 0 | 80 (4pt) |
| Cover page title | 3000 (150pt) push-down | 0 |

### Principles
- White space improves reading comprehension by up to 40%
- Proper spacing improves reading accuracy by 20% and reduces eye strain by 30%
- Optimal line length: 60-75 characters (45-80 acceptable range)
- For two-column layouts: 40-50 characters per line

---

## Anti-Patterns to Avoid

| Anti-pattern | Professional approach |
|---|---|
| Colored fill boxes for info sections | Plain text + thin separator line |
| Navy fill on total amounts | Bold text + 1.5px border-top rule |
| More than 3 colors per document | Primary + muted + accent is sufficient |
| Centered body text | Left-aligned always (except titles/legal headers) |
| Dense text, no paragraph breaks | Min 1.3-1.5 line-height; clear paragraph spacing |
| Mismatched font pairing | Serif headings + sans-serif body, or all-serif for legal |
| Web UI patterns in PDFs (cards, badges) | Line-based layouts, typographic hierarchy |
| Decorative fills and gradients | White space + type scale + weight contrast |
| Logo too large or too small | Proportional to header, 300 DPI, clear space |
| Pure white backgrounds everywhere | Use #F8FAFC off-white for alternating rows and surfaces |