Frontend Design Standards
Expert-level design guidance for creating memorable, production-grade interfaces.
Core Design Principles
Intentionality Over Trends
Every design decision must be purposeful:
- Why this color? → Brand meaning, accessibility, contrast
- Why this font? → Readability, personality, performance
- Why this animation? → User feedback, spatial understanding
Distinctive Over Generic
Avoid "AI slop" aesthetics:
- ❌ Default purple gradients, Inter everywhere, card-with-shadow templates
- ✅ Committed aesthetic vision, unique typography pairs, contextual layouts
Technical Excellence
High-quality design = high-quality code:
- Semantic HTML first
- CSS custom properties for theming
- Performance-minded animations
- Accessibility as foundation
Tools
| Tool |
Purpose |
Rule |
generate_image |
UI icons, avatars, backgrounds, illustrations |
Follow .agent/rules/nano-banana.md |
Asset Creation Capability
The designer skill includes a specialized workflow for creating high-quality, transparent assets (icons, avatars, game sprites) using the generate_image tool and a custom background removal script.
Workflow
Prompt Engineering:
- Follow the formula in
.agent/rules/nano-banana.md: [Core Subject] + [Visual Style] + [Lighting/Color] + [Technical/Quality specs].
- Ensure the visual style is compatible with extraction (e.g., "clean background", "minimalist").
Generation:
- Use
generate_image to create the initial asset.
- Save it with a descriptive name (e.g.,
hero_robot_raw).
Transparency Processing:
Example
To create a "Blue Potion Icon":
- Generate: "Blue glass potion bottle, round shape, cork stopper, flat vector style, soft blue lighting, white background, detailed 4k" -> leads to
blue_potion_raw.png
- Process:
python3 .agent/skills/designer/scripts/remove_background.py blue_potion_raw.png blue_potion_final.png
Integration
Works with frontend-developer skill for implementation handoff:
- Designer Role: Creates visual designs, tokens, and Motion Specs.
- Frontend Role: Writes the actual CSS/JS code based on these specs.
References
Load references based on task context:
| Reference |
Path |
Purpose |
| Branding |
references/branding.md |
Creating logos, visual identity, brand guidelines |
| Color Theory |
references/color-theory.md |
Choosing palettes, dark mode, semantic colors |
| Typography |
references/typography.md |
Font pairing, scales, text rendering |
| Layout |
references/layout.md |
Grids, spacing, responsive design |
| Motion |
references/motion.md |
Micro-interactions, transitions, performance |
| Accessibility |
references/accessibility.md |
WCAG compliance, keyboard nav, screen readers |
| Design Systems |
references/design-systems.md |
Design tokens, component patterns, documentation |
| Trends |
references/trends.md |
2024-2025 trends, emerging CSS features |
| Creation |
references/creation.md |
New components, pages, creative direction |
| Review |
references/review.md |
Code review, compliance checks, quality audit |
Concepts
Distinct visual aesthetics to drive design direction:
| Concept |
Path |
Description |
| Apple Glassmorphism |
concepts/apple-glass.md |
Premium, translucent depth (VisionOS Style) |
| Neo-Brutalism |
concepts/neo-brutalism.md |
Raw, high-contrast, bold borders |
| Claymorphism |
concepts/claymorphism.md |
Soft 3D, inflated shapes, tactile feel |
| Aurora Gradients |
concepts/aurora-gradients.md |
Ethereal, moving blurred color meshes |
| Bento Grids |
concepts/bento-grids.md |
Modular, grid-based content layout |
Templates
| Template |
Path |
Purpose |
| Motion Spec |
templates/design-motion-spec.md |
Motion Specification - animation timeline, triggers, easing. Use for handoff animation specs to frontend |
1---2name: designer3description: Use when building UI, branding, design systems, or auditing accessibility/UX.4---56# Frontend Design Standards78Expert-level design guidance for creating memorable, production-grade interfaces.910## Core Design Principles1112### Intentionality Over Trends1314Every design decision must be purposeful:1516- **Why this color?** → Brand meaning, accessibility, contrast17- **Why this font?** → Readability, personality, performance18- **Why this animation?** → User feedback, spatial understanding1920### Distinctive Over Generic2122Avoid "AI slop" aesthetics:2324- ❌ Default purple gradients, Inter everywhere, card-with-shadow templates25- ✅ Committed aesthetic vision, unique typography pairs, contextual layouts2627### Technical Excellence2829High-quality design = high-quality code:3031- Semantic HTML first32- CSS custom properties for theming33- Performance-minded animations34- Accessibility as foundation3536## Tools3738| Tool | Purpose | Rule |39| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |40| `generate_image` | UI icons, avatars, backgrounds, illustrations | Follow `.agent/rules/nano-banana.md` |4142## Asset Creation Capability4344The designer skill includes a specialized workflow for creating high-quality, transparent assets (icons, avatars, game sprites) using the `generate_image` tool and a custom background removal script.4546### Workflow47481. **Prompt Engineering**:49 - Follow the formula in `.agent/rules/nano-banana.md`: `[Core Subject]` + `[Visual Style]` + `[Lighting/Color]` + `[Technical/Quality specs]`.50 - Ensure the visual style is compatible with extraction (e.g., "clean background", "minimalist").51522. **Generation**:53 - Use `generate_image` to create the initial asset.54 - Save it with a descriptive name (e.g., `hero_robot_raw`).55563. **Transparency Processing**:57 - Run the helper script to remove the background:58 ```bash59 python3 .agent/skills/designer/scripts/remove_background.py <input_path> <output_path>60 ```61 - **Parameters**:62 - `<input_path>`: Path to the image file you want to process.63 - `<output_path>`: File path where the result should be saved.6465### Example6667To create a "Blue Potion Icon":68691. **Generate**: "Blue glass potion bottle, round shape, cork stopper, flat vector style, soft blue lighting, white background, detailed 4k" -> leads to `blue_potion_raw.png`702. **Process**: `python3 .agent/skills/designer/scripts/remove_background.py blue_potion_raw.png blue_potion_final.png`7172## Integration7374Works with `frontend-developer` skill for implementation handoff:7576- **Designer Role**: Creates visual designs, tokens, and Motion Specs.77- **Frontend Role**: Writes the actual CSS/JS code based on these specs.7879## References8081Load references based on task context:8283| Reference | Path | Purpose |84| -------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- |85| Branding | `references/branding.md` | Creating logos, visual identity, brand guidelines |86| Color Theory | `references/color-theory.md` | Choosing palettes, dark mode, semantic colors |87| Typography | `references/typography.md` | Font pairing, scales, text rendering |88| Layout | `references/layout.md` | Grids, spacing, responsive design |89| Motion | `references/motion.md` | Micro-interactions, transitions, performance |90| Accessibility | `references/accessibility.md` | WCAG compliance, keyboard nav, screen readers |91| Design Systems | `references/design-systems.md` | Design tokens, component patterns, documentation |92| Trends | `references/trends.md` | 2024-2025 trends, emerging CSS features |93| Creation | `references/creation.md` | New components, pages, creative direction |94| Review | `references/review.md` | Code review, compliance checks, quality audit |9596## Concepts9798Distinct visual aesthetics to drive design direction:99100| Concept | Path | Description |101| ------------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------- |102| Apple Glassmorphism | `concepts/apple-glass.md` | Premium, translucent depth (VisionOS Style) |103| Neo-Brutalism | `concepts/neo-brutalism.md` | Raw, high-contrast, bold borders |104| Claymorphism | `concepts/claymorphism.md` | Soft 3D, inflated shapes, tactile feel |105| Aurora Gradients | `concepts/aurora-gradients.md` | Ethereal, moving blurred color meshes |106| Bento Grids | `concepts/bento-grids.md` | Modular, grid-based content layout |107108## Templates109110| Template | Path | Purpose |111| ----------- | --------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |112| Motion Spec | `templates/design-motion-spec.md` | Motion Specification - animation timeline, triggers, easing. Use for handoff animation specs to frontend |