Re-style to a preset
A mood word — "make it more editorial", "give it a Swiss feel" — is not one axis. It's a
defined position across several (this radius and that density and that color
temperature and that weight and that motion), tied together with a font and one
signature move. Left to plain language, the model resolves it differently every time and half
the axes drift. /ss-restyle pins the whole coordinate at once, coherently, and re-gates.
Each preset below is a full identity, not a filter you stack on top of another. Applying two presets = the mixed-personality tell we ban. Pick one; it replaces the look.
When NOT to use
- Moving a single axis ("denser", "sharper", "more muted") →
/ss-dial. - No
STYLESEED.mdyet →/ss-build//ss-setupfirst (a restyle rewrites a lock; it needs one). - A brand with a fixed hex → keep the accent, use
/ss-dialfor feel; don't let a preset overwrite a real brand color (presets suggest an accent family — honor an existing lock's hue).
The mechanic
- Read
STYLESEED.md. Keep anything the user has explicitly locked (a real brand hex, a required font) — a preset fills the unopinionated axes, it doesn't overrule a deliberate choice. - Set the preset's coordinate — apply each field below via the same coordinated token sets
/ss-dialuses (radius mapping table, density ramp, color HSL + tint re-derive, weight ramp, motion seed), plus the font and elevation language. System-wide, every file — grep the tokens. - Hold the modern floor (§CC-9d). Distinctive must not read dated: white/fresh base, serif as seasoning (one display moment, never body), keep the air. A preset that turns into a beige serif brochure has failed, not succeeded.
- Rewrite the lock — Skin/Mood/Accent/Font/Radius/Elevation/Motion/Type + a one-line
Signature move. This is now the source of truth for every later prompt. - Re-run the Quality Gate (
/ss-score, loop to ≥ 80). Report: preset applied, the coordinate, the score. A restyle that scores < 80 is fixed before presenting — a named look is no excuse for incoherence.
The presets (coordinate = radius · density · color · weight · motion)
swiss — grid honesty, typographic confidence
sharp · compact · muted-cool · bold · calm
- Font: a neutral grotesk (Inter / Helvetica Now feel), tight tracking on display.
- Accent: restrained — near-neutral, or a single strong signal (classic Swiss red
#D6291E) used sparingly. One accent, lots of black/white/grey. - Elevation: flat — hairline borders and whitespace do the separating, not shadows.
- Signature: a strong asymmetric grid, oversized left-aligned headline, generous but structured space. Numbers and labels align to the grid. No ornament.
editorial — magazine, serif as seasoning
soft · airy · warm-muted · regular · calm
- Font: a serif display (Fraunces / Newsreader) for headlines only, Inter/neutral sans for body.
- Accent: a warm muted ink — oxblood
#7B2D26, forest#2F4A3C, or deep amber. Muted, not loud. - Elevation: subtle; content leads, chrome recedes.
- Signature: one oversized serif headline moment, a wide reading measure (
max-w-2xl/3xl), strong first-paragraph emphasis. Modern floor: white base, serif is the seasoning — body stays sans, don't tip into a paper-and-serif pamphlet (§CC-9d).
technical — dark, dense, instrument-panel
sharp · dense · cool · regular · still (dark-first)
- Font: Geist / IBM Plex Sans; mono (Plex Mono / Geist Mono) for IDs, SHAs, timestamps, metrics.
- Accent: one signal hue on dark — teal
#2DD4BF, lime, or amber — used for state, not decoration. - Elevation: the dark tonal ramp — page < card < raised by surface lightness + hairline borders. No drop shadows.
- Signature: high data density (dense dial), mono numerics with
tabular-nums, tonal surfaces, minimal motion (still). Chrome scale: h1 22–24px, KPI 48–64px.
warm-dtc — consumer, friendly, product-forward
pill · airy · warm-vivid · bold · lively
- Font: a rounded/friendly grotesk; large, confident.
- Accent: warm and vivid — terracotta
#C14E24, coral, or amber-brown. (Cool blues read corporate here — avoid.) - Elevation: subtle → layered; soft, inviting depth.
- Signature: big product imagery, pill controls, generous space,
lively/Spring micro-motion on CTAs. One warm accent; if it collides with the success green, resolve per the lock'sSemantic resolve.
minimal-mono — whitespace and restraint
soft · airy · muted · light · calm
- Font: one neutral sans; weight and size do all the work (no second family).
- Accent: near-monochrome — a single restrained accent used rarely (one CTA, one active state).
- Elevation: flat → subtle; mostly hairlines and air.
- Signature: dominant whitespace, light weights, a single small accent moment, one clear focal element. The discipline is the design — resist adding anything.
brutalist-lite — raw, high-contrast, but still coherent
sharp · comfortable · vivid · bold · snap
- Font: a bold grotesk, oversized headlines; can go heavier than usual.
- Accent: one loud hue against black/white. Still one accent — loud ≠ rainbow.
- Elevation: flat with hard 1–2px borders as the personality (borders do separation here, which is allowed as the deliberate style — no soft shadows mixed in).
- Signature: heavy borders, blocky high-contrast sections, snappy instant motion, exposed structure. "lite" = still coherent: one accent, one border weight, states and a11y intact, gate ≥ 80. Raw is the look; broken is not.
Rules
- One preset replaces the look — never stack two (that's the mixed-personality tell). To
nudge from a preset, use
/ss-dialon a single axis afterward. - Honor deliberate locks. A real brand hex or a user-chosen font survives a restyle; the preset fills the rest. Say what you kept.
- System-wide. Apply the coordinate across every file, not the screen in view.
- Modern floor always (§CC-9d). Distinctive must not cost freshness — white/fresh base, serif as seasoning, keep the air. Dated ≠ distinctive.
- Persist + re-gate. Rewrite
STYLESEED.mdto the new coordinate, then/ss-scoreto ≥ 80. Report the preset, the coordinate, and the score.