Skill v1.0.1

version: "1.0.1"

name: Aesthetic Web Design description: > Apply professional, premium UI/UX design standards when building or styling web interfaces. Use this skill when the user asks to create a website, landing page, web app, dashboard, UI component, or any visual interface — or when they ask to make something look better, more professional, or more beautiful. Covers visual hierarchy, typography, color systems, layout, spacing, motion, dark mode, responsive design, and conversion patterns. Activate even when the user doesn't say "design" — if they're building a web frontend, these standards apply. triggers:

• "make it look better"
• "make it beautiful"
• "design system"
• "UI design"
• "web design"
• "visual design"
• "premium design"
• "styling"
• "interface design"
• "brand design"
• "typography"
• "color palette"

negatives:

• "animation"
• "motion design"
• "component library"
• "React component"
• "Vue component"
• "conversion optimization" # use landing-craft
• "responsive layout" # use responsive-engine
• "animation" # use motion-craft
• "micro-interactions" # use emil-design-eng
• "component implementation" # use component-forge

license: MIT compatibility: opencode metadata: workflow: frontend audience: designers version: "1.0.0"

Register Distinction

Every design task is either Brand or Product.

Identify before designing. Priority: (1) task cue ("landing page" vs "dashboard"), (2) surface in focus, (3) project context. First match wins.

1. Typography — The Main Visual Element

Display fonts by direction

Editorial serif (Structured.money, Cori Corinne, Steep.app):

• Canela (preferred, premium license) — high contrast, editorial
• DM Serif Display (free) — elegant, sharp serifs
• Cormorant Garamond (free) — ultra-high contrast, ultra-luxury
• Playfair Display (free) — classic editorial
• Fraunces (free) — optical-size variable, editorial/vintage

Bold display sans (Leonardo.AI, Monopo):

• Neue Haas Grotesk Display — definitive display grotesque
• Cabinet Grotesk (free) — wide, excellent for oversized headlines
• Bebas Neue (free) — all-caps condensed
• Anton (free) — punchy, condensed
• Space Grotesk (free) — tech/futuristic

Body/UI text (never as display, never Inter as headline):

• DM Sans (free, pairs with DM Serif Display)
• Geist (free, clean, modern)
• Inter (free, body text only)

Oversized typography

.display-hero {
  font-size: clamp(80px, 12vw, 180px);
  line-height: 0.9;
  letter-spacing: -0.03em;
  font-weight: 700;
}
 
.bleed-text {
  font-size: clamp(120px, 18vw, 280px);
  line-height: 0.85;
  white-space: nowrap;
  overflow: hidden;
  letter-spacing: -0.04em;
}
 
.mixed-headline {
  font-size: clamp(40px, 6vw, 96px);
  font-weight: 600;
  line-height: 1.05;
}
.mixed-headline em {
  font-style: italic;
  font-weight: 400;
}

Fluid type scale

:root {
  --text-body:    clamp(15px, 1.1vw, 18px);
  --text-lead:    clamp(18px, 1.5vw, 24px);
  --text-h3:      clamp(22px, 2vw, 32px);
  --text-h2:      clamp(30px, 3.5vw, 56px);
  --text-h1:      clamp(48px, 7vw, 96px);
  --text-display: clamp(80px, 12vw, 180px);
  --text-bleed:   clamp(120px, 18vw, 280px);
}

2. Color System (OKLCH)

All new colors in OKLCH. High chroma at extremes looks garish — reduce chroma as lightness approaches 0 or 100.

Direction 1: Dark + accent (Leonardo.AI, tech)

--bg:         #080808;
--bg-surface: oklch(15% 0 0);
--text:       #f0ede8;
--text-muted: oklch(60% 0 0);
--accent:     oklch(55% 0.2 270);
--border:     oklch(25% 0 0);

Direction 2: Deep navy + spotlight (Notion)

--bg:         oklch(12% 0.05 260);
--text:       #ffffff;
--text-muted: oklch(65% 0 0);
--accent:     oklch(55% 0.2 260);
--spotlight:  oklch(50% 0.2 260 / 0.3);

Direction 3: Cream editorial (Structured.money, Cori Corinne)

--bg:         #f5f2ec;
--bg-surface: #ede9e0;
--text:       #0a0a0a;
--text-muted: #5a5550;
--accent:     #1a1a1a;
--border:     oklch(85% 0 0);

Direction 4: Warm mesh (Steep.app)

--bg:         #fdf6ef;
--text:       #1a1412;
--accent:     #c8502a;
--mesh-1:     oklch(70% 0.15 30 / 0.3);
--mesh-2:     oklch(70% 0.15 280 / 0.25);

Color rules (all directions):

• Never pure #000 or #fff. Tint every neutral (chroma 0.005-0.01 is enough).
• One accent ≤ 10% of any screen. Scarcity is the design choice.
• OKLCH for all new colors. Hex only for legacy values.

3. Backgrounds — Atmospheric, Never Flat

Gradient mesh

.mesh-light {
  background: #fdf6ef;
  background-image:
    radial-gradient(ellipse 80% 60% at 20% 30%, rgba(255, 180, 150, 0.5) 0%, transparent 60%),
    radial-gradient(ellipse 60% 80% at 80% 70%, rgba(180, 160, 255, 0.4) 0%, transparent 60%),
    radial-gradient(ellipse 70% 50% at 50% 10%, rgba(255, 220, 180, 0.3) 0%, transparent 60%);
}
 
.mesh-dark {
  background: #080c1a;
  background-image:
    radial-gradient(ellipse 60% 80% at 10% 20%, oklch(30% 0.15 260 / 0.6) 0%, transparent 55%),
    radial-gradient(ellipse 70% 60% at 90% 80%, oklch(50% 0.2 20 / 0.5) 0%, transparent 55%),
    radial-gradient(ellipse 50% 40% at 50% 50%, oklch(5% 0.02 260 / 0.7) 0%, transparent 60%);
}

Grain/noise overlay

.grain::after {
  content: '';
  position: fixed;
  inset: 0;
  pointer-events: none;
  z-index: 9999;
  opacity: 0.04;
  background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg viewBox='0 0 256 256' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cfilter id='noise'%3E%3CfeTurbulence type='fractalNoise' baseFrequency='0.9' numOctaves='4' stitchTiles='stitch'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Crect width='100%25' height='100%25' filter='url(%23noise)'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");
  background-repeat: repeat;
  background-size: 200px 200px;
}

4. Scroll Effects — 3D and Parallax

3D perspective typography (Leonardo.AI)

.perspective-container {
  perspective: 800px;
  perspective-origin: 50% 50%;
  overflow: hidden;
}
 
.text-3d-top {
  transform: rotateX(35deg) translateY(-20px);
  transform-origin: center bottom;
}
.text-3d-bottom {
  transform: rotateX(-35deg) translateY(20px);
  transform-origin: center top;
}

Scroll-driven parallax

const layers = document.querySelectorAll('[data-parallax]')
window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
  const scrollY = window.scrollY
  layers.forEach(layer => {
    const speed = parseFloat(layer.dataset.parallax) || 0.3
    layer.style.transform = `translateY(${scrollY * speed}px)`
  })
})

Smooth scroll entrance

.reveal {
  opacity: 0;
  transform: translateY(40px);
  transition: opacity 0.7s ease, transform 0.7s cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1);
}
.reveal.visible {
  opacity: 1;
  transform: translateY(0);
}

5. Floating Product Screenshots

.screenshot-float {
  border-radius: 12px;
  box-shadow:
    0 24px 80px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25),
    0 4px 16px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
  position: absolute;
}
 
.screenshot-left {
  left: -40px;
  top: 15%;
  transform: rotate(-4deg);
  width: 280px;
}
 
.screenshot-right {
  right: -40px;
  top: 25%;
  transform: rotate(3deg);
  width: 300px;
}
 
@keyframes float {
  0%, 100% { transform: translateY(0px) rotate(-4deg); }
  50% { transform: translateY(-12px) rotate(-4deg); }
}

6. Spacing and Layout

• Section padding: clamp(80px, 12vh, 160px) top and bottom
• Max content width: 1400px for app, 900px for editorial
• Hero padding: 0 — let content breathe

Breaking the grid:

• Text bleeds off left: margin-left: -5vw
• Full-bleed section: width: 100vw; margin-left: calc(-50vw + 50%)
• Overlapping sections: negative margin-top on next section

7. Motion Standards

--ease-out-expo: cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1);
--ease-out-strong: cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1);

8. Do's and Don'ts

Do:

• Do treat Warm Cream (#f5f2ec) or Dark (#080808) as default background. Never flat white.
• Do use OKLCH for all new color declarations.
• Do apply grain overlay (opacity 0.03-0.06) on atmospheric backgrounds.
• Do use oversized display typography (clamp(48px, 7vw, 96px) or larger).
• Do caps body line length at 65-75ch via max-width.
• Do use Lucide or Phosphor for icons. SVG only.
• Do respect prefers-reduced-motion on every animation.
• Do test at 320px, 768px, 1024px, 1440px.

Don't:

• Don't use pure black (#000) or pure white (#fff). Tint every neutral.
• Don't use border-left > 1px as a colored accent. Immediate AI-dashboard tell.
• Don't use background-clip: text with gradient. Decorative, never meaningful.
• Don't use glassmorphism as default. Rare and purposeful, or nothing.
• Don't use the hero-metric template (big number + small label + gradient). SaaS cliché.
• Don't use identical card grids (same-sized cards with icon + heading + text).
• Don't use Inter as a display/headline font.
• Don't use emoji as icons.
• Don't use bounce or elastic easing on functional UI.
• Don't nest cards inside cards. Flatten the hierarchy.
• Don't center hero text. Left-aligned text + right visual.
• Don't animate width, height, top, left. Use transform and opacity.

Pre-Delivery Checklist

• [ ] Background has texture/atmosphere — not a flat solid color
• [ ] Display font is editorial serif or bold condensed display — not Inter
• [ ] Headline oversized (clamp(48px, 7vw, 96px) or larger)
• [ ] Scroll has at least one effect: parallax, reveal, 3D, or horizontal text
• [ ] Color palette matches one of the 4 directions — no generic blue/grey
• [ ] OKLCH used for all new colors
• [ ] No emoji icons — Lucide/Phosphor only
• [ ] Product screenshots floating/tilted — not centered in flat box
• [ ] Grain overlay present on atmospheric backgrounds (opacity 0.03-0.06)
• [ ] All interactive elements have hover/active/focus states
• [ ] Button press: scale(0.97) on :active, 160ms ease-out
• [ ] Mobile: touch targets 44px+, body 16px+ min, single-column
• [ ] min-h-[100dvh] used for full-screen sections
• [ ] Line length capped at 65-75ch
• [ ] One accent ≤ 10% of any screen
• [ ] No border-left > 1px as colored accent
• [ ] No gradient text
• [ ] No bounce/elastic easing on UI
• [ ] prefers-reduced-motion respected
• [ ] Empty, loading, error, and success states all rendered

Sources

• Structured.money — Editorial luxury design
• Leonardo.AI — 3D perspective typography
• Monopo — Dark atmospheric design
• Steep.app — Gradient mesh backgrounds
• Cori Corinne — Editorial serif design
• OKLCH color space (oklch.com)
• Emil Kowalski — Design engineering philosophy
• WCAG 2.2 — Accessibility guidelines

Workflow

Step 1: Identify register

Determine Brand vs Product before any design decision. Brand = marketing, landing pages, portfolio (design IS the product). Product = dashboards, admin, tools (design SERVES the product). This single choice controls the entire creative range.

Step 2: Select color direction

Choose one of the 4 directions: Dark+accent, Deep navy+spotlight, Cream editorial, Warm mesh. Never mix directions. Every color from this point flows from the chosen palette. Write all new colors in OKLCH with hex fallbacks.

Step 3: Choose typography pair

1. Pick display font: editorial serif (Canela, DM Serif Display, Playfair) or bold display sans (Cabinet Grotesk, Bebas Neue, Space Grotesk)
2. Pick body font: DM Sans, Geist, or Inter (body only — never as headline)
3. Set fluid type scale via CSS custom properties with clamp()

Step 4: Build atmospheric background

1. Apply gradient mesh or illustrated scene — never a flat solid color
2. Add grain overlay (opacity 0.03-0.06) as ::after pseudo-element
3. Dark (#080808) or cream (#f5f2ec) base layer

Step 5: Compose layout and hero

1. Oversized hero headline: clamp(48px, 7vw, 96px) minimum
2. Left-aligned hero text with visual on the right — never center-aligned
3. Floating/tilted product screenshots with box-shadow depth
4. Line length capped at 65-75ch via max-width
5. One accent color <= 10% of any screen

Step 6: Add motion and polish

1. Scroll effects: parallax, reveal (opacity + translateY), or 3D perspective
2. Button press: scale(0.97) on :active, 160ms ease-out
3. Hover states: 120-160ms cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1)
4. Respect prefers-reduced-motion on every animation
5. Run the Pre-Delivery Checklist before shipping

Error Handling

Anti-Patterns

Checklist

• [ ] Skill loads without errors in the AI agent
• [ ] YAML frontmatter is valid (description, compatibility, audience)
• [ ] Workflow section provides clear step-by-step instructions
• [ ] Error handling section covers common failure modes
• [ ] All referenced files (references/, scripts/, assets/) exist
• [ ] Skill triggers correctly for intended use cases
• [ ] No broken links or missing resources