Design For Beauty
Use this skill to turn real-world design references into implementation-ready UI direction.
The bundled references come from awesome-design-md and live under references/design-md/.
Do not read everything at once. Start from the catalog, shortlist, then load only the most relevant files.
Start Here
- Read
references/catalog.md.
- Pick 1-3 reference brands.
- Open only the matching
references/design-md/<slug>/DESIGN.md files.
- Translate the chosen reference into project-specific decisions, not a blind clone.
When To Use This Skill
- The user names a brand or product style:
Stripe, Apple, Linear, Notion, Airbnb, Tesla.
- The user wants a visual direction without naming a brand:
premium minimal, editorial, developer-first, playful productivity, enterprise clean.
- The user asks for a redesign, restyle, landing page, dashboard, design system, or front-end polish.
- The user wants multiple design directions and tradeoffs before implementation.
Routing Rules
If the user names a brand
- Treat that brand as the primary reference.
- Load its
DESIGN.md directly.
- If the user names multiple brands, keep one primary reference for typography, spacing, and layout rhythm.
- Use at most one secondary reference for accent color, motion, or component mood unless the user explicitly asks for a broader blend.
If the user gives only a vibe
- Search
references/catalog.md first.
- Shortlist 2-4 references by category, tone, density, contrast, and interaction style.
- Then read only the 1-3 best matching
DESIGN.md files.
If the project already has a design system
- Preserve existing product patterns unless the user explicitly wants a rebrand.
- Borrow mood, spacing, contrast, or hierarchy instead of overwriting the whole system.
Synthesis Workflow
1. Extract the reference system
Pull out the parts that actually matter for implementation:
- visual atmosphere
- color roles and contrast pattern
- typography hierarchy and font character
- spacing, radius, borders, and elevation
- component behavior
- layout density and page rhythm
- do/don't constraints
2. Adapt to the real project
- Keep the product's content model, IA, and accessibility requirements.
- If a reference uses proprietary fonts or art direction, emulate the rhythm with available substitutes and say so.
- Preserve focus states, semantic HTML, readable contrast, and reasonable touch targets.
- Favor project fit over pixel mimicry.
3. Produce implementation-ready output
Depending on the task, convert the reference into one or more of these:
- a concise design brief
- a shortlist of directions with tradeoffs
- CSS variables / design tokens
- component styling rules
- actual front-end code
Conflict Resolution For Multi-Reference Blends
- Primary reference owns typography, spacing, and structural rhythm.
- Secondary reference may influence color, imagery, or motion.
- Tertiary influence should be minor and explicit.
- If the blend starts to feel incoherent, simplify back to one primary direction.
Deliverable Checklist
Before you finish, make sure you:
- name which references you used
- identify the primary reference
- call out any font or asset substitutions
- keep the output accessible and product-appropriate
- preserve the strongest "do" and avoid the biggest "don't" from the reference
File Map
references/catalog.md - human-readable index of all references
references/catalog.json - machine-readable index
references/design-md/<slug>/DESIGN.md - full design reference files
Search Tips
rg -n "monochrome|gradient|editorial|premium|dashboard|developer|playful" references/catalog.md
Example Requests
- "Use Stripe as the base direction for this pricing page."
- "Give me 3 directions for an AI developer tool: one like Linear, one like Vercel, one like Apple."
- "参考 Notion 和 Airtable,做一个更温和的 B2B 数据产品首页。"