Design Style Skill
Purpose
This skill helps Claude Code create beautiful, distinctive frontend interfaces by automatically retrieving design system prompts from the prompts/ directory. Instead of producing generic UI, this skill enables Claude to build interfaces with specific design aesthetics like Neo-brutalism, Modern Dark, Luxury, Cyberpunk, and more.
When to Use
This skill is automatically invoked when:
- •User asks to build a web page, landing page, or web application
- •User requests a UI component with a specific design style
- •User mentions frontend, React, Vue, or web development
- •User asks for a specific aesthetic (e.g., "make it look modern and dark" or "use a brutalist style")
Available Design Styles
The following design systems are available in the prompts/ directory:
- •Academia - Scholarly, classic, refined
- •ArtDeco - Luxurious 1920s glamour
- •Bauhaus - Functionalist, geometric minimalism
- •BoldTypography - Type-driven design
- •Botanical - Nature-inspired, organic
- •Claymorphism - Soft, clay-like 3D elements
- •Cyberpunk - Futuristic, neon, high-tech
- •Enterprise - Professional, corporate, scalable
- •FlatDesign - Clean, minimal, 2D
- •Fluent2 - Microsoft Fluent 2 Design System
- •HumanistLiterary - Warm, literary, conversational (Claude aesthetic)
- •Industrial - Raw, mechanical, utilitarian
- •Kinetic - Dynamic, motion-focused
- •Luxury - Premium, elegant, sophisticated
- •Material - Google Material Design
- •Maximalism - Bold, expressive, abundant
- •MinimalDrak - Minimal dark theme (note: typo in original)
- •ModernDark - Contemporary dark UI with depth
- •Monochrome - Black and white, high contrast
- •Neo-brutalism - Bold, raw, colorful brutalism
- •Neumorphism - Soft UI, skeuomorphic
- •Newsprint - Newspaper-inspired
- •Organic - Natural, flowing forms
- •PlayfulGeometric - Fun geometric shapes
- •Professional - Clean, business-focused
- •Retro - Vintage, nostalgic
- •Saas - Modern SaaS aesthetic
- •Sketch - Hand-drawn, artistic
- •Swiss - International Typographic Style
- •TerminalCLI - Command-line interface aesthetic
- •Vaporwave - 80s/90s aesthetic, nostalgic
- •Web3 - Decentralized, crypto-inspired
How It Works
Step 1: Understand User Intent
When the user requests frontend work, first determine:
- •Tech stack - What framework are they using? (React, Vue, Next.js, etc.)
- •Design preference - Did they mention a specific style or aesthetic?
- •Component scope - Single component, full page, or entire application?
Step 2: Select Design Style
If user specifies a style:
- •Match their request to available styles (e.g., "brutalist" → Neo-brutalism)
- •Case-insensitive matching (brutalism, Brutalism, BRUTALISM all work)
If user doesn't specify:
- •For modern, professional projects → ModernDark or Professional
- •For creative, bold projects → Neo-brutalism or BoldTypography
- •For minimal, clean projects → FlatDesign or Swiss
- •For enterprise/corporate → Enterprise
Ask the user if you're uncertain about which style fits their needs.
Step 3: Retrieve Design System
Use the Read tool to load the appropriate prompt file:
Read: prompts/<StyleName>.md
For example:
- •
prompts/Neo-brutalism.md - •
prompts/ModernDark.md - •
prompts/Cyberpunk.md
Step 4: Apply Design System
Once you've loaded the design system prompt:
- •Internalize the design philosophy - Understand the core principles, visual signatures, and differentiation factors
- •Extract design tokens - Colors, typography, spacing, shadows, borders
- •Follow component patterns - Use the specified button styles, card layouts, etc.
- •Apply the "Bold Factor" - Implement signature elements that make the design authentic
- •Avoid anti-patterns - Don't use techniques that break the aesthetic
Step 5: Build with Context
Before writing code:
- •Identify the user's existing tech stack
- •Understand their component architecture
- •Note any constraints (CSS frameworks, design libraries, etc.)
When writing code:
- •Match their existing patterns and conventions
- •Centralize design tokens in CSS variables or a config file
- •Create reusable, composable components
- •Explain your architectural choices briefly
Quality standards:
- •Preserve or improve accessibility
- •Ensure responsive design across devices
- •Make deliberate, creative design choices (not generic boilerplate)
- •Leave the codebase cleaner than you found it
Examples
Example 1: User Specifies Style
User: "Create a landing page for my SaaS product with a neo-brutalist design"
Skill Actions:
- •Detect keywords: "landing page", "neo-brutalist"
- •Map "neo-brutalist" →
prompts/Neo-brutalism.md - •Read the design system prompt
- •Ask clarifying questions: "What tech stack are you using? React, Vue, or plain HTML/CSS?"
- •Build the landing page following Neo-brutalism principles (thick borders, hard shadows, bold colors, etc.)
Example 2: User Doesn't Specify Style
User: "Help me build a portfolio website"
Skill Actions:
- •Detect: "portfolio website" (creative context)
- •Suggest options: "Would you like a specific design style? I can create it in Modern Dark (sophisticated), Neo-brutalism (bold and creative), or Swiss (minimal and clean)."
- •User responds with preference
- •Load appropriate prompt and build
Example 3: Component Request
User: "Add a contact form to my Next.js app. Make it look modern and professional."
Skill Actions:
- •Keywords: "Next.js", "modern and professional"
- •Select:
ModernDark.md(modern) orProfessional.md(professional) - •Read design system
- •Build form component matching their Next.js patterns
- •Use design tokens from the prompt (colors, typography, shadows, etc.)
Quick Reference Commands
When implementing, you can quickly reference specific sections:
Colors:
Grep: pattern "Token|Value|Usage" path "prompts/<Style>.md"
Typography:
Grep: pattern "Font|Weight|Size" path "prompts/<Style>.md"
Component Patterns:
Grep: pattern "Button|Card|Input" path "prompts/<Style>.md"
Tips for Best Results
- •Read the full prompt - Don't just skim. The design philosophy and differentiation sections are critical.
- •Implement signature elements - Every design system has a "Bold Factor" section. These elements are what make it authentic.
- •Avoid anti-patterns - Each prompt lists what NOT to do. Follow these rules strictly.
- •Ask questions - If the user's needs are unclear, ask before building.
- •Match existing code - Don't fight their tech stack. Integrate the design system into their existing patterns.
Notes
- •All design system prompts follow the same structure:
<role>and<design-system>sections - •Prompts include detailed color palettes, typography scales, component patterns, and implementation examples
- •Each style is production-ready and has been carefully crafted for visual distinctiveness
- •The prompts are designed to prevent generic, AI-looking interfaces
Future Enhancements
Potential improvements to this skill:
- •Style combination support (e.g., "Cyberpunk + Minimal")
- •Custom style creation workflow
- •Design token extraction to JSON/CSS
- •Component library generation from prompts