Frontend Design
Create distinctive, visually striking UI that stands out from generic AI-generated designs.
Aesthetic Direction
Choose a bold direction. NEVER default to "clean and modern":
- •Brutalist: Raw, honest materials. Visible structure. Monospace type. High contrast.
- •Maximalist: Rich layers, bold color, dense information, ornamental details.
- •Retro-futuristic: CRT glow, scanlines, neon on dark, terminal aesthetics.
- •Editorial: Magazine-quality typography, generous whitespace, grid mastery.
- •Organic: Hand-drawn feels, natural textures, imperfect geometry, warm palettes.
- •Glassmorphism: Frosted glass, transparency layers, subtle depth.
Typography Rules
NEVER use: Inter, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, Open Sans, Lato, Poppins.
DO use distinctive pairings:
- •Display: Space Grotesk, Instrument Serif, Clash Display, Cabinet Grotesk, Satoshi
- •Body: General Sans, Switzer, Outfit, Plus Jakarta Sans
- •Mono: JetBrains Mono, Berkeley Mono, Geist Mono
Pair a distinctive display font with a refined body font. Size contrast matters: display should be dramatically larger than body.
Color Rules
NEVER use: Purple gradient on white. Blue-to-purple gradients. Default Tailwind palettes unchanged.
DO: Create a custom palette. Use unexpected combinations. Consider:
- •Dark backgrounds with accent colors
- •Monochromatic with one pop color
- •Earth tones with digital accents
- •High saturation, low lightness
Spatial Composition
- •Break the grid intentionally. Overlap elements. Use negative space as a design element.
- •Asymmetric layouts are more interesting than centered-everything.
- •Cards don't need borders — use shadow, background, or spacing to separate.
- •Full-bleed sections create rhythm. Not everything needs padding.
Motion & Interaction
- •CSS transitions on hover states (transform, opacity, color)
- •Scroll-triggered reveals (intersection observer)
- •Micro-interactions: button press feedback, input focus effects, loading states
- •Subtle parallax or depth effects where appropriate
- •Keep animations under 300ms for interactions, up to 600ms for reveals
Backgrounds & Texture
- •Noise overlays (SVG filter or CSS), subtle grain
- •Gradient meshes, not linear gradients
- •Pattern overlays at low opacity
- •Blur layers for depth
Implementation
- •Use CSS custom properties for the design system
- •Tailwind is fine but customize the config — don't use defaults
- •Mobile-first responsive design
- •Accessibility: contrast ratios, focus states, semantic HTML, aria labels