stitch-design-taste

What this skill does

# Stitch Design Taste — Semantic Design System Skill

## When to Use

- Use when the user wants a Google Stitch-compatible DESIGN.md or semantic design system for AI screen generation.
- Use when translating premium frontend taste rules into Stitch-friendly visual descriptions, color roles, typography specs, and component behavior.
- Use when the design system must prevent generic AI UI patterns before screens are generated.

## Limitations

- This skill produces semantic design-system guidance for Stitch; it does not guarantee Stitch will render every constraint exactly.
- Generated `DESIGN.md` files still require review against the actual product brief, brand constraints, accessibility needs, and screen content.
- Motion sections document implementation intent for later coding agents because Stitch itself may generate static screens.


## Overview
This skill generates `DESIGN.md` files optimized for Google Stitch screen generation. It translates the battle-tested anti-slop frontend engineering directives into Stitch's native semantic design language — descriptive, natural-language rules paired with precise values that Stitch's AI agent can interpret to produce premium, non-generic interfaces.

The generated `DESIGN.md` serves as the **single source of truth** for prompting Stitch to generate new screens that align with a curated, high-agency design language. Stitch interprets design through **"Visual Descriptions"** supported by specific color values, typography specs, and component behaviors.

## Prerequisites
- Access to Google Stitch via [labs.google.com/stitch](https://labs.google.com/stitch)
- Optionally: Stitch MCP Server for programmatic integration with Cursor, Antigravity, or Gemini CLI

## The Goal
Generate a `DESIGN.md` file that encodes:
1. **Visual atmosphere** — the mood, density, and design philosophy
2. **Color calibration** — neutrals, accents, and banned patterns with hex codes
3. **Typographic architecture** — font stacks, scale hierarchy, and anti-patterns
4. **Component behaviors** — buttons, cards, inputs with interaction states
5. **Layout principles** — grid systems, spacing philosophy, responsive strategy
6. **Motion philosophy** — animation engine specs, spring physics, perpetual micro-interactions
7. **Anti-patterns** — explicit list of banned AI design clichés

## Analysis & Synthesis Instructions

### 1. Define the Atmosphere
Evaluate the target project's intent. Use evocative adjectives from the taste spectrum:
- **Density:** "Art Gallery Airy" (1–3) → "Daily App Balanced" (4–7) → "Cockpit Dense" (8–10)
- **Variance:** "Predictable Symmetric" (1–3) → "Offset Asymmetric" (4–7) → "Artsy Chaotic" (8–10)
- **Motion:** "Static Restrained" (1–3) → "Fluid CSS" (4–7) → "Cinematic Choreography" (8–10)

Default baseline: Variance 8, Motion 6, Density 4. Adapt dynamically based on user's vibe description.

### 2. Map the Color Palette
For each color provide: **Descriptive Name** + **Hex Code** + **Functional Role**.

**Mandatory constraints:**
- Maximum 1 accent color. Saturation below 80%
- The "AI Purple/Blue Neon" aesthetic is strictly BANNED — no purple button glows, no neon gradients
- Use absolute neutral bases (Zinc/Slate) with high-contrast singular accents
- Stick to one palette for the entire output — no warm/cool gray fluctuation
- Never use pure black (`#000000`) — use Off-Black, Zinc-950, or Charcoal

### 3. Establish Typography Rules
- **Display/Headlines:** Track-tight, controlled scale. Not screaming. Hierarchy through weight and color, not just massive size
- **Body:** Relaxed leading, max 65 characters per line
- **Font Selection:** `Inter` is BANNED for premium/creative contexts. Force unique character: `Geist`, `Outfit`, `Cabinet Grotesk`, or `Satoshi`
- **Serif Ban:** Generic serif fonts (`Times New Roman`, `Georgia`, `Garamond`, `Palatino`) are BANNED. If serif is needed for editorial/creative contexts, use only distinctive modern serifs: `Fraunces`, `Gambarino`, `Editorial New`, or `Instrument Serif`. Serif is always BANNED in dashboards or software UIs
- **Dashboard Constraint:** Use Sans-Serif pairings exclusively (`Geist` + `Geist Mono` or `Satoshi` + `JetBrains Mono`)
- **High-Density Override:** When density exceeds 7, all numbers must use Monospace

### 4. Define the Hero Section
The Hero is the first impression and must be creative, striking, and never generic:
- **Inline Image Typography:** Embed small, contextual photos or visuals directly between words or letters in the headline. Images sit inline at type-height, rounded, acting as visual punctuation. This is the signature creative technique
- **No Overlapping:** Text must never overlap images or other text. Every element occupies its own clean spatial zone
- **No Filler Text:** "Scroll to explore", "Swipe down", scroll arrow icons, bouncing chevrons are BANNED. The content should pull users in naturally
- **Asymmetric Structure:** Centered Hero layouts BANNED when variance exceeds 4
- **CTA Restraint:** Maximum one primary CTA. No secondary "Learn more" links

### 5. Describe Component Stylings
For each component type, describe shape, color, shadow depth, and interaction behavior:
- **Buttons:** Tactile push feedback on active state. No neon outer glows. No custom mouse cursors
- **Cards:** Use ONLY when elevation communicates hierarchy. Tint shadows to background hue. For high-density layouts, replace cards with border-top dividers or negative space
- **Inputs/Forms:** Label above input, helper text optional, error text below. Standard gap spacing
- **Loading States:** Skeletal loaders matching layout dimensions — no generic circular spinners
- **Empty States:** Composed compositions indicating how to populate data
- **Error States:** Clear, inline error reporting

### 6. Define Layout Principles
- No overlapping elements — every element occupies its own clear spatial zone. No absolute-positioned content stacking
- Centered Hero sections are BANNED when variance exceeds 4 — force Split Screen, Left-Aligned, or Asymmetric Whitespace
- The generic "3 equal cards horizontally" feature row is BANNED — use 2-column Zig-Zag, asymmetric grid, or horizontal scroll
- CSS Grid over Flexbox math — never use `calc()` percentage hacks
- Contain layouts using max-width constraints (e.g., 1400px centered)
- Full-height sections must use `min-h-[100dvh]` — never `h-screen` (iOS Safari catastrophic jump)

### 7. Define Responsive Rules
Every design must work across all viewports:
- **Mobile-First Collapse (< 768px):** All multi-column layouts collapse to single column. No exceptions
- **No Horizontal Scroll:** Horizontal overflow on mobile is a critical failure
- **Typography Scaling:** Headlines scale via `clamp()`. Body text minimum `1rem`/`14px`
- **Touch Targets:** All interactive elements minimum `44px` tap target
- **Image Behavior:** Inline typography images (photos between words) stack below headline on mobile
- **Navigation:** Desktop horizontal nav collapses to clean mobile menu
- **Spacing:** Vertical section gaps reduce proportionally (`clamp(3rem, 8vw, 6rem)`)

### 8. Encode Motion Philosophy
- **Spring Physics default:** `stiffness: 100, damping: 20` — premium, weighty feel. No linear easing
- **Perpetual Micro-Interactions:** Every active component should have an infinite loop state (Pulse, Typewriter, Float, Shimmer)
- **Staggered Orchestration:** Never mount lists instantly — use cascade delays for waterfall reveals
- **Performance:** Animate exclusively via `transform` and `opacity`. Never animate `top`, `left`, `width`, `height`. Grain/noise filters on fixed pseudo-elements only

### 9. List Anti-Patterns (AI Tells)
Encode these as explicit "NEVER DO" rules in the DESIGN.md:
- No emojis anywhere
- No `Inter` font
- No generic serif fonts (`Times New Roman`, `Georgia`, `Garamond`) — distinctive modern serifs only if needed
- No pure black (`#000000`)
- No neon/outer glow shadows
- No oversaturated accents
- No excessive gradient text on large