RonanCodes/frontend-design

This skill guides creation of distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces that avoid generic "AI slop" aesthetics. Implement real working code with exceptional attention to aesthetic details and creative choices.

House defaults (unless the brief says otherwise): default to light mode, with dark as an optional toggle (respect prefers-color-scheme, manual override, persisted). Intuitive UX is the priority, a first-timer should know what to do without a tooltip; design the empty/loading/error/first-run states with the same care as the happy path. And make it a bit fun and cheeky, personality in the microcopy, the mascot, a small delightful touch, charming not gimmicky and never at the cost of clarity. Distinctive does not mean dark-and-edgy by default.

The user provides frontend requirements: a component, page, application, or interface to build. They may include context about the purpose, audience, or technical constraints.

Design Thinking

Before coding, understand the context and commit to a BOLD aesthetic direction:

• Purpose: What problem does this interface solve? Who uses it?
• Tone: Pick an extreme: brutally minimal, maximalist chaos, retro-futuristic, organic/natural, luxury/refined, playful/toy-like, editorial/magazine, brutalist/raw, art deco/geometric, soft/pastel, industrial/utilitarian, etc. There are so many flavors to choose from. Use these for inspiration but design one that is true to the aesthetic direction.
• Constraints: Technical requirements (framework, performance, accessibility).
• Differentiation: What makes this UNFORGETTABLE? What's the one thing someone will remember?

CRITICAL: Choose a clear conceptual direction and execute it with precision. Bold maximalism and refined minimalism both work - the key is intentionality, not intensity.

Then implement working code (HTML/CSS/JS, React, Vue, etc.) that is:

• Production-grade and functional
• Visually striking and memorable
• Cohesive with a clear aesthetic point-of-view
• Meticulously refined in every detail

Design intake

For greenfield UI mockups, Claude Design is the primary surface for direction-setting. Pencil (pencil.dev) is the second-opinion source when a layout needs cross-checking. Once a direction is locked, bring the Claude Design link (or Pencil export) into this skill as a reference pin and build from it inside the repo with shadcn/ui + Tailwind. For marketing imagery (OG cards, hero illustrations, social), use /ro:generate-image (Gemini Nano Banana 2), not GPT image gen.

Check for /styleguide first

Before designing anything new in an existing app, check whether src/routes/styleguide.tsx (or app/styleguide/page.tsx for Next) exists. If it does, load it in the dev server and audit the current tokens + primitives there first — the answer to "what colour for the danger button" usually already lives in the showcase. If the route is missing, offer to run /ro:design-system-create --showcase-only to add it (one command, ~30s, no overwrite risk). The styleguide is the first audit subject and the cheapest way to keep the design system honest as new components land.

Apps scaffolded with /ro:new-tanstack-app ship with /styleguide by default, role-gated to superadmin + staff when Clerk is wired.

Frontend Aesthetics Guidelines

Focus on:

• Typography: Choose fonts that are beautiful, unique, and interesting. Avoid generic fonts like Arial and Inter; opt instead for distinctive choices that elevate the frontend's aesthetics; unexpected, characterful font choices. Pair a distinctive display font with a refined body font.
• Color & Theme: Commit to a cohesive aesthetic. Use CSS variables for consistency. Dominant colors with sharp accents outperform timid, evenly-distributed palettes.
• Motion: Use animations for effects and micro-interactions. Prioritize CSS-only solutions for HTML. Use Motion library for React when available. Focus on high-impact moments: one well-orchestrated page load with staggered reveals (animation-delay) creates more delight than scattered micro-interactions. Use scroll-triggering and hover states that surprise.
• Spatial Composition: Unexpected layouts. Asymmetry. Overlap. Diagonal flow. Grid-breaking elements. Generous negative space OR controlled density.
• Backgrounds & Visual Details: Create atmosphere and depth rather than defaulting to solid colors. Add contextual effects and textures that match the overall aesthetic. Apply creative forms like gradient meshes, noise textures, geometric patterns, layered transparencies, dramatic shadows, decorative borders, custom cursors, and grain overlays.
• Icons, never emojis (hard rule): Never use emojis in product UI, marketing pages, slide decks, or any user-facing surface — not in headings, labels, buttons, list bullets, status text, or empty states. Emojis render inconsistently across platforms and read as unfinished. Always reach for a proper icon set instead: lucide-react in React/Tailwind apps, inline lucide SVGs (stroke="currentColor") in self-contained HTML, or official vendor / simple-icons SVGs for brand logos. For glyphs lucide lacks (e.g. WhatsApp), inline the brand SVG path. If a decorative glyph carries no meaning, drop it rather than substitute an emoji. Grep the output for emoji before calling UI work done. (This mirrors the no-emoji rule in /ro:write-copy for prose; emojis are still required in git commit messages per the conventional-commit format — that is the one exception, and it is not user-facing.)

NEVER use generic AI-generated aesthetics like overused font families (Inter, Roboto, Arial, system fonts), cliched color schemes (particularly purple gradients on white backgrounds), predictable layouts and component patterns, and cookie-cutter design that lacks context-specific character.

Interpret creatively and make unexpected choices that feel genuinely designed for the context. No design should be the same. Vary between light and dark themes, different fonts, different aesthetics. NEVER converge on common choices (Space Grotesk, for example) across generations.

IMPORTANT: Match implementation complexity to the aesthetic vision. Maximalist designs need elaborate code with extensive animations and effects. Minimalist or refined designs need restraint, precision, and careful attention to spacing, typography, and subtle details. Elegance comes from executing the vision well.

LLM Wiki Design System

When building pages for this project, maintain consistency with the Observatory theme established in docs/getting-started.html:

• Palette: --void: #06060e, --amber: #e0af40, --cyan: #5bbcd6, --green: #7dcea0, --rose: #d4726a
• Fonts: Baskerville (serif headings), Avenir Next (body), SF Mono (code)
• Patterns: Terminal windows with macOS dots, starfield background, grain overlay, amber accents
• Tone: Dark cosmic, editorial gravitas, warm knowledge-glow

This is a starting point, not a constraint. Evolve the design system as the project grows.