| name | common-ui-design |
| description | Create distinctive, production-grade frontend UI with bold aesthetic choices. Use when building web components, pages, interfaces, dashboards, or applications in any framework (React, Next.js, Angular, Vue, HTML/CSS). Triggers: 'build a page', 'create a component', 'design a dashboard', 'landing page', 'UI for', 'build a layout', 'make it look good', 'improve the design', build UI, create interface, design screen |
UI Design Direction
Priority: P0 (FOUNDATIONAL)
Before writing any code, commit to a deliberate aesthetic direction.
Phase 0: Design Thinking (Mandatory Pre-Code)
Answer these before touching implementation:
- Purpose: What problem does this UI solve? Who uses it?
- Tone: Pick one extreme and commit — brutally minimal | maximalist | retro-futuristic | editorial/magazine | luxury/refined | brutalist/raw | playful/toy-like | organic/natural | art deco | industrial/utilitarian
- Differentiation: Name the one thing a user will remember about this interface.
Bold maximalism and refined minimalism both work — intentionality, not intensity, is the key.
Aesthetic Dimensions
Typography
- Pair a distinctive display font + refined body font; never default to system fonts.
- Self-host via
next/font, @font-face, or Google Fonts API — never CDN <link> in production.
- See Font Pairing & Tone Examples
Color & Theme
- Dominant color + sharp accent > timid, evenly-distributed palettes.
- Use CSS custom properties (
--color-primary, --color-accent) for consistency.
- Commit: dark or light — don't default to light because it feels "safe".
Motion
- One well-orchestrated entrance (staggered reveals,
animation-delay) > scattered micro-interactions.
- CSS-first:
@keyframes, transition, animation-delay; React: Motion library for complex sequences.
- See Motion Patterns
Spatial Composition
- Break the grid intentionally: asymmetry, overlap, diagonal flow, grid-breaking elements.
- Generous negative space OR controlled density — never accidental middleground.
Backgrounds & Depth
- Create atmosphere: gradient meshes, noise textures, layered transparencies, grain overlays.
- Dramatic shadows and decorative borders should match the chosen tone.
- Solid white/gray backgrounds = missed creative opportunity.
Anti-Patterns
- No generic font defaults: Inter/Roboto/Arial/system-ui produce forgettable UIs; choose characterful fonts.
- No purple-gradient-on-white: Most overused AI aesthetic; commit to something context-specific.
- No scattered animations: One orchestrated entrance beats ten random hover effects.
- No accidental layouts: Every spacing and positioning decision must serve the aesthetic intent.
- No same aesthetic twice: Vary light/dark, font style, tone — never converge on a single style.
References
