video-design

name	video-design
description	Use when a video's craft needs tuning — "this video looks/feels off", "how should this video be paced", "what color/typography/font size for video", "music or voiceover pace", "cut rate", "why isn't my video engaging", "make it feel premium" or "make it feel authentic", "kinetic text", "safe zones", or when Spectra is polishing/rendering a clip and needs concrete design settings (color, type, sound, pacing). Turns the emotional/visual/sound/pacing science into font-size floors, cut-rate targets, color rules, and Spectra polish parameters.
user-invocable	true

Video Design (craft → Spectra render settings)

The CRAFT companion to product-marketing (strategy). Product-marketing decides WHAT to make, for WHOM, and WHERE it ships; this skill decides HOW it should look, sound, and move so it lands. Full source playbook: references/SOURCE-GUIDE.md.

The one rule that governs everything

Every frame is doing one of three jobs: create an emotion, build a cognitive model, or motivate an action. 95% of purchase decisions happen unconsciously — design for emotion first, logic second, action third. This is the science behind the product-marketing story spine; this skill amplifies each beat of that spine.

Emotion arc — within a single video (Feel → Think → Do)

1. Recognition (0–5s): viewer identifies with the pain — "yes, that's me."
2. Tension (5–20s): amplify stakes — mild discomfort demanding resolution.
3. Relief (20–40s): show the solution working — release the tension.
4. Conviction (40–60s): proof/social validation — ratify with logic.
5. Direction (final 10s): one clear CTA — frictionless next step.

Target emotion also shifts by funnel stage: TOFU = curiosity/recognition; MOFU = confidence/intrigue; BOFU = trust/urgency; retention = pride/belonging.

Design philosophy selector

Philosophy	Pick when	Fails when
Minimalist (Apple)	Consumer apps, Watch, macOS native, premium AI; website hero, App Store	Complex B2B (10+ features); dev tools where terminal/IDE chrome IS the product
High-design (Vercel/Linear)	Dev tools, AI platforms, startup launches — design signals product quality	Consumer mass-market (exclusionary); non-technical enterprise buyers
Lo-fi/authentic (Loom)	Founder-led social, Product Hunt, dev demos, social/tight-cut channels	Website hero, App Store, paid acquisition, enterprise committees

Full selector + anti-patterns: references/philosophies-antipatterns.md.

Color

60-30-10 per frame (60% neutral background, 30% brand, 10% accent/CTA). Dark mode default for dev tools/AI/native macOS; light mode for long-form text and non-technical B2B. Vary saturation by funnel moment: vibrant at awareness, clean at demo, single high-contrast accent at the CTA frame. Full color→emotion map: references/color.md.

Typography (concrete floors)

• Max words/frame: 5–15 social, 10–20 demo overlay, 20 ideal/40 max slide.
• Font-size floor (1080p): body 40–60px, headline 60–90px; +20–30% for 9:16.
• Dwell: ≥1s per 13 characters, clock starts AFTER animate-in finishes.
• Safe zones: keep text out of platform chrome (exact px per platform in the ref card).
• Redundancy rule: on-screen text must NOT verbatim-repeat the VO — keyword highlights are fine; callouts spatially integrated on the UI element are good even when redundant. Full specs: references/typography.md.

Sound

Music BPM + direction by audience (80–100 BPM sparse/ambient for dev tools, up to 115–130 punchy for Product Hunt). Mix music at -15 to -20 dBFS under VO, VO at -6 to -3 dBFS, instrumental only. VO pace: 150 WPM ≈ 1 minute of natural narration (110–120 deliberate, 130–150 conversational, 150–170 up-tempo, 170–200 commercial ceiling). Add 0.5–1s of silence around the video's key metric. Voice tone matches the audience's self-image, not the founder's preference. Full tables: references/sound.md.

Pacing / cut rate

Cuts-per-minute by channel (30–60 TikTok/Shorts down to 6–12 YouTube tutorial). The 3-second social rule: hook must land by second 3, first cut by 1.5–2s. Pattern interrupts every 20–40s, timed to content boundaries (never mid-demo). One idea per beat — never overlap explain + demonstrate + prove in a single segment. Full rules + Tight-Edit-vs-Breathe resolution: references/pacing.md.

Channel quick reference

Channel	Text min size	Cut rate	Max words/frame	Voice pace	Design register
LinkedIn feed	60px (vert) / 36px (16:9)	15–25/min	15	140–160 WPM	Conversational, warm professional
YouTube tutorial	36px	8–15/min	20	130–150 WPM	Deliberate, structured
YouTube Shorts	60px	25–40/min	10	160–180 WPM	Energetic, fast payoff
TikTok/Reels	64px	30–60/min	8	150–175 WPM	Authentic, punchy
App Store preview	no text allowed	~1 scene/5–8s	0	N/A	Clean, product-forward
Website hero	48px (desktop)	6–12/min	15	130–150 WPM	Premium, confident
Product Hunt	56px	15–25/min	12	150–170 WPM	Authentic, founder-energy

Route to Spectra for production

Once the design choices are set, turn them into render parameters — references/spectra-design-map.md maps font-size/dwell/safe-zone to the caption banner geometry, cut-rate/one-idea-per-beat to DemoScript beat structure, and philosophy/color to the style (cool/warm/bold) preset used by spectra_demo action=polish-clip/polish-script.

Those demo actions are part of the current Spectra build — if spectra_demo isn't in your live tool list, the plugin needs a rebuild + Claude Code restart (MCP restart boundary) before producing.

References (load on demand)

• references/SOURCE-GUIDE.md — the full playbook (canonical source).
• references/color.md — 60-30-10, color→emotion map, dark/light, funnel-moment color.
• references/typography.md — word-density, font-size floors, dwell time, safe zones, kinetic text.
• references/sound.md — music BPM/mixing, VO pace, silence, voice tone.
• references/pacing.md — cut rate by channel, 3-second rule, pattern interrupts, one-idea-per-beat.
• references/philosophies-antipatterns.md — minimalist/high-design/lo-fi selector + anti-pattern fixes.
• references/spectra-design-map.md — design rules → Spectra polish/render parameters (the integration glue).

This skill AMPLIFIES product-marketing — that skill decides what/when/where; this one decides how it feels. For the strategy layer (video type, length, channel, story spine, funnel), load Skill("spectra:product-marketing").