| name | canvas-design |
| description | Create beautiful visual art in .png and .pdf documents using design philosophy. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| tags | ["design","canvas","art"] |
Canvas design
Guidance for an agent that produces a standalone visual artefact — a diagram, poster,
or one-page summary exported as .png or .pdf — rather than an interactive screen.
When to use this skill
Use it when the deliverable is a fixed-size image or document that will be read
without interaction: an architecture diagram, a results summary, a slide. Do not use
it for interactive interfaces; use frontend-design for those.
Approach
- Fix the canvas size and margin before drawing anything. The margin is part of
the composition, not leftover space. A generous, uniform margin does more for
legibility than any other single choice.
- Decide the focal point. One element should be unambiguously first. Establish it
with size or position, not with a fourth colour.
- Align to a grid and keep alignment visible. Elements that share a purpose
should share an edge. Near-alignment reads as error; deliberate offset reads as
intent.
- Limit the palette. One accent, one neutral ramp, and white space. Reserve the
accent for the element you want read first.
- Set type in no more than two sizes plus a caption size. Distinguish levels by
weight and space rather than by adding sizes.
- Label directly. Put labels next to what they describe instead of in a legend
whenever the geometry allows it — a legend forces the reader to hold a mapping in
memory.
Export requirements
- Vector output (
.pdf, or .png rendered at 2× or higher) so text stays sharp when
projected or zoomed.
- Text as text, not as rasterised pixels, wherever the format allows it.
- Legible when printed in greyscale: check that the composition survives losing
colour, since meaning must not depend on hue alone.
- Contrast of at least 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text and for the
boundaries of shapes that carry meaning.
Output
Return the artefact plus a one-line statement of the focal point and the reading order
you designed for, so the choice can be reviewed rather than guessed at.
