Magazine Web Ppt
What this skill does
Generates a single-file HTML horizontal-swipe deck with a visual tone of:
- A electronic magazine + electronic ink hybrid style
- A WebGL fluid / contour / dispersion background (visible on hero pages)
- Serif headlines (Noto Serif SC + Playfair Display) + sans-serif body (Noto Sans SC + Inter) + monospace metadata (IBM Plex Mono)
- Lucide line icons (no emoji)
- Horizontal left/right paging (keyboard ← →, scroll wheel, touch swipe, bottom dots, ESC index)
- Smooth theme interpolation: when you flip to a hero page, the colors and shader transition softly
This skill's aesthetic is not "corporate PPT," nor "consumer-internet UI": it looks like Monocle magazine after code was stitched onto it.
When to use
Suitable scenarios:
- Offline talks / internal industry talks / private salons
- AI new-product launches / demo day
- Talks with a strong personal style
- A web version of slides that you "make once, with no paging tool needed"
Unsuitable scenarios:
- Long stretches of tabular data, stacked charts (use a regular PPT)
- Training courseware (information density too low)
- Multi-person collaborative editing (this is static HTML)
Workflow
Step 0 · Infer a direction; ask only when comparison is requested
Infer one of the 5 magazine directions from the brief, audience, content, and
known context. Each direction packages its theme color, recommended layouts,
chrome style, and slide count. Use the closest fit and continue without asking.
Only when the user explicitly asks to see or compare direction options, open
references/styles.md and present the 1-line summaries in one
direction-cards question form:
1. Monocle Editorial · International magazine style ✦ default
2. WIRED Tech · Data + engineering
3. Kinfolk Slow · Slow living / humanist
4. Domus Architectural · Architecture / sense of space
5. Lab / Reference · Academic + craft manual
If the user says "I don't know, you recommend" or provides no direction cue:
default to Monocle Editorial without asking, because it has the lowest
failure probability. If the user mentions "AI / benchmark / technical launch":
choose WIRED; "reading / private / social circle": choose Kinfolk; "design /
architecture / portfolio": choose Domus; "research / academic / methodology":
choose Lab.
After picking a direction, create or update 项目记录.md (Project Record) in the project folder, with the first line clearly stating direction + theme color + audience + duration (see the template at the end of styles.md). Do not change direction at any point: switching midway = everything before is wasted.
Step 1 · Resolve intent
If the user has already given a complete outline + images, you can skip straight to Step 2.
Infer the checklist below from the brief, project metadata, supplied content,
and conversation. If a missing answer would materially change the deck and no
safe default exists, ask only those unresolved fields in one consolidated
question form. Do not ask the checklist one by one.
6-question clarifying checklist
Direction and theme color are inferred in Step 0 unless the user explicitly
asks to compare options.
| # | Question | Why ask it |
|---|
| 1 | Who is the audience? Sharing scenario? (internal industry / commercial launch / demo day / private salon) | determines the language style and depth |
| 2 | Talk duration? | 15 min ≈ 10 pages, 30 min ≈ 20 pages, 45 min ≈ 25-30 pages (see each direction's recommended range in styles.md) |
| 3 | Any source material? (documents / data / old PPT / article links) | with material, build on it; without, help them build |
| 4 | Any images? Where are they? | see the "Image convention" below |
| 5 | Which theme color do you want? | ✓ already decided by the direction in Step 0 |
| 6 | Any hard constraints? (must include XX data / must not show YY) | avoids rework |
Outline assistance (if the user has no outline)
Use the "narrative arc" template to build the skeleton, then fill in content:
Hook → 1 page : throw out a contrast / question / hard number that makes people stop
Context → 1-2 pages : explain the background / who you are / why this topic
Core → 3-5 pages : the core content, interleaving Layouts 4/5/6/9/10
Shift → 1 page : break the expectation / propose a new view
Takeaway → 1-2 pages : a punchline / a suspenseful question / a call to action
Narrative arc + page-count plan + theme rhythm table (see layouts.md); align all three tables before moving to Step 2.
It's best to save the outline as 项目记录.md (Project Record) or 大纲-v1.md (Outline v1) for later iteration.
Image convention (tell the user)
Make these clear to the user before starting:
- Folder location: under
项目/XXX/ppt/images/ (sibling to index.html)
- Naming convention:
{page number}-{semantic}.{ext}, e.g. 01-cover.jpg / 03-figma.jpg / 05-dashboard.png
- Pad the page number with zeros for easy sorting
- Use English for the semantic part, short, specific, matching the content
- Spec recommendations:
- Each image ≥ 1600px wide (avoid blur on large screens)
- JPG for photos/screenshots, PNG for transparent UI/charts
- Keep total size under 10MB (affects paging smoothness)
- How to replace: same-name overwrite is the most stable (no need to change the path in the HTML); if the filename changes, remember to globally search
images/oldname and change it to the new name
- What if there are no images: align with the user; you can generate the structure with placeholder color blocks first and fill in the images later, but tell them that image-text mix pages like layouts 4/5/10 can't have their visuals verified without images
Step 2 · Copy the template
Copy assets/template.html to the target location (usually 项目/XXX/ppt/index.html), and create an images/ folder as a sibling, ready to receive images.
mkdir -p "项目/XXX/ppt/images"
cp "<SKILL_ROOT>/assets/template.html" "项目/XXX/ppt/index.html"
template.html is a complete, runnable file: CSS, WebGL shader, paging JS, font/icon CDNs are all preset; only inside <main id="deck"> are there 3 example slides (cover, act divider, blank filler page).
2.1 · Placeholders you must change (easy to miss)
Right after copying, change the placeholders below, or the browser tab will show awkward text like "[必填] replace with the PPT title":
| Location | Original | Change to |
|---|
<title> | [必填] 替换为 PPT 标题 · Deck Title | the actual deck title (e.g. 一种新的工作方式 · Luke Wroblewski) |
The first thing to do every time you finish copying template.html: grep for "[必填]" to confirm everything is replaced.
2.2 · Choose the theme color (5 presets · no customization allowed)
This skill only allows picking one of 5 carefully tuned presets; it does not accept user-defined hex values: a wrong color pairing makes the visuals ugly in an instant, and protecting the aesthetic matters more than offering freedom.
| # | Theme | Best for |
|---|
| 1 | 🖋 Ink Classic | general / commercial launch / the default when you don't know what to pick |
| 2 | 🌊 Indigo Porcelain | tech / research / data / technical keynotes |
| 3 | 🌿 Forest Ink | nature / sustainability / culture / non-fiction |
| 4 | 🍂 Kraft Paper | nostalgic / humanist / literary / indie magazines |
| 5 | 🌙 Dune | art / design / creative / gallery |
How to do it:
- Recommend one based on the content theme, or just ask the user which one to pick
- Open
references/themes.md and find the :root block for the corresponding theme
- Replace as a whole the lines marked with the "theme color" comment in the opening
:root{ block of assets/template.html (the copied version): --ink / --ink-rgb / --paper / --paper-rgb / --paper-tint / --ink-tint
- All other CSS flows through
var(--...), no other changes needed
Hard rules:
- A deck uses only one theme, don't change colors midway
- Don't accept an arbitrary hex value from the user: gently decline and show the 5 presets to pick from
- Don't mix and match (e.g. take ink from Ink Classic and paper from Dune): it clashes completely
Step 3 · Fill in content
3.0 · Pre-check: class names must be defined in template.html (most important)
This is the source of all generation problems. The layouts.md skeletons use many class names (h-hero / h-xl / stat-card / pipeline / grid-2-7-5, etc.); if assets/template.html's <style> has no corresponding definition, the browser falls back to default styles: the big title turns sans-serif, the data cards squeeze into a clump, the pipeline mushes into one line, the images pile up at the bottom of the page.
Before writing any slide code:
- First Read
assets/template.html (at least through the end of the <style> block)
- Against layouts.md's Pre-flight list, confirm that every class you're going to use exists in the
<style>
- If a class is missing: add it to template.html's
<style>, don't rewrite it inline on every slide
- template.html is the single source of class names: don't invent new class names; if you need a custom one, use
style="..." inline
Classes commonly missed (must be confirmed to exist in advance):
h-hero / h-xl / h-sub / h-md / lead / kicker / meta-row / stat-card / stat-label / stat-nb / stat-unit / stat-note / pipeline-section / pipeline-label / pipeline / step / step-nb / step-title / step-desc / grid-2-7-5 / grid-2-6-6 / grid-2-8-4 / grid-3-3 / grid-6 / grid-3 / grid-4 / frame / frame-img / img-cap / callout / callout-src / chrome / foot
3.0.5 · Plan the theme rhythm (equally important as the class pre-check)
Before picking layouts, you must first list the theme class for each page (hero dark / hero light / light / dark) and write it to a document or draft to align. For detailed rules, see the "Theme rhythm planning" section at the top of references/layouts.md.
Mandatory rules:
- Every page section must carry one of
light / dark / hero light / hero dark; don't write just hero
- 3+ consecutive pages on the same theme = visual fatigue, not allowed
- 8+ pages must have ≥1
hero dark + ≥1 hero light
- The whole deck cannot have only
light body pages; it must have a dark body page to create breathing room
- Insert 1 hero page (cover/divider/question/big quote) every 3-4 pages
Self-check after generating: grep 'class="slide' index.html lists all themes; manually confirm the rhythm is reasonable before delivering.
3.1 · Pick a layout
Don't write slides from scratch. Open references/layouts.md; it has 10 ready-made layout skeletons, each a complete, paste-ready <section> code block:
| Layout | Use |
|---|
| 1. Cover | page 1 |
| 2. Act divider | each act's opening |
| 3. Big numbers | throw out hard data |
| 4. Lead image + text (Quote + Image) | identity contrast / story |
| 5. Image grid | multi-image comparison / screenshot evidence |
| 6. Two-column pipeline (Pipeline) | workflow process |
| 7. Suspenseful close / question page | act close / wrap-up |
| 8. Big quote page (Big Quote) | serif punchline / takeaway |
| 9. Side-by-side comparison (Before / After) | old model vs new model |
| 10. Image + text mix (Lead Image + Side Text) | information-dense image-text pages |
Pick the corresponding layout, paste it in, change the copy and image paths. Be sure to complete the 3.0 pre-check first.
3.2 · Image ratio rules
Always use a standard ratio, never the source image's odd ratio (like 2592/1798):
| Scenario | Recommended ratio |
|---|
| Lead image + text, main image | 16:10 or 4:3 + max-height:56vh |
| Image grid (multi-image comparison) | fixed height:26vh, not aspect-ratio |
| Small image left + text right | 1:1 or 3:2 |
| Full-screen hero visual | 16:9 + max-height:64vh |
| Image + text mix, small inset | 3:2 or 3:4 |
Never use align-self:end on an image: it slides to the bottom of the cell, hidden by the browser toolbar. Use a grid container + align-items:start (already preset in the template) so the image sticks to the top; if you want the left column to stick to the bottom, use flex column + justify-content:space-between.
Component details (fonts, colors, grids, icons, callout, stat-card, etc.) are in references/components.md.
Step 4 · Self-check against the checklist
After generating, always open references/checklist.md and check item by item. It summarizes every pitfall stepped on during real iteration; the P0-level issues (emoji, images breaking out, title wrapping, type division of labor) must all pass.
A few items to watch especially:
- Big titles must be serif: if it shows as sans-serif, 99% of the time the Step 3.0 pre-check wasn't done and the
h-hero class is missing from template.html
- In image grids use only
height:Nvh, not aspect-ratio (it breaks out)
- Images must not pile up at the bottom of the page: don't use
align-self:end, use grid + align-items:start (see Step 3.2)
- Images may only use standard ratios (16:10 / 4:3 / 3:2 / 1:1 / 16:9), don't copy the source image's odd ratio
- Chinese big titles ≤ 5 characters and
nowrap (avoid 1 character per line)
- Use Lucide, not emoji
- Serif for titles, sans-serif for body, mono for metadata
Step 5 · Local preview
Just open index.html directly in the browser. On macOS:
open "项目/XXX/ppt/index.html"
No local server needed. Images use the relative path images/xxx.png.
Step 6 · Iterate
Modify based on user feedback: the template's CSS is highly parameterized, and 90% of adjustments are changing inline styles (font size font-size:Xvw / height height:Yvh / spacing gap:Zvh).
Resource file tour
magazine-web-ppt/
├── SKILL.md ← you are reading this
├── assets/
│ ├── template.html ← the complete runnable template (seed file)
│ └── example-slides.html ← a 9-page sample deck (for the Examples preview)
└── references/
├── styles.md ← the 5 magazine directions (Monocle / WIRED / Kinfolk / Domus / Lab)
├── components.md ← component handbook (fonts, color, grid, icons, callout, stat, pipeline...)
├── layouts.md ← 10 page layout skeletons (paste-ready)
├── themes.md ← 5 theme color presets (pick only, no customization)
└── checklist.md ← quality checklist (P0/P1/P2/P3 tiers)
Recommended loading order:
- First read through
SKILL.md (this file) to understand the whole
- When picking a direction in Step 0, read
styles.md: each of the 5 directions packages up theme color + recommended layouts + chrome style
- After clarifying intent in Step 1, if the direction needs confirmation, read
themes.md for palette details
- Before starting, Read the
<style> block of assets/template.html: this is the single source of class names; missing classes crash the whole page's styling
- Read
layouts.md to pick a layout (the top has the Pre-flight class-name list and theme rhythm planning)
- When tuning details, read
components.md to look up components
- After generating, read
checklist.md to self-check (the top P0-0 rule enforces the pre-check)
Core design principles (philosophy)
These principles are distilled from 5 rounds of iteration on the "one-person company" talk deck. Violating any one of them makes the visual feel collapse.
- Restraint over flash: the WebGL background only shows through on hero pages, barely visible on ordinary pages
- Structure over decoration: no shadows, no floating cards, no padding boxes; all information relies on large type + typeface contrast + grid whitespace
- Content hierarchy is defined jointly by type size and typeface: largest serif = main title, medium serif = subtitle, large sans = lead, small sans = body, mono = metadata
- Images are first-class citizens: images are cropped only at the bottom, keeping the top and sides intact; grids use a fixed
height:Nvh, not aspect-ratio stretching
- Rhythm relies on hero pages: hero and non-hero alternate, so the eyes don't tire
- Consistent terminology: Skills is just Skills, don't mix Chinese-English translation
Reference works
This skill's visual tone references:
- Guizang's "One-Person Company: Organizations Folded by AI" talk (2026-04-22, 27 pages)
- The layout of Monocle magazine
- The demo from YC president Garry Tan's blog post "Thin Harness, Fat Skills"
You can treat these as style anchors.
