name: applying-visual-identity
description: Use when the user wants output to follow a company's brand / visual identity, or asks to set one up — "use our brand", "make it on-brand", "here's our identity", "create a DESIGN.md". Reads and applies a DESIGN.md (Google Labs open spec): brand tokens for colors, typography, spacing, radius, shadows, and components, so decks, sites, and docs come out consistently on-brand. Scaffolds a DESIGN.md when none exists.
Skill: applying-visual-identity
A company's visual identity lives in a DESIGN.md at the project root — the open
spec from Google Labs (Apache-2.0, 2026). It pairs machine-readable design tokens (YAML
frontmatter) with human-readable rationale (prose), so any AI tool renders the brand the same
way across sessions. This skill reads that file and applies it; if none exists, it scaffolds one.
Workflow
- Locate. Look for
DESIGN.md in the project root. If found, parse the frontmatter tokens
— they are the normative values; the prose is guidance.
- Apply. Map tokens to the target medium:
- HTML/reveal.js/Marp → CSS custom properties on
:root (--brand-primary, --font-heading, …).
- Markdown/docs → headings, callouts, accent usage per the Do's/Don'ts.
- Resolve token references like
{colors.primary} before output.
- Stay in-spec. Use only defined tokens; don't introduce off-palette colors or fonts. If a
needed token is missing, ask or pick the closest defined one and note it.
- Scaffold when absent. If there's no
DESIGN.md, offer to create one from
templates/DESIGN.md — ask for (or extract from a provided logo/site) the primary color,
font, and tone. Never silently invent a brand; fall back to a neutral theme until confirmed.
The DESIGN.md format (Google Labs spec)
YAML frontmatter holds the tokens; the body documents intent in fixed sections.
Frontmatter token groups: colors, typography (objects: fontFamily, fontSize,
fontWeight, lineHeight, letterSpacing), spacing, rounded, shadows, components
(per-component token refs). Colors accept hex / rgb / hsl / oklch(). Dimensions carry units
(px, rem). References use braces: {colors.primary}, {typography.h1}.
Body sections (in order): Overview · Colors · Typography · Layout & Spacing ·
Elevation & Depth · Shapes · Components · Do's and Don'ts.
See templates/DESIGN.md for a complete, fillable example.
Rules
- Tokens are normative — match them exactly; the prose only explains why.
- Keep
DESIGN.md in the project root so every tool and agent finds it.
- One source of truth: when the brand changes, edit
DESIGN.md, not individual decks.
- This skill defines the look;
building-html-presentations defines the structure.
