canvas-design

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

1. 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.
2. Decide the focal point. One element should be unambiguously first. Establish it with size or position, not with a fourth colour.
3. 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.
4. Limit the palette. One accent, one neutral ramp, and white space. Reserve the accent for the element you want read first.
5. Set type in no more than two sizes plus a caption size. Distinguish levels by weight and space rather than by adding sizes.
6. 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.