creative-direction

name	creative-direction
description	World-class creative direction — art direction, AI prompt engineering, storyboarding, mood boards, streetwear design, trailer storytelling, and visual brand systems. Covers Higgsfield, Kittl, Midjourney, and Flux platforms.

Creative Direction

Elite creative direction skill covering the full spectrum from concept to production-ready output. Combines cinematography, graphic design, streetwear design, AI production, and narrative storytelling into a unified creative intelligence.

When to Use

• Art direction for any visual concept (campaigns, brands, products, content)
• AI prompt generation for Higgsfield, Kittl, Midjourney, Flux
• Storyboarding and multi-shot sequence planning
• Mood board construction (5-layer system)
• Streetwear/apparel graphic design with production specs
• Applying trailer storytelling to any content format
• Creative review and critique (the Virgil Test)
• Brand visual identity systems
• Node-based production pipeline design (Kittl Flows, Higgsfield CS 3.0)

Core Frameworks

The Three Anchors (Concept Development)

Every strong concept has:

1. Visual Hook — The first thing that grabs attention
2. Emotional Core — The feeling that sustains engagement
3. Cultural Anchor — The reference point that creates meaning

The 5-Layer Mood Board System

1. Color (hex codes + emotional reasoning)
2. Texture (material qualities + AI keywords)
3. Typography (pairings + hierarchy)
4. Photography/Image Direction (shot types, lighting, composition)
5. Cultural References (film, music, fashion, architecture, art)

The 4-Act Trailer Structure

1. The World (0-30s) — Establish setting, tone, "normal"
2. The Disruption (30-60s) — Conflict, stakes, the change
3. The Escalation (60-90s) — Maximum intensity, emotional peak
4. The Resolve (90-120s) — Final hook, open loop, CTA

The Virgil Abloh Method

• 3% Rule — Change 3% of something existing; genius is knowing WHICH 3%
• Readymade Principle — Selection IS the creative act
• DJ Philosophy — Selection, sequencing, mixing of references
• Quotation Mark Technique — Transform labels into commentary

Platform Selection Matrix

Need	Platform
Cinematic video	Higgsfield CS 3.0 (Veo 3.1)
Photorealistic photos	Flux Pro
Artistic/stylized	Midjourney v6
Graphic design	Kittl Image Board
Design-to-video	Kittl Video Board
Character consistency	Higgsfield + SoulID
Quick social	Kittl + Seedance 1.5 Pro

Render Backend Router (in-stack image + video generation)

Once the strategic call is made (concept, mood, style family), route to the right render backend:

Brief shape	Backend	Why
Photoreal, cinematic, character-driven, scene-specific	execution/generate_image.py (Gemini Nano Banana 2)	Best at photoreal + scene composition; cheaper at scale
Stylized poster, typographic, vintage / Swiss / Ukiyo-e / brutalism / neon-noir / editorial	skills/fantastic-posters/ (Fal + GPT Image 2)	33 curated styles + auto-picker; GPT Image 2 stronger at typographic poster aesthetics
Ad creative / lookbook / lifestyle still	Either — Gemini for photoreal, fantastic-posters streetwear-lookbook style for editorial
Real estate listing poster	skills/fantastic-posters/ luxury-real-estate or luxury-estate-cover styles	Native-fit styles purpose-built for the use case
Strategy brief / deliverable cover	skills/fantastic-posters/ corporate-report / swiss-minimal-typo / editorial-fashion	Premium typographic covers
Image edit (brand swap, copy variant, ref-anchored regen)	skills/fantastic-posters/ gen.sh --refs=...	GPT Image 2 edit endpoint; handled by existing generate.js
Video — multi-shot narrative trailer	skills/fantastic-posters/ fal_video_kling.py (Kling v3 Pro)	Only model with multi_prompt for distinct scene cuts; supports custom element references
Video — cinematic single-shot, lipsync-grade audio, start→end transition	skills/fantastic-posters/ fal_video_seedance.py (Seedance 2.0 720p)	Premium synchronized audio + frame interpolation
Video — short ambient motion, social trailer	skills/fantastic-posters/ fal_video_kling.py (5s, audio on, $0.84)	Cheapest path that still feels cinematic
Video — full live-action / cinematic narrative ≥15s	Higgsfield CS 3.0 (Veo 3.1)

Bridge pattern: posters generated by gen.sh become natural input frames for fal_video_* wrappers. Generate the still first, lock the winner, then animate. Always pre-flight via python3 execution/fal_budget_guard.py check --mode=<...>.

Rule of thumb: if the brief mentions a style family by name (vintage, Swiss, brutalist, neon-noir, vapor, editorial, etc.) → fantastic-posters. If it mentions a real scene (a person doing something, a specific environment, a product photographed in context) → Gemini.

Budget (mode-aware as of 2026-04-30): fantastic-posters runs on a $20 Fal wallet (refills at $5). Every call MUST go through execution/fal_budget_guard.py check --mode=<...> first. Full policy: directives/fal-usage-policy.md. Per-call ceilings: poster $1.00, edit $1.00, kling $2.00, seedance-480p $1.50, seedance-720p $3.00, seedance-1080p HARD-BLOCKED. Daily cap $6.00, cycle cap $15.00, rate-limit 5 calls / 5 min, halt after 2 consecutive failures.

Workflows

Workflow	File	Deliverable
Art Direction	.agent/workflows/art-direct.md	3 concept directions + execution specs + prompts
AI Prompt Generation	.agent/workflows/creative-prompt.md	3-variant platform-specific prompts
Storyboard	.agent/workflows/storyboard.md	Multi-shot sequence with connected prompts
Mood Board	.agent/workflows/mood-board.md	5-layer strategic mood board brief
Design Spec	.agent/workflows/design-spec.md	Production-ready graphic design specs
Trailer Treatment	.agent/workflows/trailer-treatment.md	4-act narrative framework for any content
Creative Review	.agent/workflows/creative-review.md	Virgil Test critique + specific improvements

Deep Reference

For complex or high-stakes creative work, load genius.md which contains the compressed encyclopedia across all 6 knowledge domains (visual language, creative direction, AI prompting, streetwear, trailer storytelling, node workflows).

For maximum depth, the full uncompressed knowledge bases and guides live in knowledge/creative-direction/.

Execution Prompts (structure-pure v2)

7 deterministic practitioner prompts — each carries an Output Contract, Output Skeleton, and Quality Gate. When a deliverable matches one, Read it and honor its contract instead of improvising the output shape.

• Creative Direction — AI Prompt Generation (3-Variant, Platform-Specific) — skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/ai-prompt-generation.md
• Creative Direction — Art Direction (3 Concept Directions) — skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/art-direction.md
• Creative Direction — Creative Review (The Virgil Test Critique) — skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/creative-review.md
• Creative Direction — Design Specification (Apparel / Logo / Poster / Packaging) — skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/design-specification.md
• Creative Direction — Mood Board (5-Layer System) — skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/mood-board.md
• Creative Direction — Storyboard (Multi-Shot Sequence) — skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/storyboard.md
• Creative Direction — Trailer Treatment (4-Act Narrative Framework) — skills/creative-direction/references/prompts-v2/trailer-treatment.md