Design & HIG

You MUST use this skill for ANY visual design, HIG compliance, Liquid Glass, SF Symbols, typography, or app composition work.

Quick Reference

Symptom / Task	Reference
Design decisions, HIG compliance, colors, backgrounds	See `skills/hig.md`
Semantic colors, custom color patterns, material styles	See `skills/hig-ref.md`
Liquid Glass effects, adoption, migration from blur effects	See `skills/liquid-glass.md`
App-wide Liquid Glass adoption, backward compatibility	See `skills/liquid-glass-ref.md`
SF Symbols rendering modes, effects, animations	See `skills/sf-symbols.md`
SF Symbols API signatures, UIKit equivalents, availability	See `skills/sf-symbols-ref.md`
San Francisco fonts, text styles, Dynamic Type, tracking	See `skills/typography-ref.md`
App entry points, auth flows, root view switching, scene lifecycle	See `skills/app-composition.md`

Decision Tree

dot

digraph design {
    start [label="Design task" shape=ellipse];
    what [label="What do you need?" shape=diamond];

    start -> what;
    what -> "skills/hig.md" [label="design decision,\nHIG compliance,\ncolor/background choice"];
    what -> "skills/hig-ref.md" [label="semantic color API,\ncustom color code,\nmaterial style details"];
    what -> "skills/liquid-glass.md" [label="Liquid Glass effects,\nmigrate from blur,\nRegular vs Clear"];
    what -> "skills/liquid-glass-ref.md" [label="app-wide Liquid Glass plan,\nplatform differences,\nbackward compat"];
    what -> "skills/sf-symbols.md" [label="rendering mode choice,\nsymbol effects/animations,\ncustom symbols"];
    what -> "skills/sf-symbols-ref.md" [label="SF Symbols API syntax,\nUIKit equivalents,\navailability matrix"];
    what -> "skills/typography-ref.md" [label="font selection,\nDynamic Type,\ntext styles, tracking"];
    what -> "skills/app-composition.md" [label="@main entry point,\nauth flow, root view,\nscene lifecycle"];
}

Design decision / HIG compliance / choosing colors or backgrounds? →
```
skills/hig.md
```
1a. Need semantic color API, custom color code, or material style details? →
```
skills/hig-ref.md
```
Liquid Glass effects / migrating from blur / Regular vs Clear variant? →
```
skills/liquid-glass.md
```
2a. Planning app-wide Liquid Glass adoption / platform differences / backward compatibility? →
```
skills/liquid-glass-ref.md
```
SF Symbols rendering mode / symbol effects / custom symbols? →
```
skills/sf-symbols.md
```
3a. Need SF Symbols API syntax / UIKit equivalents / availability check? →
```
skills/sf-symbols-ref.md
```
Font selection / Dynamic Type / text styles / tracking / leading? →
```
skills/typography-ref.md
```
App entry point / auth flow / root view switching / scene lifecycle? →
```
skills/app-composition.md
```
SwiftUI view implementation? →
```
/skill axiom-swiftui
```
TextKit / rich text editing / Writing Tools? →
```
/skill axiom-uikit
```
Accessibility compliance (VoiceOver, contrast, touch targets)? →
```
/skill axiom-accessibility
```
Audit UI for Liquid Glass adoption? → liquid-glass-auditor (Agent)

Conflict Resolution

design vs swiftui: When building UI:

Use design FIRST — Decide what to build (colors, materials, typography, layout intent) before how to build it.
Then use swiftui — Implement the design decision in SwiftUI code.

design vs accessibility: When choosing colors or typography:

Color contrast or Dynamic Type compliance? → use accessibility
Which semantic color or text style to pick? → use design

design (liquid-glass) vs swiftui: When implementing Liquid Glass:

What Liquid Glass is, when to use Regular vs Clear, migration strategy → use design (
```
skills/liquid-glass.md
```
)
SwiftUI code for
```
.glassEffect()
```
modifier → use design (
```
skills/liquid-glass-ref.md
```
), then swiftui for surrounding view code

design (app-composition) vs swiftui: When structuring app architecture:

@main entry, auth state machine, root view switching, scene lifecycle → use design (
```
skills/app-composition.md
```
)
NavigationStack, NavigationSplitView, tab structure → use swiftui

Critical Patterns

HIG Quick Decisions (

skills/hig.md

Background color decision tree (media-focused vs standard)
Typography selection (headline vs body vs caption)
Color usage guidelines and when to use semantic vs custom colors
Design review checklist for HIG compliance

HIG Comprehensive Reference (

skills/hig-ref.md

All semantic colors with platform availability
Custom color patterns with dark mode support
Background hierarchy and material styles
Code examples for every color and background pattern

Liquid Glass (

skills/liquid-glass.md

What Liquid Glass is and how it differs from blur effects
Regular vs Clear variant selection
Migration strategy from pre-iOS 26 materials
Tinting, legibility, and adaptive behavior troubleshooting
Expert review criteria for Liquid Glass implementations

Liquid Glass Adoption (

skills/liquid-glass-ref.md

App-wide adoption planning (icons, controls, navigation, menus)
Platform-specific behavior (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS)
Backward compatibility strategy for supporting pre-Liquid Glass
Accessibility compliance with Liquid Glass interfaces

SF Symbols (

skills/sf-symbols.md

Rendering mode selection (Monochrome, Hierarchical, Palette, Multicolor)
Symbol effect selection (Bounce, Pulse, Scale, Wiggle, Rotate, Breathe, Draw)
Custom symbol creation workflow
Troubleshooting effects not playing, weight mismatches

SF Symbols API (

skills/sf-symbols-ref.md

Exact API signatures for rendering modes and effects
UIKit/AppKit equivalents for every SwiftUI symbol API
Platform availability matrix
Configuration options (weight, scale, variable values)

Typography (

skills/typography-ref.md

San Francisco font system (Pro, Compact, Mono, New York)
Text styles with Dynamic Type scaling
Tracking and leading values
Internationalization considerations

App Composition (

skills/app-composition.md

@main entry point and root view patterns
Authentication state machine (login, onboarding, main)
Flicker-free root view switching
scenePhase lifecycle handling and state restoration

Anti-Rationalization

Thought	Reality
"I'll just pick colors that look good"	Semantic colors adapt to dark mode, accessibility settings, and platform automatically. Custom colors need all of that manually. `skills/hig.md` has the decision tree.
"Liquid Glass is just a blur effect"	Liquid Glass is a distinct material system with lensing, tinting, and adaptive behavior. Using `.blur()` instead creates a visually wrong result. `skills/liquid-glass.md` explains the difference.
"I know which SF Symbol rendering mode to use"	The right mode depends on context (monochrome for toolbars, hierarchical for depth, palette for brand colors). `skills/sf-symbols.md` has the decision tree.
"I'll hardcode font sizes"	Hardcoded sizes break Dynamic Type, violate HIG, and fail accessibility review. `skills/typography-ref.md` shows the text style system.
"I'll handle auth state with a boolean"	A boolean can't represent login, onboarding, and main states without race conditions. `skills/app-composition.md` has the state machine pattern.
"Liquid Glass adoption means rewriting my whole UI"	Most standard SwiftUI/UIKit components adopt automatically. Start by building with latest Xcode, then review. `skills/liquid-glass-ref.md` has the incremental strategy.
"I'll add the SF Symbol animation later"	Symbol effects are the primary way users perceive interactive feedback. Shipping without them feels broken. `skills/sf-symbols.md` covers selection.
"I'll skip the design review, the code works"	HIG compliance affects App Store review. Reviewers reject apps that feel wrong even if they function correctly. `skills/hig.md` has the review checklist.

Example Invocations

User: "Should I use a dark or light background?" -> Read:

skills/hig.md

User: "What semantic color should I use for secondary text?" -> Read:

skills/hig-ref.md

User: "How do I implement Liquid Glass in my app?" -> Read:

skills/liquid-glass.md

User: "I need to plan Liquid Glass adoption across my whole app" -> Read:

skills/liquid-glass-ref.md

User: "My SF Symbol is flat, I want it to have depth" -> Read:

skills/sf-symbols.md

User: "What's the SwiftUI API for symbol effects?" -> Read:

skills/sf-symbols-ref.md

User: "Which font should I use for body text?" -> Read:

skills/typography-ref.md

User: "How do I switch between login and main screens?" -> Read:

skills/app-composition.md

User: "Check my app's UI for HIG compliance" -> Read:

skills/hig.md

, then

/skill axiom-accessibility

for contrast/Dynamic Type

User: "I want my download button icon to animate" -> Read:

skills/sf-symbols.md

axiom-design

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content