impeccable

This skill guides creation of distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces that avoid generic "AI slop" aesthetics. Implement real working code with exceptional attention to aesthetic details and creative choices.

Design skills produce generic output without project context. You MUST have confirmed design context before doing any design work.

Required context (every design skill needs at minimum):

Individual skills may require additional context. Check the skill's preparation section for specifics.

CRITICAL: You cannot infer this context by reading the codebase. Code tells you what was built, not who it's for or what it should feel like. Only the creator can provide this context.

Commit to a BOLD aesthetic direction:

CRITICAL: Choose a clear conceptual direction and execute it with precision. Bold maximalism and refined minimalism both work. The key is intentionality, not intensity.

Then implement working code that is:

→ Consult typography reference for OpenType features, web font loading, and the deeper material on scales.

Choose fonts that are beautiful, unique, and interesting. Pair a distinctive display font with a refined body font.

<typography_principles> Always apply these — do not consult a reference, just do them:

<font_selection_procedure> DO THIS BEFORE TYPING ANY FONT NAME.

The model's natural failure mode is "I was told not to use Inter, so I will pick my next favorite font, which becomes the new monoculture." Avoid this by performing the following procedure on every project, in order:

Step 1. Read the brief once. Write down 3 concrete words for the brand voice (e.g., "warm and mechanical and opinionated", "calm and clinical and careful", "fast and dense and unimpressed", "handmade and a little weird"). NOT "modern" or "elegant" — those are dead categories.

Step 2. List the 3 fonts you would normally reach for given those words. Write them down. They are most likely from this list:

<reflex_fonts_to_reject> Fraunces Newsreader Lora Crimson Crimson Pro Crimson Text Playfair Display Cormorant Cormorant Garamond Syne IBM Plex Mono IBM Plex Sans IBM Plex Serif Space Mono Space Grotesk Inter DM Sans DM Serif Display DM Serif Text Outfit Plus Jakarta Sans Instrument Sans Instrument Serif </reflex_fonts_to_reject>

Reject every font that appears in the reflex_fonts_to_reject list. They are your training-data defaults and they create monoculture across projects. Syne in particular is the most overused "distinctive" display font and is an instant AI design tell. Never use it.

Step 3. Browse a font catalog with the 3 brand words in mind. Sources: Google Fonts, Pangram Pangram, Future Fonts, Adobe Fonts, ABC Dinamo, Klim Type Foundry, Velvetyne. Look for something that fits the brand as a physical object — a museum exhibit caption, a hand-painted shop sign, a 1970s mainframe terminal manual, a fabric label on the inside of a coat, a children's book printed on cheap newsprint. Reject the first thing that "looks designy" — that's the trained reflex too. Keep looking.

Step 4. Cross-check the result. The right font for an "elegant" brief is NOT necessarily a serif. The right font for a "technical" brief is NOT necessarily a sans-serif. The right font for a "warm" brief is NOT Fraunces. If your final pick lines up with your reflex pattern, go back to Step 3. </font_selection_procedure>

<typography_rules> DO use a modular type scale with fluid sizing (clamp) on headings. DO vary font weights and sizes to create clear visual hierarchy. DO vary your font choices across projects. If you used a serif display font on the last project, look for a sans, monospace, or display face on this one.

DO NOT use overused fonts like Inter, Roboto, Arial, Open Sans, or system defaults — but also do not simply switch to your second-favorite. Every font in the reflex_fonts_to_reject list above is banned. Look further. DO NOT use Syne. Ever. It is an instant AI design tell. DO NOT use monospace typography as lazy shorthand for "technical/developer" vibes. DO NOT put large icons with rounded corners above every heading. They rarely add value and make sites look templated. DO NOT use only one font family for the entire page. Pair a distinctive display font with a refined body font. DO NOT use a flat type hierarchy where sizes are too close together. Aim for at least a 1.25 ratio between steps. DO NOT set long body passages in uppercase. Reserve all-caps for short labels and headings. </typography_rules>

→ Consult color reference for the deeper material on contrast, accessibility, and palette construction.

Commit to a cohesive palette. Dominant colors with sharp accents outperform timid, evenly-distributed palettes.

<color_principles> Always apply these — do not consult a reference, just do them:

<theme_selection> Theme (light vs dark) should be DERIVED from audience and viewing context, not picked from a default. Read the brief and ask: when is this product used, by whom, in what physical setting?

Do not default everything to light "to play it safe." Do not default everything to dark "to look cool." Both defaults are the lazy reflex. The correct theme is the one the actual user wants in their actual context. </theme_selection>

<color_rules> DO use modern CSS color functions (oklch, color-mix, light-dark) for perceptually uniform, maintainable palettes. DO tint your neutrals toward your brand hue. Even a subtle hint creates subconscious cohesion.

DO NOT use gray text on colored backgrounds; it looks washed out. Use a shade of the background color instead. DO NOT use pure black (#000) or pure white (#fff). Always tint; pure black/white never appears in nature. DO NOT use the AI color palette: cyan-on-dark, purple-to-blue gradients, neon accents on dark backgrounds. DO NOT use gradient text for impact — see <absolute_bans> below for the strict definition. Solid colors only for text. DO NOT default to dark mode with glowing accents. It looks "cool" without requiring actual design decisions. DO NOT default to light mode "to be safe" either. The point is to choose, not to retreat to a safe option. </color_rules>

→ Consult spatial reference for the deeper material on grids, container queries, and optical adjustments.

Create visual rhythm through varied spacing, not the same padding everywhere. Embrace asymmetry and unexpected compositions. Break the grid intentionally for emphasis.

<spatial_principles> Always apply these — do not consult a reference, just do them:

<spatial_rules> DO create visual rhythm through varied spacing: tight groupings, generous separations. DO use fluid spacing with clamp() that breathes on larger screens. DO use asymmetry and unexpected compositions; break the grid intentionally for emphasis.

DO NOT wrap everything in cards. Not everything needs a container. DO NOT nest cards inside cards. Visual noise; flatten the hierarchy. DO NOT use identical card grids (same-sized cards with icon + heading + text, repeated endlessly). DO NOT use the hero metric layout template (big number, small label, supporting stats, gradient accent). DO NOT center everything. Left-aligned text with asymmetric layouts feels more designed. DO NOT use the same spacing everywhere. Without rhythm, layouts feel monotonous. DO NOT let body text wrap beyond ~80 characters per line. Add a max-width like 65–75ch so the eye can track easily. </spatial_rules>

<absolute_bans> These CSS patterns are NEVER acceptable. They are the most recognizable AI design tells. Match-and-refuse: if you find yourself about to write any of these, stop and rewrite the element with a different structure entirely.

BAN 1: Side-stripe borders on cards/list items/callouts/alerts

BAN 2: Gradient text

DO: Use intentional, purposeful decorative elements that reinforce brand. DO NOT: Use border-left or border-right greater than 1px as a colored accent stripe on cards, list items, callouts, or alerts. See <absolute_bans> above for the strict CSS pattern. DO NOT: Use glassmorphism everywhere (blur effects, glass cards, glow borders used decoratively rather than purposefully). DO NOT: Use sparklines as decoration. Tiny charts that look sophisticated but convey nothing meaningful. DO NOT: Use rounded rectangles with generic drop shadows. Safe, forgettable, could be any AI output. DO NOT: Use modals unless there's truly no better alternative. Modals are lazy.

→ Consult motion reference for timing, easing, and reduced motion.

Focus on high-impact moments: one well-orchestrated page load with staggered reveals creates more delight than scattered micro-interactions.

DO: Use motion to convey state changes: entrances, exits, feedback DO: Use exponential easing (ease-out-quart/quint/expo) for natural deceleration DO: For height animations, use grid-template-rows transitions instead of animating height directly DON'T: Animate layout properties (width, height, padding, margin). Use transform and opacity only DON'T: Use bounce or elastic easing. They feel dated and tacky; real objects decelerate smoothly

→ Consult interaction reference for forms, focus, and loading patterns.

Make interactions feel fast. Use optimistic UI: update immediately, sync later.

DO: Use progressive disclosure. Start simple, reveal sophistication through interaction (basic options first, advanced behind expandable sections; hover states that reveal secondary actions) DO: Design empty states that teach the interface, not just say "nothing here" DO: Make every interactive surface feel intentional and responsive DON'T: Repeat the same information (redundant headers, intros that restate the heading) DON'T: Make every button primary. Use ghost buttons, text links, secondary styles; hierarchy matters

→ Consult responsive reference for mobile-first, fluid design, and container queries.

DO: Use container queries (@container) for component-level responsiveness DO: Adapt the interface for different contexts, not just shrink it DON'T: Hide critical functionality on mobile. Adapt the interface, don't amputate it

→ Consult ux-writing reference for labels, errors, and empty states.

DO: Make every word earn its place DON'T: Repeat information users can already see

Critical quality check: If you showed this interface to someone and said "AI made this," would they believe you immediately? If yes, that's the problem.

A distinctive interface should make someone ask "how was this made?" not "which AI made this?"

Review the DON'T guidelines above. They are the fingerprints of AI-generated work from 2024-2025.

Match implementation complexity to the aesthetic vision. Maximalist designs need elaborate code with extensive animations and effects. Minimalist or refined designs need restraint, precision, and careful attention to spacing, typography, and subtle details.

Interpret creatively and make unexpected choices that feel genuinely designed for the context. No design should be the same. Vary between light and dark themes, different fonts, different aesthetics. NEVER converge on common choices across generations.

Remember: the model is capable of extraordinary creative work. Don't hold back. Show what can truly be created when thinking outside the box and committing fully to a distinctive vision.

If this skill is invoked with the argument "craft" (e.g., ), follow the craft flow. Pass any additional arguments as the feature description.

If this skill is invoked with the argument "teach" (e.g., ), skip all design work above and instead run the teach flow below. This is a one-time setup that gathers design context for the project.

Before asking questions, thoroughly scan the project to discover what you can:

Note what you've learned and what remains unclear.

ask the user directly to clarify what you cannot infer. Focus only on what you couldn't infer from the codebase:

Skip questions where the answer is already clear from the codebase exploration.

Synthesize your findings and the user's answers into a section:

undefined

[Who they are, their context, the job to be done]

[Voice, tone, 3-word personality, emotional goals]

[Visual tone, references, anti-references, theme]

[3-5 principles derived from the conversation that should guide all design decisions]

Write this section to `.impeccable.md` in the project root. If the file already exists, update the Design Context section in place.

Then ask the user directly to clarify what you cannot infer. whether they'd also like the Design Context appended to .github/copilot-instructions.md. If yes, append or update the section there as well.

Confirm completion and summarize the key design principles that will now guide all future work.