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name: frontend-design description: Create distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces with high design quality. Use this skill when building web components, pages, or applications. Generates creative, polished code that avoids generic AI aesthetics.

Frontend Design

Create 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 Thinking

Before coding, understand the context and commit to a BOLD aesthetic direction:

• Purpose: What problem does this interface solve? Who uses it?
• Tone: Pick an extreme — brutally minimal, maximalist chaos, retro-futuristic, organic/natural, luxury/refined, playful/toy-like, editorial/magazine, brutalist/raw, art deco/geometric, soft/pastel, industrial/utilitarian
• Constraints: Technical requirements (framework, performance, accessibility)
• Differentiation: What makes this UNFORGETTABLE? What's the one thing someone will remember?

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

Frontend Aesthetics Guidelines

Typography

Choose fonts that are beautiful, unique, and interesting. Avoid generic fonts like Arial and Inter; opt for distinctive choices that elevate the interface. Pair a distinctive display font with a refined body font.

Color & Theme

Commit to a cohesive aesthetic. Use CSS variables for consistency. Dominant colors with sharp accents outperform timid, evenly-distributed palettes.

Motion

Use animations for effects and micro-interactions. Prioritize CSS-only solutions for HTML. Use Motion library for React when available. Focus on high-impact moments: one well-orchestrated page load with staggered reveals creates more delight than scattered micro-interactions.

Spatial Composition

Unexpected layouts. Asymmetry. Overlap. Diagonal flow. Grid-breaking elements. Generous negative space OR controlled density.

Backgrounds & Visual Details

Create atmosphere and depth rather than defaulting to solid colors. Apply creative forms like gradient meshes, noise textures, geometric patterns, layered transparencies, dramatic shadows, decorative borders, custom cursors, and grain overlays.

Anti-Patterns (What NOT to Do)

NEVER use:

• Overused font families (Inter, Roboto, Arial, system fonts)
• Cliched color schemes (purple gradients on white backgrounds)
• Predictable layouts and component patterns
• Cookie-cutter design that lacks context-specific character

NEVER converge on common AI choices (Space Grotesk, for example) across generations.

Implementation

Match implementation complexity to the aesthetic vision:

• Maximalist designs need elaborate code with extensive animations and effects
• Minimalist designs need restraint, precision, and careful attention to spacing, typography, and subtle details

Elegance comes from executing the vision well.

Output Requirements

Implement working code (HTML/CSS/JS, React, Vue, etc.) that is:

• Production-grade and functional
• Visually striking and memorable
• Cohesive with a clear aesthetic point-of-view
• Meticulously refined in every detail

Vary between light and dark themes, different fonts, different aesthetics. No design should be the same.

Qt/C++ Desktop Adaptation

When applying these principles to Qt/C++ desktop applications:

1. QSS (Qt Style Sheets) is the primary styling mechanism — treat it like CSS
2. Use QPalette for system-level color theming where QSS falls short
3. Leverage QGraphicsDropShadowEffect, QGraphicsOpacityEffect for depth
4. Custom QStyle subclasses for advanced rendering control
5. QPropertyAnimation for motion and transitions
6. Match the aesthetic direction to the domain: scientific tools → refined technical, creative tools → bold expressive

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Remember: Claude 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.