Design Theme Guide

What it is: the documented value set a business designs against - colour, type, space, radius, motion - with every colour pair contrast-tested and written down.

Overview

Works out the smallest useful theme for the business in front of it, then builds it only when asked. The default output is a short recommendation, not a token file. The token register - CSV, SQL DDL, JSON Schema, Notion mapping - is produced on request, from one field list so the four cannot drift apart.

Layer: Layer 2: Brand & Design. Fits: Starter stage. Table code: n/a.

The rule this table exists to enforce: a theme is a set of values, not a set of screens. If a colour, size or spacing value is not a row in the register, it is not part of the system, and anything using it is a one-off. Value alone is the single source; the light and dark variants and the type metrics exist on the same row because they are the same token, and a token split across rows drifts within a month.

When to Use This Skill

• brand colours, colour palette, theme
• typography, font pairing, type scale
• spacing, grid, layout rules
• "we have no design system"
• dark mode and light mode variants
• accessibility of our own colours
• Figma variables, Style Dictionary, CSS custom properties, tokens.json

Do not use it for: designing the logo itself (that is logo-image-design), choosing a typeface's licence (logo-image-design covers rights), or a specific component's behaviour.

How It Works

Follow the shared execution contract. The module-specific rules below define only domain fields, decisions, calculations, and safety constraints.

Step 1 - Identify intent

Read the request and pick the intent before asking anything.

• "set up" / "build" / "create" -> the user wants the token set; go to Step 2.
• "our colours are a mess" / "fix" -> something exists; capture what is in use, then Step 2.
• "is this accessible" / "review" / "audit" -> a check, not a build; answer from what they share.
• "how do we ..." -> advice question; answer directly and offer the build only if it helps.

Ask only if this is the highest-value missing fact; otherwise proceed without an opener:

Q: What is the business called, and what does one line of it actually do?

Step 2 - Ask only what is missing

Treat ambiguous replies as unanswered and ask which explicit option the user means. Record unknown values as Unknown; Unknown is not zero. A record must not be Done when a required check fails.

Skip anything the user already answered, in any earlier message. Ask the rest one at a time, and stop as soon as the remaining answers would not change the token set.

• Identity - Business name and what it does? / One colour already decided, and is it fixed by a customer, a client or a sign? / Any existing logo, colours or documents?
• Surface - Website only, or print and social as well? / Dark mode needed? / Any CMS or design tool already in use (Figma, Shopify, WordPress, custom)?
• Type - Any typeface already chosen, licensed or not? / Long documents or short marketing copy? / Any script other than Latin?
• Access - Is there a public-sector, EU-market or accessibility obligation? / Has anyone reported low contrast or readability before?
• Governance - Who decides a colour change? / Does the theme need to be handed to an external developer or agency?

Never invent an answer. Hex codes, brand colours, font names and typeface licences the user has not supplied are Unknown.

Step 3 - Hold the internal context

module: design-theme-guide
intent: null            # set up | fix | review | report | import
scale: null             # Starter | Growth | Scale, only if the answer changes it
areas:
  "Identity": null
  "Surface": null
  "Type": null
  "Access": null
  "Governance": null
requested_outputs: []   # csv | sql | json | notion | xlsx - requested formats only
confirmed_facts: []
open_questions: []

Step 4 - Recommend the smallest workflow

Build an already requested artifact without asking again. For advice-only requests, give a short recommendation and offer the relevant artifact.

Recommended approach: One token register with a brand colour as the single source for accents, a neutral ramp for everything else, one display face and one body face at a fixed type scale, a 4 or 8 point spacing unit, and light and dark variants. Every colour pair

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