absolute-ui

When this skill is activated, always start your first response with the 🧢 emoji.

# Absolute UI

A comprehensive design system knowledge base for building UIs that feel crafted
by a senior designer, not generated by a prompt. This skill encodes specific,
opinionated rules - exact spacing values, proven color ratios, real typography
scales, and battle-tested component patterns. Every recommendation is actionable
with concrete CSS/Tailwind values, not vague advice like "make it clean."

The difference between AI slop and a polished UI comes down to constraint and
restraint - fewer colors used with intention, consistent spacing from a scale,
typography that creates hierarchy without screaming, and micro-interactions that
feel responsive without being distracting.

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## When to use this skill

Trigger this skill when the user:
- Asks to build or style a UI component (button, card, form, table, nav)
- Needs help with layout, spacing, or grid decisions
- Wants to implement dark mode or theme switching
- Asks about typography, font choices, or text styling
- Needs accessible and WCAG-compliant designs
- Wants landing page, onboarding, or conversion-focused layouts
- Asks about animations, transitions, or micro-interactions
- Needs help with responsive design or mobile navigation
- Wants feedback patterns (toasts, tooltips, loading states)
- Asks to make something "look better" or "more professional"

Do NOT trigger this skill for:
- Backend logic, API design, or database schema questions
- Brand identity or logo design (this is implementation, not branding)

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## Design thinking

Before writing CSS, commit to an aesthetic direction. The #1 cause of generic-looking UIs is starting with code instead of intent.

1. **Start from user intent, not structure** - Don't begin with headers, footers, or layout scaffolding. Ask: "What is the user trying to do?" If they're searching for accommodations, a search bar is the natural starting point. Only expand UI as user intent expands. For many pages, the core is a heading, an input, and a button - that's all you needed.
2. **Choose a tone** - Pick one that fits the context: brutalist, editorial, retro-futuristic, organic, luxury, playful, industrial, art deco, soft/pastel, minimalist-sharp. These are starting points - blend and invent your own. See `references/style-catalog.md` for 25 concrete options.
3. **Define what's memorable** - What's the one visual choice someone will remember? An unusual color, dramatic typography, a bold layout break, atmospheric texture?
4. **Creativity is connecting, not inventing** - Study top-tier existing designs in your domain. Gather 3-5 inspirations, note what you like about each, then combine those elements in your own way. Step away before designing - new ideas emerge when you return.
5. **Vary between projects** - Every design should feel different. If your last 3 outputs used the same fonts, colors, and layout patterns, you're producing slop.

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## Key principles

1. **Use a spacing scale, never arbitrary values** - Pick a base unit (4px or 8px) and only use multiples: 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96. Tailwind's default scale does this. Random padding like `13px` or `27px` is the #1 tell of amateur UI.

2. **Limit your palette to 1 primary + 1 neutral + 1 accent** - More colors = more chaos. Use 5-7 shades of your primary (50-900), a full neutral gray scale, and one accent for destructive/success states. Never more than 3 hues on a single screen.

3. **Create hierarchy through contrast, not decoration** - Size, weight, color, and spacing create hierarchy. You should never need borders, shadows, AND color differences simultaneously. One or two signals per level of hierarchy. Key insight: to emphasize something, often deemphasize competing elements instead of making the target louder.

4. **Every interactive element needs 4 states** - Default, hover, active/pressed, and disabled. If you skip any state, the UI feels broken. Focus states are mandatory for accessibility.

5. **Whitespace is a feature, not wasted space** - Generous padding makes UIs feel premium. Cramped UIs feel cheap. Workflow: start with too much spacing, view the design as a whole, then reduce until it feels right. Users scan the entire UI before focusing on details - space that feels excessive when you're zoomed into one element looks correct at page level.

6. **Consistency within, personality across** - Within a project, use the same border-radius, shadow scale, and transition timing everywhere. But each project should have its own distinct personality - different fonts, colors, and spatial feel. Consistency without character is how AI slop is made.

7. **Use real icons, never emojis** - Unicode emojis (e.g. ✅, ⚡, 🔥, 📊) render inconsistently across operating systems and browsers, cannot be styled with CSS (no size, color, or stroke control), break visual consistency, and hurt accessibility. Always use a proper icon library - Lucide React (recommended), React Icons, Heroicons, Phosphor, or Font Awesome. Icons from these libraries are SVG-based, styleable, consistent, and accessible.

8. **Backgrounds need atmosphere** - Flat solid-color backgrounds (#fff, #f9fafb) are the default of every AI-generated UI. Use subtle gradient meshes, noise/grain overlays, geometric patterns, or tinted surfaces to create depth. Texture should be felt, not seen - if you notice it consciously, it's too much.

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## Core concepts

**The 8px grid** - All spacing, sizing, and layout decisions snap to an 8px grid. Component heights: 32px (small), 40px (medium), 48px (large). Padding: 8px, 12px, 16px, 24px. Gaps: 8px, 16px, 24px, 32px. This single rule eliminates 80% of "why does this look wrong" problems.

**Visual weight** - Every element has visual weight determined by size, color darkness, border thickness, and shadow. A page should have one clear heavyweight (the CTA or primary content), with everything else progressively lighter. Squint at your page - if no