design-principles

Swiss International Style Design

Invoke when: Creating new components, modifying styles, or building new pages. Skip when: Backend work, API changes, logic-only changes.

Before Designing

Read the full design specs in docs/agent/design/:

1. style-guide.md - Core rules, colors, typography, components
2. design-system.md - Extended tokens, spacing, shadows
3. swiss-design-system-prompt.md - AI prompt for Swiss UI

Critical Rules (Always Apply)

Colors

Typography

font-serif  → Headers
font-mono   → Labels, metadata (uppercase, tracking-wider)
font-sans   → Body text

Component Patterns

// Button: Square corners, hard shadow, press effect
<button className="rounded-none border-2 border-black shadow-[2px_2px_0px_0px_#000000] hover:translate-y-[1px] hover:translate-x-[1px] hover:shadow-none">

// Card: Hard shadow, no rounded corners
<div className="bg-white border-2 border-black shadow-[4px_4px_0px_0px_#000000]">

// Label: Mono, uppercase
<label className="font-mono text-sm uppercase tracking-wider">

Status Indicators

<div className="w-3 h-3 bg-green-700" />  // Ready
<div className="w-3 h-3 bg-amber-500" />  // Warning
<div className="w-3 h-3 bg-red-600" />    // Error
<div className="w-3 h-3 bg-blue-700" />   // Active

Anti-Patterns (NEVER)

❌ rounded-* - Always use rounded-none ❌ Gradients or blur shadows ❌ Custom colors outside palette ❌ Pastel or soft colors ❌ Decorative icons without function

Retro Terminal Elements

Use bracket syntax for UI chrome ONLY (dashboard, settings, empty states):

<span className="font-mono text-xs uppercase">[ STATUS: READY ]</span>
<span className="font-mono text-xs uppercase">[ LOADING... ]</span>

DO NOT use retro elements on resume components - keep resume areas professional.

Quick Checklist

• Using rounded-none on all components
• Hard shadows (shadow-[Xpx_Xpx_0px_0px_#000000])
• Correct typography (serif headers, mono labels, sans body)
• Colors from palette only
• No gradients or blur effects