Skeumorphism design skill for AI agents

Overview

The Skeumorphism design skill is a comprehensive, implementation-ready design system guideline built for AI agents. It encodes the entire visual identity, component specifications, and interaction standards of a skeumorphic design language into a single SKILL.md file that any AI coding assistant can follow.

Skeumorphism is a UI/UX design approach that mimics real-world textures, materials, and 3D functionality to make digital interfaces intuitive, familiar, and relatable. This skill brings that philosophy into modern component design — buttons that look pressable, surfaces that feel layered, and a warm, playful color palette that invites interaction. Every rule in this skill file is anchored to a concrete token, threshold, or example — no ambiguous adjectives.

Style foundations

The Skeumorphism design system is built on a playful visual style with carefully defined foundations.

Typography

The system pairs Roboto as the primary body font with Germania One for display and headings, creating a contrast between a clean, universally readable body and a bold, characterful headline voice that reinforces the tactile personality. JetBrains Mono is used for code and monospaced elements. The scale follows a progression of 12 / 14 / 16 / 20 / 24 / 32 pixels, and all nine font weights (100–900) are available for precise typographic control.

Color palette

The system uses semantic tokens across six palettes — primary, secondary, neutral, success, warning, and danger — so components reference tokens rather than raw hex values. The fiery orange-red primary paired with a warm amber secondary creates a bold, energetic palette that feels physical and inviting — true to the skeumorphic tradition.

Spacing

All spacing follows a 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 24 / 32 pixel scale to maintain a consistent vertical and horizontal rhythm across every component.

Component families

The Skeumorphism skill covers a wide range of component families, organized into logical groups:

• Inputs and forms — buttons, inputs, textareas, selects/comboboxes, checkboxes, radios, switches, date/time pickers, file uploaders
• Data display — cards, tables, data lists, data grids, charts, stats/metrics, badges/chips, avatars
• Navigation — breadcrumbs, pagination, steppers, sidebars, top bars/headers, tabs, command palette
• Overlays — modals, drawers/sheets, tooltips, popovers/menus
• Feedback — alerts/toasts, notifications center, progress indicators, skeletons, empty states
• Pages — authentication screens, settings pages, onboarding, documentation layouts, pricing blocks, search
• Visualization — data visualization wrappers, carousels, accordions

Each component family includes defined states (default, hover, focus-visible, active, disabled, loading, error), interaction behavior for keyboard, pointer, and touch, explicit token usage, and responsive behavior with edge cases.

Accessibility

This skill targets WCAG 2.2 AA compliance with keyboard-first interactions and visible focus states. Every accessibility statement in the file is testable in implementation. When conflicts arise between aesthetics and accessibility, accessibility wins.

How to use this skill with AI agents

Pull the skill file into your project with a single command:

npx typeui.sh pull skeumorphism```


This saves the `SKILL.md` file directly into your project. From there you can use it with any AI coding tool — Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, or any other agent that accepts context files, system prompts, or knowledge documents.

The file is standard markdown. Copy it into a project knowledge base, reference it as context in a prompt, upload it as a knowledge file, or drop it into a rules directory. The structured format ensures consistent results regardless of which AI platform you use.

## Design principles

The Skeumorphism skill enforces three core rules:

1. **Prefer semantic tokens over raw values** — always reference design tokens instead of hardcoded colors, sizes, or spacing
2. **Preserve visual hierarchy** — maintain clear distinctions between headings, body text, and supporting elements
3. **Keep interaction states explicit** — every interactive element must define its full state set

And three strict anti-patterns to avoid:

1. **No low contrast text** — all text must meet WCAG AA contrast ratios
2. **No inconsistent spacing rhythm** — every measurement must align to the spacing scale
3. **No ambiguous labels** — interactive elements must have clear, descriptive labels

## Writing tone

All content generated with this skill follows a **concise, confident, and helpful** tone. Labels are clear. Instructions are direct. There is no unnecessary jargon or decoration.