From 8616ca30dfd817b98ad995850f7cf2c848738394 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paul Bakaus Date: Wed, 20 May 2026 01:00:08 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] skill: universal anti-slop bans + contrast/font-count/all-caps-body rules MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Third pass after measuring the rest of the cross-provider matrix: - Color: explicit "Verify contrast" rule. Low-contrast text fires at 68% across all providers skill-on (90+% off). The most common failure is muted gray body on a tinted near-white; light-gray-for- elegance is named as the single biggest cause of unreadable AI pages. - Typography: max-3-font-families rule. Overused-fonts (>4 families) fires at 28% Anthropic / 36% Google / 0% OpenAI skill-on; >50% off. Also: universal "no all-caps body copy" (moved from brand-only ban to Shared design laws since product-register also overuses caps). - Copy: anti-aphoristic-cadence ban targets Anthropic's signature "X. No Y." / "X. Just Y." voice (63% skill-on copy-slop rate, 77% off — the worst rate in the matrix). Once-is-voice / three-or-more- is-tell framing per the runner's copy-slop detector. - Copy: anti-SaaS-buzzword-string ban with the literal phrase list the detector watches for (streamline/empower/supercharge, trusted- by-leading, best-in-class/enterprise-grade/cutting-edge, etc). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) --- skill/SKILL.md | 5 +++++ 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+) diff --git a/skill/SKILL.md b/skill/SKILL.md index 71067662f..7618652db 100644 --- a/skill/SKILL.md +++ b/skill/SKILL.md @@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ Apply to every design, both registers. Match implementation complexity to the ae - **Full palette**: 3–4 named roles, each used deliberately. Brand campaigns; product data viz. - **Drenched**: the surface IS the color. Brand heroes, campaign pages. - The "one accent ≤10%" rule is Restrained only. Committed / Full palette / Drenched exceed it on purpose. Don't collapse every design to Restrained by reflex. +- **Verify contrast.** Body text must hit ≥4.5:1 against its background; large text (≥18px or bold ≥14px) needs ≥3:1. The most common failure: muted gray body text on a tinted near-white. If the contrast is even close, bump the body color toward the ink end of the ramp — light gray "for elegance" is the single biggest reason AI designs feel hard to read. ### Theme @@ -81,6 +82,8 @@ Before choosing, write one sentence of physical scene: who uses this, where, und - Cap body line length at 65–75ch. - Hierarchy through scale + weight contrast (≥1.25 ratio between steps). Avoid flat scales. +- Cap font-family count at 3 (display + body + optional mono). More than 3 reads as indecision, not richness. One well-tuned family with weight contrast usually beats three competing typefaces. +- No all-caps body copy. Reserve uppercase for short labels (≤4 words), section eyebrows (used sparingly per the Absolute bans), and badges. Sentences in ALL CAPS are unreadable at body sizes. - Hero / display heading ceiling: clamp() max ≤ 6rem (~96px). Above that the page is shouting, not designing. - Display heading letter-spacing floor: ≥ -0.04em. Anything tighter and letters touch — cramped, not "designed". @@ -133,6 +136,8 @@ Match-and-refuse. If you're about to write any of these, rewrite the element wit - Every word earns its place. No restated headings, no intros that repeat the title. - **No em dashes.** Use commas, colons, semicolons, periods, or parentheses. Also not `--`. +- **No aphoristic-cadence body copy as a default voice.** "Not a feature. A different architecture." / "X. No Y." / "X. Just Y." used as a recurring rhetorical pattern is the Stripe-Press / Klim cadence — once is voice, three or more times on a page is the AI-tell. If every section copy lands on a 2-3-word rebuttal sentence, rewrite. Specific, not aphoristic. +- **No SaaS buzzword strings.** "Streamline / empower / supercharge / unleash", "trusted by leading", "best-in-class / world-class / enterprise-grade / next-generation / cutting-edge", "leverage the power", "drive engagement/growth/results", "transform your business", "future-proof", "seamless experience", "game-changer", "mission-critical". Pick a specific noun and a verb that describes what the product literally does. ### The AI slop test