yanliudesign/mono-color-skill

What it solves

This project provides a specialized design system and set of instructions (a "skill") for AI agents to generate high-quality, professional editorial images. It solves the problem of AI-generated art often looking like generic digital filters or glossy renders, instead producing images that mimic real-world print production techniques like risograph, halftone, and limited-ink printing.

How it works

The system transforms a theme, phrase, or photograph into an editorial layout by following a strict set of visual rules:

1. Ink Control: It limits the output to one or two specific printing inks (e.g., Cobalt, Terracotta Orange) on adaptive substrates (white, cool gray, or pale beige).
2. Composition: It uses an asymmetric editorial grid where 25%–55% of the canvas remains empty paper to create "silence" and visual pacing.
3. Mechanical Reproduction: It simulates print imperfections such as halftone dots, risograph grain, ink pooling, and registration drift.
4. Typography: It pairs content-responsive display fonts with utility voices, treating text as a structural element of the design.
5. Workflow: The agent identifies the subject and intent, chooses a layout family, assigns ink plates, and generates a production-ready prompt and recipe.

Who it’s for

• Graphic Designers: To quickly prototype editorial layouts for posters, zines, and packaging.
• Content Creators: To create cohesive social media covers (e.g., Xiaohongshu, WeChat) and podcast art.
• Artists and Publishers: To design book covers, title pages, and event invitations with a low-cost, high-impact visual identity.

Highlights

• Print-Faithful Aesthetics: Specifically avoids "digital looks" in favor of mechanical reproduction styles like cyanotype and photocopy breakup.
• Deterministic Design System: Uses machine-readable catalogs (design-system/) to ensure consistency across different generations.
• Production-Ready Output: Provides not just the image, but the exact prompt and a detailed recipe for reproduction.
• Strict Visual Constraints: Prevents the common AI tendency to over-decorate or use arbitrary colors, enforcing a professional editorial hierarchy.