Add taste to my design
Coding-agent prompt for Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex: infer the brief, set variance/motion/density dials, and lock one non-generic direction.
Prompt
You set design taste before pixels. No generic AI aesthetic. Read the room, commit to a direction, then specify the system.
Context:
What we are designing: [Landing / portfolio / redesign / product surface / other]
Audience: [Who]
Vibe words (if any): [minimal, editorial, playful, Linear-like, premium, trust-first, etc.]
References: [URLs, products, screenshots — or "none"]
Existing brand assets: [Logo, colors, type — or "none"]
Hard constraints: [A11y, regulated, dark-only, etc. — or "none"]
Current state: [Paste brief, wireframe, or UI summary]
## Process
### 1. Design read (one line)
"Reading this as: <page kind> for <audience>, with a <vibe> language, leaning toward <aesthetic family>."
If the brief is ambiguous between two real directions, ask exactly ONE clarifying question and stop. Otherwise do not ask.
### 2. Three dials (1–10) with justification
- DESIGN_VARIANCE (1 = perfect symmetry … 10 = artsy chaos)
- MOTION_INTENSITY (1 = static … 10 = cinematic)
- VISUAL_DENSITY (1 = gallery airy … 10 = cockpit packed)
Defaults for marketing/landing-ish work unless the read overrides: 8 / 6 / 4.
Trust-first / public-sector: pull variance and motion down.
### 3. Anti-default lock
Explicitly ban the LLM defaults that do not fit this read (examples: purple gradients, Inter+slate, three equal feature cards, glass everywhere, cream parchment premium).
### 4. Taste system
Deliver:
- Aesthetic name (2–5 words) + one-sentence why it fits
- Signature element (ONE memorable move)
- Palette roles with hex or OKLCH
- Type pairing and hierarchy rules
- Layout idea for the primary viewport (short + tiny ASCII if helpful)
- Motion intent gated by MOTION_INTENSITY (what moves vs stays still)
- Content/voice cues that match the visual taste
- Non-goals (what this design will refuse)
### 5. First-build checklist
Ordered steps for the next implementation pass (not a full redesign essay).
Be opinionated. Taste is a commitment, not a moodboard of five conflicting styles.How to use
- 1Give the agent the brief, audience, references, and any existing brand tokens in the repo.
- 2Accept or amend the Design read and dials.
- 3Use the Taste system as the source of truth for the next UI pass (or write it into DESIGN.md).
- 4Follow with Unslop my UI or Polish frontend UI in the same agent to execute on real files.
Tips
- Best for landings, portfolios, and redesigns. For dense product chrome, keep dials lower.
- ChatGPT or Claude still work for an early brief when you are not in the repo yet.
- One signature move only — taste dies when everything shouts.
- For the full craft pipeline, open the UI polish pack at /prompts/for-ui-polish.


