---
name: Brand Designer
slug: brand-designer
category: Writing
description: Documents brand strategy, visual identity, voice, and guidelines into markdown specs, compiled brand books, and brand-compliant images via reference-image-aware generation. Useful for agency handoff, press kits, or internal brand vaults.
github: "https://github.com/magnus919/agent-skills/tree/main/brand-designer"
language: Python
stars: 10
forks: 0
install: "git clone https://github.com/magnus919/agent-skills"
added: 2026-07-18T04:42:03.277Z
last_synced: 2026-07-18T04:42:03.277Z
canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/brand-designer"
---

# Brand Designer

Documents brand strategy, visual identity, voice, and guidelines into markdown specs, compiled brand books, and brand-compliant images via reference-image-aware generation. Useful for agency handoff, press kits, or internal brand vaults.

**Install:** `git clone https://github.com/magnus919/agent-skills`

## README

# Brand Designer

A systematic toolkit for documenting brand identity. Elicits brand information through structured templates, validates completeness, compiles into reference documents, and generates brand-compliant images.

## Quick Start

```bash
# 1. Scaffold a new brand
brand-book init ./my-brand --name "Acme Corp"

# 2. Fill in the templates (7 markdown files)
#    Start with strategy.md → visual-id.md → voice.md

# 3. Validate your work
brand-book validate ./my-brand/strategy.md --strict

# 4. Compile output
brand-book compile ./my-brand --artifact brand-card    # One-page summary
brand-book compile ./my-brand --artifact full           # Full brand book

# 5. Generate brand image (optional)
generate brand-card --brand-dir ./my-brand --layout landscape
```

## When to Use This Skill

| Trigger | Artifact | Audience |
|---------|----------|----------|
| "I need a brand card for press/stakeholders" | Brand card (image + one-pager) | Executives, press, partners |
| "I need to document my brand strategy" | Strategy memo | Leadership, marketing |
| "I need visual identity documentation" | Visual identity spec | Designers, developers |
| "I need brand voice guidelines" | Voice & messaging spec | Writers, content team |
| "I need a full brand book for agency handoff" | Compiled brand book | Agencies, partners |
| "I need to inventory all my brand assets" | Asset inventory | Everyone |

## Workflow

### 1. Choose artifact type

The decision tree in `references/canonical-components.md` maps brand maturity to artifact scope:

- **Startup** (<10 people) → Brand card + Strategy memo (condensed)
- **Growing** (10-50) → Full visual identity + voice specs
- **Scaling** (50-200) → All specs + governance framework
- **Enterprise** (200+) → Full system + asset inventory + compiled brand book

### 2. Fill templates

7 templates live in `templates/`. Start with strategy (it informs everything else), then visual-id, voice, and the rest:

| Template | What It Captures | Depends On |
|----------|-----------------|------------|
| `strategy.md` | Positioning, personality, mission, audience | — |
| `visual-id.md` | Logo system, color palette, typography, iconography, imagery | Strategy |
| `voice.md` | Voice attributes, tone matrix, vocabulary, copy examples | Strategy |
| `application.md` | Digital, print, social, co-branding rules | Visual identity |
| `governance.md` | Versioning, review cadence, exceptions | — |
| `asset-inventory.md` | Structured file index | All others |
| `brand-card.md` | Condensed visual summary (sources from others) | Strategy, visual-id, voice |

**Filling technique:** Replace `{{placeholders}}` in each template with your brand's information. Required fields are marked in frontmatter. Optional fields can be removed.

### 3. Validate

```bash
brand-book validate ./my-brand/visual-id.md              # Basic checks
brand-book validate ./my-brand/brand-card.md --strict     # Cross-reference checks
brand-book validate ./my-brand/*.md                       # Batch check all
```

Validation catches:
- Missing required fields
- Incomplete color values (missing RGB, CMYK, or Pantone)
- Cross-reference breaks (brand-card sourcing from nonexistent specs)

### 4. Compile

```bash
brand-book compile ./my-brand --artifact brand-card                        # One-pager
brand-book compile ./my-brand --artifact full                              # Full book
brand-book compile ./my-brand --artifact full --format html --output book.html  # HTML
```

The `--artifact` selector maps to individual templates or the compiled whole. See `references/artifact-hierarchy.md` for the complete taxonomy.

### 5. Generate images (optional)

```bash
generate brand-card --brand-dir ./my-brand --layout landscape    # Press kit card
generate mockup --brand-dir ./my-brand --type social             # Social media mockup
generate swatch --brand-dir ./my-brand                           # Color palette card
generate moodboard --brand-dir ./my-brand --theme "innovation"  # Mood board
generate logo-bg primary --brand-dir ./my-brand --background dark  # Logo on dark
```

The `generate` script is prompt-engineering-first: it reads your brand data and constructs optimized prompts for image generation backends. For best results with accurate logo rendering, provide reference images alongside the prompt.

## Scripts Reference

### `scripts/brand-book`
The main CLI. Subcommands:

| Command | Action |
|---------|--------|
| `init <dir> [--name]` | Scaffold brand directory with 7 templates |
| `compile <dir> [--artifact] [--format] [--output]` | Assemble brand artifact |
| `validate <file...> [--strict] [--json]` | Check frontmatter completeness |
| `preview <file> [--json]` | Terminal preview of a brand component |

All subcommands support `--json` for machine output and `--dry-run` for preview.

### `scripts/generate`
Image prompt construction for brand-compliant generation. Subcommands:

| Command | Action |
|---------|--------|
| `brand-card [--layout portrait|landscape]` | Brand card image prompt |
| `mockup --type stationery|social|signage|digital` | Application mockup prompt |
| `swatch` | Palette visualization prompt |
| `moodboard [--theme]` | Mood board prompt |
| `logo-bg <variant> [--background]` | Logo presentation prompt |

## Reference Files

| File | What It Contains |
|------|-----------------|
| `references/canonical-components.md` | Definitive component hierarchy + maturity decision tree |
| `references/artifact-hierarchy.md` | Every artifact: who consumes it, format, depth, relationships |
| `references/gold-standard-analysis.md` | Structural analysis of Cash App, IBM, Netflix, Bang & Olufsen, Klarna |
| `references/brand-card-formats.md` | Format comparison: PDF vs online vs CLI vs Figma vs image |
| `references/template-schemas.md` | Complete YAML frontmatter schemas for all 7 templates |
| `references/image-generation.md` | Brand-compliant image prompt patterns and reference-image usage |

## Artifact Tiers Summary

```
Tier 0: Brand Card          → image + one-pager        → stakeholders, press
Tier 1: Strategy Memo       → narrative document       → leadership, marketing
Tier 2: Visual Identity     → structured spec          → designers, developers
Tier 3: Voice & Messaging   → guidelines with examples → writers, content
Tier 4: Application         → channel-by-channel rules → producers, agencies
Tier 5: Governance          → framework document       → brand owners, legal
Tier 6: Asset Inventory     → indexed table            → everyone
       └── Compiled Brand Book (Tiers 0-6 combined)    → agencies, partners
```

## Gotchas

### Templates are elicitation tools, not final designs
The templates produce markdown documentation, not designed PDFs. The content is structured and correct; visual polish is a post-processing step. If you need a beautifully designed PDF, export the markdown and lay it out in InDesign/Figma.

### Color accuracy in generated images
Generated images will *approximate* brand colors, not match them precisely. The `generate swatch` command provides hex values in the prompt, but image models interpret color imprecisely. For Pantone-accurate color reference, use the documented values in the spec, not generated images.

### Reference-image-aware generation is setup-dependent
The `generate` script constructs prompts regardless of backend. To use reference images (logos, existing materials) for better results, you need a generation setup that supports image inputs — e.g., ComfyUI, local Stable Diffusion with img2img, or an API that accepts image references. The prompts work without this; they just improve with it.

### Brand card sources from other templates
The brand-card template uses `source:` frontmatter links to strategy, visual-id, and voice templates. This means: compile may show placeholder text if those source templates aren't filled yet. Fill strategy + visual-id before expecting a complete brand card.

### The skill produces documents, not art
The image generation capability exists, but the primary output is **structured documentation** — markdown that can live in a vault, be versioned in git, and be compiled into various formats. The images are the garnish, not the meal.

## See Also

- `nous-branding` — Reference-image generation for Nous Research brand
- `cli-builder` — Patterns used by the brand-book CLI
- `references/image-generation.md` — Detailed prompt craft guide