---
name: canvas-design
description: Create high-quality social media graphics, posters, thumbnails, and cover designs from text prompts. Use when user asks for visual content like Instagram posts, YouTube thumbnails, Twitter/X banners, LinkedIn graphics, event posters, or any visual marketing material. Handles layout, typography, and delivers export-ready PNG or PDF files.
triggers:
  - make me a poster
  - create a social media graphic
  - design a thumbnail
  - make an Instagram post
  - create a banner
  - design a cover image
  - make marketing graphics
---

# Canvas Design

Create high-quality visual content (social media graphics, posters, thumbnails, cover designs) from text prompts. Deliver export-ready files that look professionally designed.

## When to Use

Trigger on any request for:
- Social media graphics (Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok)
- YouTube thumbnails or channel art
- Event posters or flyers
- Marketing banners
- Cover images (blog, newsletter, presentation)
- Any visual content that combines typography with design

## Design Philosophy Process

Before creating any visual, establish a clear design direction:

### Step 1: Establish Design Philosophy

Choose a bold aesthetic direction. Never default to generic templates.

**Possible directions** (pick one and commit fully):
- Concrete Poetry: Monumental form, bold geometry, Polish poster energy
- Chromatic Language: Color as primary information system, Josef Albers meets data viz
- Analog Meditation: Paper grain, ink bleeds, vast negative space, Japanese photobook
- Organic Systems: Natural clustering, modular growth, rounded forms
- Geometric Silence: Grid-based precision, Swiss formalism meets Brutalism
- Maximalist Chaos: Layered, dense, energetic, controlled disorder
- Retro-Futuristic: Vintage meets sci-fi, analog warmth with digital precision
- Editorial: Magazine-quality, strong typography hierarchy, photographic

### Step 2: Determine the Subtle Reference

The design should embed a conceptual thread from the request. Someone familiar with the subject should feel it intuitively. Others simply experience a masterful composition.

### Step 3: Implementation

Use one of these approaches based on context:

**For AI-generated graphics** (photos, illustrations, artistic):
- Use the image generation tools
- Provide detailed prompts incorporating the design philosophy
- Specify exact dimensions for the target platform

**For typography-heavy designs** (social posts, banners, posters):
- Build as HTML/CSS with precise layout control
- Use distinctive fonts (never Arial, Inter, Roboto)
- Export via screenshot or PDF conversion
- Leverage CSS Grid, Flexbox, and custom properties

**For data-driven visuals** (infographics, charts):
- Use Python with matplotlib/plotly for the data layer
- Overlay typography and branding via HTML or image compositing

## Platform Dimensions

| Platform | Format | Dimensions |
|----------|--------|-----------|
| Instagram Post | Square | 1080x1080 |
| Instagram Story | Vertical | 1080x1920 |
| X/Twitter Post | Landscape | 1200x675 |
| LinkedIn Post | Landscape | 1200x627 |
| YouTube Thumbnail | Landscape | 1280x720 |
| Facebook Cover | Wide | 1640x856 |
| TikTok | Vertical | 1080x1920 |
| Pinterest | Vertical | 1000x1500 |

## Design Anti-Patterns (NEVER DO)

- Generic gradient backgrounds (especially purple-to-blue)
- Overused fonts (Inter, Roboto, Arial, system fonts)
- Centered-everything layouts with no visual tension
- Stock photo aesthetic with overlay text
- Cookie-cutter templates that look like Canva defaults
- Low-contrast text on busy backgrounds
- Clip art or generic icons

## Design Requirements

- **Typography**: Choose fonts that are beautiful and distinctive. Pair a display font with a refined body font. Use size contrast aggressively.
- **Color**: Commit to a cohesive palette. Dominant colors with sharp accents. Use CSS variables for consistency.
- **Composition**: Unexpected layouts. Asymmetry. Overlap. Grid-breaking elements. Generous negative space OR controlled density.
- **Craftsmanship**: The final work should appear meticulously crafted, as if it took hours by someone at the top of their field.

## Output

Always deliver:
1. The final graphic file (PNG at target dimensions)
2. Brief explanation of design choices made
3. Offer variations if the user wants to explore different directions