The brand-guidelines skill, reviewed

What it tells the agent to do

1. Use the dark #141413 and light #faf9f5 for text and backgrounds, with grays for secondary and subtle elements
2. Set headings of 24pt and up in Poppins, falling back to Arial
3. Set body text in Lora, falling back to Georgia
4. Pick text color based on the background
5. Fill non-text shapes with accents, cycling orange, blue, green
6. Apply colors as RGB values via python-pptx's RGBColor class

Lines worth reading

Straight from the file, with why each one matters.

1. line 3Use it when brand colors or style guidelines, visual formatting, or company design standards apply.

   The trigger is broad. "Company design standards" could match any company's brand, not just Anthropic's.

2. line 66No font installation required - works with existing system fonts

   One line later it says to pre-install the fonts for best results, and line 36 says the same. The skill can't decide.

3. line 57Cycles through orange, blue, and green accents

   The one real rule in the Features section, and it is a good one: a set order the agent can actually follow.

4. line 51Smart color selection based on background

   Smart" with no rule behind it. The agent has to guess what the smart choice is.

5. line 72Applied via python-pptx's RGBColor class

   This shows the text came from a PowerPoint script that isn't here, even though the description promises "any sort of artifact".

Watch out for

Nothing risky that Kin could see in SKILL.md. Scripts beside it were not read.

The scorecard

• TriggerSays when to use it
  6/10

  Says what and when, but generic terms like 'design standards' can misfire on other brands

• FocusOne clear job
  8/10

  One job: Anthropic's look. Clear from the name alone

• LeanLight to load
  8/10

  About 600 tokens, but the font rules are repeated three times

• ConcreteSteps you can follow
  5/10

  Exact hex codes and fonts, but no steps, no code and no check that it worked

• SafeSafe to run
  10/10

  No commands, no network, no secrets. Just a palette

How it could be better

1. Replace the feature list with steps

   The 'Features' and 'Technical Details' sections describe automation that doesn't exist, so the agent reads claims instead of instructions.

   Add

   ## How to apply
   1. Text and backgrounds: dark text `#141413` on light `#faf9f5`, or light text on dark.
   2. Headings 24pt and up: Poppins; if not installed, Arial.
   3. Body text: Lora; if not installed, Georgia.
   4. Non-text shapes: fill with accents in order orange `#d97757`, blue `#6a9bcc`, green `#788c5d`, then repeat.
   5. Check: no colors outside this palette, and every heading and body run has a font set.

   Copy

2. Name Anthropic and the outputs in the description

   'Company design standards' can trigger on any brand request; naming Anthropic and the file types keeps the skill on target.

   Add

   description: Applies Anthropic's brand colors (hex palette) and fonts (Poppins, Lora) to slides, documents, charts and web pages. Use when the user asks for Anthropic branding, Anthropic colors, on-brand Anthropic styling or the Anthropic look-and-feel.

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3. Show the python-pptx code it mentions

   Line 72 names RGBColor but gives no code, so the agent has to rebuild it each time.

   Add

   ```python
   from pptx.dml.color import RGBColor
   DARK = RGBColor(0x14, 0x14, 0x13)
   ORANGE = RGBColor(0xD9, 0x77, 0x57)
   shape.fill.solid()
   shape.fill.fore_color.rgb = ORANGE
   run.font.name = "Poppins"  # headings 24pt+
   run.font.color.rgb = DARK
   ```

   Copy

4. Settle the font installation rule

   Lines 36, 66 and 67 contradict each other on whether the fonts need installing.

   Add

   Fonts: use Poppins and Lora if they are installed; otherwise use Arial and Georgia. Do not install fonts unless <the user asks>.

   Copy