Web Designer Skill

Expert guidance for creating responsive, maintainable websites with sharp attention to design details.

Core Principles

Design Consistency

• Load project styleguide first—check references/styleguide.md or project's design tokens
• Use semantic color names (--color-navy) not raw values (#1E3A5F)
• Maintain typography hierarchy: one display size per page, consistent heading progression
• Spacing: use design tokens (section-gap, card-padding) not arbitrary values

Mobile-First Responsive

• Start with mobile layout, progressively enhance for larger screens
• Breakpoints: sm:640px, md:768px, lg:1024px, xl:1280px
• Touch targets: minimum 44x44px for interactive elements
• Test: content readable without horizontal scroll at 320px width

Accessibility Non-Negotiables

• Color contrast: 4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large text
• Focus states: visible on all interactive elements
• Semantic HTML: proper heading hierarchy, landmarks, form labels
• Images: meaningful alt text or aria-hidden for decorative

Tech Stack: Astro + Tailwind + Cloudflare

Project Structure

src/
├── components/
│   └── ui/           # Reusable UI components
├── layouts/          # Page layouts (BaseLayout.astro)
├── pages/            # Routes - each .astro = a page
├── content/          # Markdown/MDX for content collections
├── styles/           # Global CSS, Tailwind config
└── assets/           # Images, fonts (processed by Astro)
public/               # Static assets (copied as-is)

Component Patterns

Astro Components - Use for static or lightly interactive UI:

---
interface Props {
  variant?: 'primary' | 'secondary';
  size?: 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg';
}
const { variant = 'primary', size = 'md' } = Astro.props;
---
<button class:list={['btn', `btn-${variant}`, `btn-${size}`]}>
  <slot />
</button>

Content Collections - For blog posts, reports, case studies:

// src/content/config.ts
import { defineCollection, z } from 'astro:content';

const posts = defineCollection({
  type: 'content',
  schema: z.object({
    title: z.string(),
    date: z.date(),
    featured: z.boolean().default(false),
    tags: z.array(z.string()).optional(),
  }),
});

export const collections = { posts };

Automation Patterns

No Hardcoding - Use Data-Driven Approaches:

---
// ❌ Hardcoded featured posts
const featured = [{ title: "Post 1" }, { title: "Post 2" }];

// ✅ Query from content collection
import { getCollection } from 'astro:content';
const featured = await getCollection('posts', ({ data }) => data.featured);
---

Dynamic Dates:

---
// ❌ Hardcoded year
const year = "2024";

// ✅ Dynamic
const year = new Date().getFullYear();
---
<footer>© {year} Company Name</footer>

Environment-Based Config:

// astro.config.mjs
export default defineConfig({
  site: import.meta.env.PROD 
    ? 'https://example.com' 
    : 'http://localhost:4321',
});

Landing Page Structure

Essential Sections

1. Hero - Clear value proposition, single primary CTA
2. Social Proof - Logos, testimonials, metrics
3. Features/Benefits - 3-4 key points with icons
4. How It Works - Simple 3-step process
5. CTA Section - Reinforce action before footer
6. Footer - Navigation, legal links, copyright

SEO Checklist

• Unique <title> (50-60 chars) and <meta name="description"> (150-160 chars)
• Open Graph tags for social sharing
• Canonical URL set
• Structured data (JSON-LD) for organization/product
• Sitemap.xml generated
• robots.txt configured

Performance Targets

• Lighthouse Performance: >90
• First Contentful Paint: <1.5s
• Cumulative Layout Shift: <0.1
• Use loading="lazy" on below-fold images
• Prefer <picture> with WebP + fallback

Workflow

1. Before starting: Load references/styleguide.md if project has design system
2. Component creation: Check existing UI components before creating new
3. Styling: Use existing design tokens; propose additions to styleguide if needed
4. Content: Use content collections for repeated content types
5. Testing: Verify mobile layout, accessibility, performance

References

• references/styleguide.md - Fund Investigator design system (colors, typography, components)
• references/astro-patterns.md - Common Astro patterns and gotchas