Design Consultation
Run a design-system kickoff from zero with creative direction, realistic mockups, and workshop-style brand decisions before you lock frontend implementation.
Overview
Design Consultation is an agent skill most often used in Validate (also Build frontend) that kickstarts a full design system and realistic mockups from zero via the gstack creative-direction workflow.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design --skill design-consultationWhat is this skill?
- Complete design system from scratch with intentional creative risks
- Realistic product mockups for stakeholder alignment
- Kickoff workshop and brand-from-zero workflows
- Open Design catalogue entry pointing to Garry Tan gstack upstream
- Triggers: design consultation, design system kickoff, brand workshop
Adoption & trust: 818 installs on skills.sh; 61.4k GitHub stars; 2/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You are starting a product surface with no shared tokens, type, or visual story, and ad-hoc UI chat produces inconsistent mockups.
Who is it for?
Solo builders running a brand or design-system workshop before coding SaaS or marketing surfaces.
Skip if: Teams with an approved design system who only need a one-off component or strict design-token migration in an existing repo.
When should I use this skill?
User says design consultation, design from scratch, design system kickoff, or brand workshop for greenfield product UI.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You leave kickoff with a coherent design-system direction, creative risks articulated, and realistic mockups ready to hand off to frontend build skills.
- Design system direction with documented creative risks
- Realistic product mockups aligned to the new system
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Brand-from-zero and kickoff workshops happen after the idea is chosen but before full Build frontend execution. Prototype is the shelf for cohesive design systems and mockups that de-risk visual direction without shipping production CSS yet.
Where it fits
Run a design consultation workshop to define color, type, and component rules before the landing page build.
Translate approved mockups into a token map and component checklist for the first sprint.
Stress-test brand positioning with realistic product chrome so messaging matches visual tone.
How it compares
Use for gstack-style design-system kickoff and mockups, not as a Figma MCP or automated CSS export pipeline.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is design-consultation for?
Indie founders and agents planning greenfield UI who want Garry Tan gstack creative-direction steps for systems and mockups.
When should I use design-consultation?
In Validate prototype for design consultation or brand workshop, and in Build frontend when defining tokens and patterns before implementation.
Is design-consultation safe to install?
This page is a catalogue pointer; install upstream gstack into your skills folder and review the Security Audits panel before pulling third-party scripts.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Design Consultation
# design-consultation > Curated from Garry Tan (gstack). ## What it does Build a complete design system from scratch with creative risks and realistic product mockups. Useful for kickoff workshops and brand-from-zero work. ## Source - Upstream: https://github.com/garrytan/gstack - Category: `creative-direction` ## How to use This catalogue entry advertises the skill in Open Design so the agent discovers it during planning. To run the full upstream workflow with its original assets, scripts, and references, install the upstream bundle into your active agent's skills directory: ```bash # Inspect the upstream README for exact paths open https://github.com/garrytan/gstack ``` Then ask the agent to invoke this skill by name (`design-consultation`) or with one of the trigger phrases listed in this skill's frontmatter.