mono-color-skill

中文 · English

Monocolor Editorial Print

A one-ink and controlled two-ink editorial image skill for posters, zines, portraits, packaging, and visual field notes.

Turn a theme, sentence, object, or supplied photograph into an original editorial image. The skill defaults to controlled two-ink with one dominant plate and one narrowly assigned accent plate. Explicit one-ink or monochrome requests remain pure one-ink. White, cool gray, or pale-beige substrates are selected from the image and palette; contemporary editorial is the default, while vintage treatment appears only when requested.

It preserves a visual system rather than copying a reference. Every composition is rebuilt around the subject, intent, words, and image role.

Selected examples

These original generated examples demonstrate the skill's range; they are outputs, not templates to reproduce.

Visual references

The visual system was informed by a twelve-image research set. See Visual References and Attribution for the complete image index, research notes, attribution status, and correction link. Third-party references remain the property of their respective creators and rights holders.

What it does

Use cases

• Posters: events, parties, art exhibitions, city walks, and conceptual posters
• Social media: Xiaohongshu covers, WeChat article headers, podcast covers, and cultural commentary illustrations
• Brand materials: postcards, invitations, tickets, programs, menus, and packaging stickers
• Keepsakes: travel journals, photo album covers, and anniversary cards
• Books and publications: covers, title pages, chapter openers, and zine interiors
• Words: literary excerpts, poetry, and personal declarations

All of these formats can use a single ink to reduce production costs while retaining a distinctive visual identity.

How it works

1  Read the input       →  identify subject, intent, words, and image role
2  Choose the layout    →  image, specimen, declaration, object field, overprint, journal, or cover
3  Assign the plates    →  default to two assigned roles; switch to one plate when explicitly requested
4  Compose the page     →  preserve 25%–55% silence and add one deliberate disruption
5  Generate and inspect →  check ink count, identity, hierarchy, texture, and originality

Ink system

One-ink palette: Cobalt, Royal Blue, Botanical Green, Mint Green, Terracotta Orange, Signal Red, Aubergine, and Charcoal.

Swatch	Ink	Hex
	Cobalt / Ultramarine	#2148B8
	Royal Blue	#2058D4
	Botanical Green	#008A4B
	Mint Green	#5EB783
	Terracotta Orange	#C65F38
	Signal Red	#C83232
	Aubergine	#63365F
	Charcoal	#30343A

Two-ink recipes: Powder Blue + Signal Red, Cobalt + Terracotta, Botanical Green + Oxblood, Charcoal + Signal Red, Electric Blue + Carbon, Mint Green + Charcoal, Ultramarine + Safety Orange, Cyan + Brick Red, and Tangerine + Slate Blue.

Swatches	Two-ink recipe	Hex
	Powder Blue + Signal Red	#9EB8D3 + #C83232
	Cobalt + Terracotta	#2148B8 + #C65F38
	Botanical Green + Oxblood	#008A4B + #8F3434
	Charcoal + Signal Red	#30343A + #C83232
	Electric Blue + Carbon	#173AE3 + #242321
	Mint Green + Charcoal	#5EB783 + #302D2E
	Ultramarine + Safety Orange	#263E99 + #E55D2B
	Cyan + Brick Red	#159DDA + #B64032
	Tangerine + Slate Blue	#E46C2D + #4773A5

In two-ink work, the dominant plate normally carries 70%–85% of the printed area. The accent plate carries 15%–30% and must have a specific job such as dates, annotations, selected objects, or overprint intersections. The substrate is not a third color, and the darker color created where two plates overlap is not a third ink.

Substrate is adaptive, not nostalgic by default: Neutral White #FAFAF7 supports crisp cultural, social, event, and image-led work; Cool Gray #E9E9E5 supports architecture, technology, charcoal-led systems, and restrained branding; Pale Beige #F5F1E8 supports tactile, travel, food, intimate, archival, or explicitly nostalgic subjects. Limited inks and halftone do not automatically imply vintage styling.

Visual rules

1. No more than two printing inks. Controlled two-ink is the default: 70%–85% dominant plate and 15%–30% accent plate, each with a distinct role. Explicit one-ink requests use one plate.
2. Paper stays visible. The result is a printed page, not a digitally tinted monochrome wash.
3. Mechanical reproduction leads. Photographs become dots, grain, clipped highlights, ink pooling, and mild registration drift between plates.
4. Silence has structure. Empty paper occupies 25%–55% of the canvas and controls pacing.
5. Type has tension and range. Choose one content-responsive display skeleton and one utility voice; use handwriting only as a short optional interjection. A series may change display categories instead of repeating one house treatment.
6. Identity stays intact. Supplied people, objects, and scenes remain recognizable.
7. References are grammar, not templates. At least four structural variables change from every supplied reference.

Not this

• not a full-color photograph with a monochrome filter
• not arbitrary two-color decoration or more than two printing plates
• not a glossy mockup, 3D render, gradient poster, or cinematic scene
• not a centered template, card grid, sticker collage, or decorative blob system
• not dense scrapbook grunge or torn-paper styling
• not automatically retro, yellowed, sepia, distressed, or nostalgic because the work uses halftone or limited inks
• not marketing copy, invented branding, fake sponsors, URLs, or QR codes
• not a reconstruction of a reference poster or artist signature

Install

Clone the repository into your Claude Code skills directory:

git clone https://github.com/yanliudesign/mono-color-skill.git \
	~/.claude/skills/mono-color

Restart Claude Code after installation. Other agent environments can load SKILL.md as the skill entry point.

Try it