SKILL.md
---
name: editorial-design
description: Shape a coherent reading experience for articles, reports, decks, and print concepts through content hierarchy, sequence, page rhythm, figures, and production-aware review. Use for editorial reading and art direction; do not use to produce or certify editable files, final PDFs, or press-ready artwork without their production owners and evidence.
license: Apache-2.0
---
# Editorial Design
Design how a reader enters, navigates, and retains a story. This skill owns the editorial concept,
hierarchy, sequence, and reading furniture. Artifact production owns file generation and technical
file verification; print production owns final printer preflight and press approval.
## Use when
- A long article, report, case study, magazine-like page, or deck needs a reading architecture.
- A document has good content but weak hierarchy, sequence, visual pacing, or figure treatment.
- A print concept needs an editorial plan before a printer-specific production workflow begins.
## Do not use when
- The task is creating, converting, reopening, or validating DOCX/PPTX/PDF artifacts; use the
artifact-production owner and pair this skill only for the reading/design brief.
- The task is press-ready export, imposition, colour separation, or commercial print approval;
use the print-production owner.
- The need is an interface component system, brand identity, copy rewrite, or data-quality math.
- There is no approved content or evidence; build a provisional structure, not finished claims.
## Inputs and boundary
Collect the approved manuscript/deck outline, audience and reading setting, content hierarchy,
figures/tables/quotes/notes inventory, brand constraints, target formats, and any printer
specification. Preserve editorial meaning and source attribution. Do not automatically alter copy,
activate a campaign, or choose locale conventions without an approved house style.
## Procedure
1. Define the reading job and sequence: what the reader should understand, decide, or feel at the
opening, middle, and close. Make a content map before styling pages or slides.
2. Establish hierarchy from content roles: title, standfirst, section headings, body, captions,
callouts, notes, source lines, and navigational elements. Pair with `typography-and-layout` for
measure, type, and responsive reading proof.
3. Design entry and navigation. Use a lead, meaningful headings, contents/navigation, running
cues, and clear re-entry points only when their value matches the length and medium. Avoid
ceremonial furniture on a short sequential read.
4. Give every figure a job, a source, a caption, and an association with the text. Choose inset,
breakout, or full-width treatment for a reason; retain a readable alternative for data-heavy
material. Do not use a pull quote merely to repeat adjacent copy.
5. Set page/slide rhythm through deliberate alternation of reading, evidence, rest, and emphasis.
Use whitespace, image crop, scale, and pacing to serve the argument; do not use a fixed layout
recipe or universal ratio.
6. Plan variants by medium. Continuous web prose normally needs a controlled single reading
column; wide-screen notes may need a narrow fallback; a live deck needs one clear claim per
slide and presenter context; a circulated deck needs enough standalone evidence.
7. For print, obtain the printer's written specification before making any print-ready claim:
process, profile, stock, trim, bleed, safety, folds/binding, ink limit, proof method, and file
standard. Until then, label print concepts as provisional rather than guessing production values.
8. Review representative spread/page/slide renders with realistic content. Check sequence,
scannability, captions, headings, reading order, contrast, crop, overflow, and narrow or
projected contexts. Hand artifact defects to the production owner for file-level verification.
9. Deliver an editorial specification: reading map, hierarchy, figure plan, layout behaviours,
medium variants, render evidence, and a production handoff with open decisions.
## Decision rules
| Situation | Editorial choice | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous long-form reading | Measured single column with strong landmarks | Reader can scan then read without fatigue |
| Dense research or citations | Notes/captions that preserve traceability | References stay associated and usable |
| Live presentation | Sparse visual sequence and speaker support | Main claim is legible from the intended distance |
| Standalone circulation | More explicit labels, sources, and context | Reader can interpret without narration |
| Print requested without printer specification | Editorial mockup only | No print-ready or press claim |
## Evidence and degradation
Rendered observation is necessary for visual claims. If content, target medium, printer details,
or render tooling is missing, deliver a clearly provisional reading and production plan with a
verification checklist. Do not imply that source markup proves pagination, font embedding, colour
output, accessibility, or print readiness.
## Handoff
Provide the artifact-production owner with the content map, approved copy/source register, style
roles, figure/caption links, format variants, and the pending production checks. For commercial
print, attach the dated printer specification and proof plan before any final export work begins.
The production owner records file-level evidence; editorial direction records the reading intent.
## Common failures
- Decorating every spread identically until hierarchy and pacing disappear.
- Separating a figure from its caption, source, or explanatory text.
- Turning live-deck speaker context into unreadable paragraph slides.
- Promising a print finish, colour match, fold, or pagination before the printer confirms it.
## Completion record
Record approved content version, reading map, figures and source associations, target media,
observed renders, production owner, and outstanding printer/file checks. A complete editorial
brief is a handoff boundary, not evidence that an artifact has passed production verification.
## Acceptance
- The content map and hierarchy show how the reader moves through the material.
- Figures, notes, and navigation have purposeful, accessible associations.
- Medium-specific choices are explicit, including printer-specification status for print.
- Render evidence or a named pending verification plan supports every production-facing claim.