brand-kit-print-collateral – Design & UI skill for AI agents

Brand Kit & Print Collateral

What it is: the printed identity set - letterhead, visiting card, employee ID card, folder, invoice, quotation and the email signature block - specified to the point where any printer can produce it.

Overview

Works out the smallest useful collateral set for the business in front of it, then builds it

only when asked. The default output is a short recommendation, not a set of layout files.

The collateral register - CSV, SQL DDL, JSON Schema, Notion mapping - is produced on

request, from one field list so the four cannot drift apart.

Layer: Layer 2: Brand & Design. Fits: Starter stage. Table code: n/a.

The rule this table exists to enforce: finished size and trim size normally mean the same cut dimensions. Artwork including bleed is larger: add the bleed on both edges of each dimension (A4 210x297 mm plus 3 mm each edge becomes 216x303 mm).

The table keeps them in separate columns for exactly that reason, and the same logic

separates colour mode, stock weight and finish - three decisions a printer asks about

before a job starts, and three that cannot be changed after it starts.

When to Use This Skill

• letterhead, visiting card, business card, ID card, employee card, name badge
• compliment slip, folder, envelope, invoice, quotation, statement
• email signature block
• "our print looks wrong"
• prepress, bleed, CMYK, crop marks, stock weight, lamination
• brand guidelines for anything that gets printed

Do not use it for: the digital design system (design-theme-guide), the mark itself

(logo-image-design), or the email body templates - the signature block is in scope here,

the body is business-email-template.

Do not use it before an approved mark exists. Collateral built with no approved logo is a

rewrite later; route to logo-image-design first and note the dependency.

How It Works

Follow the shared execution contract. The module-specific rules below define only domain fields, decisions, calculations, and safety constraints.

Step 1 - Identify intent

Read the request and pick the intent before asking anything.

• "design" / "make" / "we need" -> artifacts wanted; go to Step 2.
• "we already print these" -> something exists; capture it, then Step 2.
• "print came out wrong" / "fix" -> a prepress or specification problem; capture what went

wrong, then Step 2.

• "review" / "check" -> a check, not a build.

Ask only if this is the highest-value missing fact; otherwise proceed without an opener:

> Q: What is the business called, and what does one line of it actually do?

Step 2 - Ask only what is missing

Treat ambiguous replies as unanswered and ask which explicit option the user means. Record unknown values as Unknown; Unknown is not zero. A record must not be Done when a required check fails.

Skip anything already answered. Ask the rest one at a time, and stop as soon as the

remaining answers would not change the item list or the specification.

• Identity - Exact business name, address and phone as they must print? / Logo file

available in an editable or vector format? / Anything already printed that must match?

• Items - Which items are needed - letterhead, card, employee card, folder, invoice,

envelope? / Which need to be two-sided? / Is the employee card for access control, or

purely for identity?

• Volume - How many of each, now and over the year? / Who prints it - a local printer,

a national one, or an online print service?

• Specification - Any stock or finish already decided? / Does it need to be writable -

pen, pencil, thermal printer? / Any wet or outdoor exposure?

• Employee card detail - What goes on it - photo, name, role, department, phone, or a

barcode? / What is the data-protection position on employee photos and role data?

Never invent an answer. Names, addresses, phone numbers, quantities, stock weights, printer

names, prices and barcode schemes the user has not supplied are Unknown.

Step 3 - Hold the internal context

module: brand-kit-print-collateral
intent: null            # design | fix | review | import
scale: null             # Starter | Growth | Scale, only if the answer changes it
areas:
  "Identity": null
  "Items": null
  "Volume": null
  "Specification": null
  "Employee Card Detail": null
requested_outputs: []
confirmed_facts: []
open_questions: []

Step 4 - Recommend the smallest workflow

Build an already requested artifact without asking again. For advice-only requests, give a short recommendation and offer the relevant artifact.

Recommended approach: Four items that between them cover almost every business - A4

letterhead, a 55x90mm visiting card, an employee card sized to the supplier's confirmed template in the same family, and a

single-page email signature. Each specified with trim, bleed, colour mode, stock and

finish stated once, plus a PDF proof and a print-ready export with crop marks. Build the

envelope and folder only when someone asks for them.

Why this one: These four are the items a business actually runs out of. Folder and

envelope are a second print run, not a first one, and they can inherit the letterhead's

specification without being redesigned. A signature block costs nothing and appears in

every email the business ever sends, which makes it the highest-leverage item on the list.

Workflow: Items and sizes fixed → Mark and tokens applied → Copy block written once →

Layout and hierarchy set → Stock and finish chosen → Bleed and crop marks set → PDF proof

approved → Print-ready export with marks → Proof checked on press → Master archived

Step 5 - Build only on request

Once the user asks for it, derive the fields from the confirmed context and emit the

requested artifacts. For machine-readable text, keep prose outside the data; for files,

provide a usable link. Report material validation failures or limitations separately.

**A selected Notion output is rendered by notion-manual-import, so route the

Notion step there.** When the user selects Notion, hand that step to

@notion-manual-import: it holds the CSV, the property

mapping, the import steps and the verification checklist, and it renders the Field

Reference below instead of defining a table of its own. Do not restate the mapping

here and do not improvise the import steps. Manual CSV and mapping outputs need no

connection. For requested workspace changes, follow the shared contract: verify actual

tool access and the target before writing. A user saying "connected" is not tool evidence.

Never ask for a Notion password or token.

Item ID,Item Name,Item Type,Finished Size,Artwork Size Including Bleed,Bleed,Colour Mode,Stock,Paper Weight GSM,Finish,Sides,Corner Radius,Safe Margin,Front Elements,Back Elements,Spot Colour,Print Method,Quantity,Cost Per Unit,Supplier,Version,Status,Notes
,Example Retail letterhead,Letterhead,A4,216x303 mm,3 mm,CMYK,Uncoated,120,Uncoated,One side,0,12 mm,"Logo top left, NAP block bottom left, contact strip bottom right",Not applicable - one sided,None - build to process black only,Digital litho,250,0.00,Unknown,1.0,Draft,"Example row - replace every value before use."

-- Engine assumption: PostgreSQL. For another engine use the engine's auto-increment
-- equivalent and keep the rest portable.
CREATE TABLE print_collateral (
  item_id BIGINT GENERATED BY DEFAULT AS IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY,
  item_name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  item_type VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  finished_size VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  artwork_size_including_bleed VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  bleed VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  colour_mode VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  stock VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  paper_weight_gsm INTEGER,
  finish VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  sides VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
  corner_radius VARCHAR(50),
  safe_margin VARCHAR(50),
  front_elements TEXT,
  back_elements TEXT,
  spot_colour VARCHAR(255),
  print_method VARCHAR(100),
  quantity INTEGER,
  cost_per_unit NUMERIC(14,2),
  supplier VARCHAR(255),
  version VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  status VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  notes TEXT,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW(),
  updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW(),
  CONSTRAINT collateral_bleed CHECK (bleed IN ('3 mm','5 mm','None','Other - state in Notes')),
  CONSTRAINT collateral_sides CHECK (sides IN ('One side','Two sides','Two sides - different front and back')),
  CONSTRAINT collateral_cost_non_negative CHECK (cost_per_unit IS NULL OR cost_per_unit >= 0)
);

CREATE INDEX idx_print_collateral_status ON print_collateral (status);
CREATE INDEX idx_print_collateral_type ON print_collateral (item_type);

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "title": "Brand Kit & Print Collateral",
  "type": "object",
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "properties": {
      "Item ID": { "type": "integer" },
      "Item Name": { "type": "string" },
      "Item Type": { "type": "string" },
      "Finished Size": { "type": "string" },
      "Artwork Size Includi

… (full content is in the download package)