Advises on the design of the three core figures in a technical paper: the Motivated Example (Figure 1), the Solution Overview (Methodology), and the Experimental Results figures. Recommends the right design paradigm, layout, labelling, and tool for each figure type, then runs a quality-control audit

Figure Designer Overview A top venue paper typically carries six to eight figures, with three carrying almost all the storytelling weight: the Motivated Example (Figure 1, on page 1 or the top of page 2), the Solution Overview (inside the Methodology section), and the Experimental Results figures (inside the Experiments section). Reviewers scan these three in under a minute to decide whether the paper is worth reading in detail; weak figures sink otherwise strong papers. This skill takes the user's intent (what they want to communicate) plus context (research area, method name, target venue) and returns the recommended paradigm, a layout sketch, labelling guidance, tool suggestion, and a quality control audit against a universal rule set (vector format, font size, colour blind safe encoding, self contained caption, honest axis ranges). When to use this skill Before drawing any figure in a paper. The user asks to 'design a figure', 'draw Figure 1', 'plot experiment results', 'choose the right chart type'. The user has drawn a figure and wants a design audit. The user is unsure which figure type or paradigm to choose. Preparing camera ready figures before submission. When NOT to use this skill The user only wants generic plotting help (bar chart, line chart) outside a paper. Regular assistance suffices. The paper is not yet structured; use intro drafter or tech paper template first to decide what figures the paper needs. The user wants a review of an already finished paper. Use pre submission reviewer . Core procedure Step 1: Figure type identification Decide which of the three core types the figure is. If the user's request does not match any, either it is a supporting figure (use the experimental results guidance as a base) or it does not belong in the paper. If the mode is figure audit and the user has provided an image path, load the image with the Read tool before proceeding to Step 2. Vision based inspection enables the universal rule audit in Step 6 to check font legibility, colour palette, raster vs vector tells, and chartjunk directly rather than relying on user description. If no image is provided, continue in text only mode and mark vision only rules (font size, raster detection, colour palette) as "user must verify" in the final audit report. Step 2: Paradigm recommendation See: references/motivated example.md, references/solution overview.md, or references/experimental results.md depending on figure type. Each figure type has two to three canonical paradigms. Pick the one that fits the user's storytelling need, and explain why the other paradigms fit less well. Step 3: Layout sketch Produce a text description of the layout: panel positions, element placement, arrows, colour assignments. The goal is that the user could draw the first draft from the sketch alone. Step 4: Labelling and annotation guidance Name every visible element concretely (no "Module A", "X", "Y"). Annotate critical points (failure highlight, success highlight, comparison emphasis). Specify font sizes and colour palette. Default colour palette: ColorBrewer Qualitative or Viridis for sequential. Step 5: Tool suggestion See: references/tools.md for the tool matrix and the decision heuristic. Default recommendations: Motivated Example and Solution Overview: PowerPoint (draft), Figma (polish). Experimental Results: Matplotlib or Seaborn in a reusable plot utils.py script. LaTeX integrated figures: TikZ or PGFPlots. Step 6: Universal rule audit See: references/design rules.md for the full universal rule set. Verify every proposed or existing figure against: Vector format (PDF, EPS, SVG) for export. Font size at least 8pt post scaling. Small canvas (not large canvas with small fonts). Colour blind safe palette; no colour only encoding. Self contained caption whose first sentence states the core finding. Honest axis ranges. No 3D effects, no chartjunk. Flag every violation with severity. Step 7: Integrity gate Run the checks in the Integrity gate section below. Step 8: Output Emit the full design in the Output format below. Integrity gate Bullets tagged [inspection] are checked by the LLM from its own output. Bullets tagged [user verify] require the user to confirm because the check depends on either the drawn figure or knowledge the skill does not have (paper context, prior Introduction). Before returning the design: 1. [inspection] Paradigm matches figure type (motivated example is not a pipeline; overview is not a bar chart). 2. [inspection] Layout sketch is concrete enough that the user could draw from it. 3. [inspection] Labels are real entity names, not placeholders. 4. [inspection] Tool suggestion matches the figure's complexity (not Matplotlib for a multi icon motivated example, not PowerPoint for a 20 method bar chart). 5. [inspection] when image provided, [user verify] text only Universal rule audit has been run; no CRITICAL violation is left unaddressed. Vision only rules (raster vs vector, font size, colour palette) are only checkable when the user supplies an image. 6. [user verify] For motivated examples, the example is the same running example referenced by the Introduction (no new example introduced in Figure 1). The skill does not see the Introduction; the user confirms. 7. [inspection] For experimental results, the chart type matches the data type (time series uses line, multi method comparison uses grouped bar, trade off uses scatter). If any [inspection] check fails, mark the design as "needs user attention". For [user verify] items, surface them to the user as items they must confirm before submission. Output format 1. Figure type Type: <motivated example or solution overview or experimental results Reason: <one sentence 2. Paradigm recommendation Paradigm: <name Why this paradigm: <rationale Alternatives considered and rejected: <list 3. Layout sketch Canvas: <size Panels: <list with positions and contents Arrows and connections: <list Colour assignment: <mapping 4. Labelling and annotations Element names: <list Critical highlights: <list Font sizes: <target Colour palette: <name 5. Tool suggestion Primary: <tool Alternative: <tool Reason: <rationale 6. Universal rule audit [ ] Vector format: <pass or fail [ ] Font size: <pass or fail [ ] Colour blind safe: <pass or fail [ ] Self contained caption: <pass or fail [ ] Honest axis range (if applicable): <pass or fail [ ] No chartjunk: <pass or fail 7. Integrity gate result Gate 1 7: <pass or fail 8. Severity summary <n CRITICAL, <m MAJOR, <k MINOR Top three actions first: ...

figure-designer