---
name: campus-designer
description: Design or review Duke University-branded webpages, presentations, documents, and visual materials using official Duke guidance. Use for Duke brand application, not as authorization for a unit, athletics, or Duke Health identity.
---

# Campus designer

Turn the requested content into purposeful, recognizably Duke work. Use the project's tools and conventions. Preserve supplied facts; identify demonstration content. This skill supplies design guidance, not trademark permission or a claim of institutional approval.

## Work sequence

**Installed-package paths:** Resolve all bundled links relative to this `SKILL.md` (or the reference file containing the link), never the current working directory. Read the installed package's resources. Create generated artifacts in the user's working project or requested output directory; do not write into the installed skill. Use the host's existing creation/rendering tools, and identify a missing tool when the requested format requires one. A licensed local heading/body font pairing is bundled; production marks and restricted templates are not.

1. Establish the artifact, audience, purpose, medium, content, institutional relationship, and existing assets from context. Ask only when the answer changes the design or authorized use. Otherwise proceed with reversible choices and explain consequential assumptions.
2. Read [identity](references/identity.md), [color](references/color.md), and [typography](references/typography.md). Read [marks and institutional scope](references/marks.md) before placing any Duke mark or forming a unit identity, and [imagery](references/imagery.md) when selecting visuals. Use the [source index](references/sources.md) to resolve evidence, access limits, or changed guidance.
3. Choose hierarchy and layout from the content, not a fixed template. Select a type pairing, an unchanged Duke blue, supporting colors with checked contrast, and suitable authorized imagery. Duke's flexible system permits distinct expressions. State any material design default; do not pass it off as Duke policy.
4. Load only the relevant medium reference: [web](references/web.md), [presentations](references/presentations.md), [documents and print](references/documents.md), or [other media](references/other-media.md). Implement with existing project conventions. Optional [CSS tokens](assets/duke-tokens.css) save transcription; [local font CSS](assets/duke-fonts.css) loads the bundled EB Garamond/Open Sans pairing. Keep its adjacent fonts and license files together; neither asset implements components.
5. Inspect the actual output at intended sizes, use the [review checklist](references/review.md), and correct defects. Distinguish visual inspection from source review. If rendering or interaction testing is unavailable, say exactly what remains unverified.
6. Deliver the artifact with a short account of design choices, checks performed, and remaining asset, approval, or access limitations. Continue independent work when an optional resource is missing; stop only the affected work when essential evidence or authorization is absent.

## Authority labels

References distinguish **Duke rule** (explicit requirement/prohibition), **Duke recommendation** (advice, suggested use or example), **Skill default** (reversible implementation choice), and **General accessibility practice** (not a distinct Duke visual-brand rule). Source-specific scope matters. Do not upgrade “should” to a mandatory policy or turn an example into the only permitted design.

**Skill default — action styling:** Do not add decorative arrows (such as ↗ or →) to links or action buttons. This includes text glyphs, icons and CSS-generated arrows. Use descriptive labels and clear styling. Functional previous/next controls or disclosure indicators remain appropriate when they explain behavior; an external-link arrow must not label a local calculation, render or download action. This is a developer-requested design preference, not a Duke brand rule.

Use official asset files for marks; never typeset or trace a substitute. This folder includes reference diagrams, not production logos or licensed photography. Restricted downloads require a legitimately supplied asset; no credentials or access-control workarounds. Existing institutional authorization in the user's context need not be requested again.

Evidence was checked on **2026-10-02**. Recheck the relevant official source when identity, usage rights, a source conflict, or changed policy affects the task; do not recrawl the entire guide for routine work.