8.2 KiB
Preset: one-pagers
Last updated: 2026-05-17 | Verified: research/03-prompt-patterns-intent-presets.md Evidence grade: Community-only — Anthropic publishes no per-preset prompt patterns for this preset as of 2026-05-16.
Anthropic names one-pagers in the launch enumeration at https://anthropic.com/news/claude-design-anthropic-labs but does not publish a dedicated tutorial, support article, or canonical prompt set for it. The patterns below come from community practitioners — Substack walkthroughs, blog posts, newsletter pieces — with full attribution. Treat them as field-tested but not Anthropic-authoritative.
(a) What this preset is
Anthropic launch post one-sentence description: a one-pager is a single-screen artifact for memos, summaries, leave-behinds, executive briefs, or single-page deliverables. The destination is typically PDF or print.
Distinguishing properties:
- Single page — no multi-screen navigation, no scrolling sections that imply continuation
- High information density compared to a slide
- Self-contained narrative — reader does not need surrounding context
- Often delivered as a leave-behind after a meeting or as a one-shot brief
(b) Why Anthropic published no per-preset guidance
The launch enumeration treats one-pagers as a destination shape rather than a generation mode requiring distinct prompt patterns. The Goal / Layout / Content / Audience framework (../01-prompt-fundamentals.md Layer 1) and the five-layer stack apply directly — Layout becomes single-page structure, Content becomes the dense information payload, Audience tightens the tone.
Community practitioners have converged on patterns that constrain the one-pager preset more tightly than the generic stack does (Sections c and d).
(c) Community patterns
Word-count cap per block
Community pattern from https://sagnikbhattacharya.com/blog/claude-design (cited in research/03): cap the word count per layout block in the brief. The mechanism — Claude Design defaults to verbose prose when block content is unspecified, and one-pagers fail when any block runs long. The convergent caps from community practice:
- Title block: 8 words max
- Subtitle: 15 words max
- Body paragraph: 60 words max
- Bullet item: 12 words max
- Callout box: 25 words max
Brief the caps explicitly in the prompt — the model otherwise produces blocks 2-3x longer than the operator wants.
Above-the-fold density limit
Community pattern from https://newsletter.victordibia.com (cited in research/03): cap the number of distinct elements visible in the top half of the one-pager. Convergent limits:
- Maximum 5 distinct visual elements above the fold (counting title, subtitle, one body block, one visual, one callout = 5)
- Maximum 3 colour roles visible above the fold (typically: ink for title, fg for body, accent for one emphasis)
- Maximum 2 typographic weights above the fold (typically 700 title, 500 body)
The brief encodes these as explicit constraints:
Above the fold (top half of the page), no more than 5 distinct visual
elements, no more than 3 color roles, no more than 2 typographic
weights. Density below the fold can scale up.
Real-data injection over lorem ipsum
Same pattern as designs.md and prototypes.md: use realistic placeholder content. For one-pagers specifically, this matters more — a one-pager is typically read once and discarded; if the content reads as placeholder, it loses the reader.
(d) Critical caveats
Density-versus-readability trade-off
One-pagers are constrained by physical reading mechanics — the operator can pack a lot into one page, but each element added reduces the reader's attention to every other element. The brief should weight density-vs-readability explicitly:
Optimise for the reader's ability to extract the takeaway in 30 seconds
of scanning. If a block requires more than 30 seconds of focused reading
to extract the takeaway, it does not belong on this one-pager.
Export to PDF preserves layout; export to other formats may not
PDF is the canonical one-pager export. HTML standalone works. PPTX is awkward for one-pagers (PPTX assumes deck format, not single-page format). Code-handoff is rare for one-pagers but works.
Anthropic AI-slop avoid-list still applies
Layer 3 negative constraints (../01-prompt-fundamentals.md) apply with full force on one-pagers — the dense information context does not exempt the artifact from the avoid-list. Inter, Roboto, Arial, purple gradients on white, generic-modern defaults all degrade the one-pager.
(e) One worked prompt — layers 1 + 3 composed (Layer 2a is preset-optional)
Goal: an executive one-pager summarizing a project's Q1 status, audience is VP of Engineering.
Goal: A single-page executive summary of the platform team's Q1 2026
delivery, reliability, and Q2 themes. Designed to be scanned in
30 seconds and absorbed in 3 minutes.
Layout: Single-page A4 portrait. Top quarter: title + headline takeaway
+ 3 KPI numbers in a row. Middle half: 3 short body paragraphs
(one per: delivery, reliability, Q2 themes). Bottom quarter:
callout box with the one explicit ask + signature/contact block.
Content: Real KPI numbers (% completion, MTTR minutes, uptime %); real
body content (no lorem ipsum); explicit ask is one sentence;
contact block names the person + email
Audience: VP of Engineering, scanning between meetings, needs the
takeaway and one ask, will dive into details only if the
takeaway warrants it
Word-count caps (community pattern from
https://sagnikbhattacharya.com/blog/claude-design):
- Title block: 8 words max
- Subtitle / headline takeaway: 15 words max
- Body paragraph: 60 words max
- Bullet item: 12 words max
- Callout box: 25 words max
Above-the-fold density limit (community pattern from
https://newsletter.victordibia.com):
- Maximum 5 distinct visual elements above the fold
- Maximum 3 color roles visible above the fold
- Maximum 2 typographic weights above the fold
Aesthetic family: editorial-confident — terse, signal-dense, no flourish
Color palette (CSS hex):
--color-bg: #FAFAF8
--color-surface: #FFFFFF
--color-muted: #6B6B6B
--color-fg: #2A2A2A
--color-ink: #0A0A0A
--color-accent: #3D5C8A
Typography: Söhne or Inter Variable; modular scale 1.250; weight palette
500 body / 700 headings
Corner radius: 4px on the callout box only; rest is flat
Motion: none (one-pager is static)
Density: dense (8mm margins, 4mm gutters)
Surface: flat — no shadows
Negative constraints — do not produce any of:
- Inter, Roboto, Arial, or Space Grotesk as primary typeface
- Purple gradients on white backgrounds
- Card-style metric tiles with shadows
- Centered-title-and-subtitle generic header
- Pulse / breathing animations (this is a static one-pager)
- Generic "executive summary template" defaults
Optimise for the reader's ability to extract the takeaway in 30 seconds
of scanning. If a block requires more than 30 seconds of focused reading
to extract the takeaway, it does not belong on this one-pager.
Expected follow-up turns:
- Turn 2: tighten word counts if any block ran over cap
- Turn 3: refine callout-box positioning if it competes with the headline takeaway
- Turn 4+: Tweak panel for spacing scale and density adjustments
- Export to PDF; visual-audit at 100% zoom and at print size
Sources
https://anthropic.com/news/claude-design-anthropic-labs— preset enumeration, one-sentence descriptionhttps://support.claude.com/en/articles/14604416-get-started-with-claude-design— GLCA framework (composed in this preset)https://sagnikbhattacharya.com/blog/claude-design— community pattern for word-count caps per blockhttps://newsletter.victordibia.com— community pattern for above-the-fold density limitshttps://claude.com/blog/improving-frontend-design-through-skills— AI-slop avoid-list (composed)https://github.com/anthropics/skills/skills/frontend-design/SKILL.md— Design-Thinking Framework reference
Re-research trigger: Anthropic publishing a dedicated tutorial for one-pagers; community word-count caps drifting; new one-pager-specific community pattern emerging.