claude-design/skills/claude-design-facilitator/references/presets/one-pagers.md

# 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:

1. Turn 2: tighten word counts if any block ran over cap
2. Turn 3: refine callout-box positioning if it competes with the headline takeaway
3. Turn 4+: Tweak panel for spacing scale and density adjustments
4. Export to PDF; visual-audit at 100% zoom and at print size

---

## (f) Critique-iterate hint

Phase 9 in `references/05-critique-iterate.md` carries the shared loop: export the artifact, run `design:critique`, read the output by judgment, re-prompt one layer. This block records only what differs for this preset.

**Dominant critique sections.** Visual Hierarchy and Consistency, both usually surfacing as density problems. Usability is near-irrelevant — a one-pager is read, not operated.

**Where findings route.** "Too much on the page" and "nothing dominates" route to Layer 1 Layout for the region set and to Layer 1 Content for the per-block word-count caps this preset already recommends. Trimming content is the higher-yield move of the two and the one operators reach for last. Consistency findings route to Layer 4, specifically the modular type scale — a one-pager that reads as flat is almost always missing scale steps rather than missing color.

**A single-page artifact makes Layer 5 cheap to use.** There is one surface to grade, so an explicit weighting — functionality and craft over originality for an internal one-pager, the reverse for an external one — moves the next turn more than another Layer 4 spec will.

## Sources

- `https://anthropic.com/news/claude-design-anthropic-labs` — preset enumeration, one-sentence description
- `https://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 block
- `https://newsletter.victordibia.com` — community pattern for above-the-fold density limits
- `https://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.