# Figure Designer

Advises on the design of the three core figures in a technical paper: the Motivated...

- Repository: https://github.com/HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills (11333 stars)
- Category: Design
- License: CC-BY-4.0
- Last updated: 2026-10-16
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill figure-designer -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill figure-designer -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill figure-designer -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill figure-designer -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

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. Use when the user asks to 'design a figure', 'draw Figure 1', 'plot experiment results', 'choose the right chart type', 'which figure tool to use', or 'figure looks unprofessional'.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# 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.

The rest: https://github.com/HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills/blob/HEAD/skills/figure-designer/SKILL.md