AssetCraft

A skill for generating visual assets for interfaces in Recraft — illustrations, 3D objects, icons, logos, patterns, backgrounds, video. Works as a Cursor agent skill: guides you step by step from interface analysis to ready-to-use prompts or auto-generation.

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What it does

AssetCraft is not just a prompt generator. It thinks like a designer: first figures out where assets are needed and why, then builds a unified visual style, and only then generates. The core idea — an asset must earn its place, not just fill space.

Not for copywriting or markup/coding.

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Triggers (when to use)

• "Generate assets for my landing page"
• "Icons for my UI"
• "Style my site with AI"
• "Where should I add images?"
• "Make a logo / hero image / OG image"
• "Illustrations for my app"
• "Make a hero image / generate assets"

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Two modes

The mode is determined automatically at the start — based on whether a Recraft MCP is installed:

Mode	What happens
A — Prompts	The skill guides and outputs ready prompts; you generate manually in Recraft. Default mode.
B — Auto-generation via MCP	If a Recraft MCP is installed — the agent generates assets itself via generate_image, create_style, etc. Requires explicit consent (spends balance).

Video (image-to-video) and mockups are absent from the MCP — those are done manually in the Recraft web studio.

Recommendation: even though mode B is convenient for automation, manual generation in the Recraft web UI produces better results — it gives access to the latest models (including the newest Recraft Vector versions), finer style controls, and visual feedback on every asset. Mode B is best for large batch tasks; mode A is best for quality.

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Stages

0. Recon + state-check   → understand the project; find a saved style; detect mode
1. Placement + density   → where assets belong and how many → draft plan
2. Style (+ style anchor) → build, validate, lock the style → style-spec (file)
3. Asset plan            → precise inventory by type/aspect → asset-plan
4. Concepts + generation → idea → ready prompt / MCP generation → prompt-pack
5. Integration           → how to drop assets into the project → integration-memo

Stage 0 — Recon

The agent looks at project files itself, then asks for what's missing:

• State-check: searches **/ui-style-spec*.md — if a style is already saved, reads it and skips Stage 2.
• MCP-check: checks for Recraft tools (generate_image, create_style, etc.) and picks the mode.
• Gathers context: what kind of screen (landing page, mobile app, dashboard, email?), inputs (code/screenshots/Figma), style guide presence, goal and audience.

Stage 1 — Placement and density

The most "designerly" stage. Decides where assets are needed and how many.

Good spots: hero/first screen, explaining the abstract, empty zones before a CTA, emotional anchors, navigation icons, avatars in testimonials.

Bad spots: dense text, forms, data tables, long repetitive lists, already-crowded screens.

Density levels:

• Restrained — 1-3 key accents, fits SaaS/B2B
• Medium — classic marketing landing
• Image-heavy — visuals lead, wow-landings, art/creative brands

Stage 2 — Style

A unified style is 80% of the result. Built once, saved to ui-style-spec.md, and reused on future invocations.

Process:

1. Propose 2-3 style directions suited to the goal.
2. Build a draft style in Recraft (mix library styles + hex palette + style-descriptor block).
3. Style Anchor — validate the style on one neutral test image (a sphere, a stack of cards, a glowing cube). Fix if needed (2-3 iterations is normal).
4. Save a Custom Style in Recraft. Add 2-4 varied neutral subjects to stabilize it.

The result is saved as ui-style-spec.md — the persistent state file for future skill invocations.

Stage 3 — Asset plan

A precise list of all assets: spot, type, aspect ratio, count, file name, rationale.

Asset type	Format
Icons, logos, simple marks	Vector/SVG
3D objects, illustrations, hero	Raster, transparent background
Uniform sets (icons, avatars)	Consistent image set
Live hero, backgrounds	Video (image-to-video)
Product on a device	Mockup

Stage 4 — Concepts and generation

Idea first, prompt second. For significant assets (hero, logo, key illustrations) offers 3 approaches to choose from:

• A — Literal — direct depiction, low risk, low emotion.
• B — Metaphorical — through an object from another domain, conveys the essence.
• C — Abstract — through shapes and flows, most unique.

Each concept is built on the Subject + Action + Twist chain — one unexpected detail that makes the concept memorable.

Rules for icons and logos (critical):

• Icons, logos, and vector illustrations must always be SVG. Model choice depends on the mode:
  • Web UI (mode A): use the latest available Recraft Vector or Recraft Vector Pro model.
  • MCP (mode B): Recraft Vector models are not exposed in the MCP. Icons: recraftv2 + input_style: "icon". Logos and vector illustrations: recraftv3 + input_style: "vector_illustration". Do not use recraftv4_1 for vector — it outputs raster.
• Never generate multiple icons in a single sprite image — each icon as a separate call with "centered composition".

Prompts are always in English — Recraft (like all generators) is trained primarily on English.

Stage 5 — Integration

A short guide on dropping assets into the project: formats (SVG / transparent PNG / webm+mp4), placement over a background, optimization (compression, retina, lazy-load), video backgrounds and mockups.

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Skill files

SKILL.md                          — main skill file
references/
  placement-guide.md              — where assets belong, where they hurt, density levels
  recraft-mechanics.md            — how Recraft works (styles, sets, vector, video)
  style-directions.md             — 20 style directions with palettes and descriptors
  concept-methodology.md          — concept methodology, anti-clichés, 5 logo types
  prompt-library.md               — prompt templates by type, aspect ratios
  recraft-mcp.md                  — MCP tools, billing, model compatibility
assets/
  style-spec.template.md          — style-spec template (saved to the project as persistent state)
  asset-plan.template.md          — asset plan template
  prompt-pack.template.md         — prompt pack template
  integration-memo.template.md    — integration memo template

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Key principles

• One question at a time with options — no walls of questions.
• Don't rebuild what's done — if ui-style-spec.md already exists, the style stage is skipped.
• Pause after each stage — summary + confirmation before moving on.
• Never generate via MCP without consent — it spends balance.
• Assets earn their place — fewer, but on point.