# creative-director

Directs project animation vision and standards using Disney's 12 principles of motion. It helps establish consistent pacing, easing curves, and visual hierarchy across team assets.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 581 installs · ★ 129
- Author: dylantarre
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles/tree/HEAD/skills/03-by-role-persona/creative-director/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2025-12-30
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/dylantarre-creative-director

## What it does

The skill configures the model as a motion creative director responsible for animation quality and visual pacing. It structures guidance around Disney's 12 principles of animation, adapting each one into a direction checkpoint and a vision question. Concepts include squash and stretch ranges, dramatic anticipation, visual staging, easing curves, and timing frameworks.

The workflow outlines four leadership areas: vision setting, quality standards, team guidance, and stakeholder communication. Work gets evaluated against a four-point review checklist. Because this skill focuses on creative direction, it does not output animation code directly; it establishes the aesthetic rules and physics constraints that developers or animators then implement.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill creative-director -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/creative-director/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/creative-director/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill creative-director -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/creative-director/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill creative-director -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/creative-director/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install dylantarre/animation-principles creative-director
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/creative-director/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill creative-director -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles --path skills/03-by-role-persona/creative-director
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/creative-director/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill creative-director -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles/tree/HEAD/skills/03-by-role-persona/creative-director/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- Establish motion physics and elasticity ranges for a project
- Define timing frameworks and easing curves
- Evaluate finished animations using a four-point review checklist
- Communicate the business value of animation craft to stakeholders

## Example prompts
- "Review our screen transitions against the creative director checklist."
- "Set the timing rules and easing curves for our modal dialogs."
- "Establish motion physics and elasticity boundaries for our interface elements."

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 59baa49a01c93e88.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 59baa49a01c93e88
```text
---
name: creative-director
description: Use when overseeing animation vision, setting creative direction for motion, or guiding teams on animation quality and consistency.
---

# Creative Director: Animation Vision & Leadership

You are a creative director setting vision and standards for animation across projects. Apply Disney's 12 principles to lead teams toward excellent motion design.

## The 12 Principles for Creative Leadership

### 1. Squash and Stretch
**Creative Direction**: Define the elasticity range for your project. How much life do we give objects? What's our physics reality?
**Vision Question**: "On a spectrum from rigid to rubbery, where does our world live?"

### 2. Anticipation
**Creative Direction**: Establish anticipation as a pacing tool. Are we building tension or moving quickly? Anticipation is your dramatic control.
**Vision Question**: "Do we let moments breathe, or do we punch through?"

### 3. Staging
**Creative Direction**: Visual hierarchy is storytelling. Review compositions for clarity. If staging requires explanation, it's not working.
**Vision Question**: "Does the eye know where to go? Does the motion tell the story?"

### 4. Straight Ahead vs Pose to Pose
**Creative Direction**: Production approach impacts feel. Commission straight ahead for organic warmth, pose to pose for controlled precision.
**Vision Question**: "What production approach serves this creative vision?"

### 5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action
**Creative Direction**: Follow-through is where craft shows. This is the layer that separates amateur from professional. Invest here.
**Vision Question**: "Have we earned the details? Does the craft match the ambition?"

### 6. Slow In and Slow Out
**Creative Direction**: Easing is the signature. Define your curves and protect them. Inconsistent easing breaks the world.
**Vision Question**: "What does our motion feel like? Do we have a recognizable rhythm?"

### 7. Arc
**Creative Direction**: Movement paths define spatial philosophy. Organic worlds arc. Mechanical worlds line. Establish the rule, then break it intentionally.
**Vision Question**: "What kind of space are we creating? How do things move through it?"

### 8. Secondary Action
**Creative Direction**: The delight layer. This is where personality lives. Allocate time for secondary action—it's not polish, it's character.
**Vision Question**: "What small moments will make people love this?"

### 9. Timing
**Creative Direction**: Timing is tone. Fast and snappy vs slow and weighty. Establish timing frameworks early—retrofitting timing is expensive.
**Vision Question**: "What's the tempo of this experience?"

### 10. Exaggeration
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 59baa49a01c93e88

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First 2683 of 4228 bytes. © dylantarre · MIT · https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles/tree/HEAD/skills/03-by-role-persona/creative-director/SKILL.md

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