Critique Composition Skill: Balance, Whitespace and Rhythm

What is the critique-composition skill?

The critique-composition skill is a SKILL.md in the visual-critique plugin of the designer-skills repository. It critiques a rendered screen's composition: balance, whitespace, rhythm and gestalt grouping. Use it when a layout feels off but hierarchy is fine.

The agent acts as an expert in visual composition and gestalt-based design critique. It analyzes how elements are balanced across the canvas, how whitespace creates breathing room and focus, and how repetition creates coherence.

The four dimensions

• Balance: how visual weight is distributed, whether the choice of symmetry is intentional and whether there is a clear center of gravity.
• Whitespace: macro space between sections and micro space between labels, icons and neighbors.
• Rhythm: consistent spacing intervals, uniform repeated elements and legible section breaks.
• Gestalt: proximity, similarity, figure and ground, continuity and closure.

Gestalt questions it asks

Proximity asks whether related elements sit close together and unrelated ones apart. Similarity asks whether elements with a shared function share a treatment. Continuity asks whether alignment and flow lines lead the eye smoothly through the composition.

Who the critique-composition skill is for

Best for

• Reviewing an existing screen where the layout feels off but the hierarchy is fine.
• Checking that spacing intervals come from a spacing scale and that repeated cards, list items and form rows keep uniform sizes and gaps.
• Finding top-heavy, bottom-heavy or left-leaning layouts and areas that are over-compressed or padded inconsistently.

Not for

• Emphasis and eye flow, which critique-visual-hierarchy reviews.
• Screens that feel overwhelming, which critique-information-density reviews.

Failure patterns it flags

• Equal-weight two-column layout with no clear primary and secondary split.
• Inconsistent padding, with some components at 16px and others at 20px or 24px and no system.
• Orphaned elements that float without proximity to their related group.
• Overcrowded sections next to empty ones, creating unintentional visual cliffs.
• Competing horizontal rules and dividers that multiply without adding structure.

How to install Critique Composition Skill: Balance, Whitespace and Rhythm

/plugin marketplace add Owl-Listener/designer-skills
/plugin install visual-critique@designer-skills

1. Add the marketplace

   Run /plugin marketplace add Owl-Listener/designer-skills in your AI coding agent. This only tells the agent where the skills live and installs nothing yet.

2. Install the visual-critique plugin

   Run /plugin install visual-critique@designer-skills. The critique-composition skill ships inside this plugin. You can also type /plugin, open the Discover tab, tick the plugin with space and press enter.

3. Using Gemini CLI instead

   Each plugin is also a Gemini CLI extension. Clone the repository, create .gemini/extensions in your project root and copy the cloned .gemini/extensions contents into it.

4. Ask for the skill by task

   Attach a screenshot or describe the screen. For example: critique the composition of this pricing page and rate balance, whitespace, rhythm and gestalt.

Check that it loaded

Give the agent a rendered screen. Expect an observation, a problem and a fix for each dimension, and a rating of pass, minor issue or major issue. The four dimensions should be Balance, Whitespace, Rhythm and Gestalt.

Read the official instructions on GitHub

Key features

• BalanceAsks whether the composition is symmetrically or asymmetrically balanced and whether that choice is intentional, and whether heavy elements such as dark fills, large images and dense text are offset by lighter ones.
• Center of gravityChecks whether the layout feels stable or tips top-heavy, bottom-heavy or left-leaning, and whether there is a clear visual center of gravity.
• Macro whitespaceAsks whether there is enough space between major sections and whether whitespace guides attention or fragments the layout into disconnected areas.
• Micro whitespaceChecks that space between labels, icons and adjacent elements is consistent, and flags areas that are over-compressed or padded inconsistently.
• Spacing rhythmAsks whether spacing intervals are consistent and derived from a spacing scale, and whether repeated cards, list items and form rows keep uniform sizing and gaps.
• Variety without chaosLooks for a balance of repetition and differentiation, and for section breaks and dividers that create a legible page cadence.
• Proximity and similarityChecks that related elements sit close together, unrelated ones are clearly separated and elements sharing a function share a visual treatment.
• Figure and groundAsks whether foreground content is clearly distinct from the background.
• Continuity and closureChecks that alignment and flow lines lead the eye smoothly, and that incomplete shapes or groups are still perceived correctly.
• Structured findingsEach dimension gets an observation, a problem and a fix, plus a rating of pass, minor issue or major issue.

Frequently asked questions