Enforces premium color restraint on an existing palette at the client charter's recorded values - a default budget of one chromatic accent at 10 percent coverage or less with an operational coverage-measurement procedure, neutrals hue-tinted 2-5 percent toward the brand hue, near-black ladders with a 4-stop text ramp for dark surfaces, and the stage-versus-UI rule for pure black. Use when someone asks "why does our color feel cheap", "how much accent color is too much", "should our dark mode be pure black", "our dark theme looks muddy", "make our grays feel branded", or a composition has saturated color competing in every section. Do NOT use to create a brand palette from scratch - use color-palette-builder instead; for WCAG contrast and color-blindness remediation, use color-accessibility.
---
name: premium-color-discipline
description: Enforces premium color restraint on an existing palette at the client charter's recorded values - a default budget of one chromatic accent at 10 percent coverage or less with an operational coverage-measurement procedure, neutrals hue-tinted 2-5 percent toward the brand hue, near-black ladders with a 4-stop text ramp for dark surfaces, and the stage-versus-UI rule for pure black. Use when someone asks "why does our color feel cheap", "how much accent color is too much", "should our dark mode be pure black", "our dark theme looks muddy", "make our grays feel branded", or a composition has saturated color competing in every section. Do NOT use to create a brand palette from scratch - use color-palette-builder instead; for WCAG contrast and color-blindness remediation, use color-accessibility.
---
# premium-color-discipline
Color scarcity is what turns an accent into a pointer: the eye lands on the only
saturated object in view. The costly failure is a palette that is individually
tasteful but budget-less - every section adds a little color until the brand owns
none of it, attention fragments, and the whole composition reads template. This
skill governs spend, not selection: the palette already exists, and the job is to
hold it to the client charter's recorded budget. Restraint itself signals
confidence.
## Operating procedure
Work the steps in order: the budget and its measurement come before tinting, and
tinting before ladders - neutrals cannot be tinted toward an accent until the
accent count survives the budget, and no budget verdict exists without the
measurement.
### Step 1: Gather the palette and the charter
Ask for, and do not proceed without:… install to load the full skill