--- name: mck-ppt-design description: >- Create professional, consultant-grade PowerPoint presentations from scratch using python-pptx with McKinsey-style design. Use when user asks to create slides, pitch decks, business presentations, strategy decks, quarterly reviews, board meeting slides, or any professional PPTX. Generates clean, flat-design presentations with 70 layout patterns across 12 categories (structure, data, framework, comparison, narrative, timeline, team, charts, images, advanced viz, dashboards, visual storytelling), consistent typography, zero file-corruption issues, BLOCK_ARC native shapes for circular charts (donut, pie, gauge), and production-hardened guard rails for spacing, overflow, legend consistency, title style uniformity, dynamic sizing for variable-count layouts, and chart rendering. ---

McKinsey PPT Design Framework

> Version: 1.10.4 · License: Apache-2.0 · Author: likaku > > Required tools: Read, Write, Bash · Requires: python3, pip

Overview

This skill encodes the complete design specification for professional business presentations — a consultant-grade PowerPoint framework based on McKinsey design principles. It includes:

• 70 layout patterns across 12 categories (structure, data, framework, comparison, narrative, timeline, team, charts, images, advanced viz, dashboards, visual storytelling)
• Color system and strict typography hierarchy
• Python-pptx code patterns ready to copy and customize
• Three-layer defense against file corruption (zero p:style leaks)
• Chinese + English font handling (KaiTi / Georgia / Arial)
• Image placeholder system for image-containing layouts (v1.8)
• BLOCK_ARC native shapes for charts — donut, pie, gauge rendered with 3-4 shapes instead of hundreds of blocks, 60-80% smaller files (v2.0)
• Production Guard Rails — 9 mandatory rules including spacing/overflow protection, legend color consistency, title style uniformity, axis label centering, dynamic sizing, BLOCK_ARC chart rendering (v1.9+v2.0)
• Code Efficiency guidelines — variable reuse patterns, constant extraction, loop optimization for faster generation (v1.9)

All specifications have been refined through iterative production feedback to ensure visual consistency, professional polish, and zero-defect output.

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When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when users ask to:

1. Create presentations — pitch decks, strategy presentations, quarterly reviews, board meeting slides, consulting deliverables, project proposals, business plans
2. Generate slides programmatically — using python-pptx to produce .pptx files from scratch
3. Apply professional design — McKinsey / BCG / Bain consulting style, clean flat design, no shadows or gradients
4. Build specific slide types — cover pages, data dashboards, 2x2 matrices, timelines, funnels, team introductions, executive summaries, comparison layouts
5. Fix PPT issues — file corruption ("needs repair"), shadow/3D artifacts, inconsistent fonts, Chinese text rendering problems
6. Maintain design consistency — unified color palette, font hierarchy, spacing, and line treatments across all slides

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Core Design Philosophy

McKinsey Design Principles

1. Extreme Minimalism - Remove all non-essential visual elements

- No color blocks unless absolutely necessary - Lines: thin, flat, no shadows or 3D effects - Shapes: simple, clean, no gradients - Text: clear hierarchy, maximum readability

1. Consistency - Repeat visual language across all slides

- Unified color palette (navy + cyan + grays) - Consistent font sizes and weights for same content types - Aligned spacing and margins - Matching line widths and styles

1. Hierarchy - Guide viewer through information

- Title bar (22pt) → Sub-headers (18pt) → Body (14pt) → Details (9pt) - Navy for primary elements, gray for secondary, black for divisions - Visual weight through bold, color, size (not through effects)

1. Flat Design - No 3D, shadows, or gradients

- Pure solid colors only - All lines are simple strokes with no effects - Shapes have no shadow or reflection effects - Circles are solid fills, not 3D spheres

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Design Specifications

Color Palette

All colors in RGB format for python-pptx:

| Color Name | Hex | RGB | Usage | Notes | |-----------|-----|-----|-------|-------| | NAVY | #051C2C | (5, 28, 44) | Primary, titles, circles | Corporate, formal tone | | CYAN | #00A9F4 | (0, 169, 244) | Originally used in v1 | DEPRECATED - Use NAVY for consistency | | WHITE | #FFFFFF | (255, 255, 255) | Backgrounds, text | On navy backgrounds only | | BLACK | #000000 | (0, 0, 0) | Lines, text separators | For clarity and contrast | | DARK_GRAY | #333333 | (51, 51, 51) | Body text, descriptions | Main content text | | MED_GRAY | #666666 | (102, 102, 102) | Secondary text, labels | Softer tone than DARK_GRAY | | LINE_GRAY | #CCCCCC | (204, 204, 204) | Light separators, table rows | Table separators only | | BG_GRAY | #F2F2F2 | (242, 242, 242) | Background panels | Takeaway/highlight areas |

Key Rule: Use navy (#051C2C) everywhere, especially for:

• All circle indicators (A, B, C, 1, 2, 3)
• All action titles
• All primary section headers
• All TOC highlight colors

Accent Colors (for multi-item differentiation)

When a slide contains 3 or more parallel items (e.g., comparison cards, pillar frameworks, multi-category overviews), use these accent colors to create visual distinction between items. Without accent colors, parallel items become visually indistinguishable.

| Accent Name | Hex | RGB | Paired Light BG | Usage | |-------------|-----|-----|-----------------|-------| | ACCENT_BLUE | #006BA6 | (0, 107, 166) | #E3F2FD | First item accent | | ACCENT_GREEN | #007A53 | (0, 122, 83) | #E8F5E9 | Second item accent | | ACCENT_ORANGE | #D46A00 | (212, 106, 0) | #FFF3E0 | Third item accent | | ACCENT_RED | #C62828 | (198, 40, 40) | #FFEBEE | Fourth item / warning |

Accent Color Rules:

• Use accent colors for: card top accent borders (thin 0.06" rect), circle labels (add_oval() bg param), section sub-headers (font_color)
• Use paired light BG for: card background fills only
• Body text inside cards ALWAYS remains DARK_GRAY (#333333)
• NAVY remains the primary color for single-focus elements (one card, one stat, cover title)
• Use accent colors ONLY when the slide has 3+ parallel items that need visual distinction
• The fourth item (D) can use NAVY instead of ACCENT_RED if red feels inappropriate for the content

# Accent color constants
ACCENT_BLUE   = RGBColor(0x00, 0x6B, 0xA6)
ACCENT_GREEN  = RGBColor(0x00, 0x7A, 0x53)
ACCENT_ORANGE = RGBColor(0xD4, 0x6A, 0x00)
ACCENT_RED    = RGBColor(0xC6, 0x28, 0x28)
LIGHT_BLUE    = RGBColor(0xE3, 0xF2, 0xFD)
LIGHT_GREEN   = RGBColor(0xE8, 0xF5, 0xE9)
LIGHT_ORANGE  = RGBColor(0xFF, 0xF3, 0xE0)
LIGHT_RED     = RGBColor(0xFF, 0xEB, 0xEE)

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Typography System

Font Families

English Headers:  Georgia (serif, elegant)
English Body:     Arial (sans-serif, clean)
Chinese (ALL):    KaiTi (楷体, traditional brush style)
                  (fallback: SimSun 宋体)

Critical Implementation:

def set_ea_font(run, typeface='KaiTi'):
    """Set East Asian font for Chinese text"""
    rPr = run._r.get_or_add_rPr()
    ea = rPr.find(qn('a:ea'))
    if ea is None:
        ea = rPr.makeelement(qn('a:ea'), {})
        rPr.append(ea)
    ea.set('typeface', typeface)

Every paragraph with Chinese text MUST apply set_ea_font() to all runs.

Font Size Hierarchy

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