mellow-pop

Imported from okou-ai/vm0-skills (illustration-template/mellow-pop/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add okou-ai/vm0-skills --skill mellow-pop. Copyright stays with the author.

/mellow-pop — locked chill editorial poster style

This style produces serene, scene-driven flat-vector editorial posters. The mood is mellow (closed-eye smile, soft posture, contemplative scene). The format is pop (one saturated solid color filling the canvas + a signature leaf-green accent). The same recurring character anchors every piece so a series reads as one collection.

Each invocation swaps a small set of dials — the locked frame (character, line quality, surface, background-as-block, green-pop signature) never moves.

Prompt interpretation

The user will usually give a short brief — sometimes just a metaphor ("a giant lightbulb"), sometimes a metaphor plus a palette ("watering a green tulip, lavender"), sometimes a full mini-scene ("late-night planning, indigo, L3 with sticky notes and a crescent moon"). Translate that into a full poster brief without stopping to ask:

1. Pick a scene metaphor that visualizes the brief's concept. If the user gave only a feeling-word, choose the most evocative everyday-but-oversized object or vignette for that feeling.
2. Pick one saturated background hue that supports the scene's mood. One color, no gradient.
3. Pick a complexity level (L1 / L2 / L3) appropriate to the request — L1 for a single hero prop, L2 for prop + 1–2 supporting elements, L3 for a multi-element mini-scene with horizon, path, or ambient depth.
4. Choose a character pose that fits the scene (sitting cross-legged, walking, kneeling, reaching, leaning, holding).
5. Pick an outfit accent — cream sweater (calmer, default) or coral-pink sweater (warmer, energetic). Pants and shoes are locked.
6. Honor the locked frame — character anatomy, line quality, flat fills, saturated background, leaf-green pop signature — those never move.

Bias toward scenes where an everyday object is gently oversized (a giant book, a giant lightbulb, a giant flower) or where a quiet moment is staged with ambient props (sticky notes drifting, butterflies, soundwave arcs). Avoid hard action, conflict, or surprise — the character is always contemplative.

Locked style axes (NEVER vary)

Character (the recurring protagonist)

• Tall slender proportions, small head — elongated silhouette in a modern editorial way
• Smooth tan skin — flat fill, no rendering
• Short dark bobbed hair with straight bangs — chin-length, slightly tucked, solid black fill
• Three-quarter face view — slightly turned toward camera, never full profile, never full front
• Closed-eye smile drawn as two short curved lines (eyes never open)
• A tiny visible nose bump on the silhouette — small short curve between eye and mouth (do not omit)
• Soft smile mouth — single short curved line, never showing teeth
• Wardrobe: long-sleeve sweater (cream OR coral-pink) + warm-gray loose pants + simple white shoes — never deviate from this base
• Mood is always mellow — chill, contemplative, soft posture, slight forward tilt of the head; never excited, surprised, or strained

Line quality

• Thin clean uniform black outlines around every shape — medium weight, decisive, never sketchy, never chunky
• No double-stroke, no varying line-width within a single shape's perimeter, no hand-drawn wobble
• Line weight is consistent across the whole canvas

Surface

• Flat solid color fills only — no gradients, no airbrush, no shading, no halftone, no riso grain, no paper texture
• Cel-shading is acceptable as a single flat shadow tone on the character or hero prop, but is optional — most pieces are pure flat
• The canvas is plastic-clean — no organic texture anywhere

Background

• One fully saturated single hue filling the entire canvas — no gradient, no vignette, no second color band, no horizon strip
• No white margins, no border, no frame, no clipping mask
• Hue is one from the palette dial below

Green-pop signature

• A pop of bright leaf-green must appear in every piece — never a different green, never desaturated, never minty unless mint is the background and the pop is rendered as a darker leaf-green
• The green appears as: the oversized hero prop · accent plants/leaves · ambient motifs (sticky notes, soundwaves, butterflies) · or the character's sweater (rare)
• Darker-green internal details (vein lines, screen frame, page lines, spiral ridges) read against the bright leaf-green fill

Optional accents

• Tiny red dot accents — wax seal on an envelope, music note, notification badge, bookmark ribbon, sparkle dot. One or two per piece, never more.
• Small white companion props — coffee mug with a single steam curl, watering can, open notebook/journal. These give the scene lived-in detail without crowding it.

Composition

• Portrait canvas, 1024×1536 (2:3) recommended
• Character occupies the lower-center to mid-frame; the hero prop or supporting elements anchor the upper half (L1) or wrap around the character (L2/L3)
• Clean negative space between elements — never crowded
• No text, no logos, no captions, no headlines

Variable axes (the five dials)

These are the only things that should change between pieces.

Brief template

When generating, expand the user's input into this internal brief before describing the image to the model:

Scene metaphor: <one phrase — what the scene depicts and what it stands for>
Palette: <single saturated background hue>
Complexity: L1 / L2 / L3
Pose: <verb + posture>
Outfit accent: cream / coral-pink
Green-pop role: <hero prop / supporting plants / motifs / character sweater>
Ambient props (L2/L3 only): <coffee mug · journal · butterflies · sticky notes · soundwave arcs · stars · moon · clouds · stepping stones · distant figure>
Optional red accent: <wax seal · music note · notification dot · bookmark · sparkle>

Worked examples

Nine reference pieces below — each holds the locked frame and varies the five dials.

Example 1 — coral · giant green leaf hug · L1 (anchor piece)

coral · giant green leaf hug

• Palette: warm coral-pink
• Scene: character calmly hugging an oversized leaf-green leaf taller than she is, in three-quarter view
• Complexity: L1 (one hero prop + a tiny red wax-seal accent + a small white coffee cup at her feet)
• Pose: standing, both arms wrapping the giant leaf
• Outfit accent: cream sweater
• Green-pop role: the giant leaf (with darker-green vein lines)

Example 2 — buttery yellow · giant green lightbulb · L1 (idea / inspiration)

yellow · giant green lightbulb

• Palette: buttery yellow
• Scene: character looking up and reaching toward a giant bright leaf-green lightbulb floating beside her head; small red sparkle dot at the side
• Complexity: L1
• Pose: standing, one hand reaching upward
• Outfit accent: coral-pink sweater
• Green-pop role: the giant lightbulb (with a darker-green filament squiggle inside)

Example 3 — soft mint · giant green open book · L2 (reading / learning)

mint · giant green open book

• Palette: soft mint-green
• Scene: character sitting cross-legged reading a giant green open book balanced on her lap, with a tiny red bookmark ribbon, and a small white coffee mug with one steam curl beside her
• Complexity: L2 (hero prop + bookmark + coffee mug)
• Pose: sitting cross-legged
• Outfit accent: cream sweater
• Green-pop role: the giant book (with darker-green page lines)

Example 4 — periwinkle blue · giant green phone · L1 (social / communication)

periwinkle · giant green phone

• Palette: periwinkle blue
• Scene: character standing leaning casually against a giant bright leaf-green smartphone propped vertically, with a small red notification badge in the upper corner of the screen
• Complexity: L1
• Pose: standing, leaning against the phone
• Outfit accent: coral-pink sweater
• Green-pop role: the giant phone (with darker-green screen frame and white speaker dot)

Example 5 — soft lavender · giant green tulip + watering can · L2 (growth / nurture)

lavender · giant green tulip

• Palette: soft lavender
• Scene: character kneeling on one knee tending a giant bright leaf-green tulip flower growing from a small terracotta pot, holding a tiny white watering can; a small red dot at the center of the bloom
• Complexity: L2 (hero plant + terracotta pot + watering can)
• Pose: kneeling on one knee
• Outfit accent: cream sweater
• Green-pop role: the giant tulip (with darker-green stem and leaves)

Example 6 — deep indigo · sticky notes + crescent moon · L3 (late-night planning)

indigo · sticky notes + moon

• Palette: deep indigo-blue
• Scene: character sitting cross-legged on the floor with an open notebook on her lap, seven small bright leaf-green sticky-note rectangles tilted at various angles floating around her, a large pale-cream crescent moon and scattered tiny white star dots overhead, and a small white coffee mug beside her
• Complexity: L3 (multi-element scene: floating sticky notes + moon + stars + notebook + coffee mug)
• Pose: sitting cross-legged
• Outfit accent: cream sweater
• Green-pop role: the floating sticky notes (with darker-green handwriting squiggles)

Example 7 — buttery yellow · garden of oversized plants + butterflies · L3 (cultivation)

yellow · garden + butterflies

• Palette: buttery yellow
• Scene: character standing centered among four oversized bright leaf-green plants in terracotta pots at varying heights (tall stalk with a round bloom, wide leafy bush, drooping vine, tall fan-shaped palm leaf), holding a small white watering can; three tiny green butterflies and thin green petal marks drift above
• Complexity: L3 (4+ plants + butterflies + falling petals + watering can)
• Pose: standing in the center, watering can in one hand
• Outfit accent: coral-pink sweater
• Green-pop role: the cluster of plants (varied silhouettes, all in leaf-green)

Example 8 — soft lavender · giant spiral shell + soundwaves · L3 (listening / tuning in)

lavender · giant spiral shell + soundwaves

• Palette: soft lavender
• Scene: character sitting cross-legged on the floor holding an oversized bright leaf-green spiral seashell up to one ear with both hands; three thin curved bright-green sound-wave arcs ripple outward from the shell's mouth, plus tiny floating dots and a small red music note in the air; a small open white journal lies beside her on the ground
• Complexity: L3 (shell + soundwave arcs + floating dots + music note + journal)
• Pose: sitting cross-legged, both hands holding the shell to ear
• Outfit accent: cream sweater
• Green-pop role: the giant shell (with darker-green spiral ridges) + the soundwave arcs

Example 9 — coral · lily-pad stepping-stone path + distant figure · L3 (journey / connection)

coral · lily-pad stepping-stone path

• Palette: warm coral-pink
• Scene: character walking in mid-stride along a winding path made of five oversized bright leaf-green rounded stepping stones curving from the foreground into the distance, each stone carries a tiny darker-green motif (heart, star, envelope, leaf, dot); at the path's end in the far distance stands a small silhouette of a second figure waving; two thin bright-green cloud-shape curves drift across the sky
• Complexity: L3 (5 stepping stones with motifs + horizon line + distant figure + cloud curves)
• Pose: walking in mid-stride
• Outfit accent: cream sweater
• Green-pop role: the stepping stones (with darker-green motifs inscribed on each) + the cloud curves

Anti-patterns

• ❌ A different character — must be the recurring tan-skin / bobbed-hair / closed-eye-smile protagonist
• ❌ Open eyes, gaze toward camera, or any expression other than the closed-eye soft smile
• ❌ Missing the tiny nose bump on the silhouette (the model often drops it — call it out explicitly)
• ❌ Multiple characters in the foreground — a second figure may appear in the far distance as a small silhouette only (Example 9)
• ❌ Gradient background, vignette, second color band, scenery photo, or non-saturated bg — the field must be a single flat saturated hue filling the canvas
• ❌ No leaf-green anywhere — the green-pop signature must appear in every piece
• ❌ A different green (lime, forest, olive, mint as the pop color) — must be bright leaf-green
• ❌ Photorealism, 3D modeling, soft airbrush, halftone, riso grain, paper texture, or pencil shading
• ❌ Chunky / sketchy / variable-weight outlines — must be thin clean uniform black
• ❌ Crowded composition with no negative space — the canvas should always breathe
• ❌ Headlines, captions, in-image text, or logos — never any baked-in typography
• ❌ Excited, surprised, strained, or sad expressions — mood is always mellow contemplation
• ❌ Action verbs that imply force (running, jumping, climbing aggressively) — the character moves softly

Output evaluation checklist

Before declaring a piece done, verify:

• The recurring character is present with tall slender proportions, short dark bobbed hair with bangs, three-quarter view, closed-eye smile (two short curved lines), AND a tiny visible nose bump on the silhouette
• Wardrobe: long-sleeve sweater (cream or coral-pink) + warm-gray loose pants + simple white shoes — no deviation
• Background is one fully saturated solid color filling the canvas edge-to-edge
• A pop of bright leaf-green appears somewhere in the composition
• Thin clean uniform black outlines on every shape, flat solid fills only
• No gradients, no shading, no texture, no grain anywhere
• No text, no logos, no captions in the image
• Composition has breathable negative space
• Mood reads as mellow / contemplative

Portability note

This style is described at the semantic level — what the image must look like, not which model produces it. It generates cleanly on broad-distribution image models (Seedream 5, GPT-Image-2, Flux, Qwen-Image). Models with stronger character-anatomy coherence (Seedream 5 at 1024×1536 portrait) tend to preserve the recurring face most reliably; if a model drifts the character into a generic person, repeat the character description block twice in the prompt (once near the top, once near the end with "do not omit the nose"). If a model insists on adding gradient shine to a glass prop (lightbulb, phone screen), explicitly forbid gradient inside the prop and require pure flat solid fill.