Design Ideas Skill

Your personal design idea repository for merch design workflows. Store research, audience data, and text-to-image prompts in Supabase. Get inspired, create designs, mark them as used.

Quick Start

1. Initial Setup (First Time)

See references/setup.md for:

• Creating the database table
• Testing the connection
• Loading 14 pre-researched initial ideas

2. Get Design Ideas

# Random idea for inspiration
python3 scripts/random_idea.py

# From specific niche
python3 scripts/random_idea.py --niche "Dark Romance"

# List all ideas
python3 scripts/list_ideas.py

# Search by keyword
python3 scripts/search_ideas.py --keyword "anxiety"

3. Add New Ideas

# Single idea
python3 scripts/add_idea.py \
  --title "No Shelf Control" \
  --niche "Bookish Humor" \
  --audience "book lovers, introverts" \
  --description "Clever pun on self-control"

# Bulk import from JSON
python3 scripts/batch_add.py research_findings.json

4. Track Progress

# When you've created a design, mark it as used
python3 scripts/mark_used.py --id <uuid>

---

Database Schema

Table: design_ideas

Column	Type	Description
id	UUID	Primary key
title	TEXT	Design name
niche	TEXT	Category (e.g., "Dark Romance", "Bookish Humor")
description	TEXT	1-2 sentence description
audience	TEXT	Target audience
research	TEXT	Market research notes
text_to_image_prompt	TEXT	Prompt for DALL-E/Midjourney
products	TEXT[]	Suitable products (t-shirt, sticker, mug)
notes	TEXT	Additional context
created_at	TIMESTAMPTZ	Timestamp
updated_at	TIMESTAMPTZ	Timestamp

---

All Commands

Explore Ideas

# List all
python3 scripts/list_ideas.py

# Verbose output (full details)
python3 scripts/list_ideas.py --verbose

# Filter by niche
python3 scripts/list_ideas.py --niche "Mental Health"

# Limit results
python3 scripts/list_ideas.py --limit 10

Search & Discover

# Random idea (any niche)
python3 scripts/random_idea.py

# Random from specific niche
python3 scripts/random_idea.py --niche "Dark Romance"

# Search by niche
python3 scripts/search_ideas.py --niche "Fandom In-Jokes"

# Search by audience
python3 scripts/search_ideas.py --audience "BookTok"

# Search by keyword
python3 scripts/search_ideas.py --keyword "spicy" --verbose

Add & Manage Ideas

# Add single idea
python3 scripts/add_idea.py \
  --title "Title" \
  --niche "Niche" \
  --audience "Audience" \
  --description "Description" \
  --research "Why this works" \
  --prompt "Text-to-image prompt" \
  --products "t-shirt,sticker"

# Bulk import
python3 scripts/batch_add.py ideas.json

# Print example format
python3 scripts/batch_add.py --example

# Mark design as used (delete from pool)
python3 scripts/mark_used.py --id <uuid>

---

Pre-Researched Ideas

14 initial ideas included covering:

• Bookish Humor (wordplay, puns)
• Mental Health + Books (anxiety, coping)
• Dark Humor (nihilism, sarcasm)
• Dark Romance (spicy books, morally grey)
• Fandom In-Jokes (trope references)
• Relatable Problems (TBR piles, book guilt)

Each includes:

• Description and target audience
• Market research notes
• Text-to-image prompts
• Recommended products

---

Bulk Import Format

Add multiple ideas from JSON file. See references/json-format.md for complete format guide.

Example:

[
  {
    "title": "No Shelf Control",
    "niche": "Bookish Humor",
    "description": "Pun on self-control for readers",
    "audience": "book lovers, introverts",
    "research": "Wordplay designs sell well",
    "text_to_image_prompt": "Minimalist text design...",
    "products": ["t-shirt", "sticker"]
  }
]

---

Workflow

1. Inspiration: python3 scripts/random_idea.py --niche "Dark Romance"
2. Copy prompt: Take text_to_image_prompt field
3. Generate: Paste into DALL-E or Midjourney
4. Design: Create, refine, upload to Redbubble
5. Cleanup: python3 scripts/mark_used.py --id <uuid>
6. Repeat: Get next idea

---

For More Details

• Setup & usage guide: See references/setup.md
• JSON bulk import format: See references/json-format.md
• Database definition: See assets/schema.sql
• Initial 14 ideas: See assets/initial_ideas.json

---

Tips

1. Be specific with prompts — Text-to-image prompts should be detailed enough to paste directly into generators
2. Track research — Document why designs work and who buys them
3. Group by niche — Organize ideas by category for easy discovery
4. Refresh regularly — Add new ideas after research sessions
5. Mark as used — Remove designs you've already created to keep the pool fresh