GUTENBERG
The visual constraints behind every gutenberg page. Color science, dark surfaces, six principles — each shown wrong then right.
Three documents define the visual system. The style guide teaches judgment — six principles, each shown wrong then right. The chromatic language provides the vocabulary — 21 hue families, dark surfaces, and 5 color functions. The diagram language defines ten structural forms for rendering system arguments as geometry.
Six principles, each shown wrong then right. Color discipline. Hierarchy. Restraint. Card substance. Flow semantics. Format fit. The anti-pattern/correct pairs teach the judgment no parameter reference can convey.
21 hue families × 11 shades. OKLCH color science gamut-mapped to sRGB. Schemes assign identity, semantic roles encode meaning, color functions distribute hues, and a 4-level dark surface hierarchy anchors every page.
Ten structural forms in four categories — sequential, distribution, structural, and lifecycle. Each answers a different question about how systems connect, compose, and evolve.
One scheme per page. Colors from the palette — never ad hoc. Semantic roles for meaning, not decoration.
Surface depth creates visual order. Deep, base, raised, mid — four levels that separate content without borders.
Every visual element earns its place. If the content doesn't justify the form, the form doesn't appear.
Cards need enough content to justify being cards. Title plus one sentence is not a card — title plus argument plus context is.
Flow chains trace actual progressions. Process → steps. Cause → effect. Abstract → concrete. No arrow relationship, no flow chain.
Parallel items → cards. Sequential process → flow chain. Tabular data → table. Extended argument → prose. Match the form to the content.
If it isn't in the system, it isn't in the output.