dan-cube/danlogo-softorder

DanLogo · Soft Order (柔性秩序)

Organic forms, mechanical precision: soft growth, precise arrangement; unfolding, with only one part left incomplete.

The soft-order direction of the danlogo series. It defines temperament and quality, not shape, color, or process: the style is locked at the level of formal language—arcs, clustered modules, contrasts, flat planes, plus an invisible order—what specific shapes emerge is re-derived for each project. It belongs to the lineage of biomorphic abstraction + organic modernism + generative design, rooted in the I Ching's "unceasing generation" and Xie He's "spirit resonance": form is the result of process and rules. It was reverse-engineered from the EonPoint "01 Yuansheng" solution (cases/).

Industry-agnostic: users adopt it according to their own taste; the domain only influences where the motif comes from, not the style.

Read First

Before starting any project, read the first three style chapters in order; chapters 4 and 5 are read during phase 6:

1. references/philosophy.md — Intellectual coordinates and eight design principles: why design this way
2. references/style-dna.md — Core structure "cluster and separation," locked formal language, eight genes, knobs, and touchstones: what temperament it looks like
3. references/creative-methods.md — Seven creative methods and anti-homogenization: how to generate new ideas each time
4. references/style-extension.md — Style extension: what systems, scenarios, and presentations look like (phases 6–8)

references/exemplars.md (style lineage: art, architecture, objects, brand works on the same path, plus "which path to look at for a desired temperament") and cases/index.md (motifs already used) are read only after phase 2 lists candidate motifs—use them to cross out habitual answers and overlapping motifs; reading them earlier leads to being carried away by them. Complete cases are read only when a reference of "how far to take it" is needed, and then only to borrow method, not form. The remaining files are read during the corresponding phases (see table below).

Three Layers of Requirements

Layer	Content	Changeable?
Quality gates (shared series)	references/quality-gates.md	Must pass for every project
Style genes (this style)	style-dna.md's cluster and separation + eight genes + philosophy.md's eight self-checks	Follow by default; adjust if user explicitly requests, and record in decisions.md
Creative freedom zone	Process (motif), formal language, number of parts, emphasis method, intensity, color temperature, character personality, composition, materials	Re-derived for each project; at least two "knobs" are distinctly different from all existing cases

Three reminders:

• First and foremost, a graphic. A graphic made of several parts should still read as one thing or one picture at first glance, with an outline and surface; not a pile of parts, not a variation of letters, characters, or punctuation, nor a mark made of a few lines (quality-gates.md "How to judge graphic quality").
• Judge by temperament, not by elements. The specific shapes, processes, colors, and type in the cases are that brand's answer, not a prescription of this style.
• Rules must exist, but must not be visible. An inability to formulate rules is patching; visible grids are rigid. This style stands in the middle: rules are precisely established, while individual parts retain minimal deviation.

Nine Phases

Details, numbering rules, and exit criteria are in references/workflow.md. Each phase ends with the user's explicit confirmation; the user can roll back, add, modify, or merge at any time.

Phase	What to do	Per-round deliverables	Read
1 Brief	User provides info; AI asks one-time clarifying questions (≤10), must ask "what process is unfolding in the brand"	Brief card	workflow.md, philosophy.md #2
2 Concept	First find the process, then the shape; list candidates before reading exemplars and case index	5 concept cards (each with a black-and-white sketch); can edit, add, or merge	creative-methods.md, exemplars.md, cases/index.md, quality-gates.md (graphic quality self-check for sketches)
3 Prototype	Diverge shapes from locked concepts; shape only, start with black-and-white; must try connection, size rhythm, spacing rules, one open part	≥3 prototypes per concept + initial duplication check	style-dna.md, craft.md, quality-gates.md
4 Graphic	Refine: write rules → make rules precise → reintroduce minimal deviation → construction drawing, small-size version	Refined graphic + rule list	craft.md, quality-gates.md, creative-methods.md methods 2–4
5 Final	Custom type and palette done together: soft shapes, hard type; colors named after things	2–3 "type + color" combos per graphic + full duplication check	craft.md, style-dna.md
6 System	Combination, color variants, whitespace, minimum size, misuse examples, secondary graphics, animation	Full SVG / PNG set	deliverables.md, style-extension.md
7 Scenarios	Pick 6–10 scenarios based on industry	Scenario mockups	deliverables.md, style-extension.md
8 Presentation	Pitch document + speaker notes + source files + duplication recheck	Presentation	deliverables.md, style-extension.md, adapters/
9 Summary	Proactively ask if the project should be used to optimize the skill	Modification suggestions; write after user approval	workflow.md §9

Throughout the Entire Process

• Project archive: one folder per project and one decisions.md (first line: skill: danlogo-softorder v<version>), recording what was shown in each round, user's original statements, what was locked and what was rejected. When taking over an existing project, read it first.
• Structure first: review structure in black-and-white before phase 5; the style's emphasis is first established by position and relationship, and color only reinforces it, so no color before phase 5.
• Write the rules down: from phase 3, attach one rule to each prototype; from phase 4, rules are written as parameters, generated by code—change the rule, not the individual shape.
• Rejection means go back, not add: change the motif or prototype, do not add decoration to the current drawing; "too regular" means add back deviation, "patched together" means unify the rule.
• Three duplication checks: initial check at prototype, full check at final, re-check before presentation (quality-gates.md).
• Judge by rendered images: all judgments of aesthetics are based on rendered images, including 16 px small versions and 400% magnified seams.
• Communication: use the user's language. Each round, start with one sentence about what was done, then list options numbered with one-sentence concepts, give a recommendation and reason, and ask for lock, modify, or continue. For short feedback, first check references/feedback-playbook.md and style-dna.md "vague words."
• Client materials go only in the project folder, not written into the skill.

When Multiple danlogo Styles Coexist

If the user names a specific style, use that skill. If the project's decisions.md records which skill is in use, continue with it. If neither is specified and multiple danlogo styles are installed, list the installed styles, ask the user to choose, then start.

Tools and Files

• scripts/: General tools—geometry and SVG generation (geom.py), multi-image comparison review sheet (sheet.py), SVG to PNG (render.sh), graphic quality and legibility review board (review.py), scenario mockups (mockup.py); this style has additional soft-geometry tools—tangent transitions and organic clusters (cells.py, geo.py), minimal deviation solver (solve.py), custom type stroke engine and outline (type5.py, outline4.py). See scripts/README.md for details. Copy to the project's src/ when used.
• examples/eonpoint-yuansheng/src/: Complete generation code for the EonPoint case. Learn its engineering approach (rule parameterization, minimal deviation solving, type visual correction, batch export, construction drawing), but do not reuse its shapes or glyphs.
• PROMPT-CARD.md: Style prompt card, can be pasted separately to an AI that does not have this skill installed.
• adapters/for-claude.md, adapters/for-codex.md: Differences between AI tools in viewing images, making presentations, and previewing web pages.
• evals/briefs.md: Test briefs for checking that this skill does not turn every brand into the same appearance.

In references/, the five files marked with danlogo-core (workflow, quality-gates, craft, deliverables, feedback-playbook) are shared chapters across the danlogo series, consistent across all styles; this style's exclusive chapters are philosophy, style-dna, creative-methods, and style-extension: the first three govern the mark itself, the fourth governs the aesthetic of systems, scenarios, and presentations, ensuring the entire design comes from the same temperament as the mark.