Diagram Aesthetics

Make different figures recognizable as one family, not copies of one template. The default identity is light, restrained, and precise: cool-neutral structure, blue-centered accents, clear typography, clean lines, and deliberate white space.

This skill defines visual outcomes, not modeling rules or drawing techniques. Domain-defined shapes, compartments, line patterns, and endpoint semantics take precedence over styling. User requirements, publication rules, and accessibility also override defaults; never distort meaning or hide data for appearance.

Visual principles

• Color: organize colors by role, with coordinated visual weight and selective emphasis. Distinguish theme, category, quantity, and state rather than assigning colors arbitrarily. Color must not be the only information channel.
• Typography: give headings, prose, and technical identifiers stable roles. Establish hierarchy through relative size, weight, and space, not fixed fonts or pixel values. Choose families appropriate to the language and medium.
• Lines and geometry: let supporting structure recede and relationships remain clear. Prefer simple forms and restrained decoration where notation allows; emphasis must not imply a false meaning or weight.
• Space: express grouping through coherent spacing and comfortable white space. Keep comparable elements visually balanced without forcing equal dimensions. Do not shrink necessary labels or discard information to fit a composition.
• Integrity: keep each element visually continuous. Without semantic reason, avoid partial color changes, abrupt stroke-weight changes, unintended breaks, or occlusion. Meaningful segmentation and independent state cues are allowed.

Layout and density adapt to content. Shared style does not require identical arrangements, a focal point among equal peers, or the same shapes across notations.

Cross-figure continuity

Use the user's shared theme first, then compatible supplied companion figures, then the default theme. Read that reference when choosing or extending defaults, rather than inventing a new style for each figure.

Once selected, reuse font and palette roles, compatible stroke hierarchy, corner treatment, and spacing rhythm. Keep recurring category and state mappings stable. Aim for comparable apparent weight at final size, not identical source values. Explain material departures; continuity relies on available references, not assumed session memory. A brief reusable style summary may accompany the output; create a separate persistent theme file only when requested.

Application and checks

Choose or reuse a theme, apply it to the requested drawing or source, and inspect the result at its intended size. For consultation, give guidance; for review, identify concrete visual problems and alternatives. Preserve meaning first when tools cannot express the preferred style.

• Coherence: check family resemblance and element integrity without treating layout differences or notation-required forms as defects.
• Readability: check labels, overlaps, and actual font fallback, including mixed-language glyphs, alignment, and wrapping. Use actual adjacent/composited colors: ordinary text needs 4.5:1 contrast; large text needs 3:1 (at least 18 pt or 14 pt bold at final size). Necessary graphics normally need 3:1; decorative surfaces do not all need that contrast.
• Meaning: retain accurate encodings and distinguishable combined states. Check non-color identification, grayscale, and color-vision behavior as relevant.
• Evidence: report checks actually performed, material tool limitations, and relevant untested rendering or print behavior. Style compliance is not evidence of rendering quality or formal accessibility conformance.