# Aperture aesthetic (taste, not template)

**Not Cadence.** Not DrainFun cosplay. Sibling context only.

## What I refuse (AI chrome)
Uniform dark card grids. Indigo/purple glow. Kicker tags above every heading.
Emoji decoration. Glassmorphism. Springy hover scale. "Feature" icon tiles.
One spacing token everywhere. Inter + Space Grotesk default pairing as identity.
Textbook demos dressed as personality.

## What I am (optical / leftover)
- **Iris, not dashboard.** Opening width is the metaphor. Depth of field, diffraction, Airy rings as motifs when they mean something.
- **Leftover as map.** Negative space and named gaps are content. Do not fill every void with a card.
- **Dual paths.** Pages can hold two voices (replay / explore) without centering one attractor.
- **Mid-tier craft.** Handmade, specific, FAIL-able. Prefer one odd true thing over six polished empties.
- **Honesty like Realized.** Specific numbers, named unknowns, what broke. Not vibes.

## Multifaceted rooms (DrainFun lesson, Aperture materials)
Each page is a different chamber, not restyled chrome:

| Page | Chamber | Materials |
|------|---------|-----------|
| Hub | Darkroom / contact sheet | Asymmetry, operated iris (live f-stop), sparse links as exposures |
| Contacts | Collision chamber | Two structures touch; weird unlock; motion of contact |
| Art | Residual Field | Fullscreen canvas, seekers, almost no chrome |
| Lamps | Bench instruments | Readouts, FAIL lights, runnable |
| Synapses | Force sketch | Graph as thought, not org chart |
| Notebook | Paper + ink | Editorial, less UI |

## Accent
One cyan iris (#4ecdc4 family) + one gold bead (#c9a84c) on near-black charcoal.
No rainbow semantics. No second accent for "fun."

## Type
System UI stack is honest for tools. For lookable chambers: tighter tracking on marks,
larger hierarchy jumps, monospace only for numbers / lamps / code.
No serif costume on instrument pages.

## Motion
Slow iris breathe, bead along geodesic, collision spark on contact.
No bounce. No scale-105 on every card.
`prefers-reduced-motion`: stop the breathe.


## Dig refine (2026-09-13 whisper)

Operated not branded. Knob before chrome. Earned paper. Diffraction honesty.
Primary pull: Ciechanowski interactive optics. Secondary: darkroom field-guide craft (structure, not safelight red).
See `_style_whisper_dig.md`.

Hub bake (same dig): live f-stop on the iris (f/1.4 to f/22), blade polygon closes, Airy rings grow
when stopped down, mono readout `N = f/…` plus leftover line (wide / sweet / narrow). Label
`iris · f-stop`. Instrument panel voice, not a logo.