01-projects/printables-product

Design-critic findings — merged site (post PR #2), desktop + mobile

2026-08-31·reference·status: active
scribble-worksdesign-criticfindingsinput-spec

Design-critic findings — merged site, 2026-08-31 evening

Why this is in the vault

Full design-critic pass (desktop + mobile via Playwright) on the merged site (main d4ad1eb, preview feat-taxonomy-and-site-tree.scribble-works.pages.dev). VERDICT: ITERATE, 4/5 tells, 0 console/404/overflow issues. This note is the input spec for the visual design rounds. Screenshots: critic-2026-08-31/ in this folder.

What passes: paper-frame motif consistent on all 5 pages, Ray correctly guide-not-hero with content-bearing bubbles, Baloo+Caveat pairing per [[DESIGN-scribble-works|contract]], previews always framed. The failures are palette deployment and use of space, not structure.

Prioritized findings (fix direction per contract, ranked by impact)

  1. Palette starvation (every page): measured 99.7% cream-family neutrals (cream 71% / off-white 22% / desk-tan 7%), red 0.2%, yellow 0.1% vs a 5% accent floor. Quantifies the founder's cream ruling (see [[2026-08-31-marketplace-taxonomy-proposal]], ruling 6). Fix: deploy 4-6 Ray-sampled swatches (his blue/pink/orange are unused) as committed surface colors + real paper/kraft texture on the ground, target ≥20% secondary / 5-15% accent.
  2. Wordmark (founder-ruled, confirmed): Caveat reads tidy pen, not crayon; "Works" doesn't anchor. Fix: crayon-textured hand-lettered SVG lockup (rough edges, uneven baseline, waxy stroke), "Works" noticeably heavier/larger.
  3. Home hero dead zone (desktop): ~300px empty cream below intro. Fix: fan-out spread of printables (countertop variant) under/left of Ray; tighten section spacing so packs show at fold.
  4. Browse tray slab (desktop): one tile in an 80%-empty tan slab reads broken. Fix: dashed ghost tiles ("more games soon" in scribble hand) or hug content; a desk with papers, not an empty table.
  5. Mobile nav zero craft (375px): works but is the least-brand moment. Fix: paper slip sliding from under header, scribble underline active item, hamburger→X animation, 48px rows.
  6. Type scale compressed: 40/22.4/17 flattens hierarchy. Fix: ~1.33 ratio, H1 56-64px desktop, dotted-trace/scribble accents on section heads (first home for the trace animation).
  7. No real photography: contract bar is Osmo-with-warmth + real photography (fridge-magnet scene language). Fix: one real-photo slot on home inside frame motif; people-free flat-lays may be generated per house rule. Ties to the founder's stock+composite question ([[2026-08-31-brand-interview-r1]], 2026-08-31 14:34, never fully answered).
  8. Footer/wordmark tap targets (mobile): 27px/34px vs ≥44px. Grow hit boxes, keep visual size.
  9. Header imbalance (desktop): two-story header with empty second row. Fix: single row, loosen login-pill padding, standardize scribble underline as active-nav state.
  10. Muted ink on tinted grounds: #6b5f4e drops to ~4.6:1 on desk-tan at 14.7px; Ray's bubble voice deserves full ink on tinted surfaces.

Round packaging (Ray's plan)