editorial-svglisted

# Editorial SVG illustrations Build small, sparse, hand-feeling vector illustrations that carry an idea. The output is a committed `.svg` generated from a committed `.ts` source, so it stays deterministic, diffable, and editable in Figma or Illustrator afterwards. ## The one thing that matters An illustration here is not a picture. It is **a tiny visual argument made from 3–8 vector marks.** Almost all of the quality comes from a decision you make before touching any code: *what are the fewest marks that make this idea obvious?* If you skip straight to drawing, you get a competent picture of a noun and the piece says nothing. Spend your effort on the abstraction, then let the primitives handle the drawing. ## Workflow **1. Find the argument.** Read the article, or ask what it claims. Extract: the central claim, the strongest visual noun, and — most importantly — the *relationship or transformation* the piece is really about. **2. Abstract it.** Draw the mechanism, not the subject. This is the step that separates good from generic: | Article | Weak (literal noun) | Strong (mechanism) | | --- | --- | --- | | Agents coordinate badly | four robots at a laptop | a handoff chain that visibly weakens at each hop | | AI art you can still edit | robot holding a paintbrush | a curve with its Bézier anchors and handles exposed | | Rate limiting a form | a form with an error toast | a crowd meeting a funnel, one mark through | | Draft previews | a screenshot of the CMS | a stack