create-design-board

Point at a directory of images, get a design board. Supports iterative rounds, composite PNG grids, size previews, and comparison tables.

Critical lessons (learned the hard way across 9 rounds of Embry OS icon design):

1. Every design iteration MUST start with persona assessment. Visual direction, typography, color palette, and icon metaphors all derive from the persona's personality, background, and domain. Without this step, you'll waste rounds on directions that don't fit (cursive/serif E killed 2 rounds before we assessed Embry Lawson's persona).
2. The board must capture design REASONING, not just images. Round 8→9 of the Embry icon went through font weight reduction (500→300), glow shell elimination, and font reassessment — none of which was on the board until we caught the gap. Image tables without context are useless for future rounds.

Rules (non-negotiable)

1. DESIGN_BOARD.md is the single source of truth. Every round, every decision, every eliminated direction MUST be recorded there. If it's not on the board, it didn't happen.
2. Update the board after EVERY round — not just image tables. Include:
   • What changed and WHY (font weight, color, layout decisions)
   • What was eliminated and WHY (directions that don't fit persona)
   • User feedback quotes that drove the change
   • Cross-round progression (e.g. "Round 8→9: eliminated glow shell")
3. The append command adds image tables. Design reasoning must be added separately — either via --notes (brief) or by manually appending a "Key Decisions" section after the image table. The tool handles images; YOU handle reasoning.
4. Never skip persona assessment. Round 1 must start with assess-persona.

Workflow (learned from 9 rounds of Embry OS icon design)

1. Assess persona (assess-persona) — Read persona YAML, extract traits, map to typographic and visual attributes. This eliminates wrong directions before any images are generated.
2. Generate images — Use /create-image or other tools to produce concepts
3. Build board (board or append) — Create/update the design board markdown
4. Generate composite (composite) — Visual grid for quick comparison
5. Collect feedback — User reviews, provides quotes
6. Update board with reasoning — ALWAYS update DESIGN_BOARD.md after every round. Add BOTH the image table (via append) AND a design decisions section explaining what changed, what was eliminated, and why. The board must tell the story of the design evolution, not just show thumbnails.
7. Repeat from step 2 with narrowed direction

Commands

assess-persona -- Assess persona YAML for design direction (ALWAYS DO THIS FIRST)

Reads a persona YAML file and generates a persona-to-design mapping section for the design board. Maps personality traits to typography, color, iconography, and visual style recommendations. Composes /assess and /review-persona.

./run.sh assess-persona --persona /path/to/persona.yaml --output ./DESIGN_BOARD.md
./run.sh assess-persona --persona /path/to/persona.yaml  # stdout only

board -- Generate design board markdown from image directory

./run.sh board --images ./icons/v7/ --output ./icons/DESIGN_BOARD.md --title "Embry OS Icon Concepts"

append -- Add a new round to an existing board

./run.sh append --images ./icons/v8/ --board ./icons/DESIGN_BOARD.md --round "Round 6" --notes "Clean sans-serif E with dense starfield"

composite -- Generate composite PNG grid

./run.sh composite --images ./icons/v7/ --output ./icons/v7/board.png --cols 3 --bg "#0e0e1c" --title "Round 5"

compare -- Side-by-side comparison of specific images

./run.sh compare --images img1.png img2.png img3.png --output comparison.png --labels "Option A" "Option B" "Option C"

sizes -- Generate size variant previews

./run.sh sizes --image ./icons/v7/F2_minimal_nebula.png --output ./icons/v7/F2_sizes/

Options