Mono Color

Monocolor Editorial Print

Turn any user theme or image into an original printed editorial artifact with one stable visual language:

adaptive neutral substrate + one or two inks + reproduced image + typographic tension + concise human voice

Do not imitate any one reference. Recombine the system below into a new composition every time.

Default Deliverable

Create:

1. one final image-generation prompt;
2. one generated raster image;
3. a short recipe note naming palette, layout family, type pairing, and print process.

Save generated files under ~/Desktop/Claude skills/mono-color/ when a file path is available. Create the folder if needed. Stop at prompt-only only when the user explicitly asks for it or no image-generation capability is available.

Input Reading

Extract four things before composing:

• Subject: the one person, object, scene, or idea that must remain recognizable.
• Intent: poetic observation, announcement, field note, personal statement, cultural poster, or specimen page.
• Words: preserve exact supplied text in its original language. When no text is supplied, invent one English display phrase of 2-8 words and preserve it across retries. Omit display text only when the user explicitly requests a text-free image.
• Image role: hero photograph, isolated specimen, cropped fragment, texture source, or no supplied image.
• Representation: faithful reproduction or abstract symbol extraction. Choose abstract symbol extraction when the user asks for abstract, artistic, loose, experimental, less realistic, or less photographic treatment.

For a complex topic, choose one concrete visual metaphor. Do not illustrate every point.

When the user supplies an image, preserve its identity and core factual content. In faithful reproduction, crop, isolate, enlarge, simplify, or convert it to halftone. In abstract symbol extraction, preserve 2-4 identifying anchors while replacing photographic description with simplified masses, contours, repeated marks, and exposed paper. Never replace the subject or invent branded details.

Recipe Manifest

Before writing the generation prompt, resolve the input into this manifest. Do not skip fields and do not expose the manifest unless the user asks for process details.

Use the machine-readable catalogs in design-system/ as the source of truth for palette IDs, typography roles, composition geometry, carrier signals, visual rhythm, and controlled print imperfections. Read only the relevant catalog for the current decision. The prose below explains intent; when an exact value differs, the catalog wins.

subject: <one recognizable subject>
intent: <one intent from Input Reading>
exact_text: <user text, generated 2-8 word phrase, or none>
text_language: <language of supplied text, otherwise English>
representation: <faithful reproduction or abstract symbol extraction>
ratio: <explicit ratio or 3:4>
carrier: <one carrier ID from design-system/carriers.json or none>
substrate: <one substrate ID and exact hex from design-system/colors.json>
mode: <pure one-ink, chromatic + black, complementary duotone, or overprint duotone>
palette: <one palette ID from design-system/colors.json>
inks: <the palette's named ink or approved pair with exact hex values>
plate_roles: <one explicit role per ink plate>
layout: <one composition ID from design-system/compositions.json>
empty_paper: <explicit percentage>
visual_tension: <relaxed, balanced, or assertive from design-system/rhythm.json>
focal_event: <one strong visual event from design-system/rhythm.json>
release_zone: <one deliberately quiet region that gives the focal event room>
unresolved_edge: <one optional edge behavior from design-system/rhythm.json or none>
image_treatment: <one mechanical reproduction process>
type_hierarchy: <one role ID from design-system/typography.json>
disruption: <one deliberate disruption>
imperfection_seed: <stable hash derived from the resolved recipe>
imperfections: <0-2 restrained effect IDs for contemporary work, or 2-3 for tactile/vintage work>

Use these defaults whenever the user has not made the choice:

• ratio: 3:4;
• representation: faithful reproduction, unless the user asks for abstract, artistic, loose, experimental, less realistic, or less photographic treatment;
• text language: English for all invented display text, labels, and microcopy;
• substrate: select from Neutral White #FAFAF7, Cool Gray #E9E9E5, or Pale Beige #F5F1E8 according to the subject, image values, and ink contrast. Neutral White is the unspecified default; never assume beige or aged paper merely because the work uses halftone or risograph language;
• mode and ink: controlled two-ink by default. Use Cobalt + Terracotta #2148B8 + #C65F38 for an unspecified subject, then select the closest approved pair for the subject. The dominant plate carries 70%-85% and the accent plate carries 15%-30%. Switch to pure one-ink only when the user explicitly requests one ink, monochrome, or one named ink without a second color;
• empty paper: 35%;
• visual tension: relaxed for reflective, travel, summer, leisure, lifestyle, and unspecified cultural subjects; balanced for ordinary events and editorial information; assertive only when the user requests a forceful declaration or the phrase itself is the subject;
• focal event: choose exactly one strong visual event and make all other devices support or release it;
• release zone: reserve one large quiet region with low information density; its size follows the composition rather than a universal percentage;
• unresolved edge: use one only when it strengthens the focal event or release zone; otherwise use none;
• image treatment: clean plate separation or medium screening for contemporary work; coarse halftone only when the subject, supplied image, or user request benefits from it;
• type hierarchy: resolve the role from design-system/typography.json. Use Literary for intimate or quiet subjects, Cultural Grotesk for music and contemporary culture, Condensed Civic for public events, Programmatic when dates or structured facts lead, Rotated Display for bold covers, Handwritten Interjection only as a secondary human voice, and Typographic Object when the phrase itself is the image;
• disruption: one off-center image crop; use one oversized word instead when there is no image.
• imperfections: choose 0-2 subtle effects for contemporary editorial work and 2-3 effects for tactile, vintage, archival-aging, or explicitly rough work, using a stable hash of subject, exact text, palette, and layout; preserve the same seed across retries.

Explicit user choices override defaults unless they violate the two-ink limit or the originality firewall. For identical inputs, resolve the same manifest; do not vary palette, layout, percentages, or process merely for novelty. This stabilizes the design procedure while image-generation details may still vary.

Resolve generic color words consistently: blue to Cobalt, green to Botanical Green, orange to Terracotta Orange, red to Signal Red, purple to Aubergine, and black to Charcoal. For generic green + black, use Mint Green + Charcoal. For generic blue + orange, use Cobalt + Terracotta. Exact named inks always take precedence over these aliases.

Visual DNA

1. Color System

Default to controlled two-ink. Give the dominant and accent plates separate content roles before composing; never use the second ink merely to decorate the page. Switch to pure one-ink when the user explicitly requests one ink, monochrome, or one named ink without a second color. The paper substrate does not count as an ink.

• Substrate: choose Neutral White #FAFAF7, Cool Gray #E9E9E5, or Pale Beige #F5F1E8. White suits crisp cultural, social, event, and colorful image-led work; cool gray suits architecture, technology, charcoal-led systems, and restrained branding; pale beige suits tactile, food, travel, intimate, archival, or explicitly nostalgic subjects.
• Contemporary default: the substrate is clean and neutral, not yellowed. Halftone and plate logic describe reproduction, not an era. Do not add fading, sepia, antique props, distressed borders, or aged-paper staining unless the user asks for retro, vintage, archival aging, or historical mood.
• Plate limit: use two assigned printing plates by default and never more than two ink plates; explicit one-ink requests use one plate.
• Ink density: darker coverage may appear near-black and sparse halftones may appear pale. These are density changes, not extra inks.
• Paper exposure: keep the paper visible. Never tint the whole page into a digital monochrome wash.

One-Ink Palette

• Cobalt / Ultramarine: #2148B8, the default for technology, knowledge, cities, music, and cultural subjects.
• Royal Blue: #2058D4, a brighter branch for youth culture, fashion, movement, and energetic editorial pages.
• Botanical Green: #008A4B, for botanical, ecological, archival, and explicitly green subjects.
• Mint Green: #5EB783, for observation journals, soft natural subjects, and quiet editorial photography.
• Terracotta Orange: #C65F38, for classical art, food, travel, summer, and tactile objects.
• Signal Red: #C83232, for declarations, music, events, and civic or public-culture subjects.
• Aubergine: #63365F, for literature, cinema, night, and intimate cultural subjects.
• Charcoal: #30343A, for architecture, photography, research, and restrained publications.

Two-Ink Recipes

Use a known pair rather than improvising arbitrary colors:

• Powder Blue + Signal Red: #9EB8D3 + #C83232 for guides, announcements, and information-heavy editorial pages.
• Cobalt + Terracotta: #2148B8 + #C65F38 for travel, summer, food, and lifestyle subjects.
• Botanical Green + Oxblood: #008A4B + #8F3434 for plants, natural wine, bookstores, and archives.
• Charcoal + Signal Red: #30343A + #C83232 for architecture, exhibitions, reports, and conceptual work.
• Electric Blue + Carbon: #173AE3 + #242321 for high-contrast cultural events and image-led editorial pages.
• Mint Green + Charcoal: #5EB783 + #302D2E for journals, essays, observations, and long-form reading.
• Ultramarine + Safety Orange: #263E99 + #E55D2B for movement, objects, youth culture, and active urban subjects.
• Cyan + Brick Red: #159DDA + #B64032 for repeated products, exhibitions, and playful information systems.
• Tangerine + Slate Blue: #E46C2D + #4773A5 for markets, festivals, illustrated notices, and large typographic compositions.

Print Modes

1. Pure one-ink: one ink carries image, typography, and rules through density changes. Use this when the user explicitly requests one ink, monochrome, or one named ink without a second color.
2. Chromatic ink + black: the chromatic plate carries the photograph or dominant graphic; carbon or charcoal carries long text and precision labels. This is the default branch for quiet, observational, natural, architectural, and long-form subjects.
3. Complementary duotone: one dominant ink occupies 70%-85% of the printed area; the accent ink occupies 15%-30% and has a specific role such as dates, annotations, or selected objects. This is the general default, with Cobalt + Terracotta as the fallback pair.
4. Overprint duotone: two plates may overlap. The darker mixed appearance in overlap zones is a physical consequence of two inks and does not count as a third ink.

Assign each plate a role before composing. Never scatter two colors as arbitrary decoration. These constraints keep the result mechanically printed rather than digitally color-graded.

2. Space and Grid

• Use a flat, front-facing paper canvas with no mockup, frame, desk, or cast shadow.
• Default to a 3:4 vertical poster. Respect a user-specified ratio.
• Keep 25%-55% of the canvas as visibly empty paper.
• Use generous outer margins: 5%-9% of page width.
• Align most elements to one invisible left edge or a simple 2-3 column editorial grid.
• Create one deliberate disruption: a floating word, off-center image, oversized title, circular mark, or tiny annotation.
• Never center every element. Never distribute objects evenly like a template.

Negative space is active pacing, not leftover room.

Visual Tension and Uneven Energy

Read design-system/rhythm.json whenever the user asks for relaxed, loose, effortless, casual, quiet, breezy, or understated work, or when the default intent maps to relaxed. Treat relaxation as a compositional decision, not a soft-focus mood.

Relaxation is uneven energy, not low energy. For relaxed work, choose exactly one strong focal event: oversized type, an extreme crop, one giant object or detail, a concentrated overprint collision, or one abnormal scale relationship. Let it feel decisive. Then release the rest of the page with open paper, pale screening, sparse support type, or one quiet alignment. Do not make every element tasteful, small, or equally calm.

• Keep 25%-55% visibly empty paper, choosing the amount from the focal event rather than a fixed relaxed quota.
• Allow display type to become large when it is the focal event; when the image or object is the focal event, type must support rather than compete.
• Use one dominant collision or scale event. Secondary elements may be energetic only when they extend that same event rather than start a second one.
• Avoid the safe split of headline on one side and a complete photograph on the other. The focal event must cross, crop, interrupt, or materially reorganize the page.
• An unresolved edge is optional. Use an image fade, inferable cropped word, broken alignment, or open contour only when it strengthens the focal event; never add one as a decorative compliance mark.
• At thumbnail size, the focal event must be immediately identifiable and the release zone must remain visibly quieter.

Reference-Derived Composition Grammar

The reference set shares an object-and-type construction, not a generic retro mood. Build every page from these four moves:

1. One object dominates. Use one person, animal, ordinary object, or repeated specimen as the visual anchor. Let it occupy 45%-80% of the page and crop it decisively at one or more edges when scale creates tension. Do not spread several small atmospheric props across the page.
2. Type collides with the object. Let one headline cross, cover, split around, or align tightly against the dominant image. Keep enough contrast for the words to remain readable. Do not place every line in a detached safe zone above the image.
3. Paper cuts through the image. Use clipped highlights, irregular cutout gaps, halftone fade-outs, or plate knockouts so exposed paper becomes a visible shape inside the composition, not only an outer margin.
4. One manual gesture interrupts the system. Choose one circled fact, hand-drawn line, registration mark, tiny symbol, rotated label, or ruled data strip. Use one gesture family only; multiple doodle styles turn the page into scrapbook decoration.

Choose one dominant object and one dominant typographic event before adding secondary information. If either is missing, simplify rather than filling the page with mood-setting decoration.

3. Image Treatment

Convert photographs and illustrations into the selected ink plate or plates plus substrate. Choose reproduction intensity from the subject instead of automatically aging every image:

• crisp screening or clean plate separation for contemporary work; coarse halftone, risograph grain, cyanotype-like exposure, photocopy breakup, or newspaper screening when materially useful or explicitly requested;
• visible dots at close range, recognizable subject at thumbnail scale;
• clipped highlights where paper shows through and dense shadows where ink pools;
• optional mild ink bleed, uneven coverage, scan noise, paper fibers, or 1-2 mm registration drift between plates; use fewer imperfections for contemporary branding and clean editorial work;
• medium contrast; avoid glossy photographic depth.

When no source image is supplied, do not default to a polished photorealistic hero person or a complete stock-photo figure. Prefer 2-4 identifying anchors such as a hand on a handlebar, one bent leg, a wheel arc, loose fabric, or hair direction. Build the subject from a partial editorial crop, simplified screened fragment, and one ordinary in-between gesture. For movement subjects, the object or cropped body relationship may carry the focal event while the person remains incomplete. Avoid advertising poses, victory gestures, athletic hero angles, catalog-style full bodies, and the safe headline-left/photo-right split unless the user asks for them.

Abstract Looseness

When representation is abstract symbol extraction, transform the supplied image into a small visual vocabulary instead of applying a stylized filter to the whole photograph:

1. Name 2-4 identity anchors that make the subject recognizable, such as a square sail, curved hull, mast, and wave direction. Preserve their relationship, not their photographic detail.
2. Convert the anchors into one dominant mass, one structural contour, and one repeated rhythm. Use flat plate shapes, broken hand-drawn lines, short strokes, dots, or paper cutouts; omit incidental scenery and fine surface description.
3. Let paper replace at least 35% of the source scene. Crop one anchor at a page edge and allow one type or line element to cross it. Abstraction must create active space, not merely blur or posterize the photo.
4. Keep the abstract geometry deterministic. Apply looseness through slightly irregular contours, uneven repeated marks, and the recipe's style-appropriate controlled print imperfections; do not randomly move anchors between retries.
5. Stop before the subject becomes generic. At thumbnail scale, at least two identity anchors must still communicate the original subject without relying on the caption.

For complementary duotone abstraction, assign the dominant ink to structure and rhythm, and reserve the accent ink for one identity anchor or one annotation. Do not distribute the accent evenly across the page.

Controlled Chance

Keep composition, wording, palette, and hierarchy deterministic. Introduce looseness only in the reproduction layer. Contemporary work selects 0-2 restrained effects; tactile, vintage, or archival-aging work selects 2-3 effects from design-system/imperfections.json with the resolved recipe's stable seed.

• Let uneven ink density, dry-edge breakup, halftone drift, registration drift, or one broken manual gesture create the analog variation.
• Apply variation to large type, image plates, solid shapes, or the single gesture family; never distort microcopy or factual text.
• Keep all effect values inside the catalog ranges. The same resolved input must reproduce the same marks and offsets.
• In one-ink work, registration drift may appear only as a pale second impression of the same ink. It does not add another color.
• Do not use controlled chance to move the dominant object, change line breaks, alter the grid, or compensate for an unresolved composition.

Use one dominant image zone occupying 45%-80% of the page, 1-3 isolated specimens whose combined area stays in that range, or one repeated object system. A ruled information poster may reduce the image zone to 32%-55% only when real supplied information needs the space. Dense overlap is allowed only in the overprint collage family; it must still read as two printing plates rather than scrapbook decoration.