canvas-design

canvas-design

A canvas piece (one fixed-aspect surface that the viewer takes in at a glance) succeeds when one element dominates. The 90/10 rule:

• 90% of the canvas is the protagonist: a strong headline, a single image, a quote. One element only.
• 10% supports: attribution, date, logo, CTA, micro-copy.

Procedure

1. Identify the protagonist. Ask: "if the viewer reads nothing else, what must they see?"
2. Pick a Template whose dominant slot matches that intent:
   • Poster announcement: poster.announcement (heading dominant) or poster.event (hero image dominant).
   • Quote piece: poster.quote or social-post.square-quote.
   • Product showcase: social-post.square-product or flyer.event.
3. Reduce supporting copy. Use the maxLength of supporting slots aggressively; if your text exceeds, cut.
4. Pick a Style whose accent is bold enough to anchor the protagonist. For dim backgrounds use midnight or signal; for warm pieces use warm or editorial.
5. Render PNG + PDF + SVG to give the user format choices.

Anti-patterns

• Three competing headlines on one canvas. Pick one.
• Dense paragraphs of body copy on a poster. If it reads like a paragraph, it belongs in a one-pager or brochure, not a canvas piece.
• Logo larger than the headline. Logo lives in the 10%.
• Stock-photo backgrounds with text on top without a scrim. Either use a clean background, or add a shape slot behind the text to create contrast.

Constraints

• Never use more than 2 distinct accent colors in a single canvas.
• Maintain at least 4.5:1 contrast between text and its immediate background.
• Respect platform safe zones: for 9:16 story posts, keep critical content inside the middle 80% vertically.