geometric-logo-construction

Generated source view for the actual executable engineering/geometric-logo-construction skill. The durable routing article is Frontend and Design Skills. Source: skills/engineering/geometric-logo-construction/SKILL.md

Runtime Source

Bundled Resources

No bundled resource files.

Description

Construct logos and marks from geometric primitives on a grid with a stated ratio system, as editable SVG with construction layers. Use when designing a logo, mark, monogram, favicon or icon system, or when Kevin cites Rikyu or construction drawings.

Skill Source

---
name: geometric-logo-construction
description: >-
  Construct logos and marks from geometric primitives on a grid with a stated ratio system, as
  editable SVG with construction layers. Use when designing a logo, mark, monogram, favicon or
  icon system, or when Kevin cites Rikyu or construction drawings.
origin: personal
source_slug: geometric-logo-construction
---

# Geometric logo construction

Source: Rikyū (rikyu.ai), an AI design tool that builds logos from circles, lines and geometric figures instead of generating images, shared by @awe0_io (2026-10-27): if AI design only makes images faster it is no different from an image model, but once it understands proportion, geometry, layout, visual systems and design rules it replaces the design tool itself. Kevin flagged it (2026-10-30).

## Principles

- A mark is a construction, not a picture. Every edge comes from a primitive or an intersection of primitives.
- A small ratio system governs it: one unit, and radii and offsets that are whole multiples or simple ratios (1:2, 2:3, the golden ratio, the square root of 2). Write the system down.
- It must survive 16 pixels and a billboard. Check both before calling it done.
- It carries one idea from the brand's own material, stated in one sentence.

## Procedure

1. **Concept.** Write the idea in one or two sentences: what the mark depicts or encodes and why, in plain language. Rikyū's example: a winged qilin redrawn in the style of a family crest, held inside a ring, with the raised forelegs, open wings and swirling mane bound by heavy geometry so the asymmetric motion is contained by the circle.
2. **Grid and unit.** Choose the canvas (for example 24 by 24 units) and the unit. Choose whether the mark is cell-based (pixel or brand cells), stroke-based (constant stroke width), or solid-based (filled shapes from arcs).
3. **Primitive skeleton.** Lay out the circles, lines and squares that will define the form. Keep this as a separate SVG layer named `construction`, drawn in a thin neutral line.
4. **Derive the form.** Build the outline from intersections and tangents of the skeleton with boolean operations. No freehand curves.
5. **Optical correction.** Overshoot round forms past flat ones by about 1 to 3 percent, thin horizontals slightly against verticals, and open tight joins. Note each correction against the construction.
6. **Sizes.** Produce a hinted small version where needed (16, 24 and 32 px) with whole-pixel edges, and check contrast and recognizability at each size.
7. **Construction sheet.** Export one sheet that shows the construction layer under the mark, the grid, the ratio system and the concept text, in the manner of a crest designer's drawing.
8. **Applications.** Show the mark in its real uses: favicon, app icon, a stamp or seal, a social card, on light and dark, in one colour.

## Deliverables

- `logo.svg` (the mark), `logo-construction.svg` (with the construction layer), `logo-16.svg` and other hinted sizes, the construction sheet as SVG and PNG, and a short `concept.md`.
- Every SVG uses whole-unit coordinates where the construction allows, and has no hidden or stray paths.

## Checks

- Squint test and 16 px test pass.
- One-colour version reads.
- The construction layer explains every edge of the mark.
- The concept sentence is true of the drawing.

---

Timeline

• 2026-11-02 | Generated a browseable source page from the actual executable skill file. Source: skills/engineering/geometric-logo-construction/SKILL.md