editorial-illustrations

1# Editorial illustrations — claim → geometry
2 
3The look you want (monotykamary.com, linear.app/now) is not a chart library. It is
4a **discipline**: every figure is a single argument rendered as geometry, framed in
5a hairline box, captioned in mono uppercase with the *meaning*, drawn in grayscale
6with exactly one accent. Get the discipline right and any shape reads as "house."
7Copy templates blindly and it reads as slop.
8 
9**Do not reach for a fixed set of charts.** Reach for the method below and build the
10figure this specific sentence needs. The six worked examples in
11`references/worked-examples.md` are proof the method generalizes, not a menu.
12 
13## The core move
14 
15> Take the one sentence the figure must prove. Find that sentence's *structure*.
16> Render the structure so the reader believes the sentence before reading it.
17 
18The caption is the thesis, written first. If you can't state the figure's claim in
19one sentence, you don't have a figure yet, you have decoration. Stop.
20 
21## Method (run this every time)
22 
231. **Write the claim.** One declarative sentence. This becomes the `<figcaption>`
24   verbatim. Example: "Nothing is billable until work crosses the delivery boundary."
25 
262. **Name the claim's structure.** Which of these is the sentence really about?
27   Match to a geometric primitive:
28 
29   | If the claim is about…                    | Render it as…                | Atom (§5) |
30   |-------------------------------------------|------------------------------|-----------|
31…