# Art direction — translation board and commissioning card

Blankout · September 2026
Companion: https://blankout.co/notes/positioning-to-art-direction

## Translate the proposition

Company / audience / strategic distinction / source and date:
What the image must help the reader understand:
What the image may truthfully claim:

| Input | Visible consequence | Exclusion | Reason / evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject relationship | | | |
| Composition and interval | | | |
| Material | | | |
| Light and depth | | | |
| Typography and exact marks | | | |

## Completed interpretation of Kickbrand

Related venture, not an external client. This is a reading of inspected published material, not a reconstruction of its original discovery.

| Input | Consequence | Exclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Promise meets experience | Two substantial planes, a visible seam and purposeful connection | Unrelated fragments that remove the relationship |
| A relationship worth inspecting | Few large elements; light preserves the seam | Competing metaphors with equal emphasis |
| Repeatable character | Subject rules survive a material change | One identical crop used for every subject |

## Commissioning card

Asset and placement / dimensions / important mobile crop:
Source image and its role (subject, geometry or material reference):
Fixed decisions / allowed variations:
Exact marks or lettering supplied separately:
Deliverables: editable source, selected original, crops, exports, caption, alt text, credit:
Actual production allowance (calls, outputs, retries, fees and stop condition):
Review holder / criterion / decision / revision:
Update owner / linked applications / refresh trigger:

## Review

Does the subject relationship survive at card size? Does the material support the intended meaning? Can the family vary without losing its rule? What must not transfer from each reference? Label explanatory alternatives as constructed when they are not historical rejected work.