Research visuals

Find references that help the user make a visual decision. An annotated board explains what to borrow from each reference and what to leave behind.

Start with the decision

Read the project's selected art contract, identity notes, owner feedback, and relevant experiments first. Separate selected direction, candidate direction, and rejected work. A convenient preview or recent file does not supersede an explicit decision.

Identify the question: character proportions, environment treatment, material, typography, composition, cultural setting, or the whole identity. Use the audience, intended feeling, output medium, and production constraints already supplied. Ask only for a missing choice that changes the research.

Collect usable evidence

• Choose reference territories from the brief's subject, audience, medium, and desired traits. Prefer creators' portfolios, official work or product pages, press kits, studio breakdowns, museum collections, and original publications. Trace reposted images to their creator when practical.
• Inspect the actual visual before describing it. If you can access only text, label that limit; do not invent a visual analysis.
• Record creator, work, source URL or local path, and the specific image, screen, or timestamp examined. For live references, verify the link.
• Describe visible traits: silhouette, proportion, contour, value grouping, palette relationships, material, lighting, type hierarchy, framing, and density. Separate observation from your proposed interpretation.
• Separate subject matter from visual treatment. Carry only the traits relevant to the request; a reference's setting, objects, or culture need not become the output's subject.
• For cultural references, identify the place, community, object, or practice represented. Verify language and heritage claims rather than treating a national label as a visual style.