Rules Off / On
Same brief.
Same AI agent.
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I gave an AI agent one brief, twice. The first time it had no rules. The second time it first read my studio rules. Both results are shown exactly as the agent made them, with no edits.
Fictional shop · AI-assisted under my directionConcept, brief, studio rules and art direction: Isaac Hernandez. Code written by an AI coding agent (Claude Code) under his direction. The two test pages are shown exactly as the agent made them.Tin Moon Records is a small independent record shop in Highland Park, Los Angeles (a fictional shop, made up for this test). It sells new and used vinyl and hosts free listening sessions every Friday night. The first screen of the homepage needs the shop name, a headline, one supporting line, a “Visit the shop” button, and the hours and neighbourhood. Both runs got this brief word for word, at the same 1280 × 800 size.
Rule by
rule.
After the rules-on run, the agent listed each decision a rule had changed and what it would have done otherwise. Its answers are below, checked against the finished page.
- Colour
What it would have doneNear-black text, a cream background and one accent colour.
What the rules made it doTwo riso inks only, pink and blue. The purple appears only where they print over each other. (Ink and paper: two inks)
- Paper
What it would have donePure white or a cool light grey.
What the rules made it doA warm off-white paper, #F3EEE3. (Ink and paper: never pure white)
- Depth
What it would have doneA soft drop shadow on the button and a sheen on the record.
What the rules made it doA solid pink block set behind the button, and the blue printed 4 px out of line with the pink, on purpose. (Ink and paper: depth without effects)
- Type
What it would have doneShrink the headline to about 100 px so it fits beside the record.
What the rules made it doThe headline stays at 112 px on the scale and runs straight across the moon, printing darker where it crosses the pink. (Type leads: fixed sizes)
- Labels
What it would have done“HIGHLAND PARK · EST.” in small spaced capitals above the headline.
What the rules made it doNo label above the headline. The shop name is a plain wordmark in the corner. (Never list)
- The idea
What it would have doneFirst idea: a spinning record with moon phases around it.
What the rules made it doCut to one move, a still record that is the moon. “Records for every phase.” (Never list: one move per idea)
- Motion
What it would have doneFade the headline in.
What the rules made it doEach line lands in 0.14 s and holds dead still. (Type leads: land, then hold still)