Ideogram Style Prefix for Splash OG Images

Paste one of these blocks before your subject prompt in Ideogram so generated images stay visually coherent with the splash. Vary only the subject; keep the prefix stable across the whole OG library.

How to use

1. Copy the Base prefix.
2. Append one Mode variant (Dark / Light / Vibrant) — its palette swap.
3. Append your Subject line.
4. Set Ideogram aspect to 16:9 (or 1200×630 if a custom aspect is supported by the OG host).
5. Generate. Iterate on the subject only.

Base prefix (always include)

Editorial poster.
Confident, asymmetrically-balanced composition with deliberate negative space.

Core motif — the "knot": two thin ribbons or threads woven through each other in a
Solomon's-knot / figure-eight braid, drawn with a hand-pulled feel, gradient-filled
strokes (no flat color), one ribbon clearly passing OVER and one passing UNDER at
the cross. The knot may be the primary subject, an ornamental flourish, or a subtle
border element depending on the subject.

Background: a faint geometric grid masked toward the top, plus one or two soft
radial glows in opposing corners at low opacity. On the bottom right about 4/5ths from right, 1/5th from left, 4/5ths from top, 1/5th from bottom: An astronaut drifting around in space, lost and floating. Subtle film grain is OK.

Typography (when text is rendered): a humanist serif similar to Fraunces for the
headline, set tight with negative letter-spacing; a clean monospace similar to
JetBrains Mono for small caption labels. Pair the two with restraint — serif
anchors, mono labels. No script faces, no all-caps slab serifs, no decorative
display fonts beyond the serif headline.

Aesthetic: editorial / craft-journal / quiet design-systems —
not corporate-tech, not playful-illustrative.

Avoid: AI-generated chrome bevels, glossy 3D plastic surfaces, stock-photo people,
generic neon-circuit / cyberpunk motifs, glowing orbs as the subject, sci-fi
spaceship aesthetics, emoji, watermarks, drop shadows on text, lens flare,
rainbow holographic gradients, generic "tech blue" gradients, isometric
illustrations.

Aspect ratios in main prompt body.

Mode variant — pick one

Dark (default — matches the splash’s default mode)

Palette: ink #0c0c14 and charcoal #16161f as the base; electric indigo #5b6fff
and chartreuse #c8ff2e as primary accents; amber #ffb84d and cerise #ec3a8c as
warm accents; bone #f6f1e6 for text and highlights. Use no more than three of
these per composition. Threads/strokes use indigo→chartreuse or cerise→amber
gradients (not flat color).

Light

Palette: bone #f6f1e6 and warm cream #ece6d3 as the base; indigo deep #1e1b4b
for text and primary marks; cerise deep #b3196a and amber deep #d4900a as
accents; a touch of electric indigo #5b6fff for highlights. Compositions should
feel sun-lit, not bleached — preserve warmth in the shadows. Threads/strokes
use indigo-deep→cerise-deep or amber-deep→indigo-deep gradients.

Vibrant

Palette: midnight #060612 and deep purple-blue #181442 as the base; chartreuse
#c8ff2e and cerise #ec3a8c as primary saturated accents; amber #ffb84d and
electric indigo #5b6fff as supporting accents; soft cream #f7faff for text.
Saturation cranked, near-neon, but composed — not maximalist or chaotic.
Threads/strokes use chartreuse→cerise or cerise→indigo-electric gradients with
a faint outer glow.

Subject line (you write this)

After the prefix and mode swap, append one subject line. A few starters:

For the splash root OG (replacing/varying og-knot.svg):

Subject: an oversized pair of interlocking ribbons forming a figure-eight knot at the left third of the frame; on the right, the wordmark "astro-knots" set in a tight humanist serif, with the caption "12 sites · 3 modes · 1 published package" set in monospace beneath.

For a per-site share card (one card per sibling site):

Subject: a quiet OG card for a single site — the site's name "<SITE-NAME>" set large in humanist serif at left-center, with one ribbon trailing behind it in the site's brand color (no knot, just a single thread). Small mono caption "astro-knots / <SITE-NAME>" in the bottom-left corner.

For a published-package card (LFM):

Subject: an editorial poster for the @lossless-group/lfm package — central motif is two threads weaving through stylized markdown syntax marks (asterisk, square brackets, hash). Caption in monospace: "@lossless-group/lfm — Lossless Flavored Markdown".

For a context-v / blueprint share:

Subject: an unfussy OG card for a written piece — the article title "<TITLE>" set in humanist serif, taking the upper two-thirds; a single thin ribbon underlines it in an accent color. Small mono label "context-v · blueprint" top-left.

Notes & quirks (Ideogram-specific)

• Wordmark literalism. Put any word you want rendered exactly inside double quotes in the subject line (e.g. "astro-knots"). Constrain its position (“on the right”, “centered”, “tight beneath the knot”). Ideogram is strong at typography when the word is quoted; weaker when it’s free-floating.
• “Similar to” beats “Fraunces”. Ideogram doesn’t actually load fonts — it interprets the descriptor. “Humanist serif similar to Fraunces, set tight” gets you closer than naming the font directly.
• Three-color discipline. Repeat the constraint in the subject if you see drift — Ideogram tends to add a fourth/fifth color silently unless told to constrain.
• Gradient strokes, not flat. Restate “gradient-filled strokes” in the subject when the knot/ribbon is central. The flat-color default is generic; the gradient is what makes it feel astro-knots.
• Aspect. 16:9 for general share. If the host supports 1200×630 explicitly, prefer it — slightly wider than 16:9 and leaves more horizontal room for the wordmark.
• Negative space is the move. Ideogram tends to fill every pixel; calling out “deliberate negative space” and “asymmetric balance” in the prefix counters that.
• Iteration discipline. Hold the prefix constant. Vary only the subject across the OG library. That’s how the visual identity stays coherent across 20+ cards.

Source of truth

The palette and motif specs above are extracted directly from:

• splash/src/styles/theme.css — Tier 1 named tokens (--color__*) for the exact hex values.
• splash/src/components/KnotMark.astro — the canonical interlocking-ribbon mark this prefix asks Ideogram to evoke.
• splash/public/og-knot.svg — the existing default OG image; this prefix is meant to extend the family, not replace it.

If theme.css adds a new named token (e.g. a fourth accent color), update the palette swaps here in the same change.