# references/ — the taste-capture drop zone

Drop design references here so they become **codified taste**, not one-off chat images.

- `TASTE_PROFILE.md` — the living design contract. I distill the recurring **design DNA**
  from everything in this folder and consult it on every build.
- `characters/` — drop **character pack files** here (PNG cutouts, SVG, `.blend`). I vendor
  the usable ones into the asset library (honoring the license firewall) and build templates
  *with* them — rather than redrawing from scratch.
- `boards/` — optional moodboards / style references grouped by topic.

When you add something, a one-line "why I like it" (the line, the palette, the mood, the
attitude) sharpens the profile far more than the image alone.

## The daily loop (our ritual)

Paste taste images (or a "I love / I hate this") any day. Each drop runs the loop:

1. **You paste** — references + one line of *why* (style / palette / mood / attitude).
2. **I extract** the design DNA → update `TASTE_PROFILE.md` (the board grows, the through-line
   sharpens) + a memory so it survives across sessions.
3. **I apply** it → upgrade the shared **kits** (backgrounds, type scale, props, composition)
   and the `flat-artist` skill so the *actual output* moves toward your taste.
4. **I prove** it → a cheap still / before-after so you can see the move; you approve or reject,
   which sharpens the profile again.

Two modes so it's sustainable:
- **Calibration days** (most days) — just steps 1–2. Cheap. Absorb the DNA, grow the board.
- **Apply passes** (periodic) — steps 3–4. Roll the accumulated taste into the kits/blocks so
  the whole catalogue jumps a level at once.

What actually compounds: not my raw drawing (that's fixed), but the **system** — the codified
profile, the reusable kits, the prop/character libraries, the skill rules. That gets richer every
day, so the output keeps improving even though the base model doesn't.