# Composition Patterns and Metaphor Rules

## Basic Structure Types

Choose one structure only. Do not mix too many.

### Workflow

Good for: input -> process -> output, content production, AI workflows, automation chains.

Layout: input on the left, Xiaohei or a machine in the middle, output on the right, with orange arrows indicating flow.

### System Slice

Good for: information sources, filters, databases, renderers, agent subsystems.

Layout: only 3-5 core modules, with Xiaohei participating in one key action.

### Before/After Comparison

Good for: mess vs order, manual vs automatic, split vs merge, noisy vs stable.

Layout: chaotic on the left, stable on the right, orange arrow in the middle. The character can be more dramatic.

### Character State

Good for: user pain points, creator state, too many tools, information anxiety, stuck-running situations.

Layout: 2-4 small states, each with a short label.

### Conceptual Metaphor

Good for: content factories, information warehouses, black boxes in the head, workflow machines, daily reports.

Layout: one large weird object or machine, minimal input, one output, with a memorable hook.

### Layered Method

Good for: methodology frameworks, system layers, capability stacks, content system tiers.

Layout: a layered box or stacked structure, not a formal golden tower. Xiaohei can move bricks or build beside it.

### Route Map

Good for: from idea to launch, user journeys, handoff paths, learning paths.

Layout: a curved route with few nodes. Xiaohei pulls a line or walks the path.

### Mini Comic Strip

Good for: failure-to-success stories, real processes, anti-patterns, before/after behavior.

Layout: 3-4 panels, each with one action only.

## Inventing a Fresh Metaphor

Do not simply reuse old examples. Invent a new metaphor from the current article every time.

### Three-Step Method

1. Turn the abstract idea into a physical action: stuck, leaking, weighing, splitting, sinking, fermenting, opening, folding, disassembling, or refilling.
2. Replace the system structure with a low-tech object: broken machine, paper box, drawer, pipe, mailbox, scale, well, staircase, strange workstation, and similar objects.
3. Let Xiaohei perform the action: not standing aside, but stuck in the machine, pulling a wrong line, guarding a door, carrying, repairing, weighing, or recording.

### Useful Objects

Paper box, drawer, old machine, funnel, scale, mailbox, door, well, staircase, water pipe, line bundle, gate, turntable, black box, puncher, press machine, clothesline, strange workstation.

Use only 1-2 objects at a time. Do not fill the scene.

### Xiaohei Actions

Pull, stretch, insert, catch, press, weigh, stitch, cut, twist, guard, push, connect, disassemble, label, recover.

The action must serve the core meaning. Do not be strange for the sake of being strange.

## Repetition Rules

Do not default to opening or copying `assets/examples/`. These are only style calibration samples for line density, whitespace, color restraint, and Xiaohei tone.

Unless the user explicitly says to recreate a composition, do not directly reuse the old examples:

- transmission path with two breakpoints
- Xiaohei operating a judgment lever inside a machine
- Xiaohei turning a funnel into information sorting
- Xiaohei cutting a material fish
- Xiaohei carrying a handoff path
- Xiaohei pulling a three-layer information source
- three Xiaohei figures carrying words, bridges, or gates
- Xiaohei holding a signboard
- Xiaohei showing a common pit route from a hole

If the topic is similar, invent a new metaphor anyway. For example, "handoff path" does not have to be a line, and "one fish, many uses" does not have to show a fish.

