Academic Figure Color Expert

Academic Figure Color Expert

Produce a reusable Palette Decision. Hex tables, venue maps, and scene→style→palette recipes live in one place:

→ Read references/palettes.md (presets + Style family + Scene → palette decision + recipes).

Always decide style family (classic vs pastel) before naming a classic preset.

Principles

1. Color carries information, not decoration.
2. ≤ 3 chromatic colors + neutrals per figure.
3. Colorblind-safe by default; dual-encode categories.
4. ≥ 4 modules → monochrome (Nature Blue) beats polychrome busyness.

Input Contract

• Prefer: venue, domain, figure type, module count, reference image, accessibility / print constraints
• Minimum: any one of venue / figure type / domain
• Missing info: follow references/missing-info-policy.md; still emit a conservative Palette Decision

Output Contract — Palette Decision

Always include:

• recommended palette + one alternate
• primary / secondary / tertiary (+ neutrals) hex
• semantic color binding (Data/Input, Backbone, Loss, Output, Frozen roles mapped to consistent hex)
• reason (venue / domain / module count)
• accessibility note
• handoff block ready for prompt skills

Steps

Step 1: Collect constraints

Done when you have recorded (or marked missing): venue, domain, figure type, module count, colorblind/print needs, user color preference, reference image cues.

Step 2: Decide style family + palette

1. Classic vs pastel — references/palettes.md Style family first
2. If pastel → hand off scheme P1/P2/P3 to academic-figure-prompt-pastel (hex from that skill)
3. If classic → apply Scene → palette decision (hard constraints → figure type → venue → domain → vibe)
4. Name primary + alternate; state branch (user / scene / default)

Done when: family + primary + alternate are explicit, with the decision checklist fields from references/palettes.md.

Step 3: Emit hex + handoff

Load the chosen preset from references/palettes.md. Apply the Semantic Color Binding Contract to map structural domain roles (Data, Backbone, Loss, Output, Frozen) to consistent hex values across all paper panels. Output the Palette Decision format.

Done when: every role hex is filled, semantic binding stated, accessibility stated, and the handoff block is copy-ready for academic-figure-prompt.

Sparse-input cases

case	action
no venue	infer from domain / reference; else Okabe-Ito (or Nature Blue if ≥ 4 modules)
accessibility unspecified	assume colorblind-safe required
only vibe words (“premium/tech/soft”)	map to 1–2 presets with concrete hex
only reference image	extract hues; academicize if needed (white fill, border color, ≤ 3 chromatics)
figure type unknown	default framework advice; note module-detail vs comparison alternates

Stop

Stop when the user has a Palette Decision for the current figure, or when zero constraints and zero artifacts exist (then ask for venue / figure type / domain).