Score a finished draft against the six principles, apply the two hard gates, total out of eighteen, and route any revision to the principle that failed.
Stage · post-draft, pre-publish. Run this against a finished draft. Pairs with the Preflight Brief, which shapes the draft before this checklist scores it.
Score each principle 0 to 3. Apply the two hard gates. Total out of 18. Apply the decision rule. Route any revision to the correct owner. This is iterative: a failed draft returns, gets revised on the named principle only, and comes back for re-score.
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Absent or actively failing. The principle is not served. |
| 1 | Weak. Present but generic, faint, or undercooked. |
| 2 | Solid. Clearly served and competent. |
| 3 | Strong. A reason in itself to stop scrolling. |
Two principles are pass/fail regardless of score, because the theory treats them as preconditions, not bonuses. A draft cannot ship with either gate open, whatever the total.
Technical Execution must score at least 2. Creativity is novelty plus value; errors forfeit the value. A typo or wrong export blocks publish.
Interpretability must pass the 3-second glance test. If the main point is not graspable at a glance, depth is irrelevant. Too obscure is a fail, not a low score.
Score 1 or below. Route to concept owner (idea) or design owner (visual style). Name the three obvious approaches and replace with a rarer fourth, or fuse two familiar ideas into one.
Score 1 or below, or the emotion is unreadable. Route to whoever owns the weak element. Choose one emotion and push a colour, contrast, word, or feature to amplify it.
Score 1 or below. Route to design owner. If cluttered, strip to structure and one accent; if flat, add one element of controlled complexity.
Score below 2 blocks publish. Route to the owner for a clean fix. No creative rework, only correction.
Score 1 or below. Route to concept owner. Generate loose cross-domain pairings, keep the one that lands and reveals something, discard the rest.
Glance test fails: route to design/concept owner to lead with the clearest element. Layer thin (score 1 or below): route to concept owner to add one reward.
Confirm the draft resolved the tensions rather than maxing one at another’s cost.
Total ___ / 18
| Total | Gates | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 14–18 | both pass | Ship. |
| 9–13 | both pass | Revise. Target only principles scoring 1 or below, then re-score. |
| any score | a gate open | Block. Fix the gate first, then re-score. |
| below 9 | any state | Restart the concept. Not close enough to patch. |
| below 9, 2nd pass | any state | Kill and re-brief. Return to the Preflight Brief with a fresh angle. |
A single principle at 0 forces a revise even when the total clears 14. No dimension may be wholly absent.
| Weak principle | Route to |
|---|---|
| Originality (concept) | Concept owner |
| Originality (visual style) | Design owner |
| Expressiveness | Owner of the weak element |
| Aesthetic Appeal | Design owner |
| Technical Execution | Owner (correction only) |
| Unexpected Associations | Concept owner |
| Interpretability (glance) | Design / concept owner |
| Depth (second layer) | Concept owner |
For high-volume queues, score the six in one read and check the two gates.
Originality 0 1 2 3 Expressiveness 0 1 2 3 Aesthetic Appeal 0 1 2 3 Technical Execution 0 1 2 3 [GATE: needs >= 2] Unexpected Assoc. 0 1 2 3 Interpretability/Depth 0 1 2 3 [GATE: passes 3-sec glance? Y/N] TOTAL ___ / 18 Gates clear? Y / N Decision: SHIP (14+) / REVISE (9-13) / RESTART (<9)