design.vecreal.com / workshop / Wordmark dot size revisit · r15
Brand reference · workshop · 2026-05-13 · rev-12 candidate
Wordmark dot size revisit — 0.23em vs 0.24em vs 0.25em
Operator on the live rev-11 wordmark: "the . is a tiny bit small with the greater weight of the V and also the bold text." Right — rev-7's 0.23em dot was calibrated against R4-A V with thinner stroke. Rev-11's R4-Bw V (wider silhouette, stroke 12 const) + Bold 700 text shifted the V/text bookends heavier while dot stayed unchanged. Mass imbalance. Testing 0.24em and 0.25em with proportional margin shift per the rev-7 positioning rule.
Three options with proportional positioning math
The rule: when dot diameter changes by Δ, margin-left shifts by -Δ/2 to keep the dot's optical center fixed (composition center stays put; gap to "l" shrinks slightly on the left, dot extends slightly further right). Codified rev-7 W-0.23.
| Variant | Dot size | Δ from current | Margin-left (proportional) | Dot/V ratio | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A · current | 0.23em | 0 | calc(0.01em + 2px) | 34.8% | rev-11 locked · feels small per operator |
| B ★ proposed | 0.24em | +0.01em | calc(0.005em + 2px) | 36.4% | +4.3% diameter · margin -0.005em |
| C · more | 0.25em | +0.02em | calc(0em + 2px) = 2px | 37.9% | +8.7% diameter · margin -0.01em · em portion zeroed |
V translateY (0.020em) and dot translateY (0.015em) stay locked across all variants — both are em-based so the descent in pixels scales proportionally with the dot diameter; no overshoot recalibration needed.
Section A · Dot sizes at 80 px (marketing display)
Three rows stacked with baseline indicator. Look at the dot relative to "l" height and to the V's overall mass.
Section B · Dot sizes at 140 px (close inspection)
Display size where the dot proportions read most decisively. The 0.01em diameter steps are clearly visible.
Section C · Dot sizes at 200 px (hero)
Hero scale where bookend dynamics matter most. 0.25em starts to feel like a "period" component rather than punctuation accent — watch for that read.
Section D · Small size sanity — 32 / 48 px
At small sizes the 0.01-0.02em diameter steps are sub-pixel. Verify all three render cleanly without breaking the dot's roundness.
Spec summary + verdict
What's driving this
Mass shifted in rev-11. R4-Bw V has wider outer silhouette + stroke 12 constant (vs R4-A's tapered ~11.7 average). Bold 700 text has heavier letterforms than Semibold 600. The "ecreal" text and V bookend got heavier, but dot stayed locked at rev-7's 0.23em — calibrated when V was lighter and text was Semibold.
The dot/V ratio target. H2 favicon dot/V ratio is ~35% (rev-9 lock). Current wordmark dot/V at 0.23em / 0.66em = 34.8% — under target. Bumping to 0.24em (36.4%) overshoots favicon ratio slightly. 0.25em (37.9%) overshoots more.
The wordmark vs favicon question. The two are different compositions — wordmark has text mass between V and dot; favicon is just V + dot. The wordmark might benefit from a higher dot/V ratio than favicon because the text-mass in the middle visually "pushes" V and dot toward bookend-emphasis. So 0.24em is defensible even though it goes slightly above favicon's 35%.
My read: 0.24em. +4.3% diameter restores dot mass to feel proportional to rev-11's heavier V/text. 0.25em starts to read as "period component" rather than punctuation accent at hero sizes — too prominent. 0.24em is the smaller move that hits the target without overcorrecting.
If 0.24em isn't enough. Operator can call 0.25em — it's defensible and the math is clean (margin shifts to just `2px`, zeroing the em portion). The visual read in Section C at 200 px is where it matters most. If you want to push past 0.25em the proportional rule keeps working but the dot starts feeling like a structural element rather than punctuation.
Spec table — full rev-12 candidate
| Property | A · 0.23em (current) | B ★ · 0.24em | C · 0.25em |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot size | 0.23em | 0.24em | 0.25em |
| Dot margin-left | calc(0.01em + 2px) | calc(0.005em + 2px) | 2px (calc(0em + 2px)) |
| Dot/V ratio | 34.8% | 36.4% | 37.9% |
| All else (V geom, weight, tracking, margins, translateY) | UNCHANGED from rev-11 lock | ||
Call A · 0.23em (keep) · B · 0.24em · or C · 0.25em.
Pick triggers a focused dot-size propagation:
- design-tokens.json (bk-dot-size + bk-dot-margin-left)
- reference-design-system.html (:root + .bk-wordmark .bk-dot + 10 inline instances)
- reference-visual-mockups.html (:root)
- component-library/wordmark.md (rev-12 entry, dot size rule update)
- landing/index.html + og-preview + LinkedIn assets (cover-1128, cover-1584-personal,
pfp-1000, square-1000) — wordmark CSS + PNG regen
- brand-atoms/index.html, workshop/index.html, archive/index.html — wordmark CSS
- runs/wordmark-build/build.py (dot_size_em + dot_margin_left_em params)
- CHANGELOG.md rev-12 entry
- One atomic commit + merge + push
Vecreal · brand workshop · 2026-05-13 · wordmark dot size revisit (r15 rev-12 candidate)