design.vecreal.com / workshop / V valley · round 4
Brand reference · workshop · round 4 · 2026-05-12
V valley · round 4 — parallel legs (constant stroke top to valley)
R4-Bv's taper (legs wider at top than valley) threw the eye off. Round 4 fixes by going to parallel inner/outer slopes — stroke stays constant from top to valley. With the V's locked outer silhouette, that creates a fixed trade between valley depth and leg width: deeper valley means thinner constant stroke. Three Path-A variants at three depths, plus one Path-B option that widens the V outer to preserve stroke 12.
The constraint — why "deep valley + thick legs" can't both be true
With the V's outer silhouette held (outer top at x=10, apex outer at
y=49, slope 1.75), parallel legs (inner slope = outer slope) force
a fixed relationship between valley depth and stroke width:
| Valley y | Constant stroke | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | 11.71 | parallel at original depth (R4-Bp0) |
| 33 | 11.14 | R4-Bp1 ★ — mild valley extension |
| 34 | 10.57 | R4-Bp2 — more valley |
| 36 | 9.43 | R4-D, operator-rejected "too skinny" |
Pick where on the curve to sit. Mild valley extension (y=33) costs ~7% of stroke (12 → 11.14). At this stroke width legs still read substantial. R4-D at 9.43 (~21% reduction) was where it broke.
R4-A and R4-B have a tiny built-in taper — inner slope 1.8 vs outer 1.75 gives 2.4% taper (stroke 12 at top → 11.71 at valley). That's effectively invisible at display sizes. R4-Bv was 14.6% taper (six times worse) — that's what threw the eye off. The 2.4% on R4-A/B isn't the issue.
Path B alternative — modify the V's outer silhouette (outer top out to
x=9, apex extended to y=50.27) to preserve stroke 12 with valley
at y=33. V becomes ~4.5% wider, ~3.3% taller. Brand-mark silhouette shifts. Included as
R4-Bw for one comparison row.
Section A · Locked rev-10 system reference
Single row, R4-A at 80 px. Confirms the locked system (Bold + -0.04em + dot 0.23em + V height 0.66em). All variants below render against this.
Section B · V variants at 80 px — parallel-leg refinements
R4-A and R4-B as references (slight inherent taper, ~2.4%). R4-Bp0, R4-Bp1, R4-Bp2 are Path A parallel-leg variants at three valley depths. R4-Bw is the Path B option (wider V silhouette preserves stroke 12).
Section C · V geometry isolated — all six variants, no markers
Strip wordmark context. Look at leg uniformity (Bp variants should read perfectly consistent from top to valley) and at the slight silhouette difference of R4-Bw (wider outer, deeper apex).
Section D · Top picks at 140 px — R4-B, R4-Bp1, R4-Bw
Display-size compare. R4-B (original valley, slight taper) vs R4-Bp1 (Path A, parallel, mild valley extension, thinner stroke) vs R4-Bw (Path B, parallel, preserves stroke, slightly wider V silhouette).
Top picks at 140 px
Section E · Small-size readability — 24 / 32 / 48 px
Top picks at favicon / sidebar / breadcrumb scale. Parallel-leg variants should not break small-size rendering — the thinning is sub-pixel at these scales.
| 24 px nav / sidebar | 32 px breadcrumb | 48 px body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R4-B reference | ecreal. | ecreal. | ecreal. |
| R4-Bp0 · parallel y=32 | ecreal. | ecreal. | ecreal. |
| R4-Bp1 · parallel y=33 ★ | ecreal. | ecreal. | ecreal. |
| R4-Bp2 · parallel y=34 | ecreal. | ecreal. | ecreal. |
| R4-Bw · PATH B | ecreal. | ecreal. | ecreal. |
Spec summary
| Variant | Path | Valley | Inner top (left, right) | Outer silhouette | Stroke (top → valley) | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R4-A | reference | sharp · y=32 | 22, 42 | x=10, apex y=49 | 12 → 11.7 (2.4% taper) | current — taper invisible at scale |
| R4-B | reference | rounded · y=32 | 22, 42 | x=10, apex y=49 | 12 → 11.7 (2.4% taper) | operator-favored rounded version |
| R4-Bp0 | A · parallel | rounded · y=32 | 21.71, 42.29 | x=10, apex y=49 | 11.71 constant | perfectly uniform at original depth |
| R4-Bp1 ★ | A · parallel | rounded · y=33 | 21.14, 42.86 | x=10, apex y=49 | 11.14 constant | mild valley + uniform legs · recommended |
| R4-Bp2 | A · parallel | rounded · y=34 | 20.57, 43.43 | x=10, apex y=49 | 10.57 constant | more valley + uniform · pushes thinness |
| R4-Bw | B · widen V | rounded · y=33 | 21, 43 | x=9, apex y=50.27 (wider/taller) | 12 constant | preserves stroke; V silhouette shifts ~4.5% wider |
Recommendation R4-Bp1 — parallel legs at valley y=33. Mild valley extension
(1 unit deeper than R4-A), stroke 11.14 constant top-to-valley (~7% thinner than R4-A's
top stroke but consistent throughout). Section C shows the legs read as uniform; Section E
confirms small-size legibility holds.
If R4-Bp1 still reads too thin at 140 px (Section D), R4-Bp0
keeps the parallel-leg principle without losing any stroke — valley stays at original y=32,
stroke 11.71 constant. Or R4-Bw (Path B) preserves stroke 12 at deeper valley
by widening the V outer — but you'd be locking a different V silhouette than what was
approved in rev-6 favicon work.
Once you call R4-A | R4-B | R4-Bp0 | R4-Bp1 | R4-Bp2 | R4-Bw I lock and propagate.
Operator note: you said you'll wait to finalize the wordmark and do one SVG regeneration with
the final — happy to hold here until you're confident.
Vecreal · brand workshop · 2026-05-12 · v-valley round 4