typography-critiquelisted

# Typography critique Audit asks "does this meet the criteria." Critique asks "is this any good." Both are legitimate; conflating them produces vague audits and unaccountable opinions. ## 1. When to invoke - "Is this good?" / "Does this feel right?" - "Why does this look generic / cheap / AI-generated?" - Art-direction review, or judging an expressive risk. - Choosing between options that all pass the audit. **Do not** invoke when criteria exist and the question is compliance (`typography-audit`). ## 2. Required context - The **intent** — what should this feel like, to whom? Critique without intent is just preference. - The **constraints** the work operated under. - Whether it's a **template** or a one-off. - What the author was **trying** to do. Critique the gap between intent and result. - Whether the work already passes audit — if it doesn't, fix that first; broken accessibility isn't a taste question. ## 3. Invariant principles - **Critique against stated intent, not personal preference.** "I'd have used a serif" is not critique. "The brief says authoritative; geometric construction reads technical, which is why it feels colder than intended" is. - **Name the visible evidence.** Every judgment must trace to something observable — a proportion, a spacing relationship, a contrast, a form. - **Aim at the work, not the author.** Specific, actionable, with a concrete next step. - **Rules can be broken deliberately.** Lupton treats "when breaking a rule is