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| MINIMAL CAPTURE |
| |
| [QR] ──► [Form] ──► [D1] ──► [Admin] |
| |
| Built for another, |
| absorbed the canon. |
| |
| The ethos propagates |
| beyond the boundary. |
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The Canon's Reach
An experiment in propagation: what happens when tools built for others—outside the practice—unconsciously absorb the design canon?
If "weniger, aber besser" is truly internalized—not as aesthetic preference but as way of seeing—then it will propagate even to projects outside the creative practice. Tools built as gifts for others will still embody the canon.
This tests whether the hermeneutic circle is self-sustaining: does understanding the whole (CREATE SOMETHING ethos) change how we approach every part (any project)?
A QR-based contact capture system. Scan → Fill → Store → Retrieve. Built for someone outside the practice who needed to collect contact information at events.
1. QR Code → Public Form
Light theme, minimal fields
2. Form → D1 Database
Name, email, phone (optional)
3. Admin → Dark Dashboard
Search, copy, call, email, delete
Without being asked, the project absorbed these CREATE SOMETHING principles:
Stack Sans Notch + JetBrains Mono. The same fonts from .ltd and .space appeared without explicit request.
Achromatic palette. Dark admin, light public. No decorative color—only functional states (success green, error red).
Golden ratio tokens (1.618rem, 2.618rem). The same mathematical foundation as the canon.
Tap to action (mailto:, tel:). No intermediate confirmation. Trust the user's intent.
"The tool recedes. The task emerges."
This is Zuhandenheit—ready-to-hand. The interface disappears into use. The same principle we apply to .io tools appeared here unbidden.
Vorhabe (fore-having): We approached this as external—"my brother's need"—and placed it outside the monorepo. It was Vorhandenheit: present-at-hand, a tool for someone else.
Vorsicht (fore-sight): But the project absorbed the canon without being asked. The fonts appeared. The spacing appeared. The achromatic palette appeared. The interaction patterns appeared.
Vorgriff (fore-conception): The meaning shifted. This isn't "a contact form"—it's proof that the ethos propagates. The hermeneutic circle is self-sustaining.
The Insight
The project's origin as gift (Heidegger's Gabe) is itself significant. We build tools through care for others (Sorge), and those tools return to inform our understanding. The canon doesn't stay within boundaries—it flows outward through every act of creation.
FREELANCE/contact-capture (outside monorepo, by design)The hypothesis is confirmed. "Weniger, aber besser" is not a style to be applied—it's a lens through which all projects are seen. The canon propagates because it has become the default mode of creation.
This experiment suggests that the hermeneutic circle of CREATE SOMETHING extends beyond its formal boundaries. Every tool built with care carries the ethos forward.