{
  "updated": "2026-10-12",
  "rows": [
    {
      "design": "Block capital letters",
      "minimum": "6mm letter height",
      "better": "8mm",
      "why": "Letters have no silhouette to fall back on."
    },
    {
      "design": "Script lettering",
      "minimum": "9mm letter height",
      "better": "12mm",
      "why": "The thin connecting strokes soften first."
    },
    {
      "design": "An eye, in any style",
      "minimum": "1cm wide",
      "better": "Larger",
      "why": "Pupil, iris, lid and highlight must stay apart."
    },
    {
      "design": "Bold symbol, silhouette or short word",
      "minimum": "Works under 7.5cm",
      "better": "Any size",
      "why": "Built for small: one idea, solid lines."
    },
    {
      "design": "Fine botanical with veins and stamens",
      "minimum": "7cm",
      "better": "10cm",
      "why": "Stem, veins and petals need to stay separate."
    },
    {
      "design": "Moderate detail: two line weights, shading",
      "minimum": "7.5cm",
      "better": "Toward 15cm",
      "why": "Room for mid-tones and readable lettering."
    },
    {
      "design": "Realistic face",
      "minimum": "10cm",
      "better": "15cm",
      "why": "Likeness lives in a few millimetres of gradient."
    },
    {
      "design": "Realism, Japanese, dense floral",
      "minimum": "15cm",
      "better": "Larger",
      "why": "Graduated shading needs surface area."
    }
  ],
  "scale": [
    {
      "size_cm": 2.5,
      "looks_like": "A US quarter is 2.4cm across",
      "fits": "A bold symbol or one or two capital letters. Too small for script or shading."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 4,
      "looks_like": "A little shorter than an AA battery (5cm)",
      "fits": "A simple silhouette or a short word in block capitals. Not a detailed flower or a face."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 5,
      "looks_like": "An AA battery is 5cm long",
      "fits": "Clean single-weight line work or a short word. Script only if the letters are few and open."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 6,
      "looks_like": "A little longer than an AA battery (5cm)",
      "fits": "A bold symbol, a silhouette or a short word. Finer botanical work with veins wants the next size up."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 7,
      "looks_like": "Shorter than a credit card's long side (8.6cm)",
      "fits": "The smallest a fine botanical with veins and stamens holds. Simple line work reads easily; shading and two line weights do better a little larger."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 8,
      "looks_like": "Just under a credit card's long side (8.6cm)",
      "fits": "Medium begins: two line weights, simple shading, readable lettering, a fine botanical."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 10,
      "looks_like": "A little longer than a credit card (8.6cm)",
      "fits": "The smallest a realistic face should be. Fine botanicals with veins hold here."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 12,
      "looks_like": "Just under a credit card and a half (12.8cm)",
      "fits": "A realistic face at a workable size, though 15cm is safer. A small animal with real fur direction."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 15,
      "looks_like": "About the height of a typical smartphone",
      "fits": "Large begins: realism, dense floral work, Japanese elements, a comfortable portrait."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 20,
      "looks_like": "Just under the short side of A4 paper (21cm)",
      "fits": "A forearm or calf panel. A detailed animal head reads well at this size."
    },
    {
      "size_cm": 30,
      "looks_like": "The long side of A4 paper (29.7cm)",
      "fits": "Back, thigh or a half sleeve. The composition, not the detail, becomes the design problem."
    }
  ]
}