# Visual Style Guide

## Preferred visual character

- colorful but not childish
- high contrast
- modern travel infographic
- scenic regional illustrations
- clear road geometry
- strong spatial hierarchy
- little empty space

## Preferred palette

| Function | Preferred color |
|---|---|
| Route/highway | Teal / cyan-blue |
| Start | Amber / warm orange |
| Destination | Red |
| Checkpoint flags | Orange |
| Text boxes | White with blue/navy frame |
| Charger | Green |
| Food | Orange |
| Hotel | Indigo / blue |
| Scenic | Purple |
| Highway shield | Yellow + black |

## Map order

Start at bottom → destination at top.

## Layout (hard rules)

- The road sweeps on a **strong diagonal, corner to corner** — never straight/vertical/
  centered.
- The map fills the **full width** of the page.
- **No side text column / no checkpoint table on the poster.** Stop info sits in cards
  attached to the road, on **both** sides of the diagonal.

## Road

Use a thick road body with:
- subtle gradient
- white lane dashes
- gentle shadow
- orange checkpoint nodes

## Stop labels

Show:
- LEFT or RIGHT
- place name
- km
- 1–2 utility lines maximum

> LEFT/RIGHT and same-side/opposite-side describe the real road relative to travel
> direction — **not** which side of the page the label sits on. A `same side` label may be
> drawn on the right of the page, and vice versa. Never show a U-turn on a `same side`
> stop. See `SKILL.md` §6.

Example:

LEFT  
DINDIGUL  
383 km  
2×120 kW • Food

## Avoid

- giant title banners
- giant footers
- thin route lines
- **straight / vertical / centered road (must be diagonal)**
- **a vertical sidebar of text or a checkpoint table taking up one side of the page**
- green route + green start marker
- long paragraphs
- floating labels not connected to route
- decorative attractions requiring detours


## Opposite-side stop styling

For opposite-side stops:
- add a small curved orange U-turn arrow
- add a compact badge: `U-turn`
- add a distance chip such as `0.4 km`
- visually distinguish it from same-side stops