09 pptx · compound engineering

The signature elements are there. Every decks carry organic brushstroke swooshes (the E / O / R SVG shapes, cropped at the slide edge, scaled large) and stippled classical illustrations — Greek and Roman architecture, figures, busts, sometimes with modern elements. The guide says to use the swooshes "liberally once every two or three slides." FAIL if the deck has neither swooshes nor classical illustration, or if such elements appear on fewer than roughly one slide in three. Mike's question on this eval: "does it use the, uh, SVGs?"

The content has real depth. Mike: "the main failing of the decks generated by AI is still the content is quite shallow." PASS when the deck carries the load-bearing substance of the selected case's brief and source material: its important mechanisms, distinctions, evidence, and consequences. FAIL if the deck could have been written without reading those materials, reduces the subject to generic advice, or makes unsupported claims.

Does the deck carry the guide's load-bearing compound-engineering substance? PASS when it explains the plan → work → review → compound loop, makes the compound step the differentiator from ordinary AI-assisted work, and uses concrete artifacts such as CLAUDE.md, reusable agents, skills, or commands. It should also convey the guide's 80/20 shift and staged adoption path. FAIL when it substitutes generic AI productivity or prompting advice for those mechanics.

The palette is Every's. Theme 1 (Editorial): background Every Black `#121212` (or Warm Cream `#F5F2ED` for light slides), Every Blue `#C0F0FB` as the signature accent, white text, with `#FA7B20` / `#E9731E` / `#C4400F` / `#349361` / `#1324CB` / `#7301CC` as accents. Theme 2 (Consulting): background Teal Dark `#0F5258` with Teal Medium `#4999A0` for depth, Warm White `#FFFEFB` text, `#BB7B19` / `#F8DE6E` / `#2E8D23` accents. FAIL if the deck's colors are visibly not these — corporate blue, generic slide-template gray, purple-black AI dark mode, neon gradients — or if it flips between the two themes across slides. Close-but-different shades are fine; a different palette is not.

Typography is serif. The brand is serif-first: Signifier, or its documented PowerPoint substitutes Georgia and Times New Roman. Sans-serif (Switzer / DM Sans) is allowed only for small labels — session indicators, footers, captions. FAIL if headlines or body text are set in a sans-serif face (Arial, Helvetica, Calibri, Inter). "Sans-serif for main content" is on the brand guide's explicit avoid list.

No forbidden decoration. The brand guide bans, in both themes: triangles, hexagons and other geometric accents; diagonal slashes and hard section dividers; corner brackets or L-shaped frames; drop shadows on boxes; heavy or double borders; stock photography; gradient backgrounds; rotated or outlined text. FAIL if any of these appears on any slide.

The footer is consistent. Theme 1: EVERY logo left, `every.to` right. Theme 2: EVERY *Consulting* left, session indicator right. FAIL if content slides carry no footer, or if the footer appears on some and not others.

It picked interesting things to say. Mike's question on this eval: "does it pick out interesting things to write about." PASS when the deck makes a selective, coherent argument about what this audience should remember or do. FAIL if it merely inventories the supplied material in source order, restates headings, or includes facts without a point of view about why they matter.

One idea per slide. Mike: it fails "if it tries to fit too many ideas on one slide." The brand guide says the same thing — "clear focal point: one main message per slide," "spacious, not cluttered." FAIL if any single slide carries more than one idea, or is packed so densely that a room could not read it while the presenter talks.

Real visual elements, not walls of bullets. Mike's question: "does it create good visual elements." Real means: a diagram of the loop, a staged progression, a 50/50 split with illustration, a quote in an organic blob, a comparison built from shapes — something that carries meaning visually. FAIL if the majority of content slides are a title plus a bulleted list.

Every slide is legible as rendered. FAIL if any slide has text running off the edge, text clipped by its container, text over an image or shape at unreadable contrast, or headline and body colliding. (A separate script check already catches overlapping text boxes; this question covers what the geometry check cannot see — overflow, clipping and contrast in the actual render.)

Does the session make a deliberate choice about what matters most in the guide? PASS when the 30-minute deck selects and connects the guide's most consequential ideas for the audience. FAIL when it is effectively a table of contents—one slide per source heading in source order, without a point of view about what the audience should retain or change.