<NOTES>Round 1 intent: establish a bold magazine-poster grid for an investor-deck hero, with oversized title, a single accent CTA, and the brand wordmark anchored top-left.</NOTES> CTA competes with wordmark at top-left; eye path is ambiguous. H1 at 72px reads as poster, not landing page; descends too fast into body copy. CTA background #e63 on #0a0a0a body gives approx 3.9:1; fails WCAG AA for normal text. Vertical gaps 24/12/40 are ad-hoc; no 8px grid system visible. Left/right padding 40px is uniform but feels tight against the 960px column. <MUST_FIX>Darken CTA background to at least 4.5:1 contrast ratio against body.</MUST_FIX> <MUST_FIX>Establish explicit 8px vertical rhythm (margins multiples of 8).</MUST_FIX> <MUST_FIX>Shift wordmark to top-right so hierarchy flows top-left title to bottom CTA.</MUST_FIX> Tagline "The Future of Infrastructure" is punchy and on-brand for Series B. Dark background suits premium investor aesthetic; accent orange feels startup-generic. Wordmark legibility is fine but placement top-left conflicts with primary read path. <MUST_FIX>Replace generic orange with brand blue (#1a6cf5) to reinforce system identity.</MUST_FIX> <MUST_FIX>Add thin rule below wordmark to separate identity zone from content zone.</MUST_FIX> CTA text contrast 3.9:1 fails AA; subtitle #aaa on #0a0a0a is 5.5:1, borderline. No visible focus ring on CTA anchor; keyboard users cannot navigate. H1 present; landmark regions missing (no main, no header). <MUST_FIX>Add :focus-visible outline to .cta with 3px offset.</MUST_FIX> <MUST_FIX>Wrap content in semantic main element and add header landmark for wordmark.</MUST_FIX> Strong active framing; "Infrastructure" is broad but works for deck cover. Date string "Q2 2025" is unnecessary on a timeless hero; reads as dated artifact. "Request Access" is generic; "See the Deck" is more specific and action-confirming. <MUST_FIX>Change CTA label from "Request Access" to "See the Deck" for specificity.</MUST_FIX> <REASON>Composite 6.26 is below threshold 8.0; 8 must-fix items open across critic, brand, a11y, and copy. Continue to round 2.</REASON> <NOTES>Round 2 refinement: moved wordmark to top-right, adopted brand blue #1a6cf5 for CTA, normalized vertical spacing to 8px grid, added focus ring, wrapped in semantic landmarks, removed date from subtitle, updated CTA label.</NOTES> Wordmark top-right clears the primary read path; hierarchy now title to sub to CTA. 8px rhythm applied consistently; heading still large but balanced by tighter sub spacing. Brand blue CTA passes AA at ~5.2:1; subtitle gray still at 5.5:1, acceptable. Margins now multiples of 8; much more systematic. Horizontal padding increased to 56px; feels airy but right column reads empty. <MUST_FIX>Add a secondary visual element (rule or column) to balance right-side whitespace.</MUST_FIX> <MUST_FIX>Tighten H1 line-height to 0.95 for denser poster feel.</MUST_FIX> Headline unchanged; brand blue CTA unifies identity system across deck. Blue accent is immediately recognizable as the brand system color. Identity zone separated by rule; clean and professional. <MUST_FIX>Increase wordmark letter-spacing to 0.25em for premium print feel.</MUST_FIX> CTA now passes AA; subtitle is acceptable. Focus ring present but offset is 2px; raise to 3px per WCAG 2.2 guideline. main and header landmarks added; no skip-nav link yet. <MUST_FIX>Add a visually-hidden skip-navigation link before the main landmark.</MUST_FIX> Remains strong; no changes needed. Date removed; subtitle now reads "Series B overview" which is clean and evergreen. "See the Deck" is direct and confirms the action. <REASON>Composite 7.86 is below threshold 8.0; 4 must-fix items remain across critic, brand, and a11y. Continue to round 3.</REASON> <NOTES>Round 3 polish: added decorative vertical rule at right to anchor whitespace, tightened H1 line-height to 0.95, raised wordmark letter-spacing to 0.25em, increased focus-ring offset to 3px, added visually-hidden skip-nav link.</NOTES> Clear top-right wordmark, dominant title, subdued subtitle, prominent CTA. Excellent path. H1 at 0.95 line-height gives tight poster texture; body type proportions now balanced. All elements pass AA; CTA 5.2:1, subtitle 5.5:1, body copy 14.5:1. Consistent 8px multiples throughout; vertical rule reinforces grid axis. Right column balanced by rule; generous but not wasteful. Headline tone is authoritative; brand identity is coherent from wordmark to CTA. Brand blue fully integrated; palette is consistent and premium. Identity zone with rule separator and 0.25em letter-spacing reads as editorial quality. All text elements pass WCAG AA; CTA passes AA large. Focus ring at 3px offset is clearly visible and meets 2.2 criterion 2.4.11. Landmarks correct; skip-nav present; heading hierarchy is single H1 with no skips. Punchy, memorable, and stakes-appropriate for Series B investor deck. Evergreen subtitle anchors context without expiry. "See the Deck" is action-confirming and specific. <REASON>Composite 8.60 exceeds threshold 8.0; zero must-fix items remain. Ship.</REASON>
Across three rounds the panel converged from a rough poster sketch (composite 6.26) to a polished investor-deck hero (composite 8.60). The key changes were: moving the wordmark to the top-right to establish a clear top-to-bottom read path; replacing the generic orange CTA with brand blue #1a6cf5 for system coherence; normalizing all vertical spacing to an 8px grid; adding a decorative vertical rule to balance right-column whitespace; tightening H1 line-height to 0.95 for a denser poster texture; fixing WCAG AA contrast on the CTA; adding proper semantic landmarks, a visible focus ring, and a skip-navigation link; and sharpening the CTA label from "Request Access" to "See the Deck".
duplicate