nib

Nib

Make original editorial illustrations for written content. One image explains one idea. A recurring avatar — supplied once by the user — is the subject of every scene and performs the idea (pushes, sorts, steers, builds, holds); it is never decoration. The methodology is the constant; the avatar and the look are the parameters.

This is a configurable house style, not a generic image generator. It is intentionally not a photo, not a logo, not a corporate infographic, not a UI mockup.

Setup (once)

1. A character. Either the user's own avatar image (a mascot, logo character, anything — save its path), or a bundled one via --avatar-pack <name> (see characters/). The character is the reference on every generation.
2. A backend — one of:
   • Codex (free) — a logged-in Codex CLI (codex login). Generates on the user's ChatGPT / Codex subscription, no API key. Default when no key is set.
   • OpenRouter — an OPENROUTER_API_KEY (sk-or-…). Exact 16:9, and lets you pick the model with --model.

Workflow

1. Read the input.

   • A URL → fetch the page and extract the readable article text first (use your web-fetch / Defuddle capability), then treat it as an article.
   • A single idea → one illustration.
   • An article / post → pick the load-bearing moments (a judgment, a flow, a before/after, a trap, a loop), 4–8 of them. Not one image per paragraph — the ones that matter.

2. Pick a look for the piece (see references/styles.md): marker, riso, blueprint, woodcut, pixel, clay, gouache. One look per piece.

3. For each idea, invent a fresh, concrete physical metaphor in which the avatar performs the idea (see references/methodology.md).

4. Generate by calling the engine once per image:

   python3 scripts/generate.py \
     --idea "trust is built one piece of evidence at a time" \
     --style marker \
     --avatar /path/to/avatar.png \
     --out ./out/trust.png
   

   It builds the full prompt (methodology + look + idea), sends the character as the reference for consistency, and writes a 16:9 PNG. Useful flags:

   • --backend auto|openrouter|codex — auto uses the OpenRouter key if set, else the free Codex lane.
   • --model <id> — OpenRouter image model (default google/gemini-2.5-flash-image).
   • --avatar-pack <name> — use a bundled character (see characters/) instead of --avatar.
   • --avatar-spec "<text>" — a written description of the character (silhouette, face, the one accent part) that locks its design. Combine with the image — it markedly improves consistency.

5. Review against references/quality-bar.md (white background, one idea, avatar performing the action, short labels only, not a slide). Regenerate any that miss.

6. Report each saved path.

Example prompts

Invoke Nib from your agent like:

• Use nib to illustrate: "small habits compound into a big result"
• Use nib to make illustrations for this article: https://jamesclear.com/feedback-loops
• Use nib: set my avatar to ./avatar.png, then illustrate "saying no protects the few things that matter" in the woodcut style
• Use nib to turn this post into a 5-image set in riso: <paste a URL or text>

Notes

• Keep text in the image short; the model can misspell long labels.
• The avatar is the reference on every call — that is what keeps the character consistent across a whole article.
• For options, generate 2–3 variants of a shot (run the engine a few times with the same idea) and let the user pick.
• Cost: free on the Codex lane (uses the user's ChatGPT / Codex subscription), or a few cents per image on OpenRouter (google/gemini-2.5-flash-image) — a full post is well under a dollar either way.
• A written --avatar-spec (describe the character in words) markedly improves consistency over the image reference alone — use it whenever you have a description.
• Inspired by xiaohei (小黑) by helloianneo — this methodology is an adaptation of its hand-drawn editorial approach, reworded in Nib's own voice.