The reference bar — what world-class looks like
Self-review without an external bar always passes. Before shipping, hold the render against these references — not "is anything broken" (the gates did that) but "would a designer at these houses sign it".
Per register
premium-warm / editorial (cream, editorial) — the bar is a Vogue cover and the A24 title card: type interacts with the subject (masthead behind the head), one or two sizes feel chosen not defaulted, the frame would work printed as a poster. Check: does the climax frame, screenshotted alone, look like a designed cover — or like a subtitle that grew?
tech-premium (keynote, ink) — the bar is an Apple keynote slide over footage: opaque, weighty, dead-center confidence; negative space is doing the work; nothing decorating. Check: would this frame look at home in a WWDC sizzle?
formal (documentary) — the bar is Errol Morris / PBS Frontline: the type has the restraint of a court document; stillness reads as authority. Check: does ANY motion call attention to itself? If yes, cut it.
loud — the bar is a k-pop lyric video / Nike spot: type fights the subject and wins on purpose, color is saturated and scene-true, the beat hits WITH the word. Check: does the hero frame make you want to replay it?
The five positive checks (run on the preview sheet, after the failure checks)
- Poster test — screenshot the climax frame alone. Would you post it as a still? If it needs the motion to excuse the composition, the composition isn't done.
- Timid test — is any body caption apologizing (tiny, corner-parked, far from the silhouette)? Small is a choice; timid is a default. Hug the subject or commit to the margin as a designed column.
- One-glance hierarchy — at thumbnail size (shrink the sheet), can you still tell opener / body / hero apart? If the tiers blur together, the contrast ratios are off.
- Scene handshake — name three ways the type acknowledges THIS footage (accent sampled from the scene, occlusion crossing, shadow direction, depth blur, palette temperature). Fewer than two = it's a sticker, not an embed.
- Dead-air audit — scrub the no-caption stretches. Are they composed rests (subject carries the frame) or gaps (the design just stopped)? Rests are earned by rhythm; gaps are bugs in pacing.
How to use with fresh-eyes review
Give the sub-agent the preview sheet + the 5 failure checks (SKILL.md § Visual QA) + these 5 positive checks, and ask for verdicts on both lists. A render ships when it passes the failure checks AND at least 4/5 positive checks with specific evidence.