Lab 12: The Symbology Specification
Design symbols that encode category, quantity, hierarchy, and uncertainty without default drift

Map scenario
Topic:
Place:
Audience:
Layer 1 geometry and purpose:
Layer 2 geometry and purpose:
Layer 3 geometry and purpose:
Primary user task:
What the symbols must communicate:
What the symbols must not imply:

Create a Symbol Intent Brief for this map. For each layer, state what the symbol must communicate: presence, category, quantity, uncertainty, selection state, movement, risk, or context. Then identify the primary visual variable for each layer: shape, size, opacity, texture, color, line weight, or outline. Use only one primary encoding per layer unless you justify a secondary cue.

Map scenario:
[PASTE]

Design shape rules for categorical symbol differences in this map. Prioritize perceptual distinctness and broad recognizability. Avoid culturally specific, era-dependent, cute, or emotionally loaded pictographs unless explicitly justified. Recommend geometric or simplified icon forms and explain rejected alternatives.

If any symbol varies by quantity, create a proportional sizing plan. State whether values are raw counts, rates, ranks, or classes. Require scaling by area, not radius. Include minimum and maximum sizes, outlier handling, legend labels, and a verification check showing how small, medium, and large values will be represented without exaggeration.

Create opacity and texture rules for hierarchy, overlap, and uncertainty. Specify when transparency should preserve basemap context, when hover or selection should increase emphasis, when opacity may represent uncertainty, and how the legend should explain that meaning. Add texture only as a redundancy or emphasis cue, not as decoration.

Decide whether this map should use standard library symbols, custom PNG symbols, custom SVG symbols, or a combination. For each custom symbol, write constraints for scale legibility, stroke weight, fill, transparency, detail level, and semantic meaning. Explain why a library symbol may be safer or why a custom symbol is justified.

Generate a minimalist SVG symbol specification for [FEATURE]. Requirements: under 1 KB, readable at 16 px, simple stroke or fill, no unnecessary interior detail, consistent with the map's visual schema, transparent background, and one-line intended meaning. Return the SVG concept description and quality checklist.

Compile my decisions into a production-ready Symbology Specification. Include:
1. map argument and user task
2. layer-by-layer symbol intent
3. shape rules for categories
4. size rules for quantities, including area scaling
5. opacity rules for hierarchy and uncertainty
6. texture rules for redundancy
7. symbol source: library, PNG, or SVG
8. overlap, clustering, and decluttering plan
9. legend labels and explanatory notes
10. failure modes prevented
11. a self-check asking the assistant to justify each symbol against intent

Write this as a professional specification.

Critique this Symbology Specification. Look for overly literal icons, decorative color creep, style drift across layers, proportional sizing errors, unclear uncertainty, weak legend language, and overlap problems. Recommend minimal revisions and explain which risks remain.