The panel verdict converged on a single direction. This index reflects the new structure: one design system promoted to primary (Gallery Editorial), one kept in reserve for a possible year-two sub-brand (Soft Machine), three retired now that the call has been made. Each link below opens the system in full.
Gallery editorial — warm cream, eucalyptus accent, Fraunces italic, JetBrains Mono on specs. Premium positioning for a single AU sculptural lighting brand. Built to read like Wallpaper magazine, not a Shopify template.
A modern editorial premium system for AU 3D-printed sculptural lighting. Photographed like a design publication. Print layer lines respected as material honesty. Confident-industrial voice that lives between Gantri and Aesop.
Not retired — reserved. If Maik earns the right to spin out a personalised-gifting sub-brand in year two, Soft Machine is the design language pre-validated for that audience. Warm soft-tech, sherbet pastel, blob forms, friendly futurism. Different audience, different brand, same parent.
Sherbet pastel palette (peach + mint + lilac), Instrument Serif italic against Geist sans, restrained glassmorphism, blob motion. Reference DNA: Crème Atelier, Wooj, Linear, Magic Spoon at its softest. Reads as modern soft-tech, not Y2K nostalgia.
Why kept in reserve: the panel's agent-fleet architect argued portfolio scale is the unfair advantage. The synthesis rejected portfolio-day-one but preserved the multi-brand option as a year-two earned decision. Soft Machine is the design system that would launch alongside Maik as "Maik Made-For" if that earned decision goes ahead.
Each made a case but lost. Documented here so the decision is auditable, not hidden. Studio Maik (A) reads too cottage for premium positioning. Editorial Drop (C) reads too cold and would tank conversion. Funky / quirky exploration was the previous brief — superseded by the ambitious mandate that followed.
Warm Aesop-style craft brand. Strong on warmth, lost on premium ambition — reads as small-studio not flagship. Imagery merged into primary system as lifestyle / warmth complement.
View →MSCHF / ssense brutalism. Devil's advocate's strongest steel-man — but the ecommerce operator's data on conversion penalty under brutalist UI was decisive. Drop-mode framing preserved within the primary system.
View →The earlier four-direction exploration was superseded by the panel-driven unified call. The gallery elements were absorbed into the primary. Everything else either retired or held in reserve.
View early research →Steve approves the unified direction, T3 capital tier ($150k + $100k tranche), and the recommendation to pivot the consumer brand name from "Maik" (Phase 10 brand-architect shortlist: Lumen, Filum, Strata, Volta).
Domain registration, IP Australia trademark filing (5 classes), social handles, brand name validation. The primary design system inherits forward as the visual scaffolding.
90-day runbook with the agent-fleet architecture diagram as first-class deliverable. Studio lease, 8-printer order, agent fleet wired on Multica, paid + organic launch sequence.
Pre-launch go/no-go memo with conditions. Steve's final approval before ClickUp load and storefront live.