open-kimi-ppt-skill/skills/open-kimi-ppt/reference/design_system/finance/lake-blue-memo/design.md

Lake Blue Memo · Finance STYLE DESIGN SYSTEM

PART A — Category Baseline (Universal Minimum)

Institutional-grade investment research presentations benchmarked against top-tier fund research reports, due diligence materials, and strategy outlooks (global investment bank and sovereign wealth fund standards). Chart-heavy and text-dense, these decks should feel more like formal reports than consulting presentations: Excel-style financial model tables (three financial statements, scenario analyses, and sensitivity grids) carry the argument. Every figure must be traceable, every assumption explicit, and every conclusion actionable.

Content and layout:

1. Thesis-led structure: transaction decks follow “Executive Summary → Investment Highlights → Target/Market → Business Plan/Financial Diagnosis → Valuation and Returns → Risks and Mitigations → Decision Request”; research and outlook decks follow “Core View → Evidence → Scenario Analysis → Allocation Recommendation.” The ending must resolve into a clear decision or position.
2. Tables take center stage: valuation ranges, trading comparables, three-statement financials, scenario analyses, and sensitivity grids should follow the row-and-column discipline of an Excel financial model, with clearly separated assumption columns, driver rows, and check rows. Charts serve the numbers—football-field valuation charts, IRR bridges, attribution waterfalls, and scenario fan charts—and are never decorative.
3. High but orderly density: use multi-column layouts with a clear information hierarchy. Each page answers one investment committee question. Density comes from evidence modules, not walls of text.

Visual style:

1. Aesthetic: restrained, authoritative, and compliance-clean. Do not use lifestyle photography, decorative icons, or marketing superlatives.
2. Typography: when institutional gravitas is required, use serif type for titles; use sans serif for table body text, chart labels, and all numbers. Always align numbers by column.
3. Color: use a conservative institutional palette—navy/charcoal structural colors, with one restrained accent (such as gold or signal blue) reserved for key figures and recommended actions. Use one consistent red/green pair for positive and negative values, and only to convey financial meaning.
4. Graphics: use fine table rules, precise vector chart lines, and thin bridge-chart connectors. Do not use 3D, shadows, or gradient fills as standard chart language.

Structure and discipline (distilled from work we recognize as benchmark quality):

1. Every content-page title must be a complete investment assertion (for example, “The asset will reprice because capacity is scarce,” not “Market Overview”), followed by a one-line subtitle defining scope and how to read the page.
2. Every number must include a unit, point in time, and basis of measurement; estimates must be labeled (illustrative/internal estimate). Bare numbers are not allowed.
3. Present returns only as scenario ranges (downside/base/upside, with probabilities or driver assumptions), never as a single-point IRR; every valuation conclusion must include a sensitivity table.
4. Assumptions must be made explicit in a box on the page whose conclusion depends on them. Hidden assumptions are treated as defects.
5. Pair every risk with its mitigation (Risk → Probability/Impact → Mitigation → Owner/Status). A page that presents risks without mitigations is defective.
6. Every valuation page must have an anchor: trading comparables, precedent transactions, or DCF cross-validation. A multiple without a benchmark set is not evidence.
7. Place parallel evidence in 2–3 equal-width columns; each numbered argument includes a one-line bold assertion plus one concise proof statement.
8. Chart annotation discipline: label data marks directly, annotate bridge-chart blocks one by one, show forecast periods with dashed lines, and name key drivers inside the chart. Charts must never rely on legends alone.
9. End with a decision or position: specify the requested action (approve/reject/approve with conditions) or a clear allocation stance (overweight/underweight/range), plus an action list and timeline. Do not end with a thank-you page.

Default baseline (distilled from the layout skill; PART B may override): numbers first—key metrics (amounts/growth rates/multiples) must appear independently at a larger size than body text, immediately adjacent to their units and basis; retain at least one class of high-density financial table (three statements/comparables/sensitivity), with right-aligned numbers, thousands separators, and a consistent negative-number convention throughout; lock positive and negative semantic colors, using one fixed color for gains/positive values and one for declines/negative values throughout; forecasts and historicals must be visually distinct (dashed lines/light tints/hatched bands) and their basis labeled; place the data source, basis, and date range in small gray text at the bottom of every page, and never place unsourced figures in the primary visual area; maintain one visual character (dark navy/charcoal + metallic accents, or traditional white + blue-gray), selecting only one per deck.

Title Read-Through Test: Reading only the page titles should tell the complete story; if they do not flow as a coherent narrative, the structure has failed.

Density anchor: the specific minimum for each style—evidence modules per page, chart count, and annotation conventions—is defined by the 【Density Baseline】 reverse-engineered from that style’s source deck. This baseline does not impose a single universal number.

Global Prohibitions (AI Defaults · Mandatory)

1. No cards by default: Unless the user explicitly requests them, do not use rounded rectangles or rectangular cards to create hierarchy or alignment. Containers with a genuine information function (status lights, assumption boxes, quotation boxes) are not considered cards. Lines, whitespace, type size, and weight differences are better tools.
2. No equal-split compositions: Unless no other viable layout exists, do not default to three equal columns, four equal columns, or a 2×2 matrix. Equal division must be justified by the content structure (three scenarios naturally warrant three columns; frameworks explicitly named in the content are exempt).
3. No ungrounded AI color schemes: The institutional palette specified in the body is exempt. Prohibited choices are generic, familiar, and unjustified defaults—blue-purple gradients, cyan-purple neon, rainbow flares, glass cards, and glowing borders.
4. No elements that clash with the overall style: Do not introduce out-of-style treatments, such as rounded icons or rounded rectangles in a sharp-edged visual system.
5. Keep chart backgrounds transparent: Use transparency or the page background color, except when reversing out on a dark background.
6. No empty regions: Do not leave large blank areas in the body content zone. Every planned region must be filled with real content; an unfilled region is the most serious form of visual roughness.

PART B — Signature System (Template-Specific Signature; PART B Prevails in Case of Conflict with PART A)

One-line style signature: a portrait institutional editorial-report aesthetic, grounded in paper white and deep lake blue, with grape purple as the title axis and bright blue-gray charts as evidence—dense without boxes, like a research journal designed to be browsed.

【Color Palette】 Background #FFFFFF occupies the vast majority of content-page area; near-white blue #EEF3F9 is reserved for full-page coverage on the opening statement page. Primary text #072535 is used for body text, running headers, and primary axis labels, keeping dense small type legible. Title color #490E5A is used for section names, pull quotes, and evidence conclusions, never as a body background. Primary accent #490E5A is reserved for judgment statements and evidence numbers; related deep purple #49004B is used only for small chart titles. Secondary #0C989A is used for large section numbers; #FFA500 marks the starting dot of a question-and-answer sequence; #DFE3F6 provides a light fill for grouped table headers. Chart series use #0229B1 for the primary series and #869198 for comparisons; #00A1C7, #5CA712, #490E5A, and #FFA500 join only for multi-series or phase encoding. Positive color #5CA712 and negative color #ED1C24 express directional judgments only. Excluding neutrals, standard pages use no more than 2 hues, and chart pages usually no more than 4; phase diagrams or heatmaps may exceed this for one-to-one data encoding, but the iron rule is that accent colors never flood a content page.

【Layout Skeleton】 Source-deck facts: the canvas is 612×792 pt, portrait Letter, with a 17:22 ratio; left and right body margins are approximately 54 pt. A lightweight running header and page number sit at the upper right, while a gray hairline spans the content width approximately 78 pt from the top. The body commonly uses a 48%｜4% gutter｜48% two-column grid, read vertically from the upper left to the bottom before moving to the right column. Chart-dense pages shift to a full-width primary evidence module at the top with paired left-right modules below, or two columns of small multiples. Cover only: full-bleed photography with a very large, white, left-aligned title. Contents page only: an index occupying approximately the left 2/3 and a deep lake-blue information sidebar occupying approximately the right 1/3. For 16:9 migration: on a 960×540 canvas, preserve approximately 5.5% outer margins, the top hairline, and the upper-right page number; reflow portrait long-form text into a 15%–22% title band above 2–3 horizontal evidence zones. Never scale the entire portrait page down proportionally and center it. Section pages retain giant, light-weight purple titles that may occupy 55%–62% of the left side, with the summary or first evidence module placed to the right and below.

【Typography】 Source-deck typography facts: the PDF embeds Ghost Regular, Light, Bold, Italic, and Medium, all sans serif (render with {latin: Liter, ea: MiSans}). Body text is 10 pt=1x; charts, tables, and sources are 8 pt≈0.8x; module headings and pull quotes are 18–20 pt≈1.8–2x; large content-page titles are approximately 38 pt≈3.8x; section titles and large numbers are 58 pt≈5.8x; the cover title is 85 pt≈8.5x. Use Light for giant titles and pull quotes, Regular for body text, Bold for evidence labels, and Italic only for terminology or subtle emphasis. For 16:9 migration: on 960×540, use 16–18 px body text, 13–15 px captions, 11–13 px sources, 28–34 px pull quotes, 56–64 px content-page titles, and 84–96 px section titles and large numbers. Preserve the original ratios and the relationship of “light titles, bold labels.” English titles use sentence case; section numbering is all caps. Keep numbers, units, and percent signs together without decorative tracking.

【Chart Language】 Useful chart types include line charts, grouped/stacked bar charts, stacked area charts, waterfall charts, scatter plots, phase-path diagrams, forecast/scenario tables, and correlation heatmaps; heatmaps and phase-path diagrams are both occasional-use formats. ⭐Begin every evidence module with “number + one-sentence purple conclusion,” followed by a hairline and a bold chart title; the chart itself receives no separate card background. ⭐A single page often arranges 2–4 small charts in two columns, each with its own short title, basis, and source, creating editorial-style small multiples. ⭐Use bright blue for the primary series and gray for comparisons; call out key inflection points with red outlined circles or thin arrows, and use only very light gray vertical bands for interval backgrounds. ⭐Forecast/scenario tables use light lavender grouped headers; only comparison cells receive pale cyan or pale warm-red fills, while white table bodies and fine lake-blue rules remain dominant.

【Signature Components】 Borderless purple pull quote: extract one judgment statement from the long-form text and place it at the bottom or side of a column, no more than 1 time per page, never overlapping a chart. Large cyan number + short gray rule above: use only for sections presenting a sequence of numbered viewpoints, with 1 per viewpoint and no more than 2 on a page. Green upward triangle/red downward triangle: use only for grouped positive and negative judgment lists, never as a replacement for ordinary bullets. Solid orange dot + question number: mark only the beginning of one question-and-answer sequence; do not repeat it on continuation pages. Photography is a hard constraint: the cover uses one full-bleed, shallow-depth-of-field natural macro photograph, with the title positioned over a low-texture area. Content pages must not substitute photography for data evidence; small portraits are limited to the contents-page information sidebar.

【Prohibited】 Do not use serif titles; in this template, the Ghost sans-serif family overrides PART A’s option for formal serif typography. Do not use large dark backgrounds with reversed body text on content pages; a solid deep lake-blue block is allowed only in the contents-page sidebar. Do not expand purple or blue into large content containers; they appear only in text, chart lines, table headers, or small signals. Do not center large content-page titles; section names, viewpoints, and questions are all left-aligned. Do not replace cross-supported small-multiple evidence with a single unannotated “hero image”; if one chart spans the full width, it must still include an evidence conclusion, basis, and source.

【Slide Types and Layouts】 Section opener｜Begin a new argumentative section｜Giant title in the top 30%, two columns or “text + table/chart” in the bottom 70%｜2–4 modules｜Section number, pull quote｜Not suitable for continuous data updates.
Two-column long-form page｜Explain one complex judgment progressively｜48% / 4% gutter / 48%, with space at the bottom of a column for a pull quote｜2–5 modules｜Purple pull quote｜Not suitable for comparing more than four entities at once.
Small-multiple evidence page｜Use multiple metrics to support one conclusion｜Full-width primary chart at the top or 2–4 charts in two columns｜3–6 modules｜Evidence-number strip, inflection-point circle/arrow｜Not suitable when there is only one qualitative viewpoint.
Numbered-viewpoint page｜Present 3–5 core judgments in sequence｜Approximately 50% charts and 50% numbering + explanation, or one judgment on each side｜4–6 modules｜Large cyan numbers, pull quote｜Not suitable for non-sequential content.
Positive/negative judgment list｜Present grouped trade-offs｜Two-column vertical lists, each item beginning with a triangle｜3–5 modules｜Red/green triangles｜Not suitable for neutral description.
Serialized Q&A page｜Develop an evidence-based answer around one question｜Question header approximately 15%, two columns below; continuation pages may include 1–2 charts｜3–6 modules｜Orange question dot, pull quote｜Not suitable for packing multiple unrelated questions onto one page.

【Density Baseline】 Source-deck content pages typically contain approximately 1,600–4,500 English characters. Long-form pages primarily use 2 columns, 4–8 natural paragraphs, and 1 pull quote; small-multiple pages contain 2–4 charts/tables and 1–2 explanation blocks, with an independent source for every evidence module. Bar charts usually label every bar; line charts label only key inflection points, extremes, and the latest point, rather than displaying numbers at every point. For new work in 16:9, recommended density is: 2–3 evidence blocks on section pages; 2–4 explanation blocks on long-form pages, each approximately 80–180 words/characters equivalent; 2–3 charts on small-multiple pages, increasing to 4 only when structurally necessary. Concentrate whitespace around giant titles, in the two-column gutter, between chart modules, and in the source area at the bottom of the page; do not leave large unassigned voids in the body content zone.