Four ways illo renders an idea — pick the register, or let the skill choose. Everything below came out of the skill with no manual editing. Guide →
the default
Hand the illo skill a post about shipping discipline and it pulls the load-bearing moments — then renders one scene per moment, ready to interleave through your prose.
One character, one palette across the whole set — so the article reads as one voice. When to use scenes →
newest look
16-bit console sprite editorial — soft dither, game-world staging, and a four-pack cast (matt, ybur, forge, booboo). Also still shipping: bricks for photoreal minifigure builds, and fizz for skate-sticker ship-day energy.
when the idea is a story beat
A story beat — fail→fix, before→after — told in 2–4 panels inside a single image. The same character and key object carry through every panel. A named pipeline is labeled stages inside explainer, not this.
the best shape for social posts
when the structure is the point
One register for labeled stages, flow, fan-out, timeline, loop, stack, or system slice — a diagram the reader can trace that still looks like the illo skill drew it. Scenes stay the default; ask for an explainer diagram when the thesis is the structure itself — e.g. /illo how a book gets published explainer diagram. A flowchart or labeled workflow locks labeled stages, not a mini-comic. Arrow notes sit on the arrows: a verb on the main flow, a condition on the return.
just the mascot
Transparent PNG — pose and contact continuity only. No scene, no text, no idea to explain. Paste onto slides, docs, or hand off to another tool.
/illo blot cutout waving
wherever it's headed
Wide 16:9 for articles and headers, square for social cards, 9:16 and 4:5 for vertical feeds — say where it's going and the illo skill sizes the scene to fit. For an X Article banner, ask for the dedicated 1536 × 640 format.
hand it one brand color
Named presets, palettes extracted from your blog's theme, or a full palette derived from a single hex — the scenes below came from /illo scope creep has a smell emerald green accent and “make it royal purple”.
same character, dressed for the destination
