# Visual Asset Pack — T03 + Photo-First Correction

Date: 2026-03-27  
Owner: agent-assets

## Status summary

T03 successfully produced a legal-safe original SVG asset pack.
However, art direction has now shifted to **photo-first** to improve perceived quality and appetite appeal.

This file records what remains useful from T03 and what is now deprecated as primary art.

## Keep vs deprecate

### Keep (active)
- Category utility icons: `/assets/category/icon-*.svg`
- Placeholder fallbacks: `/assets/food/placeholder-recipe*.svg`
- Empty-state illustrations (temporary): `/assets/empty-state/*.svg`

### Deprecate as primary storytelling assets
- Hero illustrations: `/assets/hero/*.svg`
- Curated illustrated dishes: `/assets/food/curated/*.svg`
- Category illustration set: `/assets/category/illustrations/*.svg`

> Deprecated means: not preferred for homepage hero, recipe cards, or detail hero going forward.

## New source of truth (photo-first)

- Strategy doc: `docs/visual-audit/photo-first-assets.md`
- Asset pipeline: `frontend/public/assets/photos/README.md`
- Slot manifest: `frontend/public/assets/photos/manifest.json`

## Licensing note

- Legacy T03 SVG assets remain repo-owned and safe.
- New primary visuals should be real photos from approved free/licensable sources, tracked per-asset in the photo manifest.

## Icon direction

Adopt `lucide-react` for modern, restrained UI iconography and retire emoji/mixed icon styling over time.