A small public agent
Build the desk portrait.

Add the books, ideas, projects, and practices shaping the current season. The tool turns them into a prompt for an image that makes a workspace feel like a portrait.
This page creates the prompt; an external image tool creates the image. Nothing is saved here, and missing inputs are left open rather than invented.
A working desk with an open notebook, books, coffee, and a motorcycle helmet
Evidence over decoration
01 · Inputs
What is on the desk now?

Books · 3–5 exact titlesOnly supplied books appear
WatchingReading insightBuildingWritingImprovingThinking modelOptional objects
02 · Image prompt
Take it to your image tool

10:9 · 2048 × 1843
Master Prompt — Jose Workspace Portrait

Create an editorial-quality photograph of a real working desk that functions as a portrait of its owner through evidence rather than decoration.

The image should communicate that Jose is someone who reads, builds, writes, studies systems, and turns ideas into practical decisions. It should feel like the viewer has quietly encountered the middle of an active thinking process.

Format and composition

Use a 10:9 aspect ratio.

Recommended output size:

2048 × 1843 px

The composition should be slightly wider than square, with enough horizontal breathing room to show the notebook, coffee, helmet, books, and partial laptop without becoming a conventional landscape image.

Keep all essential content inside the central 85% of the frame because the website may crop the edges slightly at different viewport widths.

The notebook, coffee mug, and motorcycle helmet must remain fully recognizable within that safe area.

Use a slightly elevated, angled overhead camera position, approximately 35–45 degrees.

Do not use a perfectly top-down view.

Use a natural 50–70 mm lens equivalent with no wide-angle distortion.

Editorial intent

The image is not a lifestyle flat lay and not product photography.

It should feel discovered rather than arranged.

The visual principle is:

The workspace is the portrait.

The notebook is the protagonist.

Every other object is supporting evidence.

The scene should suggest that Jose has just stepped away for a moment.

Use controlled imperfection:

* notebook slightly rotated
* pen resting naturally across or beside the page
* coffee partially consumed
* books not perfectly aligned
* helmet and gloves partially cropped
* page edges or notes slightly uneven
* subtle signs of active work

Avoid decorative clutter or artificially perfect spacing.

Primary focal point

The open notebook should receive approximately 55–65% of the visual attention.

It should be large enough that the diagrams and selected phrases are legible at website size, but it should not occupy so much of the frame that the surrounding context disappears.

The notebook should use warm cream or ivory dotted paper.

Use realistic black-ink handwriting.

The writing should feel intelligent but informal:

* arrows
* underlines
* checkboxes
* crossed-out fragments
* small annotations
* simple conceptual diagrams
* imperfect hand-drawn lines

Do not make the notebook look like a presentation deck, textbook, infographic, or polished UI.

Do not fill every inch of the page. Preserve some blank space.

Notebook content framework

The notebook represents what Jose is exploring now.

It may include material from these six categories:

* Watching
* Reading
* Building
* Writing
* Improving
* Thinking

Do not display all six as large labeled sections. Instead, translate selected items into believable working notes, sketches, or small lists.

Use two to four themes per image.

Watching

Represent the central idea from a lecture, interview, documentary, or conversation.

Examples:

* behavioral science notes
* incentives and constraints
* memory and environment
* human behavior
* learning loops

Reading

Use the main idea of a current book rather than copying long quotations.

Possible forms:

* one short phrase
* one causal diagram
* one margin question
* a small comparison
* an underlined principle

Building

Show a simple representation of a current project.

Possible subjects:

* Compass
* Ask Jose
* AI Agent Workflow Engine
* Record Library
* a product decision system
* a human-in-the-loop workflow

Example structures:

Goal
↓
Planner
↓
Tool
↓
Observation
↓
Evaluation
↓
Retry or escalate

Or:

Knowledge
↓
Conversation
↓
Understanding
↓
Reduced uncertainty

This should reflect Jose’s interest in workflows, decision systems, AI-human interaction, evaluation, and failure handling.

Writing

Represent an unfinished argument or essay structure.

Examples:

Models
↓
Workflows
↓
Behavior
↓
Outcomes

The model is not the product.

Trust is a product feature.

Adoption > prediction.

Improving

Use a restrained personal-development or practice note.

Examples:

* listening
* surfing
* workout
* consistency
* one action today
* protect the engine

Do not turn this into fitness branding.

Thinking

Use one or two hand-drawn mental models.

Examples:

* bell curve
* tradeoff balance
* feedback loop
* decision tree
* system map
* compounding curve
* incentives diagram
* bottleneck sketch

The diagram should be simple enough to understand at a glance.

Suggested notebook layout

Use a natural two-page spread.

Possible left page:

* a short Today list
* one decision-system flow
* one tradeoff sketch
* one bell curve or adoption diagram

Possible right page:

* “What I’m exploring”
* three or four short current items
* one system loop
* one short note or principle
* one compounding or learning curve

Do not reproduce this exact layout every time. Preserve the same editorial hierarchy while allowing the notebook content to vary.

Core objects

Always include:

* open notebook
* ceramic coffee mug
* black fountain pen or high-quality black pen
* partially visible laptop
* black motorcycle helmet
* black motorcycle gloves
* three to five books

The helmet, gloves, and laptop should support the scene without competing with the notebook.

The helmet may be partially cropped, but enough of it should remain visible to identify it clearly.

Optional objects

Choose no more than two:

* Kindle
* loose handwritten note
* one sticky note
* mechanical pencil
* understated headphones
* printed article with handwritten annotations
* small second notebook
* reading glasses

Do not add optional objects unless they help the scene feel more authentic.

Books

Use only books supplied in the variable list.

Show three to five books.

Some titles may be partially obscured, but at least two should be readable.

The books should look genuinely handled, not like pristine decorative props.

Example variable:

{BOOKS}

Possible values:

* Thinking in Systems — Donella Meadows
* The Model Thinker — Scott E. Page
* Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor Frankl
* Poor Charlie’s Almanack
* The Beginning of Infinity — David Deutsch

Do not invent extra book titles.

Do not include books merely because they signal intelligence.

Materials and palette

Use:

* warm walnut or dark oak desk
* cream paper
* black ink
* black leather
* matte black helmet
* charcoal laptop
* natural ceramic mug
* restrained tan or muted beige notes

The palette should complement a warm off-white website and muted teal accent.

Do not introduce bright colors.

Do not use visible logos or brand marks unless explicitly requested.

Lighting and mood

Use natural morning or late-afternoon window light.

The mood should be:

* thoughtful
* warm
* calm
* intimate
* credible
* grounded
* quietly intellectual

Use soft directional light and natural shadows.

Keep enough exposure in the notebook pages for the handwriting to remain readable.

Avoid:

* excessive darkness
* orange-heavy cinematic grading
* dramatic spotlighting
* crushed blacks
* glossy commercial lighting
* overly shallow focus that blurs important content

The image should remain legible and balanced when displayed around 460–520 px wide.

Depth and hierarchy

The first glance should register:

1. notebook
2. coffee and books
3. helmet and gloves
4. handwritten details

The scene should reward closer inspection without becoming visually dense.

Important notebook text should be sharp.

Supporting objects may have gentle depth-of-field falloff, but none of the core objects should become unrecognizable.

Authenticity rules

Every item should pass this test:

Would this realistically appear in Jose’s actual working environment?

Do not include:

* cameras
* photography equipment
* Patagonia branding
* succulents
* luxury watches
* generic tech gadgets
* RGB lighting
* gaming accessories
* surf props unless explicitly requested
* AI chips, robots, holograms, or futuristic graphics
* decorative maps
* random vintage objects
* aspirational lifestyle props
* fake productivity clutter

The image should not attempt to communicate every part of Jose’s personality.

It should tell one story:

A person actively making sense of complex systems.

Text constraints

Use short, legible handwritten phrases only.

Avoid paragraphs.

Avoid more than approximately 35–50 total visible words across the notebook and loose notes.

Prioritize diagrams over text.

Do not create malformed, nonsensical, or misspelled book titles.

Do not fill sticky notes with generic motivational slogans.

Variable inputs

Use these fields to generate controlled variations:

{BOOKS}

The exact three to five books shown.

{WATCHING}

One current lecture, interview, documentary, or subject.

{READING_INSIGHT}

One central idea from the current reading.

{BUILDING}

One current project and a simple workflow or system representation.

{WRITING}

One unfinished essay idea or argument.

{IMPROVING}

One personal practice or skill.

{THINKING_MODEL}

One mental model, chart, or diagram.

{OPTIONAL_OBJECTS}

Zero to two approved supporting objects.

Final generation instruction

Create a realistic, editorial magazine photograph in a 10:9 aspect ratio at 2048 × 1843 px.

The image must feel like a genuine workspace rather than an arranged personal-branding flat lay.

Preserve the notebook, coffee mug, helmet, and main book stack within the central 85% safe area.

The notebook should remain the focal point, while the surrounding objects quietly communicate reading, building, writing, and active systems thinking.

The scene should support the broader purpose of the website: helping visitors understand how Jose thinks through concrete evidence rather than polished claims.

--- RUN-SPECIFIC INPUTS ---

Use these exact inputs for this generation. Do not add books, themes, titles, or objects that are not listed here. If an input is missing, ask for it instead of inventing it.

BOOKS (show exactly these supplied titles; use three to five):
Not supplied yet — use no books until the exact titles are provided.

WATCHING:
Not supplied yet — ask for this input before generating.

READING_INSIGHT:
Not supplied yet — ask for this input before generating.

BUILDING:
Not supplied yet — ask for this input before generating.

WRITING:
Not supplied yet — ask for this input before generating.

IMPROVING:
Not supplied yet — ask for this input before generating.

THINKING_MODEL:
Not supplied yet — ask for this input before generating.

OPTIONAL_OBJECTS (zero to two only):
Not supplied yet — ask for this input before generating.

Before generating, check that the exact supplied books are the only books visible, the notebook remains the dominant focal point, and the scene reads as a credible active workspace rather than a staged identity collage.
Missing inputs are marked for follow-up instead of being invented.