Courseventure companions · D0 design package

Linh — the pilot face, and the cast system all eight will share.

The goal: a warm, real, unmistakably-adult companion face for Linh — and a shared visual system so the whole roster reads as one intentional cast, not eight stock avatars. This package covers the cast rules, three Linh portrait directions, the master→UI derivatives, the AI-disclosure + fallback states, and the roster-card states — the full D0 checklist for your sign-off.

character · Linh (companion_linh)gate · D0approve · Quinn + Rheathen · C0 cultural + Bindi

◆ Design/art only — no provider creation. The three candidates are art-direction directions (concept + wardrobe/palette/expression/framing + the generation brief + a Tavus-constraints check + provenance). The photoreal master is generated later, at the authorized pilot (gated) — placeholders here are deliberately non-photographic. No real person is depicted; original fictional adult only.

1 · Cast visual system (plan §4)

Related, without looking uniform

One restrained art direction across all eight; each character varies within it by palette, silhouette, expression, energy and wardrobe — so nationality is never the only thing telling them apart.

Shared rules — every face

Master lossless 2048² or larger; training crop square, eye-level, front-facing, head & shoulders.
Camera feel: natural 50–85mm — not wide-angle, not beauty-filtered.
Lighting: soft, warm-neutral, even, plausible.
Expression: attentive resting warmth, closed or gently smiling mouth.
Wardrobe: contemporary, simple neckline, visually separated from skin & background, no brand marks.
Background: a quiet real-world colour field or shallow-focus environment, varied per character but within one art direction.
Reads unambiguously 25+ (Linh 35–45).
Silhouette · expression · palette · energy · wardrobe carry equal weight to nationality.

Anti-stereotype — never

Flags, national costume, tourist props, landmark backdrops, symbolic shorthand for nationality.
For Linh specifically: lantern / costume language, "quaint local" styling, glossy hospitality-advertising gloss, exoticised Vietnam.
Tavus-prohibited accessories: glasses, hats, headphones, face-covering accessories, prominent jewelry, hair obscuring the face.
Any subject who could read as under 18; any real-person / celebrity / deceased likeness; copyrighted characters.
Accent/phrase gimmickry or "passport-as-personality."

The shared training crop

Square, eye-level, front-facing, head-and-shoulders — the eye-line sits on the upper third, generous headroom, shoulders anchoring the base. Every character is shot to this exact grammar so the roster feels like one cast.

2048² master50–85mmwarm-neutral soft lightfront-facingno accessories

2 · Linh — three portrait directions

Vietnamese woman, 35–45 · composed host energy

Essence: a gracious Hoi An host who makes you feel like a welcomed guest, not a tourist — warm, patient, observant, quietly funny; modern and competent, never "quaint." Three distinct directions to choose the master from — each obeys every cast rule and Tavus constraint.

✓ Direction chosen (Quinn, D0): A · Riverside host (warm) — her core gracious-host essence + the right warmth for the Vietnam launch face — steered to keep C's contemporary-competent styling so she reads warm and modern, never quaint. Master brief prepped below (§7). Photoreal master stays gated. A stands unless Khoa overrules.

3 · UI derivatives — from the one approved master

One master → every size

All UI crops are generated from the single approved 2048² master (shown with the winning direction's palette) — never re-shot or re-generated, so identity stays exact.

MASTER 2048²

→

1:1 avatar

4:5 roster

40 / 56 / 72 px

4 · AI disclosure + static / video fallback

Honest, and complete without video

The face is always labelled AI; static portrait + text is a full alternative, not a degraded dead-end. Video never carries information required to use the course.

AI disclosure

Visible beside the face, and in the greeting copy.

Linh

the AI companion for this course AI

Greeting copy: "Hi, I'm Linh — the AI companion for this course. I'll help you get ready and answer what I can; anything I'm unsure of, I'll pass to your instructor."

Video greeting state

No autoplay · captions + transcript · keyboard controls · respects reduced-motion.

▶ tap to play · no autoplay

CC▶⇄✕

Greeting intro clip. Play / pause / mute / replay / dismiss all keyboard-operable; a text transcript ships alongside.

Static + text fallback (the universal default)

Served whenever video is unavailable — the complete companion.

◆ static portrait

The approved static portrait + the text companion. Everything the course needs works here — reduced-motion, data-saver, or a missing/failed provider key all land safely on this state.

Fail-closed

From the plan's fail-closed table.

● Tavus key missing / face suspended / greeting fails → serve the approved static portrait + text; disable video. Course stays usable.

● Face reads underage or resembles a real person → reject + quarantine the source; no silent retrain.

● Never a hidden face substitution or a nearby/default provider face.

5 · Roster card states — desktop & mobile

How Linh appears in the picker

Where an instructor assigns a companion, and where a student meets one. 4:5 portrait, name, one-line essence, AI badge — consistent across the cast.

DESKTOP · roster / assign-a-companion card

Linh

Central Vietnam host · AI companion

"Good morning — the light on the river is best around six. Shall I set the day out for you?"

MOBILE · roster card

Linh

Central Vietnam host · AI

6 · D0 gate

D0 — design package checklist

Owner: character designer (Sana) · Approval: Quinn + Rhea. This package addresses each item:

✓
Character bible approvedLinh bible + shared rules — in this package
◔
Three source candidates reviewed3 directions presented → your pick for the master
◔
Final master & crops approvedderivatives shown; master finalized on your pick
✓
Adult & similarity checksreads 35–45; original fictional adult; no real-person likeness
✓
No stereotype props / costumeanti-stereotype rules applied + listed
✓
Disclosure treatment designedbeside-the-face label + greeting copy
✓
Static & video fallback statesdesigned + fail-closed behavior
✓
Desktop & mobile roster cardsboth states designed

◑ Route: Quinn + Rhea approve D0 → pick the winning direction → I finalize the master brief + crops → Linh goes to a named cultural reviewer + Bindi (C0, rights/provenance) before any provider submission.

D0 evidence (reviewer-reachable):
· Provenance dossier (tool/model/prompt/edits + rejected-variants per candidate): /LINH_D0_PROVENANCE.md (served alongside this page) — also inline in each candidate card's “Generation brief + provenance” disclosure.
· Plan §11 D0 gate criteria are reproduced in §6 above (checklist mirrors the plan). Source: products/courseventure/docs/courseventure-companion-roster-faces-tavus-plan.md §4 + §11.
· Adult / real-person-similarity: original fictional adult (reads 35–45); no real-person/celebrity/deceased likeness; placeholders are non-photoreal by design (master generated only at the gated pilot).

7 · Master brief — Direction A (warm + modern)

Prepped for the gated pilot

Direction A chosen, steered to keep C's contemporary-competent styling — warm and modern, never quaint. This is the photoreal generation brief; the master is created only once the pilot is authorized. Full brief: LINH_A_MASTER_BRIEF.md.

Master generation prompt

Original fictional Vietnamese woman, ~40, warm gracious-host energy with quiet contemporary confidence — attentive resting warmth + a gentle natural closed-lip smile (warm but composed). Front-facing, eye-level, head-and-shoulders. Hair neat and contemporary, softly off the face. Contemporary warm-neutral structured fine-knit top (oatmeal/clay), simple clean neckline, separated from skin & background, no brand marks. Soft even warm-neutral light, no beauty filter. Warm-neutral shallow-focus background, uncluttered, no props. 85mm, photographic realism. Reads 35–45. Modern & competent — never quaint/costume/lantern/exoticised.

Negative — exclude

lantern, national/traditional costume, áo-dài-as-costume, tourist props, landmark backdrop, flag, glasses, hat, headphones, face-covering, prominent jewelry, hair over face, wide-angle/fisheye, beauty-filter / skin-smoothing, hospitality-advertising gloss, under-25 / child, resemblance to any real or public figure.

Keep from A (warm)

Graft from C (modern)

Net

Gracious welcoming warmth; the host-who-anticipates-you energy

Structured contemporary wardrobe (fine-knit / soft-blazer, not folksy linen)

Warm host who is clearly contemporary

Warm clay / oat palette

Crisp clean handling; simple modern neckline; clean modern hair

Warm palette, modern styling

Gentle closed-lip smile

A touch of confident ease in the eyes

Warm and self-assured, not "quaint"

Derivatives + acceptance: all UI crops (1:1 avatar · 4:5 roster · 40/56/72) come from the one approved 2048² master — never re-generated. Acceptance at C0/P0: reads 35–45 · original fictional adult · no real-person similarity · anti-quaint confirmed · warm-but-composed expression · legible at 40px.

◔ GATED — do not generate until authorized. Sequence: Rhea D0 re-QA + Quinn → Khoa flagship review (A stands unless overruled) → C0 (cultural reviewer + Bindi) → E0 (entitlement/custody) + Khoa billing → P0 pilot (real generation; provenance appended). Same brief format then scales to the other 7.

Courseventure companions · Linh D0 package + cast visual system · design/art only, no provider creation · Sana → Quinn + Rhea · 2026-07-23. If Linh lands, the same system scales to Troy · Marco · Yuki · Sofía · Eleanor · Dana · Arjun.