One Object, Two States
An industrial-design sheet for a translucent ribbed product, shown closed and open — with the two views held to being the same object and the size stated on the page. Six fields.
Two runs of the same template. A desktop beacon shown dark and lit beside a pocket warmer shown closed and split open — one upright and front-on, one horizontal and seen from above. Different objects, different colours, and both times the second view is the first one changed and nothing else.
Generated from this template with the fields shown above — the two views share one silhouette, one corner radius, one rib count and one base, and only the light differs. The dimension sits on a hairline with end ticks at the left, and the LED ring reads through the shell in both states: ghosted when dark, flaring when lit. The reference's baseline is what made all of that necessary. It volunteered a second view nobody asked for — reasonably, since a closed translucent box cannot show its own function — and then drew a different product in it: a tall rounded capsule beside a square-cornered rectangular case with a side hinge, presented as one object in two states. It carried no dimension anywhere, and it came back as a ragged cut-out with a white fringe rather than on the pale ground it had asked for. So the view count is decided in the template rather than left to the model, and the second view is defined as the first one changed. Run-to-run quirks: the second run chose a stronger three-quarter angle than the template's slight one, though it held it across both views, and how much of the interior ghosts through the closed shell varies a good deal.
Generated for this library
Input
Product Vibary Desk Beacon - a desktop status light that glows
when a build finishes
States closed and unlit, beside the same unit lit from within
Ribbing the whole diffuser shell, vertical ribs, top and base
left smooth
Through a ring of LEDs and the dark edge of a small board,
ghosted behind the shell
Size 90 mm tall
Colour ice-white translucent, the glow a soft violet
Returned 1 sheet · 1:1 · pale grey ground, one contact shadow
object a soft rounded rectangle, ribs across the diffuser band
only, cap and base smooth, no visible control
states unlit at left, the same body lit at right - identical
outline, radius, rib count and base
through the LED ring readable behind the shell in both views,
ghosted when dark and flaring when lit
size 90 mm at the left on a hairline with end ticks
material frosted, thick-walled, no mirror highlight, colour
shifting only where the wall thickensYou fill in 6 fields — the braced lines at the top. Everything below them is fixed.
- 1The product, and what it does
- 2The two states
- 3Where the ribbing goes
- 4What shows through
- 5The size
- 6The colour
One Object, Two States
Produce ONE image, square: an industrial-design sheet showing a translucent ribbed product in two states. Follow every line. Replace only the FIELDS block; everything after it is fixed.
First — do you have the fields?
If any field below still has braces around it, stop and ask. Put all the questions in one short message, and show the example under each one so they can see the shape of a useful answer. Wait for the replies, then draw. Never fill a brace yourself: a value you invented is a value nobody asked for, and it will look exactly as considered as the ones they did give you.
Ask in whatever language they are writing to you in. Translate the questions and the examples; do not make someone read English to tell you what they want.
The examples are only examples. If someone answers a question, use their answer; never fall back to the example because you prefer it.
If the fields are already filled in, ignore this and carry on.
Fields — replace these six lines only
- The product, and what it does: {a name, a type, and its job} e.g. Vibary Desk Beacon — a small desktop status light that glows when a build finishes
- The two states: {the first, and the same unit changed} e.g. closed and unlit, beside the same unit lit from within
- Where the ribbing goes: {which surfaces carry it} e.g. the whole diffuser shell, vertical ribs, top and base left smooth
- What shows through: {what is visible behind the shell} e.g. a ring of LEDs and the dark edge of a small board, ghosted behind the shell
- The size: {one real dimension} e.g. 90 mm tall
- The colour: {one low-saturation translucent tone} e.g. ice-white translucent, the glow a soft violet
The same-object law
Two views is the right number and it is where this style breaks.
The second view is the first one changed, and nothing else. Same silhouette. Same proportions. Same corner radius. Same position for every button, seam, vent and port. Only the named change differs — lit instead of dark, lid raised instead of closed, extended instead of retracted.
The failure is not subtle once looked for and is invisible until then: a run of the reference returned a tall rounded capsule beside a square-cornered rectangular case with a side hinge, presented as the same product in two states. Cover one view and compare outlines before shipping.
Both views sit at the same scale and the same camera angle — front-on, or the same slight three-quarter for both. Never one of each.
The size law
One real dimension is printed on the sheet, small, beneath or beside the object, with a hairline marking what it measures.
A product render without a size is a mood board. It is the single cheapest thing that turns one into a proposal, and every template in this genre leaves it out.
Translucency
Something must be visible through the shell, and it must be a real part: a lamp ring, a board edge, a coil, a water line, a stored object. Frosted material with nothing behind it is not translucent, it is white.
- What shows through is softer where the wall is thick and sharper where it thins — at the ribs' troughs, near an edge, by an opening.
- Colour changes come from wall thickness, ribbing and whatever is inside. No painted gradients.
The ribbing
- Continuous, even, precise vertical ribs — a real surface with depth, not a texture laid over the render.
- The same surfaces are ribbed in both views. A shell ribbed closed and smooth open is two mouldings, not one product.
- Smooth zones — cap, base, a control area — are declared once and hold in both views.
Form and detail
- One clear manufacturable volume: a rounded rectangle, a capsule, a cylinder, a soft box, a low base. Nothing organic, nothing sculptural.
- Ports, vents, seams and speaker holes are recessed and quiet — a thin slot, a line of micro-perforations, a shadow gap.
- Controls are a dot, a fine touch line, or a low-brightness indicator. Never a screen, never a labelled panel.
- No brand names, no logos, no legends anywhere on the object.
The sheet
- A flat pale ground — light grey or warm white, filling the frame. Not transparent, not cut out, and no halo or fringe around the object.
- One soft contact shadow directly beneath each view. No reflections, no mirror floor.
- Even, soft, frontal light. No specular hotspots.
Never
- ✕ two views that are not the same object
- ✕ different camera angles or different scales between views
- ✕ a sheet with no dimension on it
- ✕ an empty translucent shell with nothing behind it
- ✕ ribbing in one view and a smooth shell in the other
- ✕ mirror highlights, thin glassy plastic, or heavy metal parts
- ✕ a cut-out background, an outline halo, or a drop shadow standing in for a contact shadow
The result
A sheet that could go into a review: one object you could hold, shown twice without contradicting itself, made of a material that proves itself by what it hides, at a size somebody could argue with.
The whole template, in one piece. The steps below are the entire workflow.
How to use it
- Copy the whole template with the button above.
- Replace the six FIELDS lines. Write the second state as a change to the first — 'the same unit, lit', 'the same case, lid raised' — not as a separate description.
- Paste it into any image-capable agent or model, in one message. One run returns the sheet.
- Before shipping, cover one view and compare silhouettes. If the corners, the proportions or the feature positions differ, the run drew two products and needs doing again.
What you swap
- The product, and what it does
- Vibary Desk Beacon — a small desktop status light that glows when a build finishes
- The two states
- closed and unlit, beside the same unit lit from within
- Where the ribbing goes
- the whole diffuser shell, vertical ribs, top and base left smooth
- What shows through
- a ring of LEDs and the dark edge of a small board, ghosted behind the shell
- The size
- 90 mm tall
- The colour
- ice-white translucent, the glow a soft violet
Before it runs
- A product with something inside worth seeing. Translucency is a material with nothing to do unless something sits behind it.
- A real dimension. Guessing one is fine; leaving it out is what keeps these renders decorative.
- A second state that is genuinely the first one changed — lit, opened, extended. Two unrelated poses are two products.
When to reach for it
When the thing being designed is a physical object rather than a page: a lamp, a case, a speaker, a humidifier, a desk device. Templates in this style describe the material beautifully and never say how many views there are, so a model volunteers a second one and quietly draws a different product in it.
What changes
- One clean product sheet: the object closed and open, side by side on a pale ground, rendered like an industrial-design presentation rather than a photograph.
- The two views are held to being the same object — same silhouette, same corner radius, same feature positions — which is the thing these templates never check.
- The size is stated on the sheet, so the render stops being a mood board and becomes a proposal.
- Translucency is proved rather than described: something real sits behind the shell, because a frosted box with nothing inside is just frosted plastic.
- One ribbed material, applied to the same surfaces in both views, so the object reads as manufactured rather than assembled from two renders.
Pairs with
- Every Finger Gets a LineAn industrial-design interaction study — hands operating one product, drawn in pen line — sized and separated so the hands survive being the subject. Six fields.
- The Shaft Runs the Whole WayAn exploded product view on white — parts strung along one axis in assembly order, with anything that passes through drawn long enough to reach everything it passes through. Five fields.
- Count Both SidesA value-proposition canvas — a square facing a circle, three regions each — where the two halves are written as pairs, so anything unmatched shows up instead of hiding in a list. Six fields.