V2 SHAPE / opus-2

Centre-gutter spine

The bet: the thread runs straight down the middle. Sketches straddle it, evidence alternates left and right of it like a vertical timeline. Symmetry makes the "single line of thought" feel inevitable rather than imposed by a sidebar.

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spine (centre) straddling sketch evidence block (alternates side) living mark sticky chapter header
Desktop ~980px viewport
134
ALPHA SHIFTHomeThink · Show Up · StayProgrammesChetanLet’s Explore
Home

Something on your mind?

S1
STICKY: the missing piece
[chapter copy unfolds LEFT of the line]
S2
STICKY: Make the shift.
[evidence unfolds RIGHT of the line]
Programmes
[programme 1]
[programme 2]
[programme 3]
[programme 4]
[programme 5]
[programme 6]
S3
How we work
[how we work]
Chetan
[Chetan, late + brief]
Let’s Explore
[form. the line ends here]
Marked for return[straddle chip][chip][+]
[footer]
Mobile 390px (gutter collapses left, nodes inline)
ALPHA SHIFT≡
Home

Something on your mind?

S1
STICKY: missing piece
[chapter, single column]
S2
STICKY: Make the shift.
[shift chapter]
Programmes
[programme 1]
[programme 2]
[programme 3]
S3
Chetan
[Chetan]
Let’s Explore
[form]
Return tray[bottom pill]
[footer]

Structural bets

  1. [1] The spine is a centre gutter: it starts under the hero and runs dead-centre to the form, which is where the line terminates.
  2. Sketch milestones straddle the line as centred circular nodes. The line visibly threads through each sketch rather than passing beside it.
  3. [3]/[4] Evidence alternates side: chapter 1 unfolds left of the line, chapter 2 right, giving a walked, back-and-forth reading rhythm.
  4. Chapter headers pin sticky as their block scrolls, holding the thought while evidence passes underneath.
  5. The living mark walks straight down the centre line, dead simple to follow.
  6. Programmes break the alternation with one full-width band the line runs behind, a deliberate breath before the person section.
  7. On 390px the gutter collapses to a near-left thread and everything single-columns; nodes tuck inline so the alternation does not fight the narrow width.
  8. Mark-and-return is a centred dock under the fold; chips are the straddle nodes you marked.
Main risk: centre-line timelines are a familiar "resume / roadmap" trope and can read generic; the alternating columns also halve line-length and get fragile on mid-width tablets (the 700-820px band) where neither the two-column nor the collapsed layout looks right.