← the comparison (all marks side by side)
Kestrel logo — the iteration record
Every version, not just the finals — the most honest part of a cross-model workshop is watching each model think. Each round is shown in the form that tells its story: Codex as per-mark version strips (its story was refinement — 26 versions, recovered from its own session transcript and verified byte-for-byte against the shipped SVGs); Claude and Opus as whole-comp iterations (their story was culling, so the full board matters more than any one mark).
Round 1 · Claude Fable 5
Whole-comp iterations. Two passes before showing — the windhover strokes and the K-bird badge were refined; the tail fan and paper kestrel landed in one shot.
Round 2 · Codex (gpt-5.6-sol ultra) — every version, in write order
Recovered by replaying Codex's apply_patch history. Codex kept going
well past its own first "DONE," abandoning whole concepts and starting over — the names below are its
latest, read live from its rationale.
A compact side bird in four cut-paper shapes: long tail, dark folded wing, and blunt hooked beak.
A calm upright kestrel with a long tail and one folded wing, drawn like a small 1950s trademark.
One broad raised wing, swelling through the shoulder and opening into a shallow feather cleft.
Round 3 · Opus 4.8 — the cull
Whole-comp iterations, kept honest: four timid marks culled to two. The falcon head failed three times (chat bubble → rodent → fish) and got cut rather than shipped.
