MindAttic.Helpers

Dependency-free .NET helpers — including a deterministic abstract-art generator that turns any string into a stable SVG fingerprint.

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MindAttic.Helpers

Small, dependency-free helpers shared across the MindAttic ecosystem.

The first helper is AbstractArtGenerator — a deterministic generative-art engine that turns any string seed into a stable SVG "fingerprint" image. The same seed always produces the same picture, so it's perfect for avatars, project tiles, or persona portraits keyed by a slug. It's a faithful port of the generative art on mindattic.com, so everything it draws shares the house style: a deep gradient ground, a scatter of translucent shapes, and one bold accent letter.

Use it #

using MindAttic.Helpers;

// A base64 data URI — drop straight into <img src> or CSS background-image:
string uri = AbstractArtGenerator.DataUri("persona-0042");

// Or the raw 300×300 SVG, with an optional letter override:
string svg = AbstractArtGenerator.Svg("persona-0042", initial: 'M');

<img src="@AbstractArtGenerator.DataUri(persona.Id)" alt="@persona.Name" />

How it works #

  1. Seed → stream. The seed string is hashed with FNV-1a (32-bit) and advanced by a Numerical-Recipes LCG — the exact same deterministic stream as the website.
  2. Palette. One of 16 curated palettes (deep teal / indigo / purple / charcoal grounds, each with a single neon accent).
  3. Composition. A random-direction two-stop linear gradient, 5–8 translucent shapes (circles, rotated rectangles, triangles) that bleed past the frame, and a single large initial letter in the accent colour.
  4. Output. A self-contained 300×300 SVG (or its base64 data URI). No network, no files, no fonts to ship.

Deterministic by construction: feed it the same slug anywhere — server, client, build step — and you get pixel-identical art.

Install #

<PackageReference Include="MindAttic.Helpers" Version="0.1.0" />

MIT licensed. Part of the MindAttic ecosystem.