A1's spiral, re-cast per your notes: the big square carries the welcome and a floating New-project CTA; the second becomes the pipeline’s science; a tip fills the freed third cell; “Set up your AI” shrinks to a tiny link under a subdued icon that gently cross-fades through the LLMs; and the smallest cell is a moment of delight. Motion is deliberately slow. Respects prefers-reduced-motion.
Murmuration / shoal. Ties to the existing motion language and the fish namesake. Abstract, tasteful, no character. Later it could react to real activity.
A drifting bristlenose. A single fish idles across, occasionally. The boldest brand nod — a quiet easter egg, not a mascot. Watch the taste line (you dislike cute guides).
A rotating aphorism. A tiny, dry research line that changes each launch. Words, not motion — safest, but less “surprising.”