This is all highly educational, and makes me feel like GraphViz was definitely the correct pick for this project. It’s highly versatile tooling that seems less magic the more I learn about it. Working with the distinct individual phases of the process is something I haven’t touched at all, yet. So far, I figured that most of my future work would happen exclusively on the SVG layer, after rendering.
After working more with the version that has no minlen properties, it grows on me. More density seems more aesthetically pleasing and impressive, than having to scroll through empty time-space. The latter also has its merits, but I feel like I will enjoy the journey ahead more if I ignore the spacing for the time being, and focus on other aspects of the work that have more short-term rewards. I will most definitely pick it up again though, for the included learning experience.
As soon as I end up with a working implementation of the remaining suggestion, I will definitely share it here for future readers.