open-design/docs/examples/DESIGN.sample.md

Warm Editorial

Sample DESIGN.md demonstrating the 9-section format. Used as a reference / test fixture. Referenced from ../spec.md, ../skills-protocol.md, ../modes.md.

Visual Theme & Atmosphere

Warm, unhurried, magazine-like. Think "a New Yorker interview column online." Generous whitespace, long-form readability, restrained chrome. Playful but never novelty.

Color Palette & Roles

• Background: #FAF7F2 (warm off-white paper)
• Foreground: #1C1A17 (near-black, slightly warm)
• Accent (primary): #C0512F (terracotta) — used for links, primary CTAs, 1 hero element max per page
• Accent (secondary): #2F5B4F (forest) — section dividers, tags
• Muted: #8A817A (mid-warm-grey) — timestamps, metadata
• Surface: #FFFFFF — elevated cards only Never use pure black or pure white anywhere user-facing.

Typography Rules

• Display / headings: "GT Sectra" or fallback serif ('GT Sectra', 'Times New Roman', serif)
• Body: "Söhne" or fallback sans ('Söhne', -apple-system, system-ui, sans-serif)
• Mono: 'JetBrains Mono', ui-monospace, monospace for code only
• Scale (px): 12 · 14 · 16 · 20 · 28 · 40 · 56 · 80
• Line-height: 1.6 for body, 1.2 for display
• Letter-spacing: -0.02em for display sizes above 40px; default elsewhere

Component Stylings

• Buttons: flat fill, 12px radius, 14px padding-block, 20px padding-inline. Primary = terracotta fill, off-white label. Secondary = outlined 1px foreground, transparent fill.
• Cards: off-white background, 1px forest-at-8%-opacity border, 16px radius, 24–32px internal padding. No shadow except hover (y+2px, blur 16, foreground-at-6%).
• Inputs: underline only (no box), 1px muted baseline, terracotta baseline on focus, 16px vertical padding.
• Links: terracotta, 1px terracotta-at-40% underline, no underline on hover (swap for terracotta-at-8% background).

Layout Principles

• 12-column grid, 1200px max-width, 24px gutters.
• Hero sections: 72vh minimum, 120vh maximum. Content top-biased, never centered vertically.
• Body sections: 80px top+bottom spacing at desktop; 48px at tablet; 32px at phone.
• One accent color per screen. If a page has a terracotta hero, secondary CTAs are foreground-only, not forest.

Depth & Elevation

Minimal. Only two elevation levels:

• Flat (0): everything by default.
• Raised (1): cards on hover, dropdown menus, floating CTAs. 2px y-offset, 16px blur, foreground at 6% opacity. No shadows on inputs. No shadows on the hero. No neumorphism, no glassmorphism.

Do's and Don'ts

• ✅ Let whitespace breathe. A short headline on 50% of the viewport height is correct.
• ✅ Use serif for numbers when they matter (pricing, stats).
• ✅ Draw one accent element per page; the rest is foreground.
• ❌ No gradients.
• ❌ No emojis in product copy.
• ❌ No sentence-case for headings — use title case for H1/H2, sentence case for H3 and below.
• ❌ No border-radius above 24px; no border-radius below 8px.

Responsive Behavior

• Desktop ≥ 1024px: 12-col grid, full hero heights, side-by-side columns.
• Tablet 640–1023px: 8-col grid; hero drops to 60vh; columns stack at 3+.
• Phone < 640px: 4-col grid; single-column layout; hero drops to 50vh; all padding -33%.

Agent Prompt Guide

When generating artifacts against this design system:

• Lead with typography and whitespace; chrome (borders, shadows) is subtractive.
• If you need more than one accent element on a screen, you're doing too much — cut one.
• When asked for "professional" or "serious," lean harder on serif + whitespace. When asked for "modern," this system isn't the right answer; pick a different DESIGN.md.
• Color tokens are non-negotiable. Do not invent new hex values. If the request needs a color outside this palette, produce a warning comment in the artifact and use the closest existing token.
• Prefer 1 hero + 3–5 body sections over 1 hero + 8+ sections. Editorial means restraint.