--- version: "alpha" name: "Brutalism" description: "Brutalist design with raw, unpolished, stark aesthetic. Ideal for creative portfolio, design agency, experimental blog, digital art. AI-ready template." colors: primary: "#FF0000" secondary: "#0000FF" tertiary: "#FFFF00" neutral: "#000000" surface: "#FFFFFF" accent: "#00FF00" typography: h1: fontFamily: system-ui, monospace fontSize: 2.25rem fontWeight: 700 body-md: fontFamily: system-ui, monospace fontSize: 1rem fontWeight: 400 label-caps: fontFamily: system-ui, monospace fontSize: 0.75rem fontWeight: 500 rounded: sm: 2px md: 4px lg: 8px components: button-primary: backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}" textColor: "{colors.neutral}" rounded: "{rounded.sm}" padding: 12px --- ## Overview Brutalist design with raw, unpolished, stark aesthetic. Ideal for creative portfolio, design agency, experimental blog, digital art. AI-ready template. The name comes from béton brut — raw concrete. Le Corbusier wasn't trying to be ugly. He was trying to be honest. The Brutalist architects of the 1950s stripped buildings down to structure and material because they believed ornamentation was a lie. Agree or not, the conviction was real. Web brutalism hit its stride around 2016. Bloomberg's site redesign shocked people. Craigslist suddenly looked intentional rather than outdated. Designers started asking: what if we just... didn't polish things? What if the grid showed through? What if Times New Roman was a choice? Now in 2026 we're deep into Anti-Design 2.0 — a second wave that's less about shock value and more about rejecting the sameness of design systems that all converged on the same rounded corners and soft shadows. Designers keep returning to brutalism because the web got too comfortable. Every SaaS looks identical. Brutalism is the antidote to that specific boredom. It's not rebellion for its own sake anymore. It's a legitimate design position. - Density: 5/10 — Balanced - Variance: 7/10 — Dynamic - Motion: 4/10 — Subtle - **Style:** Raw, Unpolished, High-Contrast, Anti-Design - **Keywords:** Raw, unpolished, stark, high contrast, plain text, default fonts, visible borders, asymmetric, anti-design - **Era:** 1950s Brutalist - **Light/Dark:** ✓ Full / ✓ Full ## Colors - **Red** (#FF0000) — Error states, destructive actions - **Blue** (#0000FF) — Accent highlight, links and focus states - **Yellow** (#FFFF00) — Warning states, attention indicators - **Black** (#000000) — Dark surface, primary background - **White** (#FFFFFF) — Light surface, card backgrounds - **Neon Green** (#00FF00) — Success states, positive indicators - **Hot Pink** (#FF00FF) — Primary text color ## Typography - **Display / Hero:** system-ui or monospace — Weight 700, tight tracking, used for headline impact - **Body:** system-ui or monospace — Weight 400, 16px/1.6 line-height, max 72ch per line - **UI Labels / Captions:** system-ui or monospace — 0.875rem, weight 500, slight letter-spacing - **Monospace:** system-ui or monospace — Used for code, metadata, and technical values Scale: - Hero: clamp(2.5rem, 5vw, 4rem) - H1: 2.25rem - H2: 1.5rem - Body: 1rem / 1.6 - Small: 0.875rem ## Layout - **Grid:** CSS Grid primary. Max-width containment: 1280px centered with 1.5rem side padding. - **Spacing rhythm:** Balanced. Base unit: 0.5rem (8px). - **Section vertical gaps:** clamp(4rem, 8vw, 8rem). - **Hero layout:** Asymmetric composition. - **Feature sections:** Asymmetric grid with varied card sizes. No 3-equal-columns. - **Mobile collapse:** All multi-column layouts collapse below 768px. No horizontal overflow. - **z-index contract:** base (0) / sticky-nav (100) / overlay (200) / modal (300) / toast (500). ## Elevation & Depth No smooth transitions (instant), sharp corners (0px), bold typography (700+), visible grid, large blocks - **Physics:** Ease-out curves, 200-300ms duration. Smooth and predictable. - **Entry animations:** Fade + translate-Y (16px → 0) over 420ms ease-out. Staggered cascades for lists: 80ms between items. - **Hover states:** Subtle color shift + shadow adjustment over 200ms. - **Page transitions:** Fade only (200ms). - **Performance:** Only transform and opacity animated. No layout-triggering properties. ## Shapes Base corner radius: 0px. See rounded tokens in front matter for the full scale. ## Components - **Primary Button:** Sharp edges (0px) shape. Accent color fill. Hover: 8% darken + subtle lift shadow. Active: -1px translate tactile press. Font weight 600. No outer glows. - **Secondary / Ghost Button:** Outline variant. 1.5px border in muted color. Text in primary color. Hover: subtle background fill. - **Cards:** Sharp edges (0px) corners. Surface background. Subtle shadow (0 2px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.06)). 1px border stroke. - **Inputs:** Label above input. 1px border stroke. Focus ring: 2px accent color offset 2px. Error text below in semantic red. No floating labels. - **Navigation:** Primary surface background. Active item: accent color indicator. Font weight 500 when active. - **Skeletons:** Shimmer animation matching component dimensions. No circular spinners. - **Empty States:** Icon-based composition with descriptive text and action button. ## Do's and Don'ts - No emojis in UI — use icon system only (Lucide, Heroicons) - No pure black (#000000) — use off-black or charcoal variants - No oversaturated accent colors (saturation cap: 80%) - No 3-column equal-width feature layouts — use zig-zag or asymmetric grid - No `h-screen` — use `min-h-[100dvh]` - No AI copywriting clichés: "Elevate", "Seamless", "Unleash", "Next-Gen" - No broken external image links — use picsum.photos or inline SVG - No generic lorem ipsum in demos - Do No border-radius (0px) - Do No transitions (instant) - Do Bold typography (700+) - Do Pure primary colors used - Do Visible grid/borders - Do Asymmetric layout intentional ## Use Case Creative portfolio, Design agency, Experimental blog, Digital art