--- version: "alpha" name: "Retro Windows" description: "Retro Windows — Windows 95 chrome: gray title bars, MS Sans Serif, pixel typography, full nostalgia. Press Start 2P typography. Windows 95 system palette: 3D-button gray, navy title bars, pixel-perfect inset/. Best for retro gaming pitch, Y2K brand, creator portfolio (90s aesthetic). AI-ready design system." colors: primary: "#C0C0C0" secondary: "#D4D0C8" tertiary: "#000080" neutral: "#1084D0" surface: "#FFFFFF" accent: "#000000" typography: h1: fontFamily: MS Sans Serif fontSize: 2.5rem fontWeight: 700 body-md: fontFamily: MS Sans Serif fontSize: 1rem fontWeight: 400 spacing: sm: 1.5rem md: 3.0rem lg: 6.0rem components: button-primary: backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}" textColor: "{colors.neutral}" padding: 12px --- ## Overview Retro Windows — Windows 95 chrome: gray title bars, MS Sans Serif, pixel typography, full nostalgia. Press Start 2P typography. Windows 95 system palette: 3D-button gray, navy title bars, pixel-perfect inset/. Best for retro gaming pitch, Y2K brand, creator portfolio (90s aesthetic). AI-ready design system. Windows 95 wasn't just an operating system — it was the entire visual vocabulary of personal computing for a decade. That grey chrome, those beveled buttons, the inset borders that made every panel feel like a physical object you could press. Microsoft's design team built a UI language rooted in skeuomorphism before we had a word for it: raised surfaces caught light from the top-left, depressed areas fell into shadow at the bottom-right. It was consistent, learnable, and brutally systematic. The aesthetic died slowly through XP's Fisher-Price curves and Vista's glass fetish, but it never fully disappeared from collective memory. Millennials who grew up dragging Solitaire cards and customizing Winamp skins carry this visual language in their bones. When developers put Windows 95 dialogs in their portfolio sites or indie games ship with pixel-perfect title bars, they're not just being ironic — they're tapping into a shared understanding of what "computer" looked like before everything went flat. Today the style functions as both genuine nostalgia and deliberate anti-design statement. It says: we remember when interfaces had texture, weight, and a 16-color palette that somehow felt like enough. - Density: 5/10 — Balanced - Variance: 2/10 — Structured - Motion: 4/10 — Subtle - **Style:** Nostalgia, Retro-Digital, Win95, Geeky - **Keywords:** Windows 95, grey chrome, 3D inset borders, MS Sans Serif, nostalgic, retro, pixelated, geeky - **Era:** 1990s Digital - **Light/Dark:** ✓ Full / ✗ None ## Colors - **Bg Gray** (#C0C0C0) — Primary surface or dominant color - **Bg Light** (#D4D0C8) — Accent highlight, links and focus states - **Blue Navy** (#000080) — Secondary accent - **Blue Light** (#1084D0) — Accent color, emphasis elements - **White** (#FFFFFF) — Extended palette, decorative use - **Black** (#000000) — Background alternate ## Typography - **Display / Hero:** Press Start 2P — Weight 700, tight tracking, used for headline impact - **Body:** MS Sans Serif — Weight 400, 16px/1.6 line-height, max 72ch per line - **UI Labels / Captions:** MS Sans Serif — 0.875rem, weight 500, slight letter-spacing - **Monospace:** VT323 — 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:** Split-screen (text left, visual right). - **Feature sections:** Zig-zag alternating text+image rows. 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 display font Press Start 2P for hero headlines, playful hover animations (scale 1.03, 200ms), bouncy click states, Win95 grey title bars, inset 3D borders (ridge/groove), MS Sans Serif - **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:** 0px border-radius. 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:** 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 Press Start 2P display font loaded via Google Fonts - Do Color palette variables applied consistently - Do Typography scale: hero clamp(2.5rem,5vw,4rem) - Do H1 2.25rem - Do body 1rem/1.6 - Do WCAG AA contrast ratio verified (4.5:1 body text) - Do CRT / retro pixel decorations included - Do Mobile responsive layout (stack below 768px) ## Use Case retro gaming pitch, Y2K brand, creator portfolio (90s aesthetic), tech-history talk, shitpost-but-make-it-fancy deck