--- version: "alpha" name: "Sakura Chroma" description: "Sakura Chroma — Vintage Japanese cassette-package aesthetic: cream paper, diagonal rainbow ribbons, condensed bold type, JIS-style spec checkboxes. Big Shoulders Display typography. warm cream paper canvas with dark warm-brown ink and a six-colour primary palett. Best for product launch or catalogue, indie hardware or analog studio brand, music label or release schedule. AI-ready design system." colors: primary: "#F1E6CB" secondary: "#3A2516" tertiary: "#E5392A" neutral: "#E54489" surface: "#F09131" accent: "#F0BC2A" typography: h1: fontFamily: Barlow Condensed fontSize: 2.5rem fontWeight: 700 body-md: fontFamily: Barlow Condensed 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 Sakura Chroma — Vintage Japanese cassette-package aesthetic: cream paper, diagonal rainbow ribbons, condensed bold type, JIS-style spec checkboxes. Big Shoulders Display typography. warm cream paper canvas with dark warm-brown ink and a six-colour primary palett. Best for product launch or catalogue, indie hardware or analog studio brand, music label or release schedule. AI-ready design system. The Japanese cassette tape wasn't just a medium — it was a canvas. Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, independent labels in Tokyo and Osaka turned tape packaging into miniature graphic design exhibitions. Rainbow-spectrum gradients, holographic foils, and condensed sans-serifs crammed onto J-cards created a visual language that screamed maximalism before the word entered design discourse. These weren't accidents of taste; they were deliberate acts of rebellion against the sterile minimalism already creeping into corporate Japan. Barlow Condensed lives in that same tension — industrial bones dressed in pop clothing. It's a typeface that wants to be loud without shouting, dense without suffocating. Pair it with chromatic ribbon motifs and you get something that feels like finding a pristine City Pop cassette in a Shimokitazawa record shop. The nostalgia is real, but the energy is forward-facing. Sakura Chroma takes this lineage seriously. It doesn't cosplay as retro — it understands why those designers made those choices and translates the intent, not just the aesthetic, into a system that works on screens. - Density: 5/10 — Balanced - Variance: 2/10 — Structured - Motion: 4/10 — Subtle - **Style:** Vintage Japanese, Tactile, Product-Catalogue, Kawaii-Tech - **Keywords:** Japanese cassette, rainbow ribbons, Barlow Condensed, vintage, kawaii-tech, tactile, product-catalogue - **Era:** 1980s Retro - **Light/Dark:** ✓ Full / ✗ None ## Colors - **Paper** (#F1E6CB) — Primary surface or dominant color - **Ink** (#3A2516) — Accent highlight, links and focus states - **Red** (#E5392A) — Secondary accent - **Pink** (#E54489) — Accent color, emphasis elements - **Orange** (#F09131) — Extended palette, decorative use - **Yellow** (#F0BC2A) — Background alternate - **Green** (#3D9F47) — Muted text / borders - **Blue** (#3F8BC4) — Extended palette ## Typography - **Display / Hero:** Big Shoulders Display — Weight 700, tight tracking, used for headline impact - **Body:** Albert Sans — Weight 400, 16px/1.6 line-height, max 72ch per line - **UI Labels / Captions:** Albert Sans — 0.875rem, weight 500, slight letter-spacing - **Monospace:** JetBrains Mono — 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 Big Shoulders Display for hero headlines, playful hover animations (scale 1.03, 200ms), bouncy click states, diagonal rainbow ribbon stripes, condensed display lockups, JIS checkbox specs - **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: 4px. See rounded tokens in front matter for the full scale. ## Components - **Primary Button:** 4px 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:** 4px 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 Big Shoulders Display 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 Mobile responsive layout (stack below 768px) ## Use Case product launch or catalogue, indie hardware or analog studio brand, music label or release schedule, creative studio annual report, magazine or zine pitch, vintage-flavored brand campaign