Civic Press

# Civic Press

## Philosophy

Civic Press is a design language for cultural institutions and the programmes they run — theatres, museums, festivals, libraries, community halls. It treats every screen like the printed programme pinned by the door: legible from across the foyer, honest about what's left, and warm enough to feel public-spirited rather than corporate. It evolves Constructive Grid Modernism's Swiss discipline and sharpens it with one governing idea — colour is a live demand signal, not decoration.

### Values

- Legible at a glance
- Honest about availability
- Public, not corporate
- The grid as civic order
- Warmth without preciousness

### Anti-Values

- Decorative gradients
- Dark corporate dashboards
- Hype and spectacle
- Hidden availability
- Four or more accents

## Tokens

### Colors

| Name | Value |
|------|-------|
| primary | `#C8442A` |
| secondary | `#14213D` |
| accent | `#E8A33D` |
| background | `#FFFFFF` |
| surface | `#FFFFFF` |
| text | `#000000` |
| muted | `#5F5F5F` |
| border | `#000000` |
| error | `#C8442A` |
| success | `#007A3D` |
| warning | `#FFD400` |
| info | `#14213D` |
| neutral_100 | `#F3F3F3` |
| neutral_200 | `#D9D9D9` |
| black | `#000000` |
| white | `#FFFFFF` |

### Typography

- **Heading Font**: IBM Plex Sans Condensed
- **Body Font**: IBM Plex Sans
- **Mono Font**: IBM Plex Mono
- **Base Size**: 16px
- **Scale Ratio**: 1.25
- **Line Height**: 1.42
- **Letter Spacing**: -0.02em
- **Google Fonts Url**: https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400;500;600&family=IBM+Plex+Sans+Condensed:wght@500;600;700&family=IBM+Plex+Sans:wght@400;500;600;700&display=swap

### Spacing

- **Base**: 8px
- **Scale**: ["4px","8px","12px","16px","24px","32px","48px","64px","96px"]

### Radii

- **None**: 0px
- **Sm**: 0px
- **Md**: 16px
- **Lg**: 16px
- **Full**: 9999px

### Shadows

- **Sm**: 3px 3px 0 #000000
- **Md**: 6px 6px 0 #000000
- **Lg**: 10px 10px 0 #000000

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: flat
- **Card Style**: Flat white rectangular panels with black 2px borders, internal ruled dividers, and occasional offset black slab shadows.
- **Bg Pattern**: grid

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 2px
- **Accent Width**: 8px
- **Style**: solid
- **Character**: Hard black construction lines that behave like print crop marks and Swiss grid rules rather than decorative outlines.

### Motion

- **Duration**: 140ms
- **Easing**: cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)
- **Philosophy**: snappy, mechanical state changes with no bounce and no ornamental animation

## Rules

### Heat Scale

Availability is read as warmth on one scale — ink (plenty) -> green (good) -> amber (filling) -> ember (almost gone) -> ink-on-ember (sold out). Status pills, demand bars and seat maps all use it; colour is never decorative.

### Composition

Visible 12-column construction grid; asymmetric, left-weighted poster composition. The screen reads like the programme pinned by the door.

### Metadata

Dates, times, venues, durations and prices are set in IBM Plex Mono as fine print — a printed programme's caption layer.

### Working Blocks

Dense data (schedules, seat maps, wayfinding) sits in ink working-blocks; headlines breathe in white poster space.

### Hierarchy

Condensed display sets the headline; the heat signal sets the priority; mono carries the facts.

### Density

Tiered — poster-loose at the top, programme-dense in the middle, fine-print at the bottom.

## Layout

### Grid

12-column rational grid, visible alignment, asymmetric and left-weighted.

### Density

Tiered by section: hero (loose) -> schedule/timeline/seat-map (dense) -> metadata (fine print).

### Whitespace

Generous; titles always carry padding above them.

### Radii

0 / 16 / 9999 only; no borders.

### Breakpoints

- **Sm**: 640
- **Md**: 860
- **Lg**: 1200

## Guidance

### Do

- Let ember mean scarcity — reserve it for 'almost gone' and live signals.
- Keep ink for text, structure and dense data.
- Set all metadata in mono, like a printed programme.
- Pair imagery with the Risograph Ember art style.
- Give titles room; align everything to the grid.

### Don't

- Tint backgrounds or use gradients.
- Spend ember decoratively or as a fourth-accent flourish.
- Hide availability or fake scarcity.
- Add borders.
- Let amber and ember compete at equal weight.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With Art Style

risograph-ember

### Summary

Two-ink risograph prints (ember + ink) on warm off-white paper — gig-poster and printed-programme energy. Bold flat shapes, visible halftone grain, slight misregistration. No photography, no gradients.

### Subjects

- modernist civic architecture
- performers and audiences
- single bold objects
- wayfinding and transit

### Usage

One large riso hero per landing; portrait/feature crops for featured events; never decorative texture.

---
version: "alpha"
name: "Civic Press"
description: "Agent-curated design language exported from Katagami as DESIGN.md."
colors:
  primary: "#C8442A"
  secondary: "#14213D"
  accent: "#E8A33D"
  background: "#FFFFFF"
  surface: "#FFFFFF"
  text: "#000000"
  muted: "#5F5F5F"
  border: "#000000"
  error: "#C8442A"
  success: "#007A3D"
  warning: "#FFD400"
  info: "#14213D"
  neutral_100: "#F3F3F3"
  neutral_200: "#D9D9D9"
  black: "#000000"
  white: "#FFFFFF"
typography:
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: "IBM Plex Sans Condensed"
    fontSize: "1.953rem"
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.1
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  headline-md:
    fontFamily: "IBM Plex Sans Condensed"
    fontSize: "1.563rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.15
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  body-md:
    fontFamily: "IBM Plex Sans"
    fontSize: "16px"
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.42
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  label-md:
    fontFamily: "IBM Plex Mono"
    fontSize: "0.75rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1
    letterSpacing: "0.08em"
rounded:
  none: "0px"
  sm: "0px"
  md: "16px"
  lg: "16px"
  full: "9999px"
spacing:
  base: "8px"
  xs: "4px"
  sm: "8px"
  md: "12px"
  lg: "16px"
  xl: "24px"
  2xl: "32px"
  3xl: "48px"
  4xl: "64px"
  step-8: "96px"
components:
  color-reference-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
  color-reference-secondary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.secondary}"
  color-reference-accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.accent}"
  color-reference-background:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.background}"
  color-reference-surface:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
  color-reference-text:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.text}"
  color-reference-muted:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.muted}"
  color-reference-border:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.border}"
  color-reference-error:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.error}"
  color-reference-success:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.success}"
  color-reference-warning:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.warning}"
  color-reference-info:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.info}"
  color-reference-neutral_100:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.neutral_100}"
  color-reference-neutral_200:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.neutral_200}"
  color-reference-black:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.black}"
  color-reference-white:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.white}"
  button-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
    textColor: "#ffffff"
    typography: "{typography.label-md}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: "{spacing.md}"
  card-surface:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.text}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: "{spacing.md}"
  input-default:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.text}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    height: "44px"
---

# Civic Press

## Overview

Civic Press is a design language for cultural institutions and the programmes they run — theatres, museums, festivals, libraries, community halls. It treats every screen like the printed programme pinned by the door: legible from across the foyer, honest about what's left, and warm enough to feel public-spirited rather than corporate. It evolves Constructive Grid Modernism's Swiss discipline and sharpens it with one governing idea — colour is a live demand signal, not decoration.

### Values

- Legible at a glance
- Honest about availability
- Public, not corporate
- The grid as civic order
- Warmth without preciousness

### Anti-Values

- Decorative gradients
- Dark corporate dashboards
- Hype and spectacle
- Hidden availability
- Four or more accents

## Colors

Use the YAML color tokens as the normative palette. The prose below names the roles agents should preserve when generating UI.

| Token | Value |
|-------|-------|
| primary | `#C8442A` |
| secondary | `#14213D` |
| accent | `#E8A33D` |
| background | `#FFFFFF` |
| surface | `#FFFFFF` |
| text | `#000000` |
| muted | `#5F5F5F` |
| border | `#000000` |
| error | `#C8442A` |
| success | `#007A3D` |
| warning | `#FFD400` |
| info | `#14213D` |
| neutral_100 | `#F3F3F3` |
| neutral_200 | `#D9D9D9` |
| black | `#000000` |
| white | `#FFFFFF` |

## Typography

- **Headline-Lg**: IBM Plex Sans Condensed, 1.953rem, weight 700, line-height 1.1.
- **Headline-Md**: IBM Plex Sans Condensed, 1.563rem, weight 600, line-height 1.15.
- **Body-Md**: IBM Plex Sans, 16px, weight 400, line-height 1.42.
- **Label-Md**: IBM Plex Mono, 0.75rem, weight 600, line-height 1.

## Layout

### Spacing Tokens

- **Base**: `8px`
- **Xs**: `4px`
- **Sm**: `8px`
- **Md**: `12px`
- **Lg**: `16px`
- **Xl**: `24px`
- **2xl**: `32px`
- **3xl**: `48px`
- **4xl**: `64px`
- **Step-8**: `96px`

### Grid

12-column rational grid, visible alignment, asymmetric and left-weighted.

### Density

Tiered by section: hero (loose) -> schedule/timeline/seat-map (dense) -> metadata (fine print).

### Whitespace

Generous; titles always carry padding above them.

### Radii

0 / 16 / 9999 only; no borders.

### Breakpoints

- **Sm**: 640
- **Md**: 860
- **Lg**: 1200

## Elevation & Depth

### Shadows

- **Sm**: 3px 3px 0 #000000
- **Md**: 6px 6px 0 #000000
- **Lg**: 10px 10px 0 #000000

## Shapes

### Rounded

- **None**: `0px`
- **Sm**: `0px`
- **Md**: `16px`
- **Lg**: `16px`
- **Full**: `9999px`

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: flat
- **Card Style**: Flat white rectangular panels with black 2px borders, internal ruled dividers, and occasional offset black slab shadows.
- **Bg Pattern**: grid

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 2px
- **Accent Width**: 8px
- **Style**: solid
- **Character**: Hard black construction lines that behave like print crop marks and Swiss grid rules rather than decorative outlines.

## Components

### Heat Scale

Availability is read as warmth on one scale — ink (plenty) -> green (good) -> amber (filling) -> ember (almost gone) -> ink-on-ember (sold out). Status pills, demand bars and seat maps all use it; colour is never decorative.

### Composition

Visible 12-column construction grid; asymmetric, left-weighted poster composition. The screen reads like the programme pinned by the door.

### Metadata

Dates, times, venues, durations and prices are set in IBM Plex Mono as fine print — a printed programme's caption layer.

### Working Blocks

Dense data (schedules, seat maps, wayfinding) sits in ink working-blocks; headlines breathe in white poster space.

### Hierarchy

Condensed display sets the headline; the heat signal sets the priority; mono carries the facts.

### Density

Tiered — poster-loose at the top, programme-dense in the middle, fine-print at the bottom.

## shadcn/ui Usage

When the target app uses shadcn/ui, copy DESIGN.md with shadcn instead of the plain DESIGN.md. It contains the same Katagami design-language source plus the shadcn/ui primitives, imports, theme variables, component recipes, and preview-shot guidance.

DESIGN.md with shadcn: `/language/en-019ef593-0eda-71c1-b412-f7f6fccf2570/DESIGN.with-shadcn.md`.

The shadcn page also exposes optional machine-readable files for automation, but the human-facing handoff is DESIGN.md with shadcn.

Install recommended primitives with `npx shadcn@latest add button card input textarea select dialog sheet tabs badge separator checkbox switch slider tooltip dropdown-menu table`.

Use these primitives in shadcn apps:
- button
- card
- input
- textarea
- select
- dialog
- sheet
- tabs
- badge
- separator
- checkbox
- switch
- slider
- tooltip
- dropdown-menu
- table

Implementation rule for agents: import shadcn primitives from `@/components/ui/*`, apply the generated CSS variables first, then compose the language-specific recipes from the companion MD. Katagami remains the source of truth; shadcn names are the implementation surface.

## Do's and Don'ts

- Do Let ember mean scarcity — reserve it for 'almost gone' and live signals.
- Do Keep ink for text, structure and dense data.
- Do Set all metadata in mono, like a printed programme.
- Do Pair imagery with the Risograph Ember art style.
- Do Give titles room; align everything to the grid.
- Don't Tint backgrounds or use gradients.
- Don't Spend ember decoratively or as a fourth-accent flourish.
- Don't Hide availability or fake scarcity.
- Don't Add borders.
- Don't Let amber and ember compete at equal weight.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With Art Style

risograph-ember

### Summary

Two-ink risograph prints (ember + ink) on warm off-white paper — gig-poster and printed-programme energy. Bold flat shapes, visible halftone grain, slight misregistration. No photography, no gradients.

### Subjects

- modernist civic architecture
- performers and audiences
- single bold objects
- wayfinding and transit

### Usage

One large riso hero per landing; portrait/feature crops for featured events; never decorative texture.

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema/registry-item.json",
  "name": "civic-press",
  "type": "registry:theme",
  "title": "Civic Press shadcn Theme",
  "cssVars": {
    "theme": {},
    "light": {
      "background": "#FFFFFF",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "card": "#FFFFFF",
      "card-foreground": "#000000",
      "popover": "#FFFFFF",
      "popover-foreground": "#000000",
      "primary": "#C8442A",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#14213D",
      "secondary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "muted": "#5F5F5F",
      "muted-foreground": "#000000",
      "accent": "#E8A33D",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#C8442A",
      "border": "#000000",
      "input": "#000000",
      "ring": "#E8A33D",
      "chart-1": "#C8442A",
      "chart-2": "#14213D",
      "chart-3": "#E8A33D",
      "chart-4": "#007A3D",
      "chart-5": "#FFD400",
      "sidebar": "#FFFFFF",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#000000",
      "sidebar-primary": "#C8442A",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#14213D",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#000000",
      "sidebar-ring": "#E8A33D",
      "radius": "16px"
    },
    "dark": {
      "background": "#0f1115",
      "foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "card": "#181b22",
      "card-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "popover": "#181b22",
      "popover-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "primary": "#C8442A",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#252a33",
      "secondary-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "muted": "#252a33",
      "muted-foreground": "#a1a1aa",
      "accent": "#E8A33D",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#C8442A",
      "border": "#303642",
      "input": "#303642",
      "ring": "#E8A33D",
      "chart-1": "#C8442A",
      "chart-2": "#14213D",
      "chart-3": "#E8A33D",
      "chart-4": "#007A3D",
      "chart-5": "#FFD400",
      "sidebar": "#181b22",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "sidebar-primary": "#C8442A",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#E8A33D",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#303642",
      "sidebar-ring": "#E8A33D",
      "radius": "16px"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "source": "katagami",
    "languageId": "en-019ef593-0eda-71c1-b412-f7f6fccf2570",
    "slug": "civic-press",
    "componentManifest": [
      "button",
      "card",
      "input",
      "textarea",
      "select",
      "dialog",
      "sheet",
      "tabs",
      "badge",
      "separator",
      "checkbox",
      "switch",
      "slider",
      "tooltip",
      "dropdown-menu",
      "table"
    ],
    "installCommand": "npx shadcn@latest add button card input textarea select dialog sheet tabs badge separator checkbox switch slider tooltip dropdown-menu table",
    "nativeTokenNames": {
      "colors": [
        "accent",
        "background",
        "black",
        "border",
        "error",
        "info",
        "muted",
        "neutral_100",
        "neutral_200",
        "primary",
        "secondary",
        "success",
        "surface",
        "text",
        "warning",
        "white"
      ],
      "typography": [
        "base_size",
        "body_font",
        "google_fonts_url",
        "heading_font",
        "letter_spacing",
        "line_height",
        "mono_font",
        "scale_ratio"
      ],
      "spacing": [
        "base",
        "scale"
      ],
      "radii": [
        "full",
        "lg",
        "md",
        "none",
        "sm"
      ],
      "shadows": [
        "lg",
        "md",
        "sm"
      ],
      "surfaces": [
        "bg_pattern",
        "card_style",
        "treatment"
      ],
      "borders": [
        "accent_width",
        "character",
        "default_width",
        "style"
      ],
      "motion": [
        "duration",
        "easing",
        "philosophy"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```