Loess

# Loess

## Philosophy

Loess presses the whole interface from one continuous bed of warm sediment and lets a single low light do the work borders usually do: raised plateaus read as action, incised wells read as input, and a thin terracotta seam catches the lip of an edge wherever colour earns a place. Depth is the hierarchy; light is the only edge. It refines the neumorphic idea and corrects what made it muddy — the grey-blue wash, low contrast, toy softness — with a bright warm clay ground, deep-umber text, and an accent rationed to a lit seam rather than a pastel fill.

### Values

- one continuous material over fragmented boxes
- depth as hierarchy
- quiet cushioned tactility
- warm brightness, never muddy
- honest text contrast on low-contrast surfaces

### Anti-Values

- borders and single-edge accents
- pastel grey-blue washes
- flooding panels with accent fills
- mixed light directions
- low-contrast toy softness

### Visual Character

- every surface is sculpted from one warm-clay field using a paired highlight/shadow set instead of borders, lit from a single upper-left rake
- controls raise into pillows to act and sink into incised wells to receive input, so depth tells you what a thing is
- large soft fillets dominate every region; radii are 16 or 24px and nothing has a sharp corner
- the terracotta accent appears only as a thin lit seam on an incised lip and as small glowing status beads, never as a flat fill
- alerts and status chips carry a small embedded light-bead at the left edge; tables and clusters live inside concave trays

## Tokens

### Colors

| Name | Value |
|------|-------|
| primary | `#D9623B` |
| secondary | `#3F6F63` |
| accent | `#C79A3A` |
| background | `#EDE3D4` |
| surface | `#F4ECE0` |
| text | `#33291E` |
| muted | `#8A7A66` |
| border | `#DCCFBC` |
| error | `#C24A3B` |
| success | `#4E8C5A` |
| warning | `#C79A3A` |
| info | `#4E7E8C` |
| on_accent | `#FBF4E8` |

### Typography

- **Heading Font**: "Fraunces", Georgia, serif
- **Body Font**: "Inter", system-ui, sans-serif
- **Mono Font**: "IBM Plex Mono", monospace
- **Base Size**: 18px
- **Scale Ratio**: 1.2
- **Line Height**: 1.6
- **Letter Spacing**: -0.011em
- **Heading Weight**: 600
- **Heading Transform**: none
- **Google Fonts Url**: https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Fraunces:opsz,wght@9..144,500;9..144,600;9..144,700&family=Inter:wght@400;500;600;700&family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap

### Spacing

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

### Radii

- **None**: 0px
- **Sm**: 16px
- **Md**: 24px
- **Lg**: 24px
- **Full**: 9999px

### Shadows

- **Raise**: -7px -7px 16px rgba(255,250,242,0.95), 8px 8px 18px rgba(120,98,70,0.34)
- **Raise Sm**: -4px -4px 9px rgba(255,250,242,0.95), 4px 4px 10px rgba(120,98,70,0.34)
- **Raise Lg**: -11px -11px 26px rgba(255,250,242,0.95), 13px 13px 30px rgba(120,98,70,0.34)
- **Incise**: inset 6px 6px 12px rgba(120,98,70,0.34), inset -6px -6px 12px rgba(255,250,242,0.95)
- **Incise Sm**: inset 4px 4px 8px rgba(120,98,70,0.34), inset -4px -4px 8px rgba(255,250,242,0.95)

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: relief
- **Card Style**: raised plateaus pressed from one continuous warm-clay field; inner regions sink into incised wells
- **Bg Pattern**: none

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 0px
- **Accent Width**: 0px
- **Style**: none
- **Character**: no borders anywhere; separation is relief and a faint tonal seam, the terracotta accent only on a lit incised lip

### Motion

- **Duration**: 220ms
- **Easing**: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1)
- **Philosophy**: deliberate, cushioned; sections reveal on scroll over a fully-rendered no-JS settled state

### Responsive

- **Breakpoints**: [1200,1080,860,680,390]
- **Column Progression**: 12 → 8 → 4 → 1

## Rules

### Composition

Compose pages as molded trays within one continuous field, not boxed cards on a blank canvas. High-level regions sit in broad raised plateaus; inside them, data, controls and inputs sink into incised wells, so the page reads as a landscape of convex and concave forms under one raking light.

### Hierarchy

Use depth before colour. The strongest action is the most raised element; secondary content sits flush; editable areas recess inward. The terracotta accent is reserved for lit incised lips, progress fills, active-tab rings and small status beads.

### Density

Moderate density with generous cushion around every cluster — 24-32px inside trays on desktop. Content can be information-rich, but each cluster keeps breathing room and rounded containment so the single-material illusion holds.

### Signature

Raking-light relief: every module is pressed from one warm-clay field with a paired highlight/shadow set (light upper-left); inputs and tables sink into incised wells; the terracotta accent appears only as a thin lit seam on an incised lip and as small left-edge light-beads, never as a flat fill.

### Signature Patterns

- every major module uses the paired highlight/shadow relief to lift a raised plateau off the field; primary actions are the most raised
- inputs, selects, search bars, sliders, progress tracks and tables sit inside concave incised wells built with inset shadows
- active tabs and badges are capsules with a faint terracotta ring and a small light-bead, never hard fills or underlines
- alerts and status chips carry a small glowing light-bead aligned to the left edge instead of a coloured panel
- the terracotta accent only ever appears where the rake catches an incised lip — a thin lit seam — or as a status bead

## Layout

### Grid

Desktop is a molded dashboard / scrolling-section grid: a full-bleed relief hero, then contained sections capped at ~1140px. Dashboards use a 248px raised sidebar tray plus a fluid main column of raised plateaus and incised wells. Tablet reduces multi-column splits to stacked trays; phone is a single stack preserving the nested wells.

### Breakpoints

At 1080px the stat row drops to two columns and splits stack. At 860px the dashboard sidebar collapses to a horizontal top nav. At 680px all grids become a single column, the hero veil switches to a top fade for legibility, and non-essential table columns drop. At 390px action clusters go full-width, the headline clamps and wraps, and nothing overflows horizontally.

### Whitespace

Padded and air-cushioned: 24-32px inside trays on desktop, 20px on tablet, 16-18px on phone. Avoid narrow gutters that would break the single-material illusion.

### Responsive

Renders from ~390px to 2560px+; only the hero spans 100vw, contained content is capped and centred on ultra-wide.

### Breakpoints Map

- **Xl**: 1200
- **Lg**: 1080
- **Md**: 860
- **Sm**: 680
- **Xs**: 390

## Guidance

### Do

- Carve hierarchy with elevation before reaching for colour.
- Keep one consistent light direction (upper-left) across every element.
- Reserve the terracotta accent for lit incised seams, fills and small status beads.
- Use large soft fillets and generous cushioned padding so the single-material illusion holds.
- Keep text deep-umber for strong contrast even where surfaces are low-contrast.

### Don't

- Do not draw a border or a single accent edge on any card.
- Do not flood a panel with the accent as a flat fill.
- Do not mix light directions or stack inconsistent shadow depths.
- Do not compress padding until forms lose their cushion.
- Do not swap a serif word to italic for emphasis — use a colour-pop or seam mark.

### Accessibility

Body text is deep-umber #33291E on warm sediment (~8.6:1); the accent never carries meaning on its own — state is always doubled by a labelled bead or text. Motion respects prefers-reduced-motion and the page is fully usable with no JavaScript.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

relievo

### Summary

Subjects rendered as low-relief sculpture pressed from one continuous matte warm-clay material, read entirely through a single upper-left raking light — raised highlights, recessed shadows, no outlines — with the terracotta accent appearing only as a thin lit seam on an incised lip.

### Subjects

- eroded clay terrain that reads as moulded interface panels
- a face in low relief
- a small city as continuous relief
- a single object such as a teapot
- a pressed botanical sprig

### Usage

One full-bleed landing hero composed with empty moulded material in the upper-left for the headline overlay; feature and spot images keep generous bare material as negative space and one accent seam.

---
version: "alpha"
name: "Loess"
description: "Agent-curated design language exported from Katagami as DESIGN.md."
colors:
  primary: "#D9623B"
  secondary: "#3F6F63"
  accent: "#C79A3A"
  background: "#EDE3D4"
  surface: "#F4ECE0"
  text: "#33291E"
  muted: "#8A7A66"
  border: "#DCCFBC"
  error: "#C24A3B"
  success: "#4E8C5A"
  warning: "#C79A3A"
  info: "#4E7E8C"
  on_accent: "#FBF4E8"
typography:
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: "\"Fraunces\", Georgia, serif"
    fontSize: "2.197rem"
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.1
    letterSpacing: "-0.011em"
  headline-md:
    fontFamily: "\"Fraunces\", Georgia, serif"
    fontSize: "1.758rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.15
    letterSpacing: "-0.011em"
  body-md:
    fontFamily: "\"Inter\", system-ui, sans-serif"
    fontSize: "18px"
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
    letterSpacing: "-0.011em"
  label-md:
    fontFamily: "\"IBM Plex Mono\", monospace"
    fontSize: "0.75rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1
    letterSpacing: "0.08em"
rounded:
  none: "0px"
  sm: "16px"
  md: "24px"
  lg: "24px"
  full: "9999px"
spacing:
  base: "8px"
  xs: "4px"
  sm: "8px"
  md: "12px"
  lg: "16px"
  xl: "24px"
  2xl: "32px"
  3xl: "48px"
  4xl: "64px"
  step-8: "96px"
  base_unit: "8px"
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-on_accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.on_accent}"
  button-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
    textColor: "#000000"
    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"
---

# Loess

## Overview

Loess presses the whole interface from one continuous bed of warm sediment and lets a single low light do the work borders usually do: raised plateaus read as action, incised wells read as input, and a thin terracotta seam catches the lip of an edge wherever colour earns a place. Depth is the hierarchy; light is the only edge. It refines the neumorphic idea and corrects what made it muddy — the grey-blue wash, low contrast, toy softness — with a bright warm clay ground, deep-umber text, and an accent rationed to a lit seam rather than a pastel fill.

### Values

- one continuous material over fragmented boxes
- depth as hierarchy
- quiet cushioned tactility
- warm brightness, never muddy
- honest text contrast on low-contrast surfaces

### Anti-Values

- borders and single-edge accents
- pastel grey-blue washes
- flooding panels with accent fills
- mixed light directions
- low-contrast toy softness

### Visual Character

- every surface is sculpted from one warm-clay field using a paired highlight/shadow set instead of borders, lit from a single upper-left rake
- controls raise into pillows to act and sink into incised wells to receive input, so depth tells you what a thing is
- large soft fillets dominate every region; radii are 16 or 24px and nothing has a sharp corner
- the terracotta accent appears only as a thin lit seam on an incised lip and as small glowing status beads, never as a flat fill
- alerts and status chips carry a small embedded light-bead at the left edge; tables and clusters live inside concave trays

## 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 | `#D9623B` |
| secondary | `#3F6F63` |
| accent | `#C79A3A` |
| background | `#EDE3D4` |
| surface | `#F4ECE0` |
| text | `#33291E` |
| muted | `#8A7A66` |
| border | `#DCCFBC` |
| error | `#C24A3B` |
| success | `#4E8C5A` |
| warning | `#C79A3A` |
| info | `#4E7E8C` |
| on_accent | `#FBF4E8` |

## Typography

- **Headline-Lg**: "Fraunces", Georgia, serif, 2.197rem, weight 700, line-height 1.1.
- **Headline-Md**: "Fraunces", Georgia, serif, 1.758rem, weight 600, line-height 1.15.
- **Body-Md**: "Inter", system-ui, sans-serif, 18px, weight 400, line-height 1.5.
- **Label-Md**: "IBM Plex Mono", monospace, 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`
- **Base Unit**: `8px`

### Grid

Desktop is a molded dashboard / scrolling-section grid: a full-bleed relief hero, then contained sections capped at ~1140px. Dashboards use a 248px raised sidebar tray plus a fluid main column of raised plateaus and incised wells. Tablet reduces multi-column splits to stacked trays; phone is a single stack preserving the nested wells.

### Breakpoints

At 1080px the stat row drops to two columns and splits stack. At 860px the dashboard sidebar collapses to a horizontal top nav. At 680px all grids become a single column, the hero veil switches to a top fade for legibility, and non-essential table columns drop. At 390px action clusters go full-width, the headline clamps and wraps, and nothing overflows horizontally.

### Whitespace

Padded and air-cushioned: 24-32px inside trays on desktop, 20px on tablet, 16-18px on phone. Avoid narrow gutters that would break the single-material illusion.

### Responsive

Renders from ~390px to 2560px+; only the hero spans 100vw, contained content is capped and centred on ultra-wide.

### Breakpoints Map

- **Xl**: 1200
- **Lg**: 1080
- **Md**: 860
- **Sm**: 680
- **Xs**: 390

## Elevation & Depth

### Shadows

- **Raise**: -7px -7px 16px rgba(255,250,242,0.95), 8px 8px 18px rgba(120,98,70,0.34)
- **Raise Sm**: -4px -4px 9px rgba(255,250,242,0.95), 4px 4px 10px rgba(120,98,70,0.34)
- **Raise Lg**: -11px -11px 26px rgba(255,250,242,0.95), 13px 13px 30px rgba(120,98,70,0.34)
- **Incise**: inset 6px 6px 12px rgba(120,98,70,0.34), inset -6px -6px 12px rgba(255,250,242,0.95)
- **Incise Sm**: inset 4px 4px 8px rgba(120,98,70,0.34), inset -4px -4px 8px rgba(255,250,242,0.95)

## Shapes

### Rounded

- **None**: `0px`
- **Sm**: `16px`
- **Md**: `24px`
- **Lg**: `24px`
- **Full**: `9999px`

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: relief
- **Card Style**: raised plateaus pressed from one continuous warm-clay field; inner regions sink into incised wells
- **Bg Pattern**: none

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 0px
- **Accent Width**: 0px
- **Style**: none
- **Character**: no borders anywhere; separation is relief and a faint tonal seam, the terracotta accent only on a lit incised lip

## Components

### Composition

Compose pages as molded trays within one continuous field, not boxed cards on a blank canvas. High-level regions sit in broad raised plateaus; inside them, data, controls and inputs sink into incised wells, so the page reads as a landscape of convex and concave forms under one raking light.

### Hierarchy

Use depth before colour. The strongest action is the most raised element; secondary content sits flush; editable areas recess inward. The terracotta accent is reserved for lit incised lips, progress fills, active-tab rings and small status beads.

### Density

Moderate density with generous cushion around every cluster — 24-32px inside trays on desktop. Content can be information-rich, but each cluster keeps breathing room and rounded containment so the single-material illusion holds.

### Signature

Raking-light relief: every module is pressed from one warm-clay field with a paired highlight/shadow set (light upper-left); inputs and tables sink into incised wells; the terracotta accent appears only as a thin lit seam on an incised lip and as small left-edge light-beads, never as a flat fill.

### Signature Patterns

- every major module uses the paired highlight/shadow relief to lift a raised plateau off the field; primary actions are the most raised
- inputs, selects, search bars, sliders, progress tracks and tables sit inside concave incised wells built with inset shadows
- active tabs and badges are capsules with a faint terracotta ring and a small light-bead, never hard fills or underlines
- alerts and status chips carry a small glowing light-bead aligned to the left edge instead of a coloured panel
- the terracotta accent only ever appears where the rake catches an incised lip — a thin lit seam — or as a status bead

## 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-019efd5c-3c7b-7442-b32e-0bc9ed7ad995/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 Carve hierarchy with elevation before reaching for colour.
- Do Keep one consistent light direction (upper-left) across every element.
- Do Reserve the terracotta accent for lit incised seams, fills and small status beads.
- Do Use large soft fillets and generous cushioned padding so the single-material illusion holds.
- Do Keep text deep-umber for strong contrast even where surfaces are low-contrast.
- Don't Do not draw a border or a single accent edge on any card.
- Don't Do not flood a panel with the accent as a flat fill.
- Don't Do not mix light directions or stack inconsistent shadow depths.
- Don't Do not compress padding until forms lose their cushion.
- Don't Do not swap a serif word to italic for emphasis — use a colour-pop or seam mark.

### Accessibility

Body text is deep-umber #33291E on warm sediment (~8.6:1); the accent never carries meaning on its own — state is always doubled by a labelled bead or text. Motion respects prefers-reduced-motion and the page is fully usable with no JavaScript.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

relievo

### Summary

Subjects rendered as low-relief sculpture pressed from one continuous matte warm-clay material, read entirely through a single upper-left raking light — raised highlights, recessed shadows, no outlines — with the terracotta accent appearing only as a thin lit seam on an incised lip.

### Subjects

- eroded clay terrain that reads as moulded interface panels
- a face in low relief
- a small city as continuous relief
- a single object such as a teapot
- a pressed botanical sprig

### Usage

One full-bleed landing hero composed with empty moulded material in the upper-left for the headline overlay; feature and spot images keep generous bare material as negative space and one accent seam.

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema/registry-item.json",
  "name": "loess",
  "type": "registry:theme",
  "title": "Loess shadcn Theme",
  "cssVars": {
    "theme": {},
    "light": {
      "background": "#EDE3D4",
      "foreground": "#33291E",
      "card": "#F4ECE0",
      "card-foreground": "#33291E",
      "popover": "#F4ECE0",
      "popover-foreground": "#33291E",
      "primary": "#D9623B",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#3F6F63",
      "secondary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "muted": "#8A7A66",
      "muted-foreground": "#33291E",
      "accent": "#C79A3A",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#C24A3B",
      "border": "#DCCFBC",
      "input": "#DCCFBC",
      "ring": "#C79A3A",
      "chart-1": "#D9623B",
      "chart-2": "#3F6F63",
      "chart-3": "#C79A3A",
      "chart-4": "#4E8C5A",
      "chart-5": "#C79A3A",
      "sidebar": "#F4ECE0",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#33291E",
      "sidebar-primary": "#D9623B",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#4E7E8C",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#DCCFBC",
      "sidebar-ring": "#C79A3A",
      "radius": "24px"
    },
    "dark": {
      "background": "#0f1115",
      "foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "card": "#181b22",
      "card-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "popover": "#181b22",
      "popover-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "primary": "#D9623B",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#252a33",
      "secondary-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "muted": "#252a33",
      "muted-foreground": "#a1a1aa",
      "accent": "#C79A3A",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#C24A3B",
      "border": "#303642",
      "input": "#303642",
      "ring": "#C79A3A",
      "chart-1": "#D9623B",
      "chart-2": "#3F6F63",
      "chart-3": "#C79A3A",
      "chart-4": "#4E8C5A",
      "chart-5": "#C79A3A",
      "sidebar": "#181b22",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "sidebar-primary": "#D9623B",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#C79A3A",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#303642",
      "sidebar-ring": "#C79A3A",
      "radius": "24px"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "source": "katagami",
    "languageId": "en-019efd5c-3c7b-7442-b32e-0bc9ed7ad995",
    "slug": "loess",
    "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",
        "border",
        "error",
        "info",
        "muted",
        "on_accent",
        "primary",
        "secondary",
        "success",
        "surface",
        "text",
        "warning"
      ],
      "typography": [
        "base_size",
        "body_font",
        "google_fonts_url",
        "heading_font",
        "heading_transform",
        "heading_weight",
        "letter_spacing",
        "line_height",
        "mono_font",
        "scale_ratio"
      ],
      "spacing": [
        "base",
        "base_unit",
        "scale"
      ],
      "radii": [
        "full",
        "lg",
        "md",
        "none",
        "sm"
      ],
      "shadows": [
        "incise",
        "incise_sm",
        "raise",
        "raise_lg",
        "raise_sm"
      ],
      "surfaces": [
        "bg_pattern",
        "card_style",
        "treatment"
      ],
      "borders": [
        "accent_width",
        "character",
        "default_width",
        "style"
      ],
      "motion": [
        "duration",
        "easing",
        "philosophy"
      ],
      "responsive": [
        "breakpoints",
        "column_progression"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```