Gilded Deco
Black lacquer, gold leaf and sunburst geometry from a 1920s grand hotel lobby.
This style
$9$19
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The idea
A black lacquered field framed with fine gold lines, stepped corners and a fan of sunburst rays behind the headline. Thin geometric capitals with wide tracking, double-ruled cards and an oxblood note for evening. Symmetrical, glamorous and quietly theatrical.
Gilded Deco draws on 1920s and 30s art deco: grand hotel lobbies, ocean-liner saloons, cinema façades and the geometric typography of the era's posters and menus. A black lacquer canvas carries fine gold linework, stepped corners, chevrons and a sunburst fan behind the hero. Type is thin, geometric and uppercase with wide tracking, set symmetrically like an invitation. Oxblood appears only as a velvet note. It should feel glamorous, symmetrical and ceremonial, never flashy.
Principles
- Symmetry is mandatory: centre the hero, the nav and every heading.
- Gold is a line, not a fill — 1px rules, frames and fans.
- Thin geometric capitals with wide tracking; never heavy weights.
- Frame content with double rules and stepped corners.
- Darkness is luxury: keep 80% of the screen black.
Motion
The sunburst fans open from the centre over 1.4 seconds as the page loads, then headlines unmask symmetrically from the middle outward. Links draw a gold line out from their centre on hover.
Do & don't
Do
- ✓ Centre every heading and section intro.
- ✓ Use a gold sunburst behind the hero headline only.
- ✓ Double-rule frames on cards and images.
Don't
- ✕ Don't fill large areas with gold.
- ✕ Don't use heavy or bold display weights.
- ✕ Don't use rounded corners or soft shadows.
+ 3 more of each, and component rules, in the full DESIGN.md.
What's in the DESIGN.md
- 01Overview & principles
- 02Colors (tokens + proportions)
- 03Typography (families + 12-role scale)
- 04Layout & spacing scale
- 05Elevation & depth
- 06Shapes & radii
- 07Motion (easing, durations, signature)
- 08Imagery + generation prompt
- 09Components (button, card, nav, input, badge)
- 10Do's and don'ts
- 11Responsive behaviour
- 12Iteration guide + agent checklist
Plus theme.css (Tailwind v4 @theme), tokens.json (W3C) and the preview page source — 363 lines of DESIGN.md in total.
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