# Terracotta

> Category: Editorial & Print

A sun-baked, clay-toned editorial system: warm cream surfaces, a confident
serif headline face, and a single burnt-terracotta accent — built for a
craft or maker brand that wants warmth and permanence, not a tech-startup
gradient.

## Style Foundations

- **Visual style:** warm, editorial, crafted
- **Canvas:** warm cream (`--bg`), with a slightly deeper warm tan
  (`--surface`) for cards and grouped content — the two tiers should read
  like paper and unglazed clay, not two shades of the same white.
- **Ink:** warm near-black (`--fg`) for headlines and structural text; a
  warm brown-gray (`--muted`) for body copy and captions.
- **Accent:** a single burnt terracotta (`--accent`), used for primary
  actions, small eyebrow labels, and key emphasis only.
- **Borders:** soft warm tan hairlines (`--border`) — quiet, never
  competing with the terracotta accent.
- **Typography:** a confident serif for display (`--font-display`) carries
  the brand's editorial weight; body copy and UI chrome stay in a clean sans
  (`--font-body`) for legibility at small sizes — the serif is a headline
  instrument, not a body face.
- **Shape:** moderate, confident radii on buttons and cards — rounded
  enough to feel handmade, not sharp-edged or corporate.

## Colors

- **Background (cream):** `#F7EEE0`
- **Surface (warm tan):** `#EFE3D0`
- **Foreground / ink:** `#241C15`
- **Muted / body copy:** `#7A6F62`
- **Border:** `#DCCDB4`
- **Accent (burnt terracotta):** `#BD5B34`

## Typography

- Display (headlines only): DM Serif Display
- Body & UI: a clean sans (e.g. Inter)
- Mono / labels: JetBrains Mono

## Craft notes

- Reserve the serif for headlines. Body copy in the same serif (a literal
  reading of a generic "primary font" field) reads as a dense wall of
  serif text at small sizes — the reference aesthetic keeps body text in a
  sans for exactly this reason.
- The accent is a warm rust, not a bright safety-orange — keep it muted
  enough to sit comfortably next to the cream/tan surfaces.