# Art deco — style recipe

## The idea

- The glamour of the 1920s: symmetry, fans and sunbursts, tall elegant type and gold on cream and black.

## Use it when

- Bars, hotels, theatres and events
- Premium brands with a classic story
- Celebrations and invitations

## Avoid it when

- The product is casual or for children
- The brand must feel modern and minimal

## Principles

- Strong central symmetry
- Fan, sunburst and stepped geometric ornaments
- Tall, thin, elegant display type
- Gold lines framing cream and black fields
- Repeated patterns at the edges, calm in the middle
- Everything framed, nothing floating

## Colour

- Champagne (background): #f5ecd7
- Parchment (surface): #ece0c0
- Jet (text): #14181f
- Smoke (muted): #4a4a40
- Old gold (accent): #8a6416
- Jade (accent-2): #1f4d4a
- Jet line (border): #14181f
- Text on background contrast: 15.13:1

## Type

- Headings: Poiret One, weights 400 — Thin geometric deco face; large sizes only, uppercase
- Body: Josefin Sans, weights 400, 600 — Geometric, period-appropriate, readable
- Scale: 14px, 17px, 21px, 30px, 48px, 76px
- A decorative display face only for headings; a clean geometric sans for everything else.

## Spacing and shape

- Base unit: 8px
- Spacing steps: 8px, 16px, 24px, 48px, 88px
- Symmetric margins; framed blocks.
- Corner radii: 0px
- Borders: Double gold rules and stepped corners
- Shadows: None

## Imagery and motion

- Imagery: Geometric ornaments: fans, sunbursts, chevrons and stepped frames drawn in SVG.
- Motion: Slow, symmetric reveals from the centre.

## Do

- Centre the hero and frame it
- Repeat one ornament as a border
- Use gold for lines, not big areas

## Don't

- No rounded blobs
- No asymmetric chaos
- No casual handwriting