# Editorial / Magazine — AI design spec

> Print hierarchy on screen — serif display type, measured columns, real whitespace.
>
> Style page: https://www.aiwebstyle.com/styles/editorial.html · Live preview: https://www.aiwebstyle.com/previews/editorial.html
>
> Drop this file at the root of a project and point your coding agent at it. Every value is copied from the working stylesheet, not estimated.

## 1. What this style is

Editorial layout is print typography translated without apology: a serif display face, a measured column, a clear ladder from kicker to headline to standfirst to body. It reads as credible because the hierarchy is borrowed from publications that have refined it for a century. The screen-specific problem is width. Print measures around 60–70 characters per line; a browser will happily give you 140. Fixing that single constraint — a max-width on the body column — does more for the style than any typeface choice.

**Signature rules**

- measure: 62ch
- ladder: 5 steps
- display: serif
- rules: 1px hairline
- no cards
- accent: 1 colour

## 2. Tokens

### Page surface

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--page-bg` | `#fbfaf7` | Page background (solid fallback) |
| `--page-bg-gradient` | `none` | Page background gradient; overrides the solid unless `none` |

### Text

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--text-color` | `#2b2a27` | Body text |
| `--heading-color` | `#14130f` | Headings |

### Links

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--link-color` | `#8a2f1d` | Link and inline accent |

### Borders

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--border-color` | `#ded9cf` | Dividers and input borders |

### Cards

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--card-bg` | `transparent` | Card surface |
| `--card-border-radius` | `0` | Card corner radius |
| `--card-shadow` | `none` | Card at rest |
| `--card-hover-shadow` | `none` | Card on hover |

### Header

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--header-bg` | `#fbfaf7` | Sticky header surface |
| `--header-text-color` | `#14130f` | Header text and nav links |

### Buttons

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--button-bg` | `#14130f` | Primary button fill |
| `--button-text-color` | `#fbfaf7` | Primary button label |
| `--button-hover-bg` | `#8a2f1d` | Primary button hover fill |

### Code / prompt block

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--prompt-bg` | `#f2efe8` | Code / prompt block surface |
| `--prompt-text-color` | `#3a3833` | Code / prompt block text |

### Type

| Token | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `--base-font` | `var(--font-lato)` | Body font stack |
| `--heading-font` | `var(--font-serif)` | Heading font stack |

## 3. Do

- Drive every color, radius and shadow from the tokens below. No literal hex values in component code.
- Reuse the `--card-*` tokens for any elevated surface (card, panel, modal, dropdown) so elevation stays consistent.
- Keep header and footer on `--header-*` / `--footer-*` even when the page background is a gradient.
- Long-form articles, essays, documentation with a voice, or a company blog that wants authority.
- Product launches that lean on narrative rather than feature grids.
- Any page where reading is the primary action.

## 4. Don't

- Do not blend tokens from another style in this library — one page, one token set.
- Do not invent a hover state: every interactive element has a `*-hover-*` token above.
- Dense application UI. A serif ladder in a dashboard slows scanning.
- Pages where users compare items — editorial layout has no table grammar.
- If you cannot source a good display serif. A weak serif is worse than a neutral sans.

## 5. Using this with a coding agent

Place this file at the project root as `DESIGN.md`, then instruct the agent:

> Follow `DESIGN.md` for all UI. Every color, radius and shadow comes from its token table. If you need a state that is not listed, derive it from the nearest listed token and add the new token to `DESIGN.md` instead of hard-coding a value.

If the project already has a token layer (Tailwind config, CSS custom properties, a theme file), map these tokens onto it one-to-one and keep the names unchanged.

## 6. Original prompt

```text
Design an editorial page layout. Display face: a serif with a strong contrast axis, used for the headline only. Body: a neutral sans or a text serif at 17-19px with line-height 1.6.
```

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*Generated from the `editorial` theme in `style.css`. Token values are verbatim — regenerate rather than edit by hand.*