17 KiB
version: alpha name: Biennale Yellow — Frame (video / frame layer) description: > Video-first companion to Biennale Yellow's design.md. The unit is the frame (1920×1080). Atoms are identical and sacred — warm parchment grounds, a single deep indigo ink, solar yellow deployed as bloom / panel / tile underprint, Instrument Serif display + Archivo sans + JetBrains Mono data, 1px hairline rules as the only border, atmospheric depth (no shadows), and the bottom-right pagenum. Composition + frame scale rewritten. Restraint is the rule; motion out of scope. unit: the frame — 1920×1080 primary; 9:16 and 1:1 documented principle: atoms are sacred · composition is free · numbers come from the script
colors: paper: "#E9E5DB" paper-deep: "#DCD6C4" sun: "#F1EE2E" sun-soft: "#F8F39B" haze: "#F0DA7C" ink: "#1B2566" ember: "#E26B4A"
typography:
— reading + data ramp —
body: { fontFamily: "Archivo", cqw: 0.85, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.5, color: "ink" } body-lede:{ fontFamily: "Archivo", cqw: 0.95, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.55 } micro-label:{ fontFamily: "Archivo", px: 13, weight: 600, tracking: "0.18em", upper: true } rail-label:{ fontFamily: "Archivo", px: 13, weight: 600, tracking: "0.32em", upper: true } mono-data:{ fontFamily: "JetBrains Mono", cqw: 0.73, weight: 400, tracking: "0.04em" } pagenum: { fontFamily: "JetBrains Mono", px: 13, weight: 400, tracking: "0.08em", opacity: 0.75 }
— display ramp (Instrument Serif 400, tight, negative tracking) —
ledger-title:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 1.55, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.15 } strand-title:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 1.7, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.1 } headline-sm:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 2.9, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.0 } headline:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 4.6, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.06, tracking: "-0.005em" } date-rail:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 5.0, weight: 400, lineHeight: 0.96, tracking: "-0.005em" } display-it:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 7.0, weight: 400, italic: true, lineHeight: 1.04, tracking: "-0.005em" } numeral-md:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 7.5, weight: 400, lineHeight: 0.92, tracking: "-0.01em" } display:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 14.6, weight: 400, lineHeight: 0.86, tracking: "-0.018em" } numeral-jumbo:{ fontFamily: "Instrument Serif", cqw: 28.0, weight: 400, lineHeight: 0.84, tracking: "-0.04em" }
spacing: pad-edge: "4cqw" pad-region: "4.2cqw" gap-region: "2.5cqw"
components: sun-bloom: background: "radial gradient {colors.sun} core → {colors.sun-soft} → {colors.haze} → transparent on {colors.paper}" size: "42–70% of the frame, off-center or behind the focal element" description: "The primary depth layer. One per frame; a flat parchment frame reads as broken." ember-bloom: background: "radial {colors.ember} at 15–22% opacity" placement: "corner opposite the sun-bloom" description: "Subordinate counter-temperature balance; never dominant." block-tile: backgroundColor: "{colors.sun} at 40–70% opacity" layout: "rectangles on an 8×4 grid behind cover/colophon" description: "A layered poster underprint." yellow-panel: backgroundColor: "{colors.sun}" textColor: "{colors.ink}" rounded: "0" border: "none (meets paper directly)" description: "Full-bleed column/third — the strongest color statement, ink on top." hairline-rule: rule: "1px solid {colors.ink} (soft variant: {colors.ink} at 18–20%)" description: "The ONLY border — header underlines, footer tops, ledger separators. No thicker rule exists." strand-row: borderBottom: "1px {colors.ink} 18–20%" typography: "{typography.strand-title} + {typography.body}" description: "Serif numeral + serif title + sans body. Numbered editorial lists." ledger-row: borderBottom: "1px {colors.ink} 18–20%" typography: "{typography.mono-date} · {typography.ledger-title} · {typography.body} · {typography.mono-data}" description: "4-col tabular — mono date · serif title · sans venue · mono duration (right)." footer-band: borderTop: "1px solid {colors.ink} per cell" typography: "{typography.micro-label} + {typography.body-sm}" description: "4-column metadata strip at the foot of cover/colophon." vertical-rail: typography: "{typography.rail-label}" transform: "rotated up the left edge" description: "Section marker on chapter/divider frames." pagenum: typography: "{typography.pagenum}" color: "{colors.ink} at 75%" placement: "bottom-right" description: "The only persistent chrome."
Biennale Yellow — Frame (video / frame layer)
Overview
Biennale Yellow at frame scale is a literary-editorial system in the register of an art biennale catalogue: warm parchment, a single deep indigo ink, and solar yellow as atmosphere. No cards, no buttons, no shadows, no rounded corners — the structural vocabulary is just paper, ink, and yellow. Depth is delivered by soft radial sun blooms, not elevation.
The voice is three faces in rigid roles: Instrument Serif (weight 400, tight line-height, negative tracking) carries every display, numeral, and quote from 40px to 720px+; Archivo carries body and the wide-tracked uppercase micro-label; JetBrains Mono carries every date, figure, and the pagenum. Text is always ink — contrast comes from size and weight, never color. The mood sits between a folded museum brochure and a slow-reading literary quarterly: confident, atmospheric, deeply restrained.
Key characteristics at frame scale:
- Warm parchment ground on every frame; never white, never gray.
- Single ink (
{colors.ink}) for all type and all rules; solar yellow as bloom / panel / tile. - Instrument Serif 400 display (tight, negative-tracked); Archivo body + micro-labels; JetBrains Mono data.
- 1px hairline rules are the only border — no thicker weight exists; no shadows, no rounded corners.
- Sun bloom is the primary depth layer on every frame; an ember counter-bloom adds warm-cool tension.
- Editorial-restrained — sparse reads as elegant; crowding breaks the catalogue feel.
The Frame
Frame Craft Bar
Three eyeball tests gate every frame before any structural check:
-
Squint — one Instrument Serif moment dominates at 3–6× its neighbor; the sun bloom centers the eye.
-
Silence — frames read 55–60% empty; the ledger is the one dense exception (density via quiet hairline repetition, not richness).
-
Restraint — one ink color for all type and rules; one sun bloom per frame (+ optional subordinate ember); never invert (no yellow text on ink).
-
Reference — aim at an art-biennale catalogue / slow exhibition poster / literary quarterly; failure looks like a flat CMS template (no bloom) or a bordered-card deck.
-
Primary: 1920×1080 (16:9). Display authored in
cqw(px ÷ 1920 × 100 = cqw). -
Vertical: 1080×1920 (9:16). Square: 1080×1080 (1:1).
-
Safe area:
pad-edge4cqw (40–76px equivalent) — the elegance depends on edge negative space; only blooms, tiles, and panels bleed.
The container law (load-bearing). Every frame ground sets container-type: size; ALL
frame-relative units are cqw/cqh against it — never vw. Hairlines stay 1px; bloom sizes scale
as % of the frame.
Colors
Tokens identical to the source. {colors.paper} is the universal ground; {colors.ink} (deep
indigo navy) is every line of type and every rule — there is no secondary text color.
{colors.sun} deploys three ways: the bloom (radial atmosphere), the yellow-panel
(full-bleed poster fill, ink on top), and the block-tile underprint. {colors.sun-soft}/haze
are bloom mid/outer stops. {colors.ember} appears only as a 15–22% counter-bloom — never a
fill, never text. The system never inverts — ink on sun is correct; yellow text on ink does not exist.
Typography
Two ramps. The reading/data ramp (Archivo body 0.85cqw ink, micro-labels in px, JetBrains Mono
data) carries copy + chrome; the display ramp (Instrument Serif ledger-title 1.55cqw →
numeral-jumbo 28cqw) carries every headline, numeral, and quote.
- Legibility floor: any load-bearing line ≥ 1.4cqw; mono/labels in px are chrome only.
- Fit-to-measure: size the headline to its length. Cap the block at ≤ 78cqw; ≤3 words →
display; 4–6 →headline; 7+ →headline-sm. The jumbo numeral is a divider's whole point — don't shrink it. - Instrument Serif is weight 400 only (its contrast is the weight signal), tight line-height (0.84–1.06), negative tracking; micro-labels uppercase Archivo 600, ≥0.16em; mono for all numerals/dates. No bold serif, no second text color, no mono in body/display.
Depth & Surface
Atmospheric, not structural. Depth from:
- Sun bloom — the primary layer: a layered radial (sun 70–95% core → sun-soft → haze 18–22% → paper 0%), 42–70% of the frame. One per frame.
- Ember bloom — a 15–22% peach counter-bloom in the opposite corner; always subordinate.
- Block-tile underprint — translucent yellow rectangles on an 8×4 grid (cover/colophon).
- Yellow panel — the one "hard" color statement: a flooded column/third, ink on top.
- Hairline rules — 1px ink for structural separation (soft 18–20% variant for dense rows).
Ceiling: zero box-shadow, zero text-shadow, zero rounded corner, no border thicker than 1px.
Shapes
- 0 radius on everything — strict rectangles. Blooms are edgeless (they fade into paper).
Components
- sun-bloom / ember-bloom / block-tile — the atmospheric depth set. yellow-panel — the poster-fill statement.
- hairline-rule — the only border (1px ink; soft variant for dense rows).
- strand-row / ledger-row / footer-band — the editorial list, tabular calendar, and metadata strip.
- vertical-rail — rotated chapter marker. pagenum — the bottom-right mono chrome.
Frame Treatments
Recipe: ground · container · composes · focal · chrome · accent · silence · Fixed/Free · density. A sun bloom + bottom-right pagenum on every frame; sparse is the default.
1 · Cover (identity · move: display + sun bloom · left)
Ground paper + a large sun-bloom (left-of-center) + an ember counter-bloom (opposite corner).
Composes micro-label, display, date-rail, footer-band, pagenum. Focal a 2-line Instrument
Serif display (italic key word) in ink, left, under a micro-label. Chrome a serif date-rail
top-right; a 4-column footer-band at the foot. Accent the sun bloom + yellow. Silence the
bloom holds the open space. Fixed ink type, one bloom, 1px footer rules, no shadow. Free
title, date, footer cells. Density low.
2 · Chapter Divider (section · move: jumbo numeral · vertical rail)
Ground paper + a corner-anchored sun-bloom. Composes vertical-rail, numeral-jumbo,
headline-sm. Focal a single huge Instrument Serif numeral-jumbo (≈28cqw) dominating, with a
serif title beneath. Chrome a rotated vertical-rail label up the left edge; pagenum. Accent
the bloom behind the numeral. Silence ~60%. Fixed serif 400, jumbo numeral, rail label.
Free the ordinal, title, rail text. Density low.
3 · Ledger (catalog · move: hairline tabular rows · the dense frame)
Ground paper (bloom optional, subtle). Composes headline-sm + micro-label topbar, ledger-rows. Focal a 4-column tabular calendar — mono date · serif title · sans venue · mono duration — separated by hairline-soft rules under a 1px ink header rule. Chrome pagenum. Accent none — density through quiet repetition, not color. Silence tight — the density exception (achieved by repetition, not richness). Fixed hairline rules, mono dates, serif titles. Free rows, venues. Density dense-exception.
4 · Manifesto / Quote (quote · move: italic serif · centered bloom)
Ground paper + a centered sun-bloom. Composes numeral-lg quote mark, display-it, attribution.
Focal a 2-line Instrument Serif italic display-it quote in ink, centered, under an
oversized serif quote mark. Chrome a micro-label attribution. Accent the centered bloom.
Silence ~60% — deliberately open. Fixed italic serif, one bloom, ink. Free quote,
attribution. Density low.
5 · Poster Panel (statement · move: yellow panel · split)
Ground paper with a full-bleed {colors.sun} yellow-panel (column or third). Composes
yellow-panel, micro-label, headline. Focal an Instrument Serif headline in ink sitting on
the sun panel (ink-on-yellow — a signature). Chrome micro-label; pagenum. Accent the panel
itself. Silence the paper side stays open. Fixed ink-on-sun, panel meets paper directly (no
border), no shadow. Free headline, panel side/width. Density low.
6 · Strand List (programme · move: numbered editorial rows · left)
Ground paper + a subtle sun-bloom. Composes micro-label, headline-sm, strand-rows. Focal a numbered list — serif numeral + serif title + sans body, hairline-soft separators. Chrome micro-label; pagenum. Accent the bloom. Silence moderate; rows breathe. Fixed serif numerals, hairline-soft rules. Free items, copy. Density standard.
Composition Rules
Do
- Start on warm parchment; add one sun bloom (optionally an ember counter-bloom) — atmosphere is the depth.
- Set every line in ink; use Instrument Serif 400 (tight, negative-tracked) for display, Archivo body, JetBrains Mono for all numerals/dates.
- Make every separator a 1px ink hairline (soft variant for dense rows); flood a yellow panel for poster moments (ink on top).
- Keep micro-labels uppercase Archivo 600, 0.16–0.32em; pin the pagenum bottom-right.
- Lean sparse; left/asymmetric on cover/chapter/list, centered on manifesto.
Don't
- No drop shadows, no rounded corners, no bordered cards, no border thicker than 1px.
- No second text color; no bold Instrument Serif; no inverted ink grounds.
- No mono for body/display; no font substitutes.
- Don't crowd the canvas — sparse reads as elegant; don't omit the bloom (flat parchment reads as a CMS template).
- Don't blow a headline edge-to-edge — step the ramp down.
Aspect-Ratio Behavior
| Treatment | 16:9 | 9:16 | 1:1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | display left, date-rail top-right, footer foot | display top, footer stacks | display upper, footer foot |
| Chapter Divider | jumbo numeral, rail left | numeral centered, rail top | numeral centered |
| Ledger | 4-col rows | drop venue col → 3-col | 3-col |
| Manifesto | centered italic | centered, taller | centered |
| Poster Panel | side panel + paper | top/bottom panel band | panel third |
| Strand List | numbered rows | rows (tighter) | rows |
pad-edge holds on the short edge; display clamps use the shorter axis so portrait doesn't blow out
headlines. Keep load-bearing lines ≥ 1.4cqw. Ledger/strand fixed first columns may tighten on 9:16.
Approved Entities
No real customers, logos, or vendors are defined in the source — render any such mark as a placeholder. Programme titles, venues, and dates are content; the system supplies paper, ink, yellow.
Numerals & Claims (hard rule)
Never invent figures, dates, durations, or counts at frame scale. Render slots as — figure —,
{metric}, NN JUN, N m. Ledger dates/durations and chart values especially carry placeholders
until the script supplies them. Chapter ordinals (01, 02…) are decorative.
Pre-Render Self-Audit
- Squint — one serif display moment dominates; the bloom centers the eye.
- Silence — sparse frames 55–60% open; only the ledger runs dense (via repetition, not richness).
- One color — ink for all text + rules; sun for bloom/panel/tile; ember counter-bloom only; no inversion.
- Type — Instrument Serif 400 tight negative-tracked, fit-to-measure; micro-labels uppercase 0.16em+; mono numerals; ≥1.4cqw floor.
- Depth — 0 shadow, 0 rounded corner, 1px hairlines only; one sun bloom present.
- Anchor — left on cover/chapter/list, centered on manifesto; pagenum bottom-right.
- Fabrication — every numeral/date traces to the script, else placeholder.
Known Gaps
- Motion intentionally out of scope. frame.md specifies composition only; the source's 280ms crossfade is a deck mechanic.
- Instrument Serif + Archivo + JetBrains Mono via Google Fonts. CJK: Smiley Sans (display) / Noto Serif SC (body) / Noto Sans SC (labels); italic serif and mono tabular figures have no exact Hanzi equal — keep ledger dates Latin.
- 9:16 / 1:1 are guidance; the
min(vw,vh)clamp pattern keeps display from blowing out — verify per ratio. - Sun/ember blooms, block tiles, yellow panels, and hairline rules are CSS-only; no external imagery is required.