---
version: alpha
name: .md Studios
description: Editorial precision and build-system rigor, directed toward commercial outcomes.
colors:
  primary: "#171619"
  ink: "#171619"
  ink-soft: "#4F4B4A"
  paper: "#F3EFE4"
  white: "#FFFFFF"
  oxide: "#C84630"
  oxide-text: "#BE422E"
  success: "#176B4D"
  warning: "#855A00"
  danger: "#A92D2D"
  info: "#235C78"
typography:
  display-xl:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Sans
    fontSize: 4rem
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.02
    letterSpacing: "-0.035em"
  display-lg:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Sans
    fontSize: 3rem
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.05
    letterSpacing: "-0.025em"
  heading-1:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Sans
    fontSize: 2.25rem
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.12
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  heading-2:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Sans
    fontSize: 1.5rem
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.2
    letterSpacing: "-0.01em"
  body-lg:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Sans
    fontSize: 1.125rem
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.55
    letterSpacing: "0em"
  body-md:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Sans
    fontSize: 1rem
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.55
    letterSpacing: "0em"
  body-sm:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Sans
    fontSize: 0.875rem
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.45
    letterSpacing: "0em"
  label:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Mono
    fontSize: 0.75rem
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.3
    letterSpacing: "0.09em"
  code:
    fontFamily: IBM Plex Mono
    fontSize: 0.875rem
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
    letterSpacing: "0em"
spacing:
  0: 0px
  1: 4px
  2: 8px
  3: 12px
  4: 16px
  5: 20px
  6: 24px
  8: 32px
  10: 40px
  12: 48px
  16: 64px
  20: 80px
  24: 96px
rounded:
  none: 0px
  sm: 2px
  md: 4px
  pill: 999px
borders:
  hairline: 1px
  rule: 2px
  emphasis: 4px
layout:
  content-max: 1280px
  prose-max: 720px
  desktop-columns: 12
  desktop-gutter: 24px
  tablet-columns: 8
  tablet-gutter: 20px
  mobile-columns: 4
  mobile-gutter: 16px
  page-margin-desktop: 64px
  page-margin-mobile: 20px
motion:
  cursor-blink: 1000ms
  quick: 120ms
  standard: 240ms
  transform: 800ms
  easing-enter: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1)
  easing-exit: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1)
  reduced-motion: 0ms
components:
  button-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.ink}"
    textColor: "{colors.paper}"
    rounded: "{rounded.sm}"
    padding: 12px
  button-primary-hover:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.oxide-text}"
    textColor: "{colors.white}"
    rounded: "{rounded.sm}"
    padding: 12px
  button-secondary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.paper}"
    textColor: "{colors.ink}"
    rounded: "{rounded.sm}"
    padding: 12px
  status-success:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.paper}"
    textColor: "{colors.success}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 8px
  status-warning:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.paper}"
    textColor: "{colors.warning}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 8px
  status-danger:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.paper}"
    textColor: "{colors.danger}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 8px
---

## Overview

`.md Studios` turns researched opportunities into validated, transferable ventures. Commercial outcomes lead; technical metaphors explain the method. The system should feel like an editorial institution that can build, test, reject, and sell companies—not a terminal theme or developer tool.

## Colors

- **Ink `#171619`:** normal text, primary surfaces, decisive actions.
- **Paper `#F3EFE4`:** primary warm field.
- **Oxide `#C84630`:** sole identity accent for marks, large display details, rules, and non-text emphasis. Its 4.18:1 ratio on Paper fails WCAG AA for normal text.
- **Oxide Text `#BE422E`:** accessible dark variant for normal text on Paper at 4.56:1. It is not a second accent; it is the accessibility role of Oxide.
- Semantic colors communicate state only and always pair color with text or a symbol.

Allowed text pairings: Ink/Paper, Paper/Ink, Oxide Text/Paper, White/Oxide Text, and the named semantic colors on Paper after token tests. Never use Core Oxide for normal-sized body, label, button, or link text on Paper.

## Typography

IBM Plex Sans carries commercial/editorial language. IBM Plex Mono labels evidence, file states, hashes, and status metadata. Mono must never dominate body copy or make pages look like a terminal. Both families are governed by SIL Open Font License 1.1 and must be self-hosted for print and Pages builds.

## Layout

Use 12/8/4 responsive columns with a strict 4px spacing base. Editorial pages alternate dense evidence zones with deliberate negative space. Rules are structural, not decorative. Default corner radius is 0–4px; large SaaS cards and soft pill-heavy interfaces are off-brand.

Image crops: 4:5 portrait for people/process, 3:2 landscape for field context, 16:9 for presentations, 1:1 only for avatars. Focal subjects stay inside the central 70% safe area. No full-bleed image may reduce text contrast below AA.

Elevation is mostly physical hierarchy: border, field change, and spacing. Shadows are exceptional: `0 8px 24px rgba(23,22,25,0.12)` for temporary overlays only; never for printed cards or every module.

## Elevation & Depth

Flat fields and crisp rules are the default. Use one overlay shadow only for interactive menus/dialogs. Do not use glassmorphism, glowing edges, blurred neon, or stacked floating cards.

## Shapes

Square endpoints, rectangular fields, restrained 2–4px radii, circular dot only where inherited from the Cursor mark or status indicators. Never turn the dot into confetti. The underscore cursor is a signature, not a general-purpose divider.

## Components

Status grammar uses five states:

- `DRAFT` — incomplete; no external claims.
- `TESTING` — evidence collection active.
- `PASSED` — a named gate and threshold were satisfied.
- `KILLED` — rejected with preserved evidence and reason.
- `READY TO TRANSFER` — diligence package complete; not a claim that a sale closed.

Every status includes a label, timestamp, owner, evidence link, and optional confidence; color alone is never the carrier. `KILLED` is a legitimate outcome, not an error style.

Motion rules: cursor may blink at 1Hz; syntax-to-structure draws complete within 800ms; routine state changes use 120–240ms. Under `prefers-reduced-motion`, transforms become immediate crossfades or static end states and cursor blinking stops.

## Do's and Don'ts

**Do:** lead with paid pilots, validated demand, transferability, operating proof, and decision receipts. Show real materials and field work. Preserve venture independence in co-branding.

**Don't:** lead with commits, agents, or Markdown unless they clarify an outcome. Do not use terminal windows, Git graphs, Matrix rain, generic circuit brains, purple gradients, document-plus-chart clip art, literal six-node diagrams, invented metrics, or stock startup-office photography.