Vintage design system.

Vintage design system — 1950s-1990s nostalgia with skeuomorphic touches, grainy textures, retro color palettes, and pixel-style typography.

See it in context

The same design tokens applied across artifact kinds — a website, an app, a slide, a poster. Original mocks re-skinned with this system, not screenshots.

Website
Slides
App
Poster

Design tokens

56 tokens conforming to the Open Design token contract — the same structured palette, type, spacing, and motion values your agent reads to theme any artifact.

Surface

  • --bg #faf3df
  • --surface #fffaf0
  • --surface-warm #efe0bd

Text

  • --fg #211b12
  • --fg-2 #504737
  • --muted #7c7160
  • --meta #8f5d24

Border

  • --border #ddd0b4
  • --border-soft #eee3cd

Accent

  • --accent #8f5d24
  • --accent-on #ffffff
  • --accent-hover color-mix(in oklab, var(--accent), black 8%)
  • --accent-active color-mix(in oklab, var(--accent), black 14%)

Semantic

  • --success #5b8d42
  • --warn #c27b22
  • --danger #a64036

Typography

  • --font-display Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif
  • --font-body Inter, system-ui, sans-serif
  • --font-mono "SF Mono", ui-monospace, Menlo, monospace

Type scale

  • --text-xs 12px
  • --text-sm 14px
  • --text-base 17px
  • --text-lg 20px
  • --text-xl 28px
  • --text-2xl 42px
  • --text-3xl 64px
  • --text-4xl 88px
  • --leading-body 1.62
  • --leading-tight 1
  • --tracking-display -0.025em

Spacing

  • --space-1 4px
  • --space-2 8px
  • --space-3 12px
  • --space-4 16px
  • --space-5 20px
  • --space-6 24px
  • --space-8 32px
  • --space-12 48px
  • --section-y-desktop 112px
  • --section-y-tablet 80px
  • --section-y-phone 56px

Radius

  • --radius-sm 10px
  • --radius-md 16px
  • --radius-lg 24px
  • --radius-pill 9999px

Elevation

  • --elev-flat none
  • --elev-ring 0 0 0 1px var(--border)
  • --elev-raised 0 18px 42px rgba(33, 27, 18, 0.12)

Focus

  • --focus-ring 0 0 0 4px rgba(143, 93, 36, 0.24)

Motion

  • --motion-fast 150ms
  • --motion-base 240ms
  • --ease-standard cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)

Layout

  • --container-max 1180px
  • --container-gutter-desktop 36px
  • --container-gutter-tablet 24px
  • --container-gutter-phone 16px

Design System Inspired by Vintage

Category: Retro & Nostalgic 1950s-1990s nostalgia with skeuomorphic touches, grainy textures, retro color palettes, and pixel-style typography.

1. Visual Theme & Atmosphere

1950s-1990s nostalgia with skeuomorphic touches, grainy textures, retro color palettes, and pixel-style typography.

  • Visual style: clean, vintage, retro
  • Color stance: primary, neutral, success, warning, danger
  • Design intent: Keep outputs recognizable to this style family while preserving usability and readability.

2. Color

  • Primary: #008080 — Token from style foundations.

  • Secondary: #C0C0C0 — Token from style foundations.

  • Success: #16A34A — Token from style foundations.

  • Warning: #D97706 — Token from style foundations.

  • Danger: #DC2626 — Token from style foundations.

  • Surface: #C0C0C0 — Token from style foundations.

  • Text: #000000 — Token from style foundations.

  • Neutral: #C0C0C0 — Derived from the surface token for official format compatibility.

  • Favor Primary (#008080) for CTA emphasis.

  • Use Surface (#C0C0C0) for large backgrounds and cards.

  • Keep body copy on Text (#000000) for legibility.

3. Typography

  • Scale: 12/14/16/20/24/32
  • Families: primary=Silkscreen, display=Silkscreen, mono=JetBrains Mono
  • Weights: 400, 700
  • Headings should carry the style personality; body text should optimize scanability and contrast.

4. Spacing & Grid

  • Spacing scale: 4/8/12/16/24/32
  • Keep vertical rhythm consistent across sections and components.
  • Align columns and modules to a predictable grid; avoid ad-hoc offsets.

5. Layout & Composition

  • Prefer clear content blocks with consistent internal padding.
  • Keep hierarchy obvious: headline → support text → primary action.
  • Use whitespace to separate concerns before adding borders or shadows.

6. Components

  • Buttons: primary action uses #008080; secondary actions stay neutral.
  • Inputs: strong focus-visible states, clear labels, and predictable error messaging.
  • Cards/sections: use consistent radii, spacing, and elevation strategy across the page.

7. Motion & Interaction

  • Use subtle transitions that emphasize Primary (#008080) as the interaction signal.
  • Default to short, purposeful transitions (150–250ms) with stable easing.
  • Ensure hover, focus-visible, active, disabled, and loading states are explicit.

8. Voice & Brand

  • Tone should reflect the visual style: concise, confident, and product-specific.
  • Keep microcopy action-oriented and avoid generic filler language.
  • Preserve the style identity in headlines while keeping UI labels literal and clear.

9. Anti-patterns

  • Do not introduce off-palette colors when an existing token can solve the problem.
  • Do not flatten hierarchy by using the same type size/weight for all text.
  • Do not add decorative effects that reduce readability or accessibility.
  • Do not mix unrelated visual metaphors in the same interface.
Mode
design-system
Scenario
design
Surface
web
Manifest id
design-system-vintage

Tags

  • design-system
  • first-party
  • design
  • retro-nostalgic