aesthetic-archetypes

name	aesthetic-archetypes
description	Five named aesthetic bundles (Ethereal Glass, Editorial Luxury, Soft Structuralism, Minimalist Editorial, Industrial Brutalist) with surface / typography / motion / texture specs and a profile-to-archetype decision matrix.
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	["Read","Glob","Grep","Write"]

Aesthetic Archetypes Skill

Locks visual identity for a campaign by selecting one of five named aesthetic bundles. The selection is propagated into every CreativeBrief -> ShotList -> AssetJob envelope MarketBliss hands to Hydra's creative squad. brand-narrative is the owning agent.

Why five and not infinite: a finite vocabulary forces commitment, prevents aesthetic drift across a multi-asset campaign, and gives the downstream production pipeline (ComfyUI prompts, frontend-design tokens, motion specs) a deterministic seed.

Selection Rule

Pick ONE archetype per campaign. Sub-archetypes (e.g. "Editorial Luxury with Industrial Brutalist accent for the editorial spread") are allowed only at the asset level and must be flagged in the ShotList style_notes field.

Archetype 1 — Ethereal Glass

Dimension	Spec
Surfaces	Frosted glass, light gradients (#FAFBFC -> #E8EEF5), soft blur layers, white 60-80% opacity
Materials	Holographic foils, satin, brushed acrylic, soft pearl
Typography heading	Inter Display 300, ABC Diatype Light, or Söhne Light — wide tracking
Typography body	Inter 400, 16-18px, 1.6 line-height
Typography mono	JetBrains Mono 300
Shadows	0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.04), 0 8px 24px rgba(60,80,120,0.06) — cool, diffuse
Motion	easeOutExpo, 400-600ms, slight 1.02 scale on hover, no springs
Icons	1.25px stroke, rounded ends, line style
Texture	3-5% subtle gradient noise, no grain
Best fit	Wellness DTC, SaaS PLG, modern fintech, lifestyle-tech

Archetype 2 — Editorial Luxury

Dimension	Spec
Surfaces	Deep black (#0A0A0A), ivory (#F5F1EA), brass accent (#8B6B3D), generous whitespace
Materials	Matte paper, embossed foil, hand-bound, vellum overlays
Typography heading	Canela Deck 500, GT Sectra Display 400, or Söhne Mono — serif or display
Typography body	Inter 400 or Tiempos Text 400, 17px, 1.5 line-height
Typography mono	Söhne Mono 400
Shadows	0 2px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.08), 0 16px 48px rgba(0,0,0,0.12) — warm, contained
Motion	easeOutQuint, 600-900ms, deliberate, no bounce
Icons	1.5px stroke, sharp terminals, monoline
Texture	Subtle paper grain 8% opacity, vignette on hero imagery
Best fit	Premium DTC, hospitality, Creative-Production, luxury Pro Services, financial wealth

Archetype 3 — Soft Structuralism

Dimension	Spec
Surfaces	Warm off-white (#F8F5F0), terracotta (#C56F4D), sage (#7A8B6B), muted block colors
Materials	Textured paper, ceramic, raw linen, soft-touch laminate
Typography heading	GT Alpina 500, Tiempos Headline 500, or Recoleta 500
Typography body	Söhne Buch 400, 16-17px, 1.55 line-height
Typography mono	Berkeley Mono 400
Shadows	0 4px 12px rgba(80,60,40,0.10) — warm, soft
Motion	spring(damping=22, stiffness=160), 500-800ms, gentle bounce
Icons	2px stroke, rounded, friendly
Texture	12% paper texture overlay, occasional shape blocks
Best fit	DTC home/food/beauty, family-brand SaaS, healthcare-consumer, hospitality

Archetype 4 — Minimalist Editorial

Dimension	Spec
Surfaces	True white (#FFFFFF), pure black (#000000), single accent (often #FF3B30 or #0066FF)
Materials	Glossy and matte juxtapositions, clean print
Typography heading	Inter 600 or Söhne Halbfett, tight tracking
Typography body	Inter 400, 15-16px, 1.5 line-height
Typography mono	Söhne Mono 400
Shadows	None or 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.06) — almost flat
Motion	easeInOut, 200-350ms, no decoration
Icons	1.5px stroke, geometric, no flourish
Texture	None — pure geometry
Best fit	B2B SaaS, professional services (legal/consulting), tech-first DTC, AI tools

Archetype 5 — Industrial Brutalist

Dimension	Spec
Surfaces	Concrete grays (#2A2A2A, #6B6B6B), safety yellow (#FFD400), exposed grids, raw rules
Materials	Concrete, raw steel, kraft paper, screenprint
Typography heading	Söhne Breit Kräftig, Druk Wide 700, or PP Mori Bold
Typography body	Söhne Buch 400, 15px, 1.4 line-height
Typography mono	IBM Plex Mono 500
Shadows	4px 4px 0 #000 hard-offset, no blur
Motion	linear or stepped, 150-300ms, snap transitions
Icons	2.5-3px stroke, blocky, no rounding
Texture	Halftone, riso grain 20%, visible grid overlays
Best fit	Challenger DTC, agency-of-record (Ad-Commercial), youth/streetwear, dev-tool SaaS

Decision Matrix — Profile x Positioning -> Archetype

Rows: industry profile. Columns: positioning quadrant (Volume-Mass / Volume-Premium / Bespoke-Mass / Bespoke-Premium).

Profile	Volume-Mass	Volume-Premium	Bespoke-Mass	Bespoke-Premium
B2B SaaS	Minimalist Editorial	Minimalist Editorial	Ethereal Glass	Editorial Luxury
DTC E-com	Soft Structuralism	Editorial Luxury	Industrial Brutalist	Editorial Luxury
Professional Services	Minimalist Editorial	Editorial Luxury	Soft Structuralism	Editorial Luxury
Regulated	Minimalist Editorial	Ethereal Glass	Minimalist Editorial	Editorial Luxury
Creative-Production	Soft Structuralism	Editorial Luxury	Industrial Brutalist	Editorial Luxury
Ad-Commercial	Industrial Brutalist	Editorial Luxury	Industrial Brutalist	Editorial Luxury

When archetype recommendation is ambiguous or the brand has explicit aesthetic equity that contradicts the matrix, brand-narrative documents the override rationale in the brief.

Output Schema (used in CreativeBrief)

aesthetic_archetype:
  primary: "editorial-luxury"
  accent: null                            # optional, for hybrid asset
  surfaces:
    bg: "#0A0A0A"
    fg: "#F5F1EA"
    accent: "#8B6B3D"
  typography:
    heading: "Canela Deck 500"
    body: "Inter 400"
    mono: "Söhne Mono 400"
  motion:
    easing: "easeOutQuint"
    duration_ms: 700
  texture:
    type: "paper-grain"
    opacity: 0.08
  prompt_seed: "editorial luxury, matte black background, ivory typography..."

The prompt_seed is a free-text string consumed by ComfyUI / gemini-image prompt builders inside Hydra's creative squad. Keep it under 80 words.

Anti-patterns

• Mixing archetypes without explicit accent declaration — produces visual drift.
• Choosing Industrial Brutalist for regulated industries (compliance friction).
• Choosing Editorial Luxury for high-volume DTC promo (cognitive mismatch).
• Allowing per-asset overrides without style_notes documentation.

Reference

• Frontend-design tokens reference: <AIAPP_BASE>/RLM-Creative/.claude/skills/frontend-design/ (downstream consumer).
• Hydra creative squad asset spec: <AIAPP_BASE>/Hydra/squads/creative/squad.yaml.