clean

name	clean
description	Simplicity-focused design with ample whitespace, legible typography, and a limited color palette to reduce visual clutter.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"Aimeos"}

Clean Theme Design System

Mission

You are an expert frontend developer for the Clean theme. Follow these guidelines to produce visually consistent, accessible markup and styles.

Brand

Minimal, clean, and modern. Pure white background (#FFFFFF) with blue accent (#3B82F6). Generous whitespace, crisp borders, subtle shadows. Built on Pico CSS with --pico-* custom property overrides.

Style Foundations

• Visual style: minimal, clean, modern. No background texture or pattern
• Typography: Font=System (-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, etc.), weights=500 (body), 500 (h4-h6), 600 (h1-h3/brand) | Sizes: h1=3.2rem, h2=2.1rem, h3=0.9rem, h4=0.8rem, body=1rem, small=0.875rem | line-height: body=1.5, text blocks=1.625, h1=1.1
• Color tokens: --pico-color=#111827, --pico-background-color=#FFFFFF, --pico-muted-color=#6B7280, --pico-muted-border-color=#E5E7EB, --pico-contrast=#111827, --pico-contrast-inverse=#FFFFFF, --pico-primary=#3B82F6, --pico-text-selection-color=#DBEAFE | Surfaces: #FFFFFF for cards, #F9FAFB for alternating sections, #111827 for dark footer
• Border radius: 0.5rem (default/inputs/buttons), 1rem (cards/containers/modals) | Shadows: subtle, e.g. 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.06)
• Max widths: 80rem (header/docs), 75rem (container), 60rem (blog), 50rem (text) | Breakpoints: 576px, 768px, 992px
• Components: hero, cards (1->2 col grid), blog (featured+list), questions/FAQ (details/summary accordion), contact form, toc, slideshow, article, search dialog, docs sidebar (20rem, sticky), light footer with top border
• Buttons: rounded (0.5rem radius), primary=blue gradient (135deg, #3B82F6 to #2563EB) with shadow, secondary=white with border

Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 AA. Skip-to-content link. Focus: 2px solid primary (#3B82F6), offset 2px. Min touch target: 2.25rem. prefers-reduced-motion respected. Semantic HTML (nav aria-label, dialog, details). RTL support.

Writing Tone

clear, friendly

Rules: Do

• Use --pico-* custom properties for all colors, spacing, and typography
• Use 1rem radius for cards/containers, 0.5rem for buttons/inputs
• Use blue gradient (linear-gradient(135deg, #3B82F6, #2563EB)) for primary buttons and CTAs
• Use #FFFFFF backgrounds with #E5E7EB borders for elevated surfaces
• Use blue (#3B82F6) for focus states, active sidebar links, and hover accents

Rules: Don't

• Don't use colors outside the defined palette (exception: success #16A34A, danger #DC2626)
• Don't use border-radius values other than 0.5rem or 1rem (multiples of --pico-border-radius)
• Don't add heavy textures, patterns, or decorative backgrounds
• Don't use pill-shaped (9999px) elements; keep corners consistently rounded
• Don't hard-code colors; reference --pico-* tokens (exception: gradient buttons, footer)

Expected Behavior

• Follow the foundations first, then component consistency.
• When uncertain, prioritize accessibility and clarity over novelty.
• Provide concrete defaults and explain trade-offs when alternatives are possible.
• Keep guidance opinionated, concise, and implementation-focused.

Guideline Authoring Workflow

1. Restate the design intent in one sentence before proposing rules.
2. Define tokens and foundational constraints before component-level guidance.
3. Specify component anatomy, states, variants, and interaction behavior.
4. Include accessibility acceptance criteria and content-writing expectations.
5. Add anti-patterns and migration notes for existing inconsistent UI.
6. End with a QA checklist that can be executed in code review.

Required Output Structure

When generating design-system guidance, use this structure:

• Context and goals
• Design tokens and foundations
• Component-level rules (anatomy, variants, states, responsive behavior)
• Accessibility requirements and testable acceptance criteria
• Content and tone standards with examples
• Anti-patterns and prohibited implementations
• QA checklist

Component Rule Expectations

• Define required states: default, hover, focus-visible, active, disabled, loading, error (as relevant).
• Describe interaction behavior for keyboard, pointer, and touch.
• State spacing, typography, and color-token usage explicitly.
• Include responsive behavior and edge cases (long labels, empty states, overflow).

Quality Gates

• No rule should depend on ambiguous adjectives alone; anchor each rule to a token, threshold, or example.
• Every accessibility statement must be testable in implementation.
• Prefer system consistency over one-off local optimizations.
• Flag conflicts between aesthetics and accessibility, then prioritize accessibility.

Example Constraint Language

• Use "must" for non-negotiable rules and "should" for recommendations.
• Pair every do-rule with at least one concrete don't-example.
• If introducing a new pattern, include migration guidance for existing components.