Specificity
Archive, not luxury template
Use editorial composition, paper, ink, and documented lineage. Avoid generic black and gold spectacle.
Public design system · Version 1.0
An archive with a visual memory.
Matria is ancient, editorial, warm, and exacting about sources. This system keeps the app and website recognisably part of the same archive.
Master mark
01 · Foundations
The contract
The visual system supports the archive. It does not imply mystical authority, flatten evidence, or obscure where a reading came from.
Evidence
Sources stay visible
Attribution never truncates. Evidence labels keep distinct meanings and are never presented as equally validated.
Privacy
Quiet by design
Private surfaces feel contained, calm, and readable. Privacy is explained directly, without symbolic mysticism.
Composition
One deliberate move
Each hero has one authored gesture: an unexpected crop, a torn paper edge, an offset mark, or a structural thread.
Language
Plain, sourced, and literary
No fortune telling, manifestation claims, invented quotations, or generic wellness language.
02 · Brand
Mark and word
The master emblem follows v6: cupped hands, uterus glyph, open book. The womb icon matches the landing tapestry (`matria-hero-tapestry.png`): hand-etched antique gold, muted dusty rose fill, collage grain. Transparent PNG, no black plate, no orbital rings.
Master mark · no black square, no circle
Current brand decision: live emblem is uploads/matria-emblem.png from matria-emblem-tapestry-womb-v2.png. Womb style locked to the landing collage tapestry.
Clear space
One book height
Keep at least the height of the open book between the emblem and unrelated text or imagery.
Minimum size
24 px utility, 64 px brand
Below 64 px, use the emblem only if the uterus and hands still read. Do not invent a second mark.
Colour
Copper first, burgundy womb
Copper-gold hands and book. Burgundy fills the uterus glyph only. No hot red flame, no bold orbital rings.
03 · Colour
Ink, paper, seal
All values below resolve directly from matria-tokens.css. Night supports wayfinding and constellation views. Cream supports reading, writing, and private reflection. Burgundy is the primary action seal.
Grounds and text
Copper and burgundy
Evidence labels
04 · Typography
One family, one job
Cormorant Garamond is reserved for the wordmark and rare editorial claims. Source Serif 4 carries display and reading hierarchy. Atkinson Hyperlegible carries interface and body copy.
Matria
Your questions have ancestors.
Ancient stories. Radical women.
Every answer names the archive entries behind it. Nothing is invented when the sources are insufficient.
From the archive
05 · Surfaces
Two editorial grounds
The product is not one continuous dark theme. Surface choice communicates the reader's mode and should match across app and web.
Wayfinding
Night
Use for Today, Explore, Answers, Letters, and the Knowledge Map.
ArchiveSelected
Reading and writing
Cream
Use for Ask, Journal, Sanctuary, Reading Room, sources, and private composition.
What question is under this?
06 · Iconography
Marks with roles
Utility icons help navigation. Archive glyphs identify Matria specific actions. Type and concept glyphs distinguish knowledge categories and feminist ideas. Do not replace concept marks with generic productivity symbols.
07 · Components
Shared states
The specimens use the same action, surface, radius, and type tokens as the app. Website components should consume these tokens rather than reproducing the colours by eye.
Actions on night
Question composer
What question is under this?
WearyDefiantTender
Evidence
Strong
Moderate
Emerging
Mixed
Traditional
Cultural
Editorial card
From Matria
You do not need the perfect question.
Start with what you are carrying. The archive will show what it can support.
08 · Imagery
Material over effect
The collage tapestry is the brand face in-app (splash veil, Today hero). The landing site may use the cinematic portrait field. Subsequent narrative images establish the archive through torn paper, monochrome cutouts, parchment, burgundy, and structural constellation threads.
Use
Archival material
Paper tears, ink grain, photograph backs, book cloth, marginal marks, and documented objects.
Restrain
Red as material
Use burgundy in paper, seals, thread, and hair light. Avoid bright red on skin.
Avoid
Generated fantasy tells
Repeated galaxies, flowing goddess dresses, serpents as privacy symbols, decorative glow, and generic mystical staging.
09 · Product screens
Live captures and App Store art
Marketing frames are regenerated from the current app build. The review sheet includes core flows, Letters, paywall, share cards, and the full Screen Overview gallery (46 cells).
Letters
Slow correspondence
Inbox, write, read, letter desk, travelling envelope, open letters, echoes, moderation. Members only; gate at Membership Unlock.
Matria Pay
Sanctuary membership
Annual, monthly, and founding tiers. Reading the archive stays free. Live capture uses the IAP build with paywall on.
Share from the archive
One woman, one line
Portrait card from Author or source detail. Gift a reading shares a question and lineage from Answer.
10 · Accessibility
Readable by default
Accessibility is part of the system contract, including Dynamic Type in the native app, visible focus, full attribution, touch targets, reduced motion, and contrast.
Contrast
Champagne on burgundy
--gold-display remains above 6.6:1 on the lightest seal stop. Do not use canonical copper for small seal text.
Targets
44 px minimum
Buttons, icon controls, navigation items, and interactive chips meet the minimum touch target.
Provenance
Names render whole
Source names, traditions, citations, and evidence labels wrap. They are never shortened with ellipses.
11 · Governance
One system, clear owners
This page is the published reference. The files below remain the implementation authority. The archive production workbench is a separate operational tool and does not own visual design decisions.
Sources of truth
- matria-tokens.cssColour, type, spacing, radius, motion, and semantic tokens
- matria-ui.jsxUtility, archive, type, and concept icon components
- matria.cssApp components, states, and screen treatments
- DESIGN-SYSTEM.mdBinding implementation rules and migration notes
- ART-DIRECTION.mdAnti template principles and visual judgment
Change rule
- Change or add the token first.
- Update the shared component and every relevant state.
- Update this public reference and the implementation document.
- Check app and website on both night and cream surfaces.
- Verify contrast, focus, reduced motion, and full attribution.
- Record breaking visual changes with a migration note.
Workbench distinction: Matria Launch Workbench measures corpus readiness, rights, sourcing, and archive connections. This public design system governs the visual and interaction language.