hyperframes/skills/hyperframes-creative/references/visual-styles.md

Visual Style Library

Named visual identities for HyperFrames videos. Each style is grounded in a real graphic design tradition and expressed as a DESIGN.md-compatible token block. Use them as starters — copy the YAML into your project's design.md front matter, then customize.

How to pick: Match mood first, content second. Ask: "What should the viewer FEEL?"

How to use: Copy the style's YAML token block into design.md front matter. Add ## Overview, ## Colors, ## Typography, ## Elevation, ## Components, ## Do's and Don'ts prose sections to complete the file.

Contents

• Quick reference
• Swiss Pulse
• Velvet Standard
• Deconstructed
• Maximalist Type
• Data Drift
• Soft Signal
• Folk Frequency
• Shadow Cut
• Mood to style guide
• Creating custom styles

Quick Reference

Style	Mood	Best for	Transition shader
Swiss Pulse	Clinical, precise	SaaS, data, dev tools, metrics	Cinematic Zoom or SDF Iris
Velvet Standard	Premium, timeless	Luxury, enterprise, keynotes	Cross-Warp Morph
Deconstructed	Industrial, raw	Tech launches, security, punk	Glitch or Whip Pan
Maximalist Type	Loud, kinetic	Big announcements, launches	Ridged Burn
Data Drift	Futuristic, immersive	AI, ML, cutting-edge tech	Gravitational Lens or Domain Warp
Soft Signal	Intimate, warm	Wellness, personal stories, brand	Thermal Distortion
Folk Frequency	Cultural, vivid	Consumer apps, food, communities	Swirl Vortex or Ripple Waves
Shadow Cut	Dark, cinematic	Dramatic reveals, security, exposé	Domain Warp

---

1. Swiss Pulse — Josef Müller-Brockmann

Mood: Clinical, precise | Best for: SaaS dashboards, developer tools, APIs, metrics

name: Swiss Pulse
colors:
  primary: "#1a1a1a"
  on-primary: "#ffffff"
  accent: "#0066FF"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Helvetica Neue
    fontSize: 5rem
    fontWeight: 700
  label:
    fontFamily: Inter
    fontSize: 0.875rem
    fontWeight: 400
  stat:
    fontFamily: Helvetica Neue
    fontSize: 7rem
    fontWeight: 700
rounded:
  none: 0px
  sm: 2px
spacing:
  sm: 8px
  md: 16px
  lg: 32px
motion:
  energy: high
  easing:
    entry: "expo.out"
    exit: "power4.in"
    ambient: "none"
  duration:
    entrance: 0.4
    hold: 1.5
    transition: 0.6
  atmosphere:
    - grid-lines
    - registration-marks
  transition: cinematic-zoom

Grid-locked compositions. Every element snaps to an invisible 12-column grid. Numbers dominate the frame at 80–120px. Animated counters count up from 0. Hard cuts, no decorative transitions. Nothing floats.

---

2. Velvet Standard — Massimo Vignelli

Mood: Premium, timeless | Best for: Luxury products, enterprise software, keynotes, investor decks

name: Velvet Standard
colors:
  primary: "#0a0a0a"
  on-primary: "#ffffff"
  accent: "#1a237e"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Inter
    fontSize: 3rem
    fontWeight: 300
    letterSpacing: 0.15em
    textTransform: uppercase
  body:
    fontFamily: Inter
    fontSize: 1rem
    fontWeight: 300
    lineHeight: 1.6
rounded:
  sm: 0px
  md: 2px
spacing:
  sm: 16px
  md: 32px
  lg: 64px
motion:
  energy: calm
  easing:
    entry: "sine.inOut"
    exit: "power1.in"
    ambient: "sine.inOut"
  duration:
    entrance: 1.2
    hold: 3.0
    transition: 1.5
  atmosphere:
    - subtle-grain
    - hairline-rules
  transition: cross-warp-morph

Generous negative space. Symmetrical, centered, architectural precision. Thin sans-serif, ALL CAPS, wide letter-spacing. Sequential reveals with long holds. Nothing snaps — everything glides with intention. Luxury takes its time.

---

3. Deconstructed — Neville Brody

Mood: Industrial, raw | Best for: Tech news, developer launches, security products, punk-energy reveals

name: Deconstructed
colors:
  primary: "#1a1a1a"
  on-primary: "#f0f0f0"
  accent: "#D4501E"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Space Grotesk
    fontSize: 4rem
    fontWeight: 700
  label:
    fontFamily: Space Mono
    fontSize: 0.75rem
    fontWeight: 700
    textTransform: uppercase
rounded:
  none: 0px
spacing:
  sm: 4px
  md: 12px
  lg: 24px
motion:
  energy: high
  easing:
    entry: "back.out(2.5)"
    exit: "steps(8)"
    ambient: "elastic.out(1.2, 0.4)"
  duration:
    entrance: 0.3
    hold: 1.0
    transition: 0.5
  atmosphere:
    - scan-lines
    - glitch-artifacts
    - grain-overlay
  transition: glitch

Type at angles, overlapping edges, escaping frames. Bold industrial weight. Gritty textures: scan-line effects, glitch artifacts baked into design. Text SLAMS and SHATTERS. Letters scramble then snap to final position. Intentional irregularity — nothing should feel polished.

---

4. Maximalist Type — Paula Scher

Mood: Loud, kinetic | Best for: Big product launches, milestone announcements, high-energy hype videos

name: Maximalist Type
colors:
  primary: "#0a0a0a"
  on-primary: "#ffffff"
  accent-red: "#E63946"
  accent-yellow: "#FFD60A"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Anton
    fontSize: 8rem
    fontWeight: 400
    textTransform: uppercase
  subhead:
    fontFamily: Space Grotesk
    fontSize: 3rem
    fontWeight: 700
rounded:
  none: 0px
spacing:
  sm: 0px
  md: 8px
motion:
  energy: high
  easing:
    entry: "expo.out"
    exit: "back.out(1.8)"
    ambient: "power3.out"
  duration:
    entrance: 0.3
    hold: 0.8
    transition: 0.4
  atmosphere:
    - type-layers
    - color-blocks
  transition: ridged-burn

Text IS the visual. Overlapping type layers at different scales and angles, filling 50–80% of frame. Bold saturated colors — maximum contrast. Everything kinetic: slamming, sliding, scaling. 2–3 second rapid-fire scenes. No static moments. Fast arrivals, hard stops.

---

5. Data Drift — Refik Anadol

Mood: Futuristic, immersive | Best for: AI products, ML platforms, data companies, speculative tech

name: Data Drift
colors:
  primary: "#0a0a0a"
  on-primary: "#e0e0e0"
  accent-purple: "#7c3aed"
  accent-cyan: "#06b6d4"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Inter
    fontSize: 2.5rem
    fontWeight: 200
    letterSpacing: 0.05em
  body:
    fontFamily: Inter
    fontSize: 0.875rem
    fontWeight: 300
rounded:
  sm: 4px
  md: 12px
  full: 9999px
spacing:
  sm: 16px
  md: 32px
  lg: 64px
motion:
  energy: moderate
  easing:
    entry: "sine.inOut"
    exit: "power2.out"
    ambient: "sine.inOut"
  duration:
    entrance: 1.0
    hold: 2.5
    transition: 1.5
  atmosphere:
    - particle-field
    - light-traces
    - radial-glow
  transition: gravitational-lens

Thin futuristic sans-serif — floating, weightless, minimal. Fluid morphing compositions. Extreme scale shifts (micro → macro). Particles coalesce into numbers. Light traces data paths through the frame. Smooth, continuous, organic. Nothing hard.

---

6. Soft Signal — Stefan Sagmeister

Mood: Intimate, warm | Best for: Wellness brands, personal stories, lifestyle products, human-centered apps

name: Soft Signal
colors:
  primary: "#FFF8EC"
  on-primary: "#2a2a2a"
  accent-amber: "#F5A623"
  accent-rose: "#C4A3A3"
  accent-sage: "#8FAF8C"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Playfair Display
    fontSize: 3rem
    fontWeight: 400
    fontStyle: italic
  body:
    fontFamily: Inter
    fontSize: 1rem
    fontWeight: 300
    lineHeight: 1.7
rounded:
  sm: 8px
  md: 16px
  lg: 24px
  full: 9999px
spacing:
  sm: 12px
  md: 24px
  lg: 48px
motion:
  energy: calm
  easing:
    entry: "sine.inOut"
    exit: "power1.inOut"
    ambient: "sine.inOut"
  duration:
    entrance: 1.0
    hold: 3.0
    transition: 1.5
  atmosphere:
    - soft-gradient
    - warm-grain
  transition: thermal-distortion

Handwritten-style or humanist serif fonts. Personal, lowercase, delicate. Close-up framing: single element fills the frame. Slow drifts and floats, never snaps. Soft organic motion. Nothing should feel hurried or polished. Intimate, never corporate.

---

7. Folk Frequency — Eduardo Terrazas

Mood: Cultural, vivid | Best for: Consumer apps, food platforms, community products, festive launches

name: Folk Frequency
colors:
  primary: "#ffffff"
  on-primary: "#1a1a1a"
  accent-pink: "#FF1493"
  accent-blue: "#0047AB"
  accent-yellow: "#FFE000"
  accent-green: "#009B77"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Fredoka One
    fontSize: 4rem
    fontWeight: 400
  body:
    fontFamily: Nunito
    fontSize: 1rem
    fontWeight: 600
rounded:
  sm: 8px
  md: 16px
  lg: 32px
  full: 9999px
spacing:
  sm: 8px
  md: 16px
  lg: 32px
motion:
  energy: high
  easing:
    entry: "back.out(1.6)"
    exit: "elastic.out(1, 0.5)"
    ambient: "sine.inOut"
  duration:
    entrance: 0.5
    hold: 1.5
    transition: 0.8
  atmosphere:
    - pattern-tiles
    - confetti-burst
    - color-blocks
  transition: swirl-vortex

Bold warm rounded type. Pattern and repetition — folk art rhythm and density. Layered compositions with rich visual texture. Every frame feels handcrafted. Colorful motion: elements bounce, pop, spin into place with joy. Overshoots feel intentional. Celebratory energy.

---

8. Shadow Cut — Hans Hillmann

Mood: Dark, cinematic | Best for: Security products, dramatic reveals, investigative content, intense launches

name: Shadow Cut
colors:
  primary: "#0a0a0a"
  on-primary: "#f0f0f0"
  surface: "#3a3a3a"
  accent: "#C1121F"
typography:
  headline:
    fontFamily: Oswald
    fontSize: 4rem
    fontWeight: 700
    textTransform: uppercase
  body:
    fontFamily: Inter
    fontSize: 0.875rem
    fontWeight: 400
rounded:
  none: 0px
  sm: 2px
spacing:
  sm: 8px
  md: 16px
  lg: 48px
motion:
  energy: moderate
  easing:
    entry: "power3.out"
    exit: "power4.in"
    ambient: "sine.inOut"
  duration:
    entrance: 0.8
    hold: 2.5
    transition: 1.2
  atmosphere:
    - deep-shadow
    - vignette
    - grain-overlay
  transition: domain-warp

Near-monochrome: deep blacks, cold greys, stark white + one blood accent. Sharp angular text like film noir title cards. Heavy contrast, no softness. Elements emerge from darkness — reveal is the narrative. Slow creeping push-ins, dramatic scale reveals. The pause before the hit matters. Domain Warp dissolves reality before the next scene.

---

Mood → Style Guide

If the content feels...	Use...
Data-driven, analytical, technical	Swiss Pulse
Premium, enterprise, luxury	Velvet Standard
Raw, punk, aggressive, rebellious	Deconstructed
Hype, loud, high-energy launch	Maximalist Type
AI, ML, speculative, futuristic	Data Drift
Human, warm, personal, wellness	Soft Signal
Cultural, fun, consumer, festive	Folk Frequency
Dark, dramatic, intense, cinematic	Shadow Cut

---

Creating Custom Styles

These 8 styles are starters — not constraints. Create your own:

1. Name it after a designer, art movement, or cultural reference
2. Write YAML tokens — colors (2–5 tokens), typography (2–3 scales), rounded, spacing, motion (energy + easing + duration + atmosphere + transition)
3. Add prose — one paragraph describing the feel, what to do, what to avoid
4. Token references — use {colors.accent}, {typography.headline} in component definitions

The pattern: YAML tokens (what) → prose rationale (why) → components (how they combine).