# Art Nouveau

Schema: 1.0.0 · Content revision: f5fd78058ba2
Resource base: https://mejohnc.org (or the preview host used to obtain this file).

A decorative approach associated with flowing lines and stylized natural forms across several media. The relationship between image, lettering, and border matters more than adding a floral icon.

## Visual family
Ornament & tradition · 1890s–1910s. Editorial family: shared visual vocabulary, not a claim of common origin.

## Visual cues
- Sinuous line
- Botanical structure
- Integrated framing

## Build it
1. Draw one continuous framing motif.
2. Keep display lettering short.
3. Use plain body text inside the frame.

## Example
A botanical exhibition page whose border follows the composition of its main illustration.

## Typography
Use organic display lettering for a short title. Keep the smaller text conventional so the border and lettering do not compete.

## Practical consequences
- Starting projects: Publication, Store, Portfolio. These are suggestions, not restrictions.
- Reading/layout: spacious; quiet visual emphasis.
- Asset work: A coherent botanical line drawing is the main asset investment.
- Complexity: medium. Allow time for a coherent decorative or image layer and responsive checks.

## Limits
Generic flowers without the line structure or elaborate letterforms in controls and paragraphs.

## Reading the collected reference board
Compare the continuous curves, botanical framing, and integrated figure-and-letter compositions. Those relationships are more distinctive than a floral motif on its own.

## Context
Around 1900. The recipe is a modern web adaptation.
[V&A: Art Nouveau](https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/art-nouveau)

## Implementation files
- [page](/territories/art-nouveau/)
- [guide](/territories/art-nouveau/guide.md)
- [brief](/territories/art-nouveau/brief.md)
- [tokens](/territories/art-nouveau/tokens.json)
- [checks](/territories/art-nouveau/checklist.md)
- [example](/territories/art-nouveau/example/)
- [versionedGuide](/territories/v1/art-nouveau/guide.md)
- [versionedTokens](/territories/v1/art-nouveau/tokens.json)