# Build brief: Dark Academia

Resource base: https://mejohnc.org (or the preview host used to obtain this file).

Use this direction within the user’s requested project and existing design constraints.

## Illustrative use case, not project requirements
A reading journal with book details, dated notes, and a restrained library palette.

A contemporary scholarly mood using dark wood, books, archival imagery, and subdued light. Occult and fantasy motifs are optional variants, not the definition of academia.

## Essential cues
- Dark warm surfaces
- Bookish typography
- Archival imagery

## Recipe
- Use a sturdy serif for titles.
- Show real bibliographic or collection details.
- Keep the reading surface lighter or the text strongly contrasted.

## Optional decoration
Book and archive imagery is helpful but not required for readable notes.

## Avoid
Equating scholarship with occult imagery or making a dark page difficult to read.

## Values and validation
Read [tokens](/territories/dark-academia/tokens.json) and [acceptance checklist](/territories/dark-academia/checklist.md). Use [the working example](/territories/dark-academia/example/) to inspect color roles, spacing, hierarchy, and interaction states. It is a UI translation, not a reproduction of historical art. Tokens describe the base UI; [example CSS](/territories/assets/example.css) contains the style-specific composition and decorative layer. Preview navigation with `?navigation=top`, `?navigation=sidebar`, or `?navigation=tabs`; combine with `project`. Use [Compare](/territories/compare/) for mobile (390 px), tablet (820 px), and desktop (1440 px) viewports.

## Delivery
Preserve real content and existing working behavior. Check keyboard, narrow layout, error, empty, and success states. Report any departures from this recipe with a reason. Do not claim to have inspected a preview or run checks that you could not access.

Schema 1.0.0; revision f5fd78058ba2.