# Handmade craft — style recipe

## The idea
- Made by a person: paper colours, ink lines, wonky hand-drawn shapes, stamps and handwritten notes.

## Use it when
- Workshops, makers and small shops
- Personal projects and community groups
- Brands that sell care and skill

## Avoid it when
- The product must look precise or technical
- The brand is formal or corporate

## Principles
- Paper-coloured backgrounds with subtle grain
- Hand-drawn, slightly wobbly lines and underlines
- Handwriting for short notes, a classic serif for text
- Stamp- and label-like badges
- Small imperfections on purpose
- Ink colours: rust red and indigo

## Colour
- Paper (background): #fbf6ee
- Kraft (surface): #f3e9d8
- Walnut ink (text): #2e2620
- Pencil (muted): #5e5248
- Rust stamp (accent): #b03a24
- Indigo ink (accent-2): #2f6d8a
- Ink line (border): #2e2620
- Text on background contrast: 13.80:1 — passes AA

## Type
- Headings: Caveat, weights 600 and 700 — Handwriting for headings and notes only
- Body: Libre Baskerville, weights 400 and 700 — Classic, bookish serif for reading
- Scale: 15px, 17px, 20px, 28px, 42px, 64px
- Handwriting on top, a book serif underneath; never handwriting for long text.

## Spacing and shape
- Base unit: 8px
- Spacing steps: 8px, 16px, 24px, 40px, 72px
- Comfortable; notes and stamps sit slightly off the grid.
- Corner radii: 2px, 6px
- Borders: Hand-drawn SVG lines and dashed stitches
- Shadows: Paper-like, very small

## Imagery and motion
- Imagery: Hand-drawn SVG doodles, stitches, stamps and labels.
- Motion: A line draws itself; otherwise still.

## Do
- Underline with a hand-drawn line
- Use a stamp badge once
- Keep body text in the book serif

## Don't
- No perfect geometric icons
- No neon colours
- No handwriting for paragraphs