080101-design-foundationslisted

# Design Foundations Foundational design decisions: color, tokens, and the register (brand vs product) that determines how design rules apply. Use this before making any color or theming choice. ## References | Topic | File | |---|---| | Color strategies: Restrained, Committed, Full palette, Drenched | [references/color-strategies.md](references/color-strategies.md) | | Design token hierarchy: Brand → Semantic → Component | [references/token-hierarchy.md](references/token-hierarchy.md) | | Brand vs Product register differences, slop tests, shared laws | [references/brand-product-register.md](references/brand-product-register.md) | ## Core Rules - **Scene Sentence**: Write one sentence of physical context (who, where, ambient light, mood) to decide dark vs light. If the sentence doesn't force the answer, it's not concrete enough. - **Color strategy**: Pick from Restrained (≤10% accent), Committed (30-60% saturated), Full palette (3-4 roles), Drenched (surface IS the color). - **OKLCH**: Use OKLCH, reduce chroma at lightness extremes, never `#000` or `#fff`, tint neutrals toward brand hue (chroma 0.005-0.01). - **Absolute bans**: No gradient text, side-stripe borders, glassmorphism as default, hero-metric template, identical card grids, modal as first thought, nested cards. - **Slop test (two altitudes)**: First-order — would someone guess theme from category alone? Second-order — would someone guess aesthetic from category-plus-anti-references? If yes, rework. ## When to