VHS Aesthetic

STYLEKIT_STYLE_REFERENCE
style_name: VHS Aesthetic
style_slug: vhs-aesthetic
style_source: /styles/vhs-aesthetic

# Hard Prompt

## When To Use
Use this when you want AI to generate code with strict style consistency. It is the safest default for production UI.

## How To Use
- Copy the full prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or another coding assistant.
- Append the concrete product/page requirement after the prompt.
- After generation, check the forbidden rules and interaction states before accepting the output.

Strictly follow the style rules below and maintain consistency. No style drift allowed.

## Requirements

- Prioritize style consistency first, then creative extension.
- When conflicts arise, treat prohibitions as the highest priority.
- Self-check before output: verify colors, typography, spacing, and interactions still match this style.

## Style Rules

STYLE: VHS Aesthetic
TYPE: 80-90s VHS tape visual aesthetic

MUST USE:
- Background: Black (#000000) or deep purple (#1a0a2e)
- Primary accent: Magenta (#ff00ff) for borders, glows, highlights
- Secondary accent: Cyan (#00ffff) for text, secondary elements
- Tertiary: Yellow (#ffff00) for warnings/timestamps, Green (#00ff00) for status
- All text: Monospace font, uppercase preferred
- Scanlines: Apply repeating-linear-gradient overlay
- Color separation: Use text-shadow with offset magenta and cyan
- Timestamps: Show "REC" indicator, date/time in corner
- Noise: Add grain/noise texture overlay with low opacity
- Tracking distortion: Slight horizontal offset on hover/animation

MUST AVOID:
- Light/white backgrounds
- Pastel or muted colors
- Serif or sans-serif body fonts
- Large border-radius (max 2px)
- Smooth gradients
- Subtle/standard shadows (use neon glow only)

Animation & Interaction Rules:
- Tape Tracking Jitter: Completely abandon smooth animations. On hover, use extremely short duration-75 for crisp, even slightly harsh visual feedback (e.g., instant skew-x-2 or translate-x-1), simulating VHS tape tracking errors.
- Chroma Split Glow: Neon shadows must not just glow -- they must be "misaligned." On hover, magenta and cyan text-shadow or box-shadow must pull apart in opposite directions, simulating tape color dispersion.
- Scanline Distortion: Scanline overlays on cards should speed up vertical scrolling or instantly change opacity (e.g., from opacity-10 to opacity-30) when the container is hovered.
- Playback Snap: Active (:active) state should simulate pressing a heavy VCR physical button. Eliminate all glow and produce a harsh sink (active:scale-95 active:shadow-none).

---

# VHS Aesthetic Design System

> 80-90s VHS tape visual aesthetics with color distortion, scanline noise, and signal glitch effects. Ideal for nostalgia, retro tech, and creative video projects.

## Design Philosophy

VHS Aesthetic recreates the analog warmth and beautiful imperfections of 80-90s VHS tapes.

Core principles:
- Scanline overlay: all content areas use repeating-linear-gradient horizontal scanlines
- RGB chromatic aberration: text uses magenta and cyan offset text-shadow to simulate color separation
- Noise texture: low-opacity noise/grain overlay layer
- Signal glitch: horizontal offset tracking distortion effects on hover
- VHS markers: REC indicator, timestamps, counters, and other tape UI elements
- Monospace fonts: all text uses monospace fonts, uppercase preferred
- Ultra-dark backgrounds: black or deep purple backgrounds maximize neon contrast

---

## Token Dictionary (exact class mapping)

### Border
```
Width: border
Color: border-[#ff00ff]/20
Radius: rounded-none
```

### Shadow
```
sm: shadow-[0_0_10px_rgba(255,0,255,0.2)]
md: shadow-[0_0_20px_rgba(255,0,255,0.4)]
lg: shadow-[0_0_40px_rgba(255,0,255,0.6)]
hover: shadow-[0_0_20px_rgba(255,0,255,0.3)]
focus: shadow-[0_0_15px_rgba(0,255,255,0.4)]
```

### Interaction
```
Hover translate: (none)
Hover scale: hover:shadow-[0_0_20px_rgba(255,0,255,0.3)] hover:border-[#ff00ff]/40
Hover opacity: (none)
Transition: transition-all duration-200
Active: active:scale-[0.98]
```

### Typefaces
```
Heading: font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider
Body: font-mono text-sm
Mono: font-mono
```

### Type scale
```
Hero: text-4xl md:text-6xl lg:text-8xl
H1: text-3xl md:text-5xl
H2: text-2xl md:text-3xl
H3: text-xl md:text-2xl
Body: text-sm md:text-base
Small: text-xs
```

### Spacing
```
Section: py-16 md:py-24
Container: px-6 md:px-8
Card: p-6
Gap sm: gap-4
Gap md: gap-6
Gap lg: gap-8
```

### Color roles
```
Background primary: bg-black
Background secondary: bg-[#1a0a2e]
Background accent: bg-[#ff00ff]/10, bg-[#00ffff]/10, bg-[#ffff00]/10
Text primary: text-white
Text secondary: text-[#00ffff]
Text muted: text-white/40
Button primary: bg-[#ff00ff]/20 text-[#ff00ff] border border-[#ff00ff]
Button secondary: bg-[#00ffff]/10 text-[#00ffff] border border-[#00ffff]/50
```

---

## [FORBIDDEN]

These classes are banned in this style. Check for them before returning code:

### Banned classes
- `bg-white`
- `bg-gray-50`
- `bg-gray-100`
- `rounded-xl`
- `rounded-2xl`
- `rounded-3xl`
- `rounded-full`
- `shadow-sm`
- `shadow-md`
- `shadow-lg`
- `font-sans`
- `font-serif`
- `text-gray-900`
- `text-gray-800`

### Banned patterns
- matches `^bg-white`
- matches `^bg-gray-[1-3]`
- matches `^shadow-(?!\[)`
- matches `^rounded-[23]xl`
- matches `^rounded-full`
- matches `^font-serif`
- matches `^font-sans`

### Why they are banned
- `bg-white`: VHS aesthetic requires dark backgrounds (black or deep purple)
- `shadow-md`: Use neon glow shadows: shadow-[0_0_20px_rgba(255,0,255,0.4)]
- `rounded-2xl`: VHS aesthetic uses sharp edges (rounded-none)
- `font-sans`: Use monospace fonts only for VHS terminal/tape aesthetic
- `font-serif`: Use monospace fonts only for VHS terminal/tape aesthetic

> WARNING: if your code contains any of the above, replace it before shipping.

---

## [REQUIRED]

### Every button must include
```
font-mono
uppercase
tracking-widest
border
transition-all duration-200
```

### Every card must include
```
bg-[#1a0a2e]
border
```

### Every input must include
```
bg-black
border
text-[#00ffff]
font-mono
focus:border-[#00ffff]
focus:shadow-[0_0_10px_rgba(0,255,255,0.3)]
```

---

## [COMPARE] VHS Aesthetic wrong vs right

The wrong examples below stand for generic library defaults that were never adapted to this style. Do not read them as visual suggestions.

### Button

[WRONG] **Wrong** (generic component library default, do not copy):
```html
<button class="{GENERIC_LIBRARY_BUTTON_DEFAULT}">
  Click me
</button>
```

[CORRECT] **Right** (uses this style's tokens):
```html
<button class="font-mono uppercase tracking-widest border transition-all duration-200 bg-[#ff00ff]/20 text-[#ff00ff] border border-[#ff00ff]">
  Click me
</button>
```

### Card

[WRONG] **Wrong** (generic card, not adapted to this style):
```html
<div class="{GENERIC_LIBRARY_CARD_DEFAULT}">
  <h3>{TITLE}</h3>
</div>
```

[CORRECT] **Right** (uses this style's card tokens):
```html
<div class="bg-[#1a0a2e] border p-6">
  <h3 class="font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider text-xl md:text-2xl">{TITLE}</h3>
</div>
```

### Input

[WRONG] **Wrong** (generic input, not adapted to this style):
```html
<input class="{GENERIC_LIBRARY_INPUT_DEFAULT}" />
```

[CORRECT] **Right** (uses this style's input tokens):
```html
<input class="bg-black border text-[#00ffff] font-mono focus:border-[#00ffff] focus:shadow-[0_0_10px_rgba(0,255,255,0.3)]" placeholder="{PLACEHOLDER}" />
```

---

## [TEMPLATES] VHS Aesthetic page skeletons

These skeletons use this style's tokens only. Replace `{PLACEHOLDER}` values, but keep every token in place:

### Navigation
```html
<nav class="bg-black text-white border border-[#ff00ff]/20 px-6 md:px-8">
  <div class="flex items-center justify-between max-w-6xl mx-auto gap-6">
    <a href="/" class="font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider text-xl md:text-2xl">
      {LOGO_TEXT}
    </a>
    <div class="flex gap-6 font-mono text-sm text-xs">
      {NAV_LINKS}
    </div>
  </div>
</nav>
```

### Hero section
```html
<section class="bg-[#ff00ff]/10 text-white py-16 md:py-24 px-6 md:px-8">
  <div class="max-w-4xl mx-auto">
    <h1 class="font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider text-4xl md:text-6xl lg:text-8xl">
      {HEADLINE}
    </h1>
    <p class="font-mono text-sm text-sm md:text-base max-w-xl">
      {SUBHEADLINE}
    </p>
    <button class="font-mono uppercase tracking-widest border transition-all duration-200 bg-[#ff00ff]/20 text-[#ff00ff] border border-[#ff00ff]">
      {CTA_TEXT}
    </button>
  </div>
</section>
```

### Card grid
```html
<section class="bg-black text-white py-16 md:py-24 px-6 md:px-8">
  <div class="max-w-6xl mx-auto">
    <h2 class="font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider text-2xl md:text-3xl">{SECTION_TITLE}</h2>
    <div class="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3 gap-6">
      <!-- Card template - repeat for each card -->
      <div class="bg-[#1a0a2e] border p-6">
        <h3 class="font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider text-xl md:text-2xl">{CARD_TITLE}</h3>
        <p class="font-mono text-sm text-sm md:text-base text-white/40">{CARD_DESCRIPTION}</p>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</section>
```

### Form input
```html
<input class="bg-black border text-[#00ffff] font-mono focus:border-[#00ffff] focus:shadow-[0_0_10px_rgba(0,255,255,0.3)]" placeholder="{PLACEHOLDER}" />
```

### Footer
```html
<footer class="bg-[#1a0a2e] text-[#00ffff] py-16 md:py-24 px-6 md:px-8">
  <div class="max-w-6xl mx-auto">
    <div class="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-3 gap-8">
      <div>
        <span class="font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider text-xl md:text-2xl">{LOGO_TEXT}</span>
        <p class="font-mono text-sm text-xs">{TAGLINE}</p>
      </div>
      <div>
        <h4 class="font-mono font-bold uppercase tracking-wider text-xl md:text-2xl">{COLUMN_TITLE}</h4>
        <ul class="font-mono text-sm text-xs">
          {FOOTER_LINKS}
        </ul>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</footer>
```

---

## [CHECKLIST] VHS Aesthetic post-generation self check

**Before returning code, verify every token and rule below. Fix any violation before delivering:**

### Token check
- [ ] Button includes: `font-mono uppercase tracking-widest border transition-all duration-200`
- [ ] Card includes: `bg-[#1a0a2e] border`
- [ ] Input includes: `bg-black border text-[#00ffff] font-mono focus:border-[#00ffff] focus:shadow-[0_0_10px_rgba(0,255,255,0.3)]`

### Forbidden check
- [ ] Not using `bg-white`
- [ ] Not using `bg-gray-50`
- [ ] Not using `bg-gray-100`
- [ ] Not using `rounded-xl`
- [ ] Not using `rounded-2xl`
- [ ] Not using `rounded-3xl`
- [ ] Not using `rounded-full`
- [ ] Not using `shadow-sm`

### Style rule check
- [ ] Apply horizontal scanline overlay on all content areas
- [ ] Use RGB color separation on text (magenta + cyan offset shadows)
- [ ] Add noise/grain texture overlay with low opacity
- [ ] Include VHS-style timestamps and REC indicators
- [ ] Use monospace fonts throughout

### Style drift check
- [ ] Does not violate: Don't use clean, crisp typography
- [ ] Does not violate: Don't use light backgrounds
- [ ] Does not violate: Don't use modern sans-serif fonts
- [ ] Does not violate: Don't use smooth gradients
- [ ] Does not violate: Don't use rounded corners larger than 2px

### Delivery check
- [ ] Responsive layout holds on phone, tablet and desktop with no horizontal overflow
- [ ] Every interactive element has a visible focus state, an accessible name and a reduced-motion path
- [ ] Text contrast meets WCAG AA and colour alone never carries state
- [ ] The result is still recognizable at a glance as VHS Aesthetic

## Absolute Bans (Match and Refuse)

If any of the following patterns appear, it is a style violation — rewrite without exception.

- use clean, crisp typography
- use light backgrounds
- use modern sans-serif fonts
- use smooth gradients
- use rounded corners larger than 2px
- use subtle, refined effects

## Self-Check (Verify Before Shipping)

If any item fails, the style has drifted — fix before shipping.

- [ ] No purple-to-blue gradients
- [ ] No overused fonts (Inter, Roboto, Geist, Fraunces, Plus Jakarta Sans)
- [ ] No nested cards (cards inside cards)
- [ ] No gray text on colored backgrounds
- [ ] Body text contrast meets WCAG AA (>= 4.5:1)
- [ ] No bounce or elastic easing curves
- [ ] Animations have a prefers-reduced-motion fallback
- [ ] Body text line length capped at 65-75 characters
- [ ] No side-stripe accent borders (border-left/right > 1px)
- [ ] No gradient text (background-clip: text)
- [ ] No glassmorphism used as the default surface treatment
- [ ] No tiny uppercase tracked eyebrow labels above every section heading
- [ ] don't use clean, crisp typography
- [ ] don't use light backgrounds
- [ ] don't use modern sans-serif fonts
- [ ] don't use smooth gradients
- [ ] don't use rounded corners larger than 2px