# Gilded — style guide for coding agents

> Generated from the Aesthetary record for **Gilded**.
> Research: **Partly sourced** · Build guidance: recorded in 6 of 8 research dimensions.
> 8 sources attached.

## How to use this

Paste this file into your agent as context before asking it to design or build something in this visual language. It states what is established, what is our interpretation, and what nobody has established. Treat all three differently.

**The most important section is "Not researched yet".** Its purpose is to stop you and your agent inventing rules that sound right and are not recorded anywhere.

## What this language is

**Defining:** Metallic gold detail, deep black ground, monogram device, symmetry

**Recognise it by:** Fine metallic gold linework and a monogram device set with strict symmetry against a deep black ground, with no third colour and no depicted subject. The diagnostic condition is gold as the whole proposition: the material carries the meaning alone, which is why the register has no imagery and why large gold areas fail — precision is what separates precious from cheap. Neo-Baroque stages a chiaroscuro subject inside an ornamental frame. Heritage uses a comparable device set but argues from a founding date rather than from material.

**Family:** Luxury & Refined
**Era:** contemporary
**Native medium:** packaging, print

**Scope:** Gilding is an ancient technique for laying gold on surfaces. This record is Aesthetary's reading of a contemporary gold-on-dark luxury register, untested by research; it claims none of gilding's history.

## What it is arguing

Expense is the entire message. A precious material rendered precisely against darkness makes a claim about value that needs no subject, no illustration and no explanation — the material is the argument.

**It refuses:** Refuses colour beyond metal and ground, and refuses any subject that would distract from the material claim.

## What it is not

Commonly confused with these. Getting the difference right matters more than getting the surface right:

- Neo-Baroque
- Art Deco — Machine-age luxury; geometric but ornamental, unlike Bauhaus
- Disco
- Heritage
- Hospitality — Atmosphere sold before product; low-light photography is the discipline
- Golden Era Hip-Hop — Record-sleeve proportions and gold; a specific 1986-1996 window

## Established rules

Grouped by what kind of claim each is. A requirement of the language and our own interpretation are not interchangeable.

**How to read each rule.** Every rule states two separate things, and neither stands in for the other:

- **Kind of claim** (the heading): From our catalogue entry · Our reading · Documented · Source attached · Seen in the work.
- **Evidence** (how it is established): Graded by our research brief · No source attached (`DOCUMENTED`) · From our catalogue entry (`SUPPORTED`) · Our reading (`CURATORIAL`) · Not researched yet (`UNKNOWN`) · No grade recorded (no grade in the record). Where a claim has its own canonical label, the Evidence line gives that label instead of the grade.
- **Product area**: which of the twelve areas the rule belongs to (Layout, Typography, Color, Imagery, Surface, Interface, Motion, Motif, Technique, Form, Hierarchy, Density), mapped from its raw area label in bold. "Context" means the rule is about the Aesthetic (its name, origin, lineage) rather than a part of the design. "Not mapped" means the raw area has no single area yet.
- The code in brackets is the `grade` field at `implementationConstraints.tokenRules.value.rules[].provenance.grade` in https://aesthetary.com/data/gilded.json. "From our catalogue entry" means: Stated in Aesthetary’s existing catalogue entry. An outside source is named only where one is linked to the claim.

### From our catalogue entry

_Carried over from Aesthetary's original catalogue entry. The reasoning behind it was never recorded._

- **layout** — Composition: symmetry, monogram device.
  - Kind of claim: From our catalogue entry · Evidence: From our catalogue entry · Product area: Layout
- **color** — Colour: metallic on dark.
  - Kind of claim: From our catalogue entry · Evidence: From our catalogue entry · Product area: Color
- **form / motif / surface / technique** — Form/motif/surface/technique: metallic detail, monogram.
  - Kind of claim: From our catalogue entry · Evidence: From our catalogue entry · Product area: not mapped

### Our reading

- **typography** — Typography: no position of its own is recorded; the brief defers to the neighbour Heritage.
  - Kind of claim: Our reading · Evidence: Our reading · Product area: Typography
- **hierarchy** — Rank by centrality and metallic weight — the monogram sits centred and everything else is subordinate linework.
  - Kind of claim: Our reading · Evidence: Our reading · Product area: Hierarchy
- **motion** — A highlight travelling slowly across the metal. Restrained — animation is where "casino" begins.
  - Kind of claim: Our reading · Evidence: Our reading · Product area: Motion

## Found in research

What research established from sources Aesthetary opened and checked. Each line names its area, how it is known, and where it is scoped. "Seen in the work" means the source documents particular works or products rather than the Aesthetic as a whole.

- **Typography** — Per one printer's guidance, foil stamping is opaque, so a light foil over dark paper is possible.
  - Evidence: Seen in the work · Claim: `kcc:w2-typography-1` · Covers One letterpress and foil printer's production guidance..
- **Typography** — Per one printer's guidance, art and type tend to look thicker or bolder in foil stamping (especially on thicker papers), thin reverses tend to fill in, and very intricate thin fonts may need a small stroke added in prepress.
  - Evidence: Seen in the work · Claim: `kcc:w2-typography-2` · Covers A production constraint of foil stamping, not a stylistic convention of the register..
- **Typography** — Foil type has a practical floor of about 8 pt for most faces.
  - Evidence: Seen in the work · Claim: `kcc:w2-typography-3` · Covers Boxcar Press only; other printers set other minimums..
- **Typography** — Of the luxury fashion brands Monotype looked at, 80% used a serif typeface in their logo and 70% used a geometric sans serif as their primary font.
  - Evidence: Seen in the work · Claim: `kcc:w2-typography-4` · Covers Ten luxury fashion brands' websites and logos, 2022; nothing here is about gold or dark grounds..
- **Technique** — Hot foil stamping uses a heated die and pressure to apply metallic foil to papers, board and plastics; gold is traditionally among the commonest foil colours.
  - Evidence: Documented · Source attached · Claim: `kcc:technique-1` · Covers packaging and print; not evidence that the register requires foil.
- **Technique** — Gold and silver are the traditional foil colours, and foil decoration is associated with premium products.
  - Evidence: Documented · Source attached · Claim: `kcc:technique-2`
- **Technique** — Historical gilding is a different technique (gold leaf over a bole ground, or mercury fire-gilding), which this register does not claim.
  - Evidence: Documented · Source attached · Claim: `kcc:technique-3` · Covers historical subject kept apart from the register.

## Positions by area

The overall position recorded for each area. "No overall position recorded" means rules exist for the area but no position above them; the rules still apply. It is not the same as "Not established", which means nobody has researched the area.

- **Layout** — Specified
- **Typography** — No overall position recorded
- **Color** — Specified
- **Surface** — Specified
- **Motion** — No overall position recorded
- **Motif** — Specified
- **Technique** — Specified
- **Imagery** — Outside this language. The area does not apply; this is not a gap in the research.

## Design grammar — web primitives

A starting grammar for a website in Gilded: fine gold linework on black, one centre axis, no subject and no third colour. The foil facts are researched; the faces and the one slow highlight are this page's choices.

Three kinds of line: **On the record** names a rule this record holds (its wording is under Established rules) and states what it becomes on the web. **Web translation** is Aesthetary's choice for the web, derived from the rules it cites; change it if you have a reason, keep the cited rule. **Not specified by the source** means the research reached this but the sources say nothing about it; **Not researched yet** means the research has not reached it yet. Either way, follow the instruction and do not invent a rule. Structured version: `designGrammar` in data/gilded.json.

### Colour

| Role | Value | Contrast | Use | Kind |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ground | `#0B0A08` | — | The black everything sits on. | Web translation |
| deep | `#070606` | — | The ground inside frames. | Web translation |
| gold | `#C8A24B` | 8.2:1 | Linework, labels, headings in the metal. | Web translation |
| cream | `#F0E4BC` | 15.4:1 | Headings, links, the highlight. | Web translation |
| text | `#E8D9A8` | 14.1:1 | Reading text. | Web translation |
| bronze | `#8A7440` | 4.4:1 | Hairlines and ornament only. Never text. | Web translation |

- **On the record · From our catalogue entry** · `token_rule:color-5` → Put the metal on a dark ground.
- **On the record · Our reading** · `claim:failure-2` → Use no third colour beside metal and ground.
- **Web translation** — Keep gold to linework and detail; never fill an area with it. _Why:_ The record's anti-signature: fill an area with gold and it reads as casino. (`claim:failure-1`, `claim:dcc:gestalt-boundary`)
- **On the record · Documented** · `claim:kcc:technique-2` → Where the work is printed, gold foil is the traditional metal, and foil reads as premium.
- **Not specified by the source** — The sources do not specify the exact golds. _Instead:_ These values are the page's own. Choose one metal and hold it; do not mix golds.

### Typography

Family: this page's choice: Italiana for display, Spectral Light for text. No face is evidenced for the register.. Stack: `"Gl Italiana", "Didot", "Bodoni MT", "Times New Roman", serif`

| Role | Size | Weight | Line height | Case | Tracking | Measure | Use |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| display | clamp(2.5rem, 7vw, 5.5rem) | 400 | 1.05 | uppercase | 0.3em | — | The name and section heads, centred. |
| text | 1.125rem | 300 | 1.75 | not specified | not specified | 60ch | Everything read at length, in Spectral Light. |
| label | 0.75rem | 400 | 1.4 | uppercase | 0.3em | — | Small gold labels above values, as the page sets them. |

- **Not specified by the source** — No typographic convention is evidenced for a gold-on-dark register. _Instead:_ Italiana and Spectral are this page's choice. Typography is a declared freedom: any face that holds up as fine metal will do.
- **On the record · Seen in the work** · `claim:kcc:w2-typography-3` → Where type is foil-stamped, keep it at about 8 pt or larger.
- **On the record · Seen in the work** · `claim:kcc:w2-typography-2` → Expect foil to thicken type and fill thin reverses; very thin faces may need a small stroke added in prepress.
- **Web translation** — On screen, keep display strokes fine but never under 1px at the size used. _Why:_ Foil thickens thin strokes in print; a screen does not, so the web version guards the other end. (`claim:kcc:w2-typography-2`)
- **On the record · Seen in the work** · `claim:kcc:w2-typography-4` → One Monotype survey of luxury fashion brands found mostly serif logos and geometric sans text. It says nothing about gold or dark grounds; do not read it as this register's rule.

### Grid and layout

One centre axis, not a column grid. Everything is mirrored about it; the device sits on it.

Tokens: measure `60ch` · axis `center` · frame `46rem`

- **On the record · From our catalogue entry** · `token_rule:layout-3` → Compose symmetrically, with the monogram device on the centre axis.
- **On the record · Our reading** · `token_rule:hierarchy-13` → Rank by centrality and metallic weight: the device centred, everything else subordinate linework.
- **Not specified by the source** — The sources do not specify a column system. _Instead:_ Stack content on the axis; if you add columns, mirror them.

### Shape and geometry

Tokens: radius `0` · hairline `1px solid #C8A24B` · frame-offset `6px` · ornament `lozenge`

- **On the record · From our catalogue entry** · `token_rule:surface-8` → Carry the look in metallic detail and a monogram device.
- **Web translation** — Frame in double gold hairlines; mark heads and feet with a lozenge. _Why:_ Fine linework is the record's surface; the lozenge is this page's symmetric device. (`token_rule:surface-8`, `token_rule:layout-3`)
- **Web translation** — Keep corners square. _Why:_ Nothing in the record softens the frame; a square hairline stays precise. (`token_rule:surface-8`)

### Imagery

- **On the record · Our reading** · `claim:imagery-reason` → Depict no subject: no photography, no illustration.
- **Not specified by the source** — What the monogram says is a declared freedom. _Instead:_ Use the brand's own initials. Never add a founding date: that makes it Heritage.

### Foil

The one technique the research documents: a heated die presses metallic foil onto paper, board or plastic. It is opaque, so a light metal can sit on dark stock.

Tokens: foil-min `8pt`

- **On the record · Documented** · `claim:kcc:technique-1` → Hot foil stamping presses metallic foil onto papers, board and plastics with a heated die; gold is among the commonest foil colours.
- **On the record · Seen in the work** · `claim:kcc:w2-typography-1` → Foil is opaque, so a light foil can print on dark paper.
- **On the record · Documented** · `claim:kcc:technique-3` → Do not claim gold leaf or fire-gilding: historical gilding is a different technique this register does not claim.
- **Web translation** — On screen, render foil as linework with a fixed sheen, never a matte flat gold or a glossy gradient field. _Why:_ Foil is metal laid as detail; the record rules out matte gold and gold as a field. (`claim:kcc:technique-1`, `claim:failure-6`, `claim:failure-1`)

### Components

Anatomy, tokens and states below are Web translation: Aesthetary's specification for the screen. Each value line after them says whether it restates a rule this record holds.

#### Button

A gold hairline frame around a cream label on the black; the fill never turns gold.

- Anatomy: 1px gold hairline frame; label in Italiana, letterspaced capitals, cream; black ground inside
- Tokens: background `transparent` · color `#F0E4BC` · border `1px solid #C8A24B` · inner-rule `1px solid #C8A24B (hover, 3px inside)` · radius `0`
- State, default: Single gold hairline, cream label.
- State, hover: A second hairline appears 3px inside: the double frame.
- State, focus: 2px gold outline, 4px outside the frame.
- State, active: The label turns gold.
- State, disabled: Dashed bronze hairline; the label keeps its pale colour and the control says it is unavailable.
- Accessibility: Cream label on black at 15.4:1.
- Accessibility: Bronze is never used for text.
- Accessibility: At least 44px tall.
- **Web translation** — Draw the button as a gold hairline frame and never fill it with gold. _Why:_ Gold is detail, not a field: large gold areas fail the register. (`claim:failure-1`, `token_rule:color-5`)
- **Web translation** — Double the hairline on hover rather than adding a glow or a gradient. _Why:_ The frame language of the page is double hairlines; the record rules out anything that loosens the metal into casino. (`token_rule:motion-14`, `claim:failure-1`)

#### Card

A double-hairline frame with a lozenge at head and foot, everything centred on its axis.

- Anatomy: two 1px gold hairlines 6px apart; lozenge at the top and bottom centre; title in Italiana; one centred line of Spectral
- Tokens: border `1px solid #C8A24B` · inner-offset `6px` · ornament `lozenge` · align `center` · ground `#070606`
- State, default: Double frame, lozenges at head and foot.
- State, hover: The lozenges fill with gold.
- State, focus: 2px gold outline outside the outer hairline.
- Accessibility: The whole card is one link.
- Accessibility: The lozenges are decoration (aria-hidden).
- **Web translation** — Centre the card on its axis and rank what it holds by centrality. _Why:_ The cited rule belongs to the Aesthetic's own medium; applying it to a screen component or motion is our translation. (`token_rule:hierarchy-13`)
- **Web translation** — Frame it in double gold hairlines with a lozenge at head and foot. _Why:_ Fine metallic linework is the record's surface; the lozenge is this page's own device, symmetric by construction. (`token_rule:surface-8`, `token_rule:layout-3`)

#### Input

A bronze underline on the black that turns gold on focus, its label centred above in small gold capitals.

- Anatomy: label above, centred, gold; field on the black; 1px bronze underline; error line in cream beneath
- Tokens: border `0 0 1px #8A7440` · focus-border `0 0 1px #C8A24B` · background `transparent` · color `#E8D9A8` · radius `0` · height `2.75rem`
- State, default: Bronze underline.
- State, focus: Gold underline and a 2px gold outline.
- State, error: A cream line beneath beginning "Error:"; no red, which would be a third colour.
- State, disabled: Dashed bronze underline.
- Accessibility: The label is real text above the field.
- Accessibility: Errors are words, not colour.
- Accessibility: Typed text in pale at 14.1:1.
- **Web translation** — Signal errors in words, not a red. _Why:_ The register refuses a third colour. (`claim:failure-2`)
- **Web translation** — Keep the field to a single underline in the metal. _Why:_ Gold as fine linework on dark, never a field. (`token_rule:color-5`, `claim:failure-1`)

#### Navigation

A centred row of letterspaced labels divided by small lozenges; the current page carries a gold hairline beneath.

- Anatomy: centred row; labels in Italiana capitals, cream; lozenge dividers in bronze; current: gold hairline under the label
- Tokens: align `center` · color `#F0E4BC` · divider `lozenge, #8A7440` · current `1px solid #C8A24B underline`
- State, default: Cream labels, bronze lozenges between.
- State, hover: The label turns gold.
- State, focus: 2px gold outline.
- State, current: A gold hairline beneath the label.
- Accessibility: aria-current on the current page.
- Accessibility: The lozenges are decoration.
- **Web translation** — Set the row symmetrically about the centre axis. _Why:_ The cited rule belongs to the Aesthetic's own medium; applying it to a screen component or motion is our translation. (`token_rule:layout-3`)
- **Web translation** — Mark the current page with a hairline, not a gold fill. _Why:_ Gold stays linework; the register fails when gold becomes an area. (`claim:failure-1`)

### Motion

Durations, easing and the rest of this specification are Web translation: Aesthetary's choice for the screen.

- Durations: highlight 9s, state 0ms
- Easing: highlight `linear`
- Transforms: none
- Entrance: None. The page is present.
- Hover: Instant: colour or a second hairline, never movement.
- Reduced motion: The highlight stops and disappears; the metal rests with its fixed sheen.
- **Web translation** — Allow one slow highlight crossing the metal, and nothing else. _Why:_ Our reading from the material, and restrained: animation is where casino begins. Research has not evidenced motion for the register, so a still page is equally right. (`token_rule:motion-14`)
- **Not specified by the source** — Motion is an open question in the research. _Instead:_ Treat the highlight as optional. Never add entrances, parallax or shimmer on text.

### Deliberately not added

- **Which golds** (color): The record says metallic on dark; the values are the page's own.
- **Any typographic convention** (typography): An open question in the research. The faces are this page's choice; foil's production limits are documented.
- **A column system** (gridLayout): The record holds a symmetric composition, not a grid.
- **Interface conventions** (components): The research record does not establish them. The four components are contemporary translations of documented rules.
- **Evidenced motion** (motion): An open question. The travelling highlight is the record's own reading.

## Coverage — what has been looked at

One row per research dimension a research pass considered. "Not researched yet" (`UNKNOWN`) means exactly that; a dimension can carry an Aesthetary recommendation and still be unresearched, and those are different things.

| Research dimension | Evidence | Resolved by | Carries a rule |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Composition | Specified · From our catalogue entry | follows the recorded claim | yes |
| Typography | Open question | Aesthetary decided | yes |
| Hierarchy | Specified · Our reading | Aesthetary decided | yes |
| Colour | Specified · From our catalogue entry | follows the recorded claim | yes |
| Density | Not specified by the source | Aesthetary decided | no |
| Imagery | Not specified by the source | — | no |
| Form/motif/surface/technique | Not specified by the source: form · Specified: motif, surface, technique | follows the recorded claim | yes |
| Motion | Open question | Aesthetary decided | yes |

Unresearched: Typography, Motion. Where a rule appears for one of these it is Aesthetary's implementation recommendation, not a property of the language, and its Evidence line above says so.

## Not researched yet

Nobody has established a position for this language on:

- Interface
- Form

**Do not fill these in.** An absent position is absent research, not permission and not a blank for you to complete. If the work needs a decision in one of these areas, make it on other grounds and do not attribute it to this language.

## Grade your own work

24 checks: 9 mechanically testable, 13 needing a person to look, 0 needing a source Aesthetary does not hold, 2 with no recorded position. 2 further research dimensions produced no rule (Density, Imagery). This rubric is silent on them. Scores do not add up. A failure against a required rule and a departure from something we invented are not the same result, and no total should let them cancel.

### Recognition — does this read as the intended Aesthetic?

- **[visual_human · recognition signature · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Strip every logo, word and borrowed image out of your work, then show it to someone who knows the collection. Do they land on this Aesthetic? The signature to hold is: Fine metallic gold linework and a monogram device set with strict symmetry against a deep black ground, with no third colour and no depicted subject. The diagnostic condition is gold as the whole proposition: the material carries the meaning alone, which is why the register has no imagery and why large gold areas fail — precision is what separates precious from cheap. Neo-Baroque stages a chiaroscuro subject inside an ornamental frame. Heritage uses a comparable device set but argues from a founding date rather than from material.
  - _If it fails:_ The work may be competent and still read as a different Aesthetic, or as none. Nothing below matters until this passes.

### Fidelity — are its defining rules present?

- **[unassessable · no recorded position · Evidence: Not researched yet (`UNKNOWN`)]** Nothing is recorded as a requirement of this Aesthetic. There is no rule here that your work must hold — which means nothing you do can fail this dimension, and nothing you do can satisfy it either. That is missing research, not freedom: our research brief does record failure modes to avoid, listed under avoidance below. They are recorded judgement, not requirements.
  - _If it fails:_ Not applicable. An empty dimension is an absence of research, never a pass and never a failure.

### Implementation — were those rules translated appropriately into this medium?

- **[visual_human · From our catalogue entry · Evidence: From our catalogue entry]** Your work may depart from this — but knowingly, not by accident. Composition: symmetry, monogram device.
  - _If it fails:_ A defensible departure, and you should be able to say why you made it.
- **[visual_human · Our reading · Evidence: Our reading]** Your work may depart from this — but knowingly, not by accident. Typography: no position of its own is recorded; the brief defers to the neighbour Heritage.
  - _If it fails:_ Nothing. No one has researched the dimension yet, and this is only what Aesthetary would do. Departing from it costs you nothing.
- **[visual_human · Our reading · Evidence: Our reading]** Your work may depart from this — but knowingly, not by accident. Rank by centrality and metallic weight — the monogram sits centred and everything else is subordinate linework.
  - _If it fails:_ A defensible departure, and you should be able to say why you made it.
- **[visual_human · From our catalogue entry · Evidence: From our catalogue entry]** Your work may depart from this — but knowingly, not by accident. Colour: metallic on dark.
  - _If it fails:_ A defensible departure, and you should be able to say why you made it.
- **[visual_human · From our catalogue entry · Evidence: From our catalogue entry]** Your work may depart from this — but knowingly, not by accident. Form/motif/surface/technique: metallic detail, monogram.
  - _If it fails:_ A defensible departure, and you should be able to say why you made it.
- **[visual_human · Our reading · Evidence: Our reading]** Your work may depart from this — but knowingly, not by accident. A highlight travelling slowly across the metal. Restrained — animation is where "casino" begins.
  - _If it fails:_ Nothing. No one has researched the dimension yet, and this is only what Aesthetary would do. Departing from it costs you nothing.

### Avoidance — known failure modes, neighbour drift, cloning

- **[mechanical · recorded failure mode · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: No large gold fields.
  - _If it fails:_ A failure mode recorded in our research brief: recorded judgement about what weakens this Aesthetic, not a requirement of the language.
- **[mechanical · recorded failure mode · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: No third colour.
  - _If it fails:_ A failure mode recorded in our research brief: recorded judgement about what weakens this Aesthetic, not a requirement of the language.
- **[mechanical · recorded failure mode · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: No depicted subject or photography.
  - _If it fails:_ A failure mode recorded in our research brief: recorded judgement about what weakens this Aesthetic, not a requirement of the language.
- **[mechanical · recorded failure mode · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: No asymmetry.
  - _If it fails:_ A failure mode recorded in our research brief: recorded judgement about what weakens this Aesthetic, not a requirement of the language.
- **[mechanical · recorded failure mode · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: No founding date.
  - _If it fails:_ A failure mode recorded in our research brief: recorded judgement about what weakens this Aesthetic, not a requirement of the language.
- **[mechanical · recorded failure mode · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: No matte gold.
  - _If it fails:_ A failure mode recorded in our research brief: recorded judgement about what weakens this Aesthetic, not a requirement of the language.
- **[visual_human · recorded failure mode · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Have you made any of these changes? Each one moves the work into a neighbouring Aesthetic: Against Neo-Baroque: no subject versus a staged lit subject. Against Heritage: material versus duration; Heritage carries a date, this never does. Anti-signature: fill an area with gold and it reads as casino. Add a lit subject and it becomes Neo-Baroque. Add a founding date and it becomes Heritage.
  - _If it fails:_ You have built the neighbour. That may be fine — but name which Aesthetic you are in.
- **[mechanical · declared closure · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: Not open: gold as field.
  - _If it fails:_ This one is closed, not open. The record says generation must not go here.
- **[mechanical · declared closure · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: Not open: a third colour.
  - _If it fails:_ This one is closed, not open. The record says generation must not go here.
- **[mechanical · declared closure · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Check your work against this: Not open: adding a subject..
  - _If it fails:_ This one is closed, not open. The record says generation must not go here.
- **[visual_human · neighbour drift · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Could your work be mistaken for Neo-Baroque? That language is: Ornament plus deep shadow plus symmetry; theatrical rather than dense
  - _If it fails:_ Not necessarily wrong, but you are closer to Neo-Baroque than to this Aesthetic.
- **[visual_human · neighbour drift · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Could your work be mistaken for Art Deco? That language is: Machine-age luxury; geometric but ornamental, unlike Bauhaus
  - _If it fails:_ Not necessarily wrong, but you are closer to Art Deco than to this Aesthetic.
- **[visual_human · neighbour drift · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Could your work be mistaken for Disco? That language is: Nightlife rather than domestic; gold and sheen where Seventies Revival has earth and grain
  - _If it fails:_ Not necessarily wrong, but you are closer to Disco than to this Aesthetic.
- **[visual_human · neighbour drift · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Could your work be mistaken for Hospitality? That language is: Atmosphere sold before product; low-light photography is the discipline
  - _If it fails:_ Not necessarily wrong, but you are closer to Hospitality than to this Aesthetic.
- **[visual_human · neighbour drift · Evidence: No grade recorded]** Could your work be mistaken for Golden Era Hip-Hop? That language is: Record-sleeve proportions and gold; a specific 1986-1996 window
  - _If it fails:_ Not necessarily wrong, but you are closer to Golden Era Hip-Hop than to this Aesthetic.

### Accessibility — the Aesthetic preserved without its inaccessible practice

- **[unassessable · no recorded position · Evidence: Not researched yet (`UNKNOWN`)]** Does this Aesthetic conflict with any usability floor? Nobody has recorded one for it.
  - _If it fails:_ Nothing — and that is the problem. An unrecorded conflict is not an absent one. Hold AA on reading matter and decide the rest on other grounds.

**Not covered at all:** Density: Not specified by the source; Imagery: Not specified by the source. These research dimensions produced no rule, so there is no check. Treat them as unscored, never as passed and never as failed.

## Rules for the agent

1. Do not invent rules for any area listed under **Not researched yet**.
2. Do not treat an absent position as permission to do anything you like — say that the language has no position, and decide on other grounds.
3. Keep our interpretations separable from the language's own requirements. If asked to justify a choice, cite which kind of claim it came from.
4. If you need something this record does not contain, say so rather than producing a confident answer from the aesthetic's name.
5. When you self-score against "Grade your own work", score only checks marked `mechanical`. Declare `visual_human` and `evidence_dependent` checks unjudged rather than guessing, and never score an `unassessable` one.
6. Evidence "Not researched yet" (`UNKNOWN`) is never a failure. It means nobody researched the dimension, so departing from what is written there costs nothing and must not be reported as a defect. "No grade recorded" is not a grade either: do not treat it as our decision or as an outside source.
7. In **Design grammar**, a "Web translation" line is our choice for the web and may be changed with a reason; the rules it cites may not. Never present a translation as a property of the language.

## Provenance

- Record: `gilded` · status `draft` · research `not_researched`
- Full structured record: https://aesthetary.com/data/gilded.json
- Human-readable record: https://aesthetary.com/a/gilded.html
- This file is a snapshot. The record may have changed since; check the page above.

_Aesthetary is an alpha. Where a page says nothing, nobody has done the work yet._