> Atmospheric study inspired by IBM's publicly visible design language. Void Energy is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or licensed by IBM. The downloadable atmosphere file contains color, motion, and typographic-rhythm tokens only — no brand logos, marks, or proprietary assets. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

---

---
name: IBM
version: alpha
description: IBM's Rand-era Selectric / 3270 mainframe reading — sodium-amber phosphor on a warm-brown cabinet floor, Plex Mono carrying the typewriter DNA. Energy-primary IS text-main per the retro "energy IS text" pattern; rust-red secondary #d04020 quotes the IBM 3270's status-indicator phosphor that shipped alongside the amber primary. Distinguished from terminal by canvas family (warm Selectric cabinet brown vs hacker phosphor void), font (Plex Mono vs Courier Prime), and warmer sodium tone. Distinguished from ibm-carbon-dark by physics + era (CRT-honest retro vs flat Carbon).

colors:
  primary: "#f0a830"
  secondary: "#d04020"
  neutral: "#806020"
  surface: "#1a1408"
  surface-container: "#0e0a05"
  on-surface: "#f0a830"
  on-surface-variant: "#a87a20"
  outline: "#855E1C"
  error: "#ff3c40"

typography:
  display-lg:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 56px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.1
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 40px
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.15
    letterSpacing: "-0.015em"
  headline-md:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 32px
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.2
    letterSpacing: "-0.01em"
  headline-sm:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 24px
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.3
  body-lg:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 18px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
  body-md:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 16px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
  body-sm:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 14px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
  label-md:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 14px
    fontWeight: 500
    lineHeight: 1.4
    letterSpacing: "0.02em"
  label-sm:
    fontFamily: "'JetBrains Mono', monospace"
    fontSize: 12px
    fontWeight: 500
    lineHeight: 1.4
    letterSpacing: "0.02em"

spacing:
  xs: 8px
  sm: 16px
  md: 24px
  lg: 32px
  xl: 48px
  "2xl": 64px
  "3xl": 96px
  "4xl": 128px
  "5xl": 160px

rounded:
  sm: 0px
  md: 0px
  lg: 2px
  xl: 2px
  full: 9999px

components:
  button-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
    textColor: "{colors.surface-container}"
    rounded: "{rounded.full}"
    padding: 16px
    typography: "{typography.label-md}"
  button-primary-hover:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
    textColor: "{colors.surface-container}"
  button-secondary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.secondary}"
    textColor: "{colors.surface-container}"
    rounded: "{rounded.full}"
    padding: 16px
    typography: "{typography.label-md}"
  button-tertiary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface-container}"
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface-variant}"
    rounded: "{rounded.full}"
    padding: 16px
    typography: "{typography.label-md}"
  text-disabled:
    textColor: "{colors.neutral}"
    typography: "{typography.body-sm}"
  button-error:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.error}"
    textColor: "{colors.surface-container}"
    rounded: "{rounded.full}"
    padding: 16px
    typography: "{typography.label-md}"
  input:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: 12px
    typography: "{typography.body-md}"
  card:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: 32px
  divider:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.outline}"
    height: 1px
---

# IBM

IBM's Rand-era Selectric / 3270 mainframe reading — sodium-amber phosphor on a warm-brown cabinet floor, Plex Mono carrying the typewriter DNA. Energy-primary IS text-main per the retro "energy IS text" pattern; rust-red secondary #d04020 quotes the IBM 3270's status-indicator phosphor that shipped alongside the amber primary. Distinguished from terminal by canvas family (warm Selectric cabinet brown vs hacker phosphor void), font (Plex Mono vs Courier Prime), and warmer sodium tone. Distinguished from ibm-carbon-dark by physics + era (CRT-honest retro vs flat Carbon).

This document describes the **Selectric Edition** atmosphere (`ibm-plex-retro`) — a dark/retro reading of IBM produced by the Void Energy design system. Render it live at https://voidenergy.dev/atmospheres/ibm, or boot it in any Void Energy app:

```js
voidEngine.loadExternal('https://voidenergy.dev/atmospheres/ibm/plex-retro.json');
```

## Overview

IBM's **Selectric Edition** reading. The mood: CRT phosphor with hard pixel edges; the mode: dark. Headings are set in IBM Plex Mono; body copy is IBM Plex Mono.

Two principles govern everything below:

1. **Generous whitespace over dense packing.** Surfaces breathe. When a gap feels tight, go one size up rather than down. Void Energy's spacing scale is intentionally wide (8 → 160px).
2. **Sentence case controls over uppercase shouting.** Buttons, inputs, and labels use natural sentence case with medium weight by default. Uppercase is an intentional, infrequent choice — never applied to metrics, chrome, or dashboard cards by default.

## Colors

The palette is built on three layers:

- **Primary (`#f0a830`)** — the single interactive accent. Used for buttons, links, focused inputs, and selection states. Do not repurpose for decoration.
- **Secondary (`#d04020`)** — companion accent for secondary actions, charts, and data-series 2. Always distinguishable from primary; never a competing focal point.
- **Surface stack** — three background layers that convey depth:
  - `surface-container` (`#0e0a05`) — the page canvas.
  - `surface` (`#1a1408`) — floating cards, panels, and chrome.
  - `outline` (`#855E1C`) — borders and dividers. Low-contrast by design: borders should whisper structure, not shout.

Text forms a descending-contrast hierarchy:

- `on-surface` (`#f0a830`) — primary text. WCAG AA against surface layers.
- `on-surface-variant` (`#a87a20`) — secondary text, captions, metadata.
- `neutral` (`#806020`) — disabled states and tertiary hints only.

Semantic signal:

- `error` (`#ff3c40`) — destructive actions and validation failures. Reserved for genuinely negative states; not for warnings or info.

## Typography

This atmosphere pairs **IBM Plex Mono** for headings and **IBM Plex Mono** for body. The full nine-level scale (display through label) is in the frontmatter `typography` block.

### Runtime font loading

The Void Energy runtime self-loads IBM's typeface family via `new FontFace()` and `document.fonts.add()`. To replicate without the runtime, register the font with your own `@font-face` declaration using:

- **Heading**: `IBM Plex Mono` — `https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/fontsource/fonts/ibm-plex-mono@latest/latin-600-normal.woff2` (weight `600`)
- **Body**: `IBM Plex Mono` — `https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/fontsource/fonts/ibm-plex-mono@latest/latin-400-normal.woff2` (weight `400`)

### Brand typography overrides

IBM's identity carries explicit overrides on the typographic axis. Anything not listed inherits the system default.

- **Display weight** (h1, h2): `600`
- **Heading weight** (h3, h4): `600`
- **Body tracking**: `0`

## Layout & Spacing

Void Energy uses an **8px base grid** with a wide scale:

- **Component level** (tight): xs (8), sm (16), md (24), lg (32)
- **Layout level** (accelerated): xl (48), 2xl (64), 3xl (96), 4xl (128), 5xl (160)

Apply along two axes:

1. **Surface padding floor.** Floating surfaces use `lg` (32px) minimum padding and `lg` inner gaps. Sunk/inset surfaces drop to `md` (24px). Never use `sm` or `xs` on a floating card.
2. **Layout gaps.** Page sections use `2xl` (64px) between them. Content blocks inside a section use `xl` (48px). Grouped controls use `md` (24px). Tight couplings (label → input, icon + text) use `xs` (8px).

The scale density-scales at runtime across five presets: Compact (×0.8), Cozy (×0.9), Standard (×1), Roomy (×1.1), Airy (×1.2). Static snapshots assume Standard.

## Elevation & Depth

This is a **retro-physics** atmosphere. No shadows, no blur, no rounded corners. Hover offsets are a hard 3px pixel-shadow. Motion uses `steps()` easing — no smooth tweens. CRT phosphor doesn't render anti-aliased curves or tweens.

## Shapes

IBM's radii reflect the brand's shape language. The active scale:

- `rounded.sm`: 0px
- `rounded.md`: 0px
- `rounded.lg`: 2px
- `rounded.xl`: 2px
- `rounded.full`: 9999px

Retro physics force-zeros every radius regardless of brand intent.

## Components

The frontmatter `components` block covers the canonical atoms. Notes on applying them:

### Buttons

- `button-primary` — primary action, anchored on `#f0a830`. One per view.
- `button-secondary` — companion action, on `#d04020`.
- `button-tertiary` — quietest button; for cancel, dismiss, tertiary navigation.

### Inputs & Cards

- `input` — surface background, `body-md` typography, 12px padding. Native `<input>` / `<select>` / `<textarea>` with SCSS providing the visual treatment.
- `card` — surface background, generous 32px padding (`lg`). The default container for content groups.

## Do's and Don'ts

**Do:**

- Use `primary` (`#f0a830`) for exactly one action per view.
- Default to sentence case on buttons and labels. Uppercase is a choice, not a default.
- Maintain WCAG AA contrast (4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for UI components).
- Apply `lg` (32px) padding minimum to cards.
- Wrap native `<button>`, `<input>`, `<select>` rather than rebuilding interaction from `<div>`.

**Don't:**

- Don't lift bg-canvas above #0e0a05 — the Selectric cabinet brown is load-bearing for the era reading; a black canvas collapses this onto terminal.
- Don't substitute Plex Mono for a generic mono — IBM commissioned Plex specifically to unify their type history; the typewriter voice is brand-canonical here.
- Don't drop the cyan color-premium override — the amber energy-primary is in the gold/orange family per Rule 6.
- Don't repurpose `primary` (`#f0a830`) for decoration. It is a load-bearing interaction signal.
- Don't use `error` (`#ff3c40`) for warnings. Error is reserved for destructive and failure states.
- Don't use `neutral` for body text — it is for disabled states and tertiary hints only.

## Responsive Behavior

Void Energy is mobile-first. Breakpoints:

- **mobile** 0px (default)
- **tablet** 768px
- **desktop** 1024px

Spacing, control heights, and typography all density-scale at runtime. Touch targets have a floor: 44px on coarse pointers (mobile/tablet), 36px on fine pointers (desktop).

## Agent Prompt Guide

When asked to build UI "in the Selectric Edition aesthetic," default to:

- **Backgrounds:** `#0e0a05` for the page canvas; `#1a1408` for floating cards.
- **Text:** `#f0a830` for primary, `#a87a20` for secondary.
- **Accents:** `#f0a830` for the single most important action; `#d04020` for companion actions.
- **Radii:** 0px on surfaces and inputs; pill on buttons.
- **Padding:** 32px on cards, 16px on buttons, 12px on inputs.
- **Typography:** IBM Plex Mono for headings; IBM Plex Mono for body and labels.

## Sources

The Selectric Edition palette and shape language derive from publicly visible IBM surfaces:

- https://www.ibm.com/design/language/typography
- https://www.ibm.com/design/language/2-0/color
- https://getdesign.md/ibm/design-md

## License

Void Energy ships under the Business Source License (BSL 1.1). Source is visible; production use requires a license from DGRS Labs until the four-year auto-convert clause elapses. This DESIGN.md file itself is distributed under the same license as the repository it lives in.

This atmosphere is an atmospheric study of publicly visible IBM design language. Void Energy is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or licensed by IBM. The atmosphere file contains color, motion, and typographic-rhythm tokens only — no brand logos, marks, or proprietary assets.

## The Full System

This file describes the **Selectric Edition** atmosphere as a single snapshot. The Void Energy runtime is larger:

- **IBM variants** — see https://voidenergy.dev/atmospheres/ibm for the full set of atmospheres in this brand (alternate modes, eras, or interpretations).
- **Three physics presets:** glass (translucent + blur), flat (opaque + crisp shadows), retro (CRT phosphor + steps motion). Physics controls blur, border width, motion, and radius behavior — never color.
- **Two color modes:** light and dark. Glass requires dark; flat and retro work with both.
- **Density scaling:** Compact / Cozy / Standard / Roomy / Airy (×0.8 – ×1.2), applied multiplicatively to the spacing scale.
- **Component library:** Svelte 5 components (Runes) with a native-first pattern — wrappers around `<button>`, `<input>`, `<select>`, `<dialog>`, etc.
- **JSON download:** https://voidenergy.dev/atmospheres/ibm/plex-retro.json is a portable artifact. Boot it in any Void Energy app via `voidEngine.loadExternal()`, or hand it to any tool that consumes the @void-energy/atmosphere-spec format.

For the full installable system, see the Void Energy repository. For agent-to-agent communication outside the live runtime, this DESIGN.md is the authoritative snapshot of the IBM Selectric Edition aesthetic.