Art Deco

Live preview base style — press Wear

This month

$2,100

Revenue, up 12% from last month.

Customer	Plan	Status	MRR
Northwind	Studio	Active	$1,240
Acme Labs	Team	Trial	$0
Kaldi Coffee	Studio	Active	$860

Use this style 16 tokens

--bg oklch(13% 0.02 55)
--fg oklch(88% 0.07 75)
--muted oklch(62% 0.06 70)
--surface oklch(17% 0.025 55)
--surface-2 oklch(21% 0.03 55)
--border oklch(36% 0.05 65)
--accent oklch(72% 0.12 72)
--accent-fg oklch(13% 0.02 55)
--focus oklch(72% 0.12 72)

Token	Value
--font-body	`'Josefin Sans', 'Gill Sans', system-ui, sans-serif`
--font-display	`'Cormorant Garamond', Georgia, serif`
--font-mono	`'Josefin Sans', monospace`
--radius	`0px`
--radius-sm	`0px`
--shadow	`0 2px 8px oklch(0% 0 0 / 0.4)`
--shadow-lg	`0 12px 40px oklch(0% 0 0 / 0.6)`

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Cormorant+Garamond:wght@500;700&family=Josefin+Sans:ital,wght@0,300;0,400;0,600;0,700;1,300&display=swap');

:root {
	--bg: oklch(13% 0.02 55);
	--fg: oklch(88% 0.07 75);
	--muted: oklch(62% 0.06 70);
	--surface: oklch(17% 0.025 55);
	--surface-2: oklch(21% 0.03 55);
	--border: oklch(36% 0.05 65);
	--accent: oklch(72% 0.12 72);
	--accent-fg: oklch(13% 0.02 55);
	--focus: oklch(72% 0.12 72);
	--font-body: 'Josefin Sans', 'Gill Sans', system-ui, sans-serif;
	--font-display: 'Cormorant Garamond', Georgia, serif;
	--font-mono: 'Josefin Sans', monospace;
	--radius: 0px;
	--radius-sm: 0px;
	--shadow: 0 2px 8px oklch(0% 0 0 / 0.4);
	--shadow-lg: 0 12px 40px oklch(0% 0 0 / 0.6);
}

Where it came from

Origin: Paris, France — the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs

Art Deco peaked between the two World Wars, taking its name from the 1925 Paris exposition. It rejected the organic curves of Art Nouveau for the clean verticals and chevrons of industrial production. Cassandre designed ocean-liner posters that still feel fast. The Chrysler Building and Radio City Music Hall are its cathedrals. A revival followed in the 1980s — Miami Vice architecture, perfume advertising — and it keeps returning because opulence never fully goes out of fashion.

How to spot it

Stepped and sunburst geometries — chevrons, fans, zigzags
Gold, brass and silver metallic accents on dark backgrounds
Strong vertical emphasis, symmetrical compositions
Geometric serif or condensed typefaces with fine hairlines

Trade-offs

Strengths	Weaknesses
Instantly communicates luxury and premium positioning	Heavy: too many period details together read as pastiche
Symmetric structure maps well onto a grid system	Narrow application — difficult to use for utility products
Works for both dark and light backgrounds	Gold-and-black is worn out in hospitality branding

In the wild

Cassandre's Normandie ocean-liner poster
The Chrysler Building lobby
Vogue magazine covers of the 1920s–30s

Use it when

Luxury, hospitality, perfume or financial brands — or a hero section that needs ceremony.