Brutalist Academic UI

Brutalist Academic UI

Opinionated design skill for interfaces where intellectual rigor, typographic precision, and structural honesty matter.

Skriptoteket Compatibility (must follow)

• Vue 3 + Vite SPA only. SSR/​HTMX is removed; do not re-introduce it.
• Tailwind CSS v4 with @theme inline token bridge. Prefer utilities in templates over custom CSS.
• Tokens are canonical: src/​skriptoteket/​web/​static/​css/​huleedu-design-tokens.css (do not edit directly).
• SPA entry point: frontend/​apps/​skriptoteket/​src/​assets/​main.css (import Tailwind + tokens + theme once).
• Use SPA primitives before inventing new ones:
  • Buttons: .btn-primary, .btn-cta, .btn-ghost
  • Panels (nested): .panel-inset, .panel-inset-canvas
  • Messages: .toast-* (via ToastHost), .system-message* (via SystemMessage)
  • Badges: .status-pill
  • Page text: .page-title, .page-description
• No stacked brutal shadows: only the outermost “panel/​card” gets shadow-brutal*. Panels/​fields nested inside a shadowed surface must use shadow-none + thicker, uniform borders (panel-inset*, or border-2 border-navy/​20) to keep the UI calm and readable.
• No Tailwind default palette leakage in product UI: avoid bg-slate-*, text-gray-*, etc. Use token-mapped utilities (bg-canvas, text-navy, shadow-brutal-sm) or CSS variables (var(--color-*), var(--huleedu-*)).
• Editor ergonomics: full-height editor routes require min-h-0 + overflow discipline; follow the Script Editor layout patterns (route-stage--editor, AuthLayout).

When to Use

Activate when user:

• Builds websites, landing pages, dashboards, documentation sites
• Needs institutional or academic visual language
• Mentions: "brutalist", "academic", "minimal", "serious UI"
• Wants to avoid generic startup aesthetics (gradients, soft shadows, pill-everything)

I Need To...

Quick Reference

Do

• Use token-mapped utilities: bg-canvas, text-navy, border-navy, shadow-brutal-sm, font-serif.
• Use CSS variables when a token is not mapped: p-[var(--huleedu-space-4)], text-[var(--huleedu-text-sm)].
• Use the SPA button primitives for actions.
• Prefer opacity-only transitions (hard borders/​shadows shimmer when translated).
• Prefer one brutal shadow per major surface (page card / editor workspace / modal). Nested sections get borders, not shadows.

Avoid

• Tailwind default palette (bg-slate-*, text-gray-*) in product UI.
• Hardcoded hex colors or ad-hoc shadows.
• Large radii, blur/​backdrop filters, or decorative gradients.
• Motion/​hover transforms that distort “hard” edges (translate, scale) unless there’s a strong UX reason.

Font Stack

Use token fonts via Tailwind utilities: font-sans, font-serif, font-mono.

Button Primitives

<button class="btn-primary">Spara</​button>
<button class="btn-cta">Publicera</​button>
<button class="btn-ghost">Redigera</​button>

Utility Buttons (Toolbars / Micro UI)

Use .btn-ghost as a base and override size/​shadow for dense controls:

<button
  class="btn-ghost shadow-none h-[28px] px-2.5 py-1 text-[10px] font-semibold normal-case tracking-[var(--huleedu-tracking-label)] border-navy/​30 bg-canvas leading-none"
>
  Formatera
</​button>

Core Principle

The best interface is one where you notice the content, not the interface. Every element earns its place. Typography does the work. Whitespace is structure.