General shifts

docs/art-direction.md

@@ -37,6 +37,17 @@ Across the whole product, the artwork should generally follow these ideas:
 - Prefer symbolic clarity over excessive detail.
 - Every card should feel like it belongs to the same product, even when different sets or traditions have their own visual flavor.
 
+### Shared Card Typography and Text Palette
+
+Cards should share a stable typographic and text-panel identity across the rarity ladder.
+
+- Use one approved font family for all card lettering: names, excerpts, references, and any approved descriptor. Do not change the production font by tier, category, or printing. The current proof baseline uses Noto Serif; a font comparison may select a replacement, but the selected family becomes a product-wide decision.
+- Use the same text color on every non-Legendary card: deep teal `#263f50`.
+- Use the same text-backing base color on every non-Legendary card: cream `#f4ead4`.
+- Keep those two colors stable across Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Extraordinary. Tier distinction may come from texture, inset linework, and restrained lozenge or ornament details layered over the shared cream backing.
+- Texture and ornament must preserve text contrast and must not turn the backing into a new tier color. Record any tonal treatment as an overlay or material detail around the canonical base color.
+- Legendary may use a bespoke text color and backing treatment when its art direction requires it, provided the lettering remains readable and the exception is documented in its template.
+
 A good way to think about the stained-glass direction is that the cards should feel inspired by sacred windows and devotional art without needing to literally reproduce any specific historical style.
 
 ---
@@ -122,7 +133,7 @@ Example:
 > Shepherd King  
 >  
 > “The LORD is my shepherd...”  
-> Psalm 23:1
+> Psalm 23:1 • KJV
 
 The front content priority should generally be:
 
@@ -141,7 +152,7 @@ The full content can appear in the inspection panel.
 - Name: one line where practical, with an approved two-line layout for long names.
 - Subtitle: optional; include it only when it adds useful information.
 - Main excerpt or fact: initially target about 15-25 words, then validate actual typeset fit.
-- Reference: a short, readable attribution. Full citations and supporting sources belong in the inspection panel.
+- Reference: always use the compact format "Book chapter:verse • Translation" for Scripture, such as "Matthew 4:19 • NKJV". Use the analogous short source format for non-Scripture quotations or facts. Full citations and supporting sources belong in the inspection panel.
 - Use fixed text boxes, approved fonts, line spacing, alignment, and a minimum readable size for each template.
 - Measure actual rendered text. If it overflows, edit the wording, select a shorter faithful excerpt, or use an approved alternate layout. Do not silently shrink or clip it.
 - Typeset all lettering separately from generated imagery. Textless and Boundless contain no lettering, including the name and category.
@@ -283,6 +294,8 @@ Generation supplies imagery and decoration; a versioned template supplies exact
 
 Create frame and backing masks from shared vector paths. Extend their joining regions underneath one another so separately antialiased edges cannot expose a seam. For Normal, export the assembled overlay as one image. Derive the other overlays from the same geometry.
 
+The Timothy Borderless proof is trialing small rounded backing corners, a narrow softened perimeter, and no dark divider rules. The cream field stays fully opaque beneath the text. This is a printing-specific treatment of the shared panel bounds, not a change to Normal's frame joins: Normal retains its square backing and frame overlap. Do not soften a framed join into a gap. Check the combined overlay at master and delivery sizes, and derive Borderless finish protection from its actual softened backing alpha. Avoid drop shadows, heavily torn parchment, and scroll ornament for this restrained Common treatment; visual approval is pending.
+
 Transparency masks and finish masks serve different purposes. Transparency determines visible composition; finish masks determine where surface treatment responds to light. Assemble finish coverage for each printing from its active components, with text protection derived from that printing's actual text regions. Removing a text backing also removes its associated protection.
 
 Keep an editable layered master and export the composed card face plus aligned finish maps. Three.js continues to supply materials, finish response, and interaction. Changing finish or substrate should not require regenerating the illustration.