Carnival — Paper Moon Night demo
Carnival — Paper Moon Night

A dreamy glassmorphism design evoking a carnival night under a paper moon, with frosted translucent panels, backdrop blur, soft glows, and gentle floating animations.
Category: Glass & Soft UI
Era: 2020s Modern
Prompt: 12.8 KB · 1746 words
**SYSTEM PROMPT — CODING AGENT TASK: "CARNIVAL — Paper Moon Night" Glassmorphism Landing Page**

**Your Role:** You are a Senior Frontend Engineer and Expert UI Designer. Your task is to code the complete landing page below in a **single attempt**, producing production-ready, accessible, fully themed code. Follow every rule in this document without deviation.

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## 0. PROJECT BRIEF & VISUAL DIRECTION

**Theme:** "CARNIVAL — Paper Moon Night" — a 2020s-digital **Glassmorphism** landing page evoking a nostalgic nighttime carnival: a glowing paper moon, translucent frosted-glass panels, warm paper tones, and deep twilight purples. Keywords: carnival, paper, moon, glass, translucent, gradient, blur, animated.

**Palette Mapping (bind these exact values to your tokens):**
- **Twilight Purples (brand/depth):** `#141031`, `#241546`, `#38204e`
- **Paper/Moonlight tones:** `#f0e4d0` (paper cream), `#ffe8c0` (moonlight), `#a894c0` (mauve accent)
- **Light mode (default):** background built from the paper cream family (`#f0e4d0` range) — **never pure white**; if a near-white is required, use `#fefefe`. Text uses the deep twilight purples (`#141031`, `#38204e`).
- **Dark mode:** background built from the twilight gradient (`#141031 → #38204e`); text uses paper cream and moonlight (`#f0e4d0`, `#ffe8c0`).
- **Contrast pairing is mandatory in BOTH modes:** every light background token pairs with a dark text token, every dark background token pairs with a light text token.

**Required Visual Techniques:** Flexbox, `backdrop-filter: blur()`, CSS Filters, Transitions, Transforms, layered Gradients (radial moon glow + linear night-sky washes), Text Shadows on display headings, Border Radius tokens, Hover Effects.

**Decorative Art Constraint:** All decorative elements (the paper moon, glowing orbs, starlight specks, gradient washes) must be rendered as **pure CSS gradients and pseudo-elements**. No image files, no inline SVGs. Mark all purely decorative elements with `aria-hidden="true"` and `pointer-events: none`.

**Sections to Build (in this order):**
1. **Header** — sticky glass navigation with theme toggle
2. **Hero** — full-viewport glass hero with headline, subheadline, primary + secondary CTA, and the CSS paper moon
3. **Features** — 3 glass cards with Material icons
4. **How It Works** — 3 numbered steps, visually connected
5. **Testimonials** — 3 glass quote cards with initial-based avatar circles (no image files)
6. **Pricing** — 3 tiers, middle tier visually featured
7. **FAQ** — accessible accordion
8. **Final CTA** — full-width glass banner with email capture form
9. **Footer** — secondary links, multi-column, responsive

---

## 1. STRICT RULES & ARCHITECTURE

### **1.1 CSS-First Architecture & Zero Inline CSS**
- All styling lives exclusively in `style.css`. **The `style="..."` attribute is forbidden anywhere in the HTML.**
- Target all design properties, layout rules, and states via class or ID selectors only.
- Keep HTML semantic and clean (landmarks: `header`, `main`, `section`, `footer`), agnostic of visual styling. Changing the site's look must require editing only the CSS file, never the markup.

### **1.2 CSS Variables (`var(--...)`) & Theme Tokens**
Define all visual tokens in `:root` and override them in the dark theme context. Required tokens:
- **Colors:** `--primary`, `--secondary`, `--bg-primary`, `--bg-secondary`, `--text-primary`, `--text-secondary`, `--text-success`, `--text-error`, `--border-default`, `--border-error`, `--border-success`
- **Glass tokens (theme-specific additions):** `--glass-bg` (rgba translucent surface), `--glass-border` (rgba border color), `--glass-blur` (blur radius), `--glow-color`
- **Radius & Shadows:** `--radius-sm`, `--radius-md`, `--radius-lg`, `--shadow-sm`, `--shadow-md`
- **Spacing & Transitions:** `--spacing-gap`, `--transition-fast`, `--transition-normal`, `--ease-standard`
- **Elevation/Stacking:** `--z-dropdown`, `--z-modal`, `--z-toast` (the sticky header must consume one of these tokens — never a raw z-index literal)
- **Typography:** `--font-display`, `--font-base`
- **Exception clause:** The source style spec marks **Light as the primary mode** — therefore Light is the default presentation, but Dark mode remains mandatory and fully implemented as defined in 1.3.

### **1.3 Mandatory Dark Mode Support**
- **Implementation:** Provide dark mode tokens under both a `.dark` class selector on `<html>`/`<body>` AND `@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark)` as the system fallback. Theme switching must work by swapping CSS variable values only — **no HTML restructuring, no duplicate markup**.
- **Persistence:** Store the user's choice in `localStorage`. On first visit with no stored preference, fall back to `prefers-color-scheme`. Provide a **visible toggle control** in the header with correct `aria-pressed` state and a descriptive `aria-label` (e.g., "Toggle dark mode"), swapping between two Google Material icons (light/dark).
- In Light mode, glass panels are warm cream translucency over the paper background; in Dark mode, glass panels are purple translucency over the twilight gradient. Both must meet contrast requirements.

### **1.4 Flexbox Layout & Mobile-First Alignment**
- Build all layout structures with **Flexbox**.
- **Every flex container must default to `align-items: center`** unless an explicitly justified exception exists (e.g., stacking stretched cards — document the exception in a CSS comment).
- **Mobile-first:** All multi-column rows (features, steps, testimonials, pricing, footer columns) must collapse to single-column stacks on small viewports via media queries. **Horizontal scrolling is prohibited at every viewport width.** Prevent it explicitly (`max-width`, `min-width: 0` on flex children, fluid type/sizing).

### **1.5 Framework & CSS Approach**
- Use **clean custom CSS** in `style.css` (Tailwind's `@layer`/`@apply` directives are permitted if you include Tailwind). All component classes must map back to CSS variables.
- **Naming convention: BEM, exclusively.** Examples: `.hero`, `.hero__title`, `.glass-card`, `.glass-card__icon`, `.btn`, `.btn--primary`, `.pricing-card--featured`. Never mix conventions — no ad-hoc utility class names alongside BEM.

### **1.6 Typography & Icons (Google Fonts Mandatory)**
- **Text:** Load Google Fonts via `<link>` or `@import`. Use a characterful display serif for headings (e.g., **Fraunces** or **Playfair Display**) bound to `--font-display`, and a clean sans-serif for body (e.g., **Inter** or **Poppins**) bound to `--font-base`. Apply subtle text-shadow to display headings using the moonlight tone to reinforce the paper-moon glow.
- **Icons:** Use **Google Material Symbols** (outlined, variable-font settings: `FILL`, `wght`, `GRAD`, `opsz` configured in CSS). **Raw inline SVGs and local icon files are forbidden.**

---

## 2. COMPONENT DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

### **2.1 Button Component (`button` / `a.btn` — style ALL states via CSS classes)**
- **Default:** `display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; gap: 0.5rem;` Minimum touch target **44×44px**. Variants: `.btn--primary` (twilight purple in Light mode, moonlight cream in Dark mode), `.btn--secondary` (glass/ghost with translucent border).
- **Hover:** Brightness or shadow shift with `cursor: pointer`.
- **Focus:** Distinct focus ring via `:focus-visible` using CSS variables (`outline`/`box-shadow`) — never remove it.
- **Active/Pressed:** `transform: scale(0.97)` click feedback.
- **Loading:** Disables interaction, prevents double-clicks, renders a rotating Google Material icon spinner **without changing button dimensions** (reserve spinner space or overlay).
- **Disabled:** `opacity: 0.5`, desaturated/greyscale, `cursor: not-allowed`.
- **Success/Error:** Temporary feedback state styles driven by `--text-success` / `--text-error` (used by the Final CTA form submission).

### **2.2 Glass Card Component (`.glass-card` — used for Features, Testimonials, Pricing)**
- **Default:** Flexbox layout, `background: var(--glass-bg)`, `backdrop-filter: blur(var(--glass-blur))`, 1px `var(--glass-border)` border, `border-radius` from tokens, `box-shadow` from tokens, built on `--bg-secondary`.
- **Fallback:** Wrap `backdrop-filter` in an `@supports` query providing a more opaque solid background where `backdrop-filter` is unsupported — text contrast must never degrade.
- **Hover:** Elevation shift and/or `transform: translateY(-2px)` with a subtle glow.
- **Focus-within:** Card border brightens when a child link/button receives focus.
- **Loading (Skeleton):** Define shimmer animation styles in CSS that preserve exact card dimensions (no layout jump).
- **Empty State:** Define a fallback layout featuring a Google Material icon and clear guidance text.

### **2.3 Form & Input Requirements (Final CTA email capture)**
- **States:** Empty, Focused (outline ring), Filled, Valid (success border + Material icon), Invalid (error border, `--text-error` message, error icon), Disabled, Read-only.
- **Structure:** Flex container wrapping a visually associated `<label>`, the `<input type="email">`, and a **dedicated error feedback container**. Validation errors and success confirmations must be announced in an `aria-live="polite"` region.
- **On submit:** Button enters Loading state, then Success (with visible success message) or Error feedback — every submission produces visible feedback.

### **2.4 Modal / Popup Requirements**
- If any overlay/modal is used: States for Opening, Open, Loading, Success/Error, and Closing — all animated via CSS transitions. Centered flex container (`align-items: center`) with backdrop overlay, Google Material icon close button, keyboard focus trapping, and closing via `Esc` or overlay click.
- **For the FAQ section specifically, use a native `<details>/<summary>` accordion** (keyboard-accessible by default) with custom CSS markers/chevron rotation — no modal required, no custom ARIA widget needed.

### **2.5 Section-Specific Requirements**
- **Hero:** Full-viewport flex, centered content stack, animated CSS paper moon (slow float/drift keyframes), primary `.btn--primary` + secondary `.btn--secondary` CTAs, entrance animation on load.
- **Pricing:** Three `.glass-card` tiers; middle tier gets `.pricing-card--featured` — elevated shadow/glow, a badge element, and stronger border. Each tier's CTA uses full button state styling.
- **Testimonials:** Quote cards with a circular initials avatar (styled via CSS), name, and role. No external avatars.
- **Header/Footer:** Sticky glass header (uses a z-index token). Footer uses flex columns that stack on mobile; all secondary links have visible hover/focus feedback.

---

## 3. CORE UX & MICRO-INTERACTION RULES

- **Responsive by Default:** Fluid sizing and breakpoints with zero horizontal overflow at any width.
- **Smooth Animations:** CSS transitions (`var(--transition-normal)`) on every state change. Scroll-triggered entrance reveals via `IntersectionObserver` adding a class — **all motion fully disabled under `prefers-reduced-motion: reduce`**.
- **Accessibility (a11y):** WCAG AA contrast in **both Light and Dark modes** — glass translucency must never break text contrast. Never rely on color alone to communicate state. Semantic HTML5 landmarks, `aria-labelledby` on each section, logical DOM/focus order, full keyboard operability, a skip-to-content link, and `aria-live` regions for all dynamic feedback (form errors, success messages, loading).
- **Mandatory Visual Feedback:** Every click, hover, and submission triggers a visible state change.
- **Destructive Actions:** Any `.btn--danger` variant must be visually distinct in both themes.

---

## 4. DELIVERABLE & OUTPUT FORMAT

- **File Structure:** Separate `index.html`, `style.css`, and `script.js`. No inline `<script>` blocks beyond a single deferred `<script src="script.js" defer></script>` reference. No inline CSS anywhere.
- **Naming Convention:** BEM only, consistently across the entire deliverable.
- **Copy:** Write original, polished **English** on-theme copy (carnival, paper moon, night motifs) for all headings, features, steps, testimonials, pricing tiers, FAQ entries, and CTAs. **No lorem ipsum.** No unrequested placeholder content.
- **Definition of Done — verify before submitting:**
  - [ ] Zero `style="..."` attributes; zero inline SVGs; zero image files
  - [ ] All tokens defined as CSS variables; both Light and Dark themes fully implemented
  - [ ] Theme toggle persists via `localStorage`, falls back to `prefers-color-scheme`, correct `aria-pressed`/`aria-label`
  - [ ] All button/card/input/accordion states styled, including loading, disabled, and error states
  - [ ] `backdrop-filter` has an `@supports` fallback
  - [ ] `align-items: center` default on flex containers (documented exceptions only)
  - [ ] No horizontal scroll at any viewport width
  - [ ] `prefers-reduced-motion` fully respected
  - [ ] Google Fonts + Google Material Symbols only
  - [ ] Single BEM convention throughout; three-file deliverable with one deferred script reference