PHASE 10 · CLAUDE DESIGN WEBSITE BRIEF

The brief, ready to hand over.

A complete website-build brief for Claude Design (or Cursor / Figma Make / v0 / a Ven designer). Brand DNA, design system tokens, full site architecture across 10 pages, on-site flows, content tone, imagery library map, technical requirements, v1 / v2 / v3 scope, acceptance criteria. Recipient ships a live site from this document without coming back to Steve except on the 7 flagged founder-approval items.

Platform
Shopify Plus + Hydrogen reserve
V1 scope
9 pages · 30 days · soft-launch
Imagery library
44 Higgsfield assets mapped
Word count
~6,400 words

MAIK — WEBSITE BUILD BRIEF

For: Claude Design (primary) / Cursor / Figma Make / v0 / Ven in-house designer (alternates) From: Steve Aylward, founder Date issued: 16 June 2026 Phase: 11 — Website handoff Status: Locked. Build to spec. Escalate only on items explicitly marked "founder approval required."

0. ONE-LINE PROJECT BRIEF

Build the launch website for Maik — a premium Australian 3D-printed sculptural lighting brand operated entirely by a 15-agent AI fleet — as a gallery-editorial Shopify Plus storefront in the design language of "The Call," shipping an MVP of 7 pages and 3 SKUs in 30 days against Lighthouse > 90 and WCAG 2.2 AA.

1. BRAND DNA

1.1 The substrate (one sentence, embed everywhere internally)

Objects whose forms are only possible because AI designs them and 3D printers make them.

This is the load-bearing idea. Every design decision serves it. If a choice — a font, a crop, a microcopy line — softens, hides, or apologises for the substrate, it's the wrong choice.

1.2 Positioning

1.3 Voice

Confident-industrial. First-person sparingly (founder only, /about only). Dry. Considered. The voice of someone who has spent a long time looking at the object before speaking about it.

1.4 Tone by surface

1.5 ICP — who Maik is for

  1. The collector-decorator (primary): 32–55, household income $180k+ AUD, lives in a renovated terrace or warehouse conversion in Melbourne / Sydney / Brisbane / Auckland, already owns one Gantri or one Wooj or one Established & Sons piece. Reads Wallpaper, follows @sightunseen, buys at Criteria or Spence & Lyda. Sees lighting as sculpture that performs a function, in that order.
  2. The interior designer (secondary, drives trade revenue): Boutique residential studios specifying for one-off homes. Wants something her clients can't buy at Coco Republic. Trade discount, lookbook PDF, direct studio line.
  3. The early-adopter design-tech native (tertiary, drives press): Follows generative design accounts, has opinions about Zaha vs. Hadid, posts process. The smallest segment, the highest sharing rate.

1.6 What Maik is NOT

1.7 Core design principles (these govern every decision)

  1. Object first. The lamp is the hero of every frame. UI recedes.
  2. Paper, not screen. The site reads as a printed gallery monograph that happens to transact.
  3. Restraint as luxury. White space, slow type, no movement unless earned.
  4. Material honesty. Show the ribbing. Show the layer lines as feature, not flaw.
  5. Editorial cadence. Drops are events. The site reflects this with seasonal hero rotation.
  6. Transparency is the moat. The atelier livestream, the print queue, the materials list — these are competitive weapons, not nice-to-haves.

1.8 Reference brands (the recipient agent should pull each up before designing)

Brand URL What to take
Gantri https://www.gantri.com Product photography grammar (white seamless, 4:5 ratio, single-object hero). PDP spec grid layout. The way they make 3D printing feel premium without ever boasting about it.
Wooj Design https://www.wooj.design The category template — independent designer making 3D-printed lighting at price. Study their PDP hierarchy and the way they handle "made by us" without preciousness. Learn what to do better.
Aesop https://www.aesop.com The retail voice. The product description as quiet poem. The colour discipline (one bottle, one paper bag, one stone counter). Maik's body copy lives here.
Nilufar Gallery https://www.nilufar.com The gallery framing. Editorial layout. The way collectible design is presented as object-and-essay, not product-and-CTA. Drop pages live here.

Secondary reference (for atelier transparency): Bellroy's process pages (https://bellroy.com/our-story). Secondary reference (for editorial cadence): Hodinkee shop (https://shop.hodinkee.com).

2. DESIGN SYSTEM TOKENS

Copy-pasteable. These are the canonical values. The source of truth is the-call.html in /10-brand-and-mvp/.

2.1 Colour tokens (CSS custom properties — paste into root)


:root {
  /* Surfaces — 95% of the system runs here */
  --paper:      #F4F1EB;   /* primary background */
  --paper-2:    #EAE5DA;   /* secondary surface, alt rows */
  --bone:       #DCD3BE;   /* card / chip / divider zone */

  /* Inks — type and structure */
  --ink:        #1F1A14;   /* primary type */
  --ink-2:      #2D261D;   /* secondary type */
  --travertine: #3A3630;   /* deepest neutral, footer ground */

  /* Quiet greys */
  --muted:      #8A7E6B;   /* metadata, captions */
  --line:       #D0CABD;   /* hairlines, rules */

  /* Accents — appear in moments only, never as fills */
  --euc:        #5C6B57;   /* eucalyptus, primary accent (CTAs hover, tags) */
  --euc-deep:   #41513D;   /* eucalyptus deep (pressed states) */
  --brass:      #A8895F;   /* brass, highlight (drop numbers, prices on dark) */
  --rust:       #A04A2C;   /* state-only — error, sold-out, never decorative */
}

Colour discipline rule: Paper, ink, neutrals own 95% of every screen. Accents (euc, brass, rust) appear in single, contained moments — a hovered button, a sold-out tag, a drop number. Never as a fill, never as a gradient, never as decoration. If a screen feels colourful, it's wrong.

2.2 Typography


/* Fraunces — display + editorial + product names */
font-family: 'Fraunces', 'Times New Roman', serif;
/* weights: 300, 400, 700, 900 */
/* italic optical-sizing enabled — variable axis SOFT=50, opsz=auto */
/* Use italic for: product names, editorial pull-quotes, hero headlines */

/* Inter — body + UI + nav */
font-family: 'Inter', system-ui, sans-serif;
/* weights: 400, 500, 600, 700 */
/* feature-settings: "ss01", "cv11" for stylistic alternates */

/* JetBrains Mono — spec, price, drop number, ALL metadata */
font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', 'IBM Plex Mono', monospace;
/* weights: 400, 500 */
/* uppercase + tracking-wide for drop numbers and metadata labels */

2.2.1 Type scale (px / line-height)

Token Family Size / LH Use
--t-display Fraunces 300 italic 96 / 100 Home hero, drop hero
--t-h1 Fraunces 400 italic 64 / 72 Page titles
--t-h2 Fraunces 400 40 / 48 Section headings
--t-h3 Fraunces 500 24 / 32 Card titles, PDP name
--t-eyebrow JetBrains Mono 500 12 / 16, tracking 0.12em, uppercase Section eyebrows
--t-body Inter 400 16 / 26 Body copy
--t-body-l Inter 400 18 / 30 Lede, editorial body
--t-ui Inter 500 14 / 20 Nav, buttons, form labels
--t-meta JetBrains Mono 400 13 / 18 Spec values, prices, drop counts
--t-caption Inter 400 12 / 16 Image captions, footnotes

Line length rule: Body copy max-width: 65ch. Editorial body max-width: 58ch. Headlines may break naturally; never set headline max-width in characters.

2.3 Spacing scale (4-base, copy-paste)


:root {
  --s-1:  4px;
  --s-2:  8px;
  --s-3:  12px;
  --s-4:  16px;
  --s-5:  24px;
  --s-6:  32px;
  --s-7:  48px;
  --s-8:  64px;
  --s-9:  96px;
  --s-10: 144px;
}

Section vertical rhythm: 96–144px between major sections on desktop, 64–96px on mobile. Card internal padding: 24px (mobile) / 32px (desktop). Page horizontal gutter: 24px (mobile) / 48px (tablet) / 96px (desktop max 1440px container).

2.4 Radius


--r-0: 0;        /* default for everything — cards, images, inputs */
--r-1: 2px;      /* subtle softening only where needed */
--r-pill: 999px; /* buttons + tags only, nothing else */

2.5 Motion


--ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
--d-fast: 180ms;
--d-med:  320ms;
--d-slow: 600ms;

Motion rules:

2.6 Grid

12-column desktop, 4-column mobile. Gutter 24px desktop / 16px mobile. Container max-width 1440px centred. Use CSS Grid, not flex hacks.

2.7 Iconography

Lucide icons only (https://lucide.dev), 1.5px stroke, 20px default. No filled icons. No custom illustration. The lamps are the only "illustration" the site contains.

3. SITE ARCHITECTURE — REQUIRED PAGES

The MVP ships 7 pages. The full V1+V2 site is 10 pages. Each is specified below with route, purpose, sections, hero, CTA, content source, and assets.

3.a HOME — /

Purpose: Convert the curious visitor into a newsletter subscriber and the qualified visitor into a PDP click. Establish the gallery-editorial register in the first 800px.

Hero composition:

Sections (top to bottom):

  1. Hero (above).
  1. The drop strip — full-width band, paper-2 background, 144px tall.

- Left 50%: v3-drop-announcement.png, cropped 16:9. - Right 50%: JetBrains Mono eyebrow DROP 01 · LIVE NOW, Fraunces 40px italic "M-001 to M-003 — the inaugural drop", body 60 words, CTA ENTER THE DROP →.

  1. Featured SKUs grid — 3-up product cards (4:5 imagery).

- Card 1: v2-pdp-twisted-bone.png — The Cream — $189 AUD — tag EVERGREEN - Card 2: v2-pdp-wave-sage.png — The Wave — $249 AUD — tag DROP 01 · 12 / 50 - Card 3: v2-pdp-olive-cluster.png — The Olive — $329 AUD — tag DROP 01 · 8 / 50 - Each card: image / name (Fraunces italic 24px) / price (mono 14px) / status tag (mono 11px uppercase). - On hover: 2px Y-lift, --d-fast. No tilt.

  1. The atelier — split 60/40.

- Left 60%: v3-atelier-six-printers.png, edge-bleed to viewport left. - Right 40%: eyebrow THE ATELIER, Fraunces 40px "Six printers. One studio. Brunswick, Melbourne.", 100-word body from Quill agent, CTA INSIDE THE ATELIER →. - Body copy template: > "Maik is printed in a 90sqm studio in Brunswick. Six Bambu Lab X1C printers run continuously. Every lamp is hand-finished, inspected, and packed by the same studio that made it. The fleet of agents that designs Maik shares the space — process and product in one room."

  1. Editorial signature crop — full-bleed v2-detail-travertine-base.png, 100vw × 60vh. No copy overlay. Caption JetBrains Mono 11px bottom-right: THE CREAM — DETAIL — TRAVERTINE BASE.
  1. Newsletter capture — paper-2 band, 96px vertical padding, centred.

- Eyebrow: JOIN THE LIST - Fraunces 32px: "Be first when the next drop opens." - Inter 14px subtitle: "One email per drop. No noise. Unsubscribe in one click." - Klaviyo embed (List ID: MAIK_MASTER_LIST — replace at handoff). Input + submit inline.

  1. Footer (see 3.k).

Primary CTA: SEE THE COLLECTION → /lamps Secondary CTA: ENTER THE DROP → /drops/01 Content source: Quill agent (copy), Atlas agent (drop status integer), Anvil agent (inventory counts).

3.b COLLECTION — /lamps

Purpose: Present the catalogue at gallery cadence. Allow filtering without commodity-grid feel.

Sections:

  1. Page head — 96px vertical padding.

- Eyebrow: THE COLLECTION - Fraunces 64px italic: "Twelve lamps. Three drops a year." - Body 50 words: "Maik's catalogue is hybrid: an evergreen line you can buy any day, and four numbered drops a year, fifty to two hundred units each. Everything is printed in Melbourne, on demand."

  1. Filter rail — sticky horizontal bar, 56px tall, paper-2 background, hairline below.

- Filter groups left-aligned: COLOUR (Cream / Sage / Olive / Bone), SIZE (Desk / Floor), STATUS (Evergreen / Drop / Limited). - Sort right-aligned: NEWEST / PRICE ↑ / PRICE ↓. - Active filter shows as pill with × to remove. Multi-select within a group.

  1. Product grid — 4-up on desktop, 2-up on tablet, 1-up on mobile.

- 4:5 aspect ratio, hairline border, hover lift 2px. - Card content: image / Fraunces italic 24px name / mono 13px price / mono 11px status tag. - Use Higgsfield assets — see 6.0 map.

  1. Pagination — only if > 20 SKUs. Numeric, mono, hairline-separated. No infinite scroll.
  1. "Designed by the studio agent" block — bottom of page, 96px above footer.

- Eyebrow: ON DESIGN - Fraunces 32px: "Designed by Quill. Engineered by Anvil. Lit by hand." - 120-word body explaining the agent fleet at appropriate depth. - CTA: READ THE STUDIO → → /about.

Primary CTA: Each card → /lamps/{sku} Content source: Atlas agent (catalogue manifest), Quill (designed-by block).

3.c PRODUCT PAGE / PDP — /lamps/{sku}

Purpose: Close the sale. Communicate the object's specificity. Defuse the "is it just a plastic lamp?" question without ever defending.

Layout: Two-column 60/40 desktop. Stacked mobile.

Left column (60%)

Right column (40%)

Vertical stack, all left-aligned, 32px between blocks:

  1. Breadcrumb — mono 11px: THE COLLECTION / DROP 01 / M-001
  2. Drop tag — mono 13px brass: DROP 01 · 12 / 50 REMAINING (Anvil live integer)
  3. Product name — Fraunces 400 italic 48px: The Cream
  4. Lede — Inter 18px, 60 words exactly. Voice locked to Quill agent. Example for The Cream:

> "A ribbed table lamp printed in a single 14-hour pass. The form is parametric: the ridges tighten near the base and loosen near the shade, so the light scatters at the top and pools at the desk. Cream-pigmented PLA composite. Brass cord. Travertine base. Made and lit in Melbourne."

  1. Price + shipping — mono 18px: $189 AUD · adjacent caption mono 11px: FREE SHIPPING WITHIN AUSTRALIA
  2. Add to cart — full-width button, ink fill, paper text, pill radius, 56px tall.

- Default: ADD TO CART · $189 - Hover: background swaps to --euc (eucalyptus). --d-fast. - Pressed: --euc-deep. - Sold out: JOIN THE WAITLIST in --rust on bone background.

  1. Afterpay micro-block — Afterpay official asset, "4 payments of $47.25" mono 12px.
  2. Spec grid — 2-column, hairline-separated rows. Labels Inter 12px muted uppercase, values mono 14px ink. Required fields:
Label Value
PRINT TIME 14h 22m
MATERIAL Cream PLA composite (40% recycled)
POWER E27 / 8W LED included / 2700K warm
DIMENSIONS H 380 × W 220 × D 220 mm
WEIGHT 1.8kg
MADE IN Brunswick, Melbourne
SHIPS IN 5–7 business days from order
REPLACES Bulb only — no proprietary parts
  1. "From the studio" note — bone background card, 24px padding.

- Eyebrow: FROM THE STUDIO - 60-word note. Voice = Quill, signed off — THE MAIK STUDIO. - Example: "The Cream began as a question to Quill: what does a lamp look like when its job is to make a desk feel quieter? Eleven generations later, this is the form that survived. The base is travertine for weight; the cord is brass for the small good thing of touching brass."

Below the fold (full width)

  1. How it was made — three paragraphs from Quill, 96px vertical padding, paper-2 background. Includes one inline image: v2-detail-ridges-macro.png cropped 16:9.
  1. Customer photos — only if real UGC exists; otherwise hide block. Six 1:1 thumbnails, mono caption @handle.
  1. You might also like — 4-up grid of related SKUs (same logic as collection page card).
  1. Footer.

Primary CTA: Add to cart Content source: Atlas (SKU metadata), Quill (lede + studio note + how-it-was-made), Anvil (inventory + ship-by date).

3.d DROP / LOOKBOOK PAGE — /drops/{drop-number}

Purpose: Treat each drop as a gallery exhibition. The page is an essay with objects.

Sections:

  1. Drop hero banner — 64px paper-2 strip across top of page.

- Mono 16px tracking-wide, left-aligned: DROP 01 · M-001 → M-003 · LIVE NOW · 32 / 150 REMAINING - Mono 16px right-aligned: OPENED 14 JUNE 2026 · CLOSES WHEN SOLD - Countdown timer disabled — Maik never uses urgency timers. Inventory count alone.

  1. Hero image — full-bleed v3-drop-announcement.png, 100vw × 90vh.
  1. Drop title block — 144px vertical padding, centred, max-width 720px.

- Eyebrow: DROP 01 - Fraunces 72px italic: "The Inaugural Drop" - Single subtitle line, Inter 20px: "Three lamps. Fifty of each. Printed and numbered in Melbourne."

  1. Editorial essay — 600 words from Quill agent. Max-width 58ch. Fraunces 18px for body (yes, body in Fraunces for the essay only — editorial register). Generous 32px paragraph spacing. One pull-quote inline, 32px Fraunces italic with hairline above and below. One inline image: v2-life-dining-cream.png full-bleed within the column max-width.
  1. The drop grid — full 3-up of SKUs in the drop. Cards use the larger PDP-grade imagery, 4:5.
  1. Drop FAQ — accordion, max 5 questions. Required:

- "Will these come back?" → "No. Drop 01 closes when these 150 are gone." - "Why drops?" → 60 words from Quill. - "Where is it printed?" → 40 words, links to /atelier. - "How long until it ships?" → Live answer from Anvil. - "What if I miss it?" → "Join the list. Drop 02 opens September 2026."

  1. Email-me-when-next-drop signup — same component as home newsletter, but Klaviyo property next_drop_alert: true.
  1. Footer.

Primary CTA: Each SKU card → PDP. Secondary: newsletter. Content source: Quill (essay + FAQ), Anvil (live inventory), Atlas (drop manifest).

3.e ABOUT — /about

Purpose: Disclose the AI-operated brand thesis. Build trust through transparency, not charm. First-person from Steve, used sparingly.

Sections:

  1. Hero — v3-dawn-gallery.png full-bleed, 100vw × 70vh, no overlay. Caption mono 11px bottom-left: THE STUDIO AT DAWN · BRUNSWICK.
  1. First-person opening — max-width 58ch, Fraunces 18px body, 144px vertical padding.

- Eyebrow: THE STUDIO - Fraunces 48px italic: "I wanted to make objects that could only exist now." - 400 words. First-person Steve. Tells the story honestly: software founder, fell in love with generative geometry, bought six printers, built an AI fleet to design objects faster than a single designer could, started Maik. No fake humility, no Etsy charm.

  1. The AI-operated brand block — paper-2 band, 96px padding, two columns 50/50.

- Left: eyebrow HOW MAIK RUNS, Fraunces 32px "Fifteen agents. One studio. Fully transparent." - Right: 200 words. Names the orchestrator (Forge) and 14 specialists. Explains the principle: AI handles design, scheduling, copy, support triage, ad ops, analytics, finance. Humans handle: hands-on printing, finishing, packing, founder approval on every drop. - Below: agent fleet org chart — simple SVG, 15 nodes, hairline connections, mono labels. No avatars, no cute names beyond their function names.

  1. Behind-the-scenes gallery — 4-up grid.

- v3-atelier-six-printers.png - v2-atelier-three-lamps.png - v3-detail-usbc-connection.png - v2-exterior-facade.png

  1. Press — only when real press exists. Until then, this block is hidden. Placeholder copy in code: <!-- /about/press hidden until press logos populated -->.
  1. Contact-the-studio CTA strip — bone band, 48px tall.

- Mono 14px: QUESTIONS? WRITE THE STUDIO → → /contact

  1. Footer.

Content source: Steve directly (founder narrative, founder approval required). Quill (AI-operated block). Atlas (fleet diagram data).

3.f ATELIER — /atelier

Purpose: Turn the factory into content. Transparency as moat.

Sections:

  1. Hero — v3-atelier-six-printers.png full-bleed, 100vw × 80vh.

- Overlay bottom-left: mono 16px MAIK ATELIER · BRUNSWICK, MELBOURNE · LIVE - Eyebrow above, Fraunces 56px italic: "Watch the lamps being made."

  1. Live webcam block — full-width, paper-2 background, 96px vertical padding.

- Embed: Bambu Handy stream or OctoEverywhere stream of the actual print farm. - 16:9 ratio, max-width 1200px, centred. - Below stream: mono 12px caption LIVE FROM THE FLOOR · BRUNSWICK · GMT+10 - Fallback if stream offline: looped 8s MP4 from v3-atelier-six-printers.png-grade footage. Caption updates to RECORDED FOOTAGE · LIVE STREAM RESUMES 9AM AEST. - V1 ship: static photography only (the static photo of the farm, with a "Live stream lights up in V2" note). Webcam goes live in V2.

  1. Print queue — full-width band, ink background, paper type.

- Eyebrow: IN THE QUEUE - 3-up grid of currently-printing jobs from Anvil agent's live data feed. - Each card: SKU image / mono name / mono time remaining / mono operator (PRINTER 03). - Example data: M-001 · 2H 14M REMAINING · PRINTER 03 - Refresh every 60 seconds.

  1. Studio fitout gallery — 2-up landscape grid.

- v2-atelier-three-lamps.png - v2-exterior-facade.png

  1. Materials transparency — long-form block, max-width 65ch.

- Eyebrow: WHAT MAIK IS MADE OF - Fraunces 32px: "Every material, every supplier, every certification." - Table of materials: filament supplier (Polymaker AU), pigment source, base material (travertine — Coburg stone yard), cord (Pulse Lighting Co., Brunswick), bulb (Philips Hue compatible E27), packaging (Detpak 100% recycled). - Downloadable PDFs: certifications, MSDS sheets, ROHS compliance. Mono link list.

  1. Process video — 60s atelier process film. Hidden if asset not yet produced.
  1. Footer.

Content source: Anvil agent (queue live feed), Quill (materials copy), Atlas (supplier manifest).

3.g JOURNAL / EDITORIAL — /journal

Purpose: SEO content engine output that doesn't look like SEO content. Sage agent's domain.

Sections:

  1. Page head — 96px padding.

- Eyebrow: THE JOURNAL - Fraunces 64px italic: "On lighting, geometry, and Australian design."

  1. Featured pillar — full-width hero card. 60/40 split.

- Left: 16:9 image (v3-dawn-gallery.png for first pillar). - Right: eyebrow PILLAR · 1,800 WORDS, Fraunces 32px title, 40-word dek, mono 12px date + read time, CTA READ →.

  1. Article grid — 3-up cards.

- Each card: 4:5 image / Fraunces italic 22px title / 30-word dek / mono 11px date.

  1. Topics rail — horizontal list of categories, mono 14px, hairline-separated. Categories at launch: GENERATIVE DESIGN / LIGHTING / AUSTRALIAN DESIGN / 3D PRINTING / THE STUDIO.
  1. Footer.

3.g.i — Article template /journal/{slug}

Pillar pieces (1,500+ words):

  1. "Why a 3D-printed lamp can be heirloom" (technical, materials-focused).
  2. "Generative geometry, explained for designers" (educational, foundational).
  3. "What we learned printing 150 lamps in Brunswick" (process, transparency).

Supporting articles (600–800 words):

  1. "On ribbing: a small history of the surface"
  2. "PLA composite vs ABS vs nylon — what holds a bulb at 2700K"
  3. "Five lamps that influence Maik" (Castiglioni, Sarfatti, Mariyo Yagi, etc.)
  4. "Why we number our drops"
  5. "Brass cord, travertine base — choosing materials that age"

Content source: Sage agent (drafts), Quill (final voice pass), Steve (founder sign-off on first 4 pillars only).

3.h TRADE — /trade (gated)

Purpose: Capture and approve interior designers, architects, and stylists.

Public-facing section:

  1. Hero — v2-life-living-trio.png full-bleed, 100vw × 60vh.

- Overlay: eyebrow MAIK FOR THE TRADE, Fraunces 56px italic "For interior designers, architects, and stylists."

  1. Programme block — max-width 65ch.

- 200 words explaining the trade programme: 40% off retail, dedicated studio line, digital lookbook PDF, custom commission inquiry path, fast-tracked dispatch on stock orders.

  1. Application form — Tally embed (or Formstack as alternate). Fields:

- Business name (required) - ABN (required for AU; international notes alternate) - Practice type: dropdown (Residential / Hospitality / Commercial / Stylist / Other) - Website (required) - Instagram (optional) - 50-word intro (required) - Email + phone - Consent: marketing opt-in (Klaviyo property trade_applicant: true)

  1. What happens next — 3-step explainer. Mono headings, Inter body.

- 01 — Echo agent triages within 24h. - 02 — Studio approval within 3 business days. - 03 — Portal credentials emailed.

  1. Footer.

Post-approval gated portal (V2 build):

Content source: Quill (copy), Echo (triage), Forge (commission routing).

3.i CONTACT — /contact

Purpose: Single triage point. Echo agent reads every submission.

Sections:

  1. Page head — 96px padding.

- Eyebrow: CONTACT THE STUDIO - Fraunces 48px italic: "Write the studio. Echo will answer." - 60-word body: "Maik runs on email. Every message is triaged by Echo, the studio's communications agent, and routed to whichever specialist can answer best. Most replies arrive within one business day."

  1. Contact details — 3-column.

- Studio: 45 Stewart St, Brunswick VIC 3056 (placeholder commercial LI — Steve to confirm at handoff) - Email: studio@maik.com.au - Hours: MON–FRI · 9AM–5PM AEST

  1. Form — embedded. Fields: Name / Email / Reason (dropdown: Order / Trade / Press / Custom / Other) / Message. Honeypot on hidden field. reCAPTCHA v3 invisible.
  1. Map — only if studio is open to visitors. Static MapBox tile of Brunswick. Otherwise hide.
  1. Footer.

Content source: Echo agent (submission triage), Steve (address sign-off).

3.j CART + CHECKOUT — Shopify default, custom theme

Purpose: Convert without breaking the gallery register.

Cart drawer:

Checkout (Shopify Plus default with theme):

Order confirmation email (Klaviyo):

Content source: Anvil (ship-by), Quill (confirmation copy).

3.k FOOTER (every page)

1. Maik — logo + 30-word brand line. 2. Shop — Lamps / Drop 01 / Trade / Gift cards (V2). 3. Studio — About / Atelier / Journal / Contact. 4. The list — small Klaviyo inline form.

4. KEY ON-SITE FLOWS

4.1 First-visit → newsletter capture

4.2 Browse → cart → Afterpay checkout

  1. PDP → ADD TO CART → cart drawer slides in.
  2. Cart drawer → CHECKOUT → Shopify checkout.
  3. Customer chooses Shop Pay (auto-fill), Apple Pay (one-tap), Afterpay (split into 4 fortnightly), or card.
  4. Afterpay flow: redirect to Afterpay → approval → return to Maik confirmation. Estimated total fortnightly shown on PDP and cart.
  5. Confirmation page + Klaviyo confirmation email + GA4 purchase event + Meta CAPI purchase event + Anvil queue addition (Shopify webhook).

4.3 Drop launch flow

4.4 Custom commission inquiry (V3)

4.5 Trade application + approval

4.6 Returns / refunds

5. CONTENT TONE GUIDE

5.1 Voice attributes

Confident. Considered. Dry. Restrained. Materially honest. Quietly proud.

5.2 Banned words (do not appear anywhere on the site)

5.3 Preferred vocabulary

5.4 Type-treatment rules

5.5 "AI-operated brand" placement rules

6. IMAGERY LIBRARY MAP

44 Higgsfield assets in /assets. Warm-neutral grade, gallery editorial. Filenames are canonical.

6.1 Primary photography (use first)

Filename Primary use Secondary use Treatment
v2-hero-gallery-cream.png Home hero About atmospheric 100vw × 80vh bleed, no overlay treatment
v3-dawn-gallery.png About hero Journal pillar 01 lead Bleed, mono caption only
v2-life-dining-cream.png Drop essay inline Collection secondary Inline editorial, 16:9
v2-life-living-trio.png Trade hero Home secondary slot 100vw × 60vh bleed
v2-life-bedroom-sage.png Drop 01 essay inline M-002 PDP lifestyle thumb Inline editorial
v2-life-library-sage.png Journal pillar lead Drop page secondary 16:9
v2-pdp-twisted-bone.png M-001 PDP hero Home featured card 4:5, no treatment
v2-pdp-wave-sage.png M-002 PDP hero Home featured card 4:5
v2-pdp-olive-cluster.png M-003 PDP hero Home featured card 4:5
v3-floor-lamp-foyer.png M-004 PDP hero (V3 launch) Collection grid 4:5
v3-atelier-six-printers.png Atelier hero About behind-the-scenes 100vw × 80vh bleed
v2-atelier-printers.png Atelier secondary About process 4:3
v2-atelier-three-lamps.png About gallery Atelier process 16:9
v3-detail-usbc-connection.png PDP detail thumb Atelier transparency block 1:1 macro
v2-detail-ridges-macro.png PDP "how it was made" Material honesty block 16:9 inline
v2-detail-travertine-base.png Home signature crop PDP detail thumb 100vw × 60vh full-bleed
v2-detail-hand-rotate.png PDP scale-with-hand thumb Journal pillar inline 1:1
v3-drop-announcement.png Drop 01 page hero Home drop strip 100vw × 90vh
v3-pair-scale-study.png Collection page section break Drop page grid 16:9
v2-drop-brass-plinth.png Drop 02 future hero Journal "On ribbing" lead Held in reserve
v2-stilllife-glow.png Newsletter modal background tint Confirmation email banner 16:9, treated to --paper-2
v2-exterior-facade.png About behind-the-scenes Contact page atmospheric 16:9

6.2 Secondary library (sm- / sb- / gd- / ed- prefixes)

These are alternate aesthetic explorations from earlier Phase 10 systems (System A "Studio Maik," System B "Soft Machine," etc.). Do not use on production site without founder approval. They remain in /assets for:

Treat the v2- and v3- prefixed images as the canonical production library. Treat sm-, sb-, gd-, ed- as held-in-reserve.

6.3 Image treatment rules

7. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

7.1 Platform

7.2 Marketing + email

7.3 Payments

7.4 Shipping + ops

7.5 Tracking + analytics

7.6 Performance

7.7 Accessibility

7.8 Privacy + compliance

7.9 Hosting + DNS

8. WHAT TO SHIP IN MVP V1 — FIRST 30 DAYS

Hard scope. Anything outside this list is V2 or later, no exceptions.

8.1 Pages

  1. Home /
  2. Collection /lamps
  3. PDP template /lamps/{sku} (3 SKUs live)
  4. About /about
  5. Atelier /atelier (static photography only, no live cam yet)
  6. Contact /contact
  7. Cart + Checkout (Shopify)

8.2 SKUs live

Drop 01 page (/drops/01) drafted but soft-launched alongside the SKUs. Counts as a single template in scope.

8.3 Integrations live

8.4 Soft launch

8.5 Out of MVP scope

9. WHAT GETS BUILT IN V2 — MONTH 2–3

9.1 Content

9.2 Features

9.3 Klaviyo expansion

9.4 Performance + ops

10. WHAT GETS BUILT IN V3 — MONTH 4–6

10.1 Trade

10.2 Custom commission

10.3 Platform

10.4 Catalogue

10.5 Geography

11. HANDOFF MATERIALS

The recipient agent receives, in a single zip / shared folder:

  1. This brief — 11-website-brief.md (the document you're reading).
  2. The Call design system — the-call.html in /10-brand-and-mvp/ — the source of truth for tokens, type, components, voice samples. The brief defers to The Call on any spec ambiguity.
  3. The full asset library — /assets/ directory, 44+ Higgsfield-grade images, canonical filenames. Production set is the v2- and v3- prefixes (see 6.0 map).
  4. The brand voice guide — Section 5 of this brief.
  5. The 4-SKU MVP product spec — sibling Phase 10 deliverable. Includes M-001 / M-002 / M-003 / M-004 dimensions, materials, print times, bill-of-materials, photography sets, copy decks.
  6. The Klaviyo content briefs — first 4 emails (welcome 1–3 + abandoned cart) written by Quill, pre-loaded.
  7. The legal pages drafts — Privacy, Terms, Returns (founder sign-off pending — recipient agent should publish behind noindex until signed).
  8. Steve's direct line — steve@ven.com.au (or Slack #maik-build) for items explicitly marked "founder approval required."

11.1 Decisions that REQUIRE founder approval before build

11.2 Decisions ALREADY locked (do not re-litigate)

12. ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

The website is delivered when all of the following are true. Steve will not sign off on partial delivery.

12.1 Page completeness

12.2 Performance

12.3 Accessibility

12.4 Commerce

12.5 Marketing + tracking

12.6 Brand voice

12.7 Ops integration

12.8 Legal + privacy

12.9 Final review

CLOSING NOTE TO THE RECIPIENT

Maik is a hard brand to build because every easy decision is the wrong one. The temptation will be to soften — more colour, more movement, a friendlier voice, a smiling face on the about page, an emoji in the confirmation email. Resist all of it.

The brand is a quiet room with a lamp in it. Build the quiet room. The lamp does the rest.

When in doubt: paper, ink, neutrals; Fraunces italic for the name; JetBrains Mono for the number; ship it.

— Steve Founder, Maik steve@ven.com.au · +61 direct on Slack

End of brief.