Home redesign proposal C: Cinematic monolith (owner review, do not merge)

[prabu-openclaw]

Summary

Do not merge until the owners approve. This is one of two competing home-page redesigns for Danny (@scrimshawlife-ctrl) to choose between; the other is #53. Merging deploys to zer0state.com, so nothing goes live until someone approves.

Direction C · Cinematic monolith: the lit logo fills the fold and the page plays like title cards.

• Hero: the logo stands on a cool void over a reflective horizon. One band of light crosses the blade once, masked to the mark's own shape. Serif title cards (Instrument Serif, roman only).
• Method: pinned on desktop, it plays line by line as you scroll.
• Work: the list scrolls beside a large pinned symbol that follows whichever entry you're reading, with its evidence image beneath.
• Symbolic graphics: every product, skill, and section has its own symbol, built from the mark's primitives (axis, split ring, orbit, node, frame corner, dashed passage) in assets/glyphs.svg. Screenshots become evidence, shown on demand.
• New content: a local intelligence section ("Local intelligence built on the NVIDIA stack", with a frame that closes as you arrive, what it's for, a four-step deployment process, and a contact CTA), plus program logos for the App Store Small Business Program, ElevenLabs Startup Grants, Databricks Startup Program, and Neon Startup Program.
• Motion: one light sweep; pinned scroll scenes (desktop only, no-preference only); a crossfading pinned symbol; a minimal edge nav.
• Fixes: removes the old home's malformed <picture> markup and srcsets pointing at missing files. The hero image drops from 1 MB to 107 KB, fonts are self-hosted (no Google requests, so the privacy policy stays accurate), and JSON-LD organization data is added.

Preview: https://raw.githack.com/Zero-State-LLC/Zero-State/redesign-monolith/index.html (one click on githack's "Open the page" notice). Or locally: gh pr checkout <this PR> && npm run serve, then open http://localhost:8080.

Scope: home page only, on purpose. styles-dark.css and every inner page are untouched, because 20 inner pages depend on that stylesheet. The new home is index.html + tokens.css + home.css + home.js.

Testing performed

Check	Result	Label
npm test (site validator, assertions untouched)	PASS: 23 pages, sitemap/robots, product heroes, dark home, social preview, internal links, metadata, and product-source posture validated.	OBSERVED
Horizontal scroll at 320 / 375 / 414 / 768 / 1024 / 1280 / 1440 px	none	OBSERVED (scripted Chromium check)
Buttons, nav links, CTAs wrapping to two lines	none at any of those widths	OBSERVED
Third-party requests from the home	zero (fonts self-hosted)	OBSERVED (resource timing)
Console errors	none	OBSERVED
prefers-reduced-motion	every animation has an opacity-only path; scroll-linked motion only runs at ≥ 40 rem with no-preference	OBSERVED (code)
Hallmark slop test (58 gates)	pass after fixes (step numbers stack above headings, two blooms max, single hover signal, 4-pt spacing, heading wrap)	INFERRED (self-review)
Program membership (Apple, ElevenLabs, Databricks, Neon)	supplied by the owner in session	INFERRED
Local intelligence service copy	draft from the owner's brief	ASPIRATIONAL
Partner / NVIDIA logo use permitted	needs each brand's guideline review	NOT_COMPUTABLE
Production deploy	not performed — merge is the deploy	NOT_READY

Before merge (owner decisions)

1. Pick a direction — this PR or Home redesign proposal A: Observatory (owner review, do not merge) #53. Comment here with the pick and any changes.
2. Business copy — the local intelligence section is drafted from the owner's brief; confirm it describes what Zero State actually offers.
3. Partner logos — Apple's trademark guidelines restrict using the Apple logo to signal a relationship; NVIDIA restricts logo use outside its partner programs. Keep the marks, switch to text-only names, or swap in official program badges.
4. Rollout — once a direction is chosen, the remaining 24 pages (work, nine products, five skills, client, community, media kit, philosophy, about, contact, privacy, terms, marketing) move onto the same system on that branch before merge. The other PR closes.

Also noticed (not changed here): .github/workflows/ci.yml is a placeholder that runs nothing, so npm test is not enforced on PRs. Happy to open a bounded bug issue per AGENTS.md if wanted.

Related issue or project item

Intent: intent/2026-10-02-site-redesign.md. No issue or project item yet.

Collaboration checklist

• Added or updated tests — n/a: the existing validator covers the home; no assertions changed
• Updated documentation if needed — design.md (proposed system), intent, AGENTS.md / README.md official-home line, CHANGELOG.md, assets/THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md
• Added the appropriate labels
• Checked the linked GitHub Project item
• Requested review from the Partner Agents team when appropriate — via CODEOWNERS; @scrimshawlife-ctrl requested to decide

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions]

CC @Zero-State-LLC/partner-agents. Flagged for shared triage.

[scrimshawlife-ctrl]

Closed in favor of #53 (Observatory), chosen by @scrimshawlife-ctrl.