# Stem & Still — florist concept checkpoint

12 October 2026. Fictional brand. UK / English / GBP / Europe–London and Cyprus / English / EUR / Asia–Nicosia editions, as selected by Angelos. Bath and Limassol are working demo locations. No real business, credentials, reviews or inventory are represented.

## Outcome and boundary

Create an original florist theme using FastSites theme design prompt v3. The prompt asks for three visual directions and a selection before the full build. This package is that checkpoint: three distinct home compositions, complete headers and footers, mobile rules, light/dark studies and a three-input sample bouquet finder. It changes no FastSites platform files and publishes nothing externally.

Recommended direction: **Paper Garden**. It balances everyday flower buying with wedding and sympathy enquiries. This is an art-direction judgment, not a measured conversion claim.

## Evidence leading to decisions

All sources opened 12 October 2026. These are qualitative observations and official guidance, not a survey. Sample size is not applicable to an individual shop or guidance page. Exact publication dates are not supplied by the pages unless stated. Prices and service promises belong to the named shops and are not copied as Stem & Still promises.

| Source / scope / confidence | Finding | Design response / destination |
|---|---|---|
| [Gardenia seasonal range](https://gardeniashop.co.uk/collections/seasonal-flowers), UK shop, high for its own offer | £35 jar, £38 seasonal selection, bouquets from £50; colour and price filters; explicit local delivery fees and service areas | Separate occasion, gesture and fulfilment; show a total before a next step / hero finder and collection |
| [&Julia shop](https://www.andjulia.co.uk/order-flowers), London florist, high for its own offer | Medium £50 / large £75; arrangements vary with seasons and market availability; delivery dates are explicit | Describe the arrangement mood rather than guarantee individual stems / specimen captions and sample disclaimers |
| [Bloom de Fleur](https://bloomdefleur.com.cy/), Limassol florist, high for its own journey; limited as a broad Cyprus price benchmark | Delivery and collection are separate; destination, timing and product availability affect delivery; help choosing by occasion and budget | Dedicated Cyprus edition with independent sample prices and a local delivery selector; no “available today” promise / finder, footer |
| [RHS conditioning guide](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/for-places/cut-flowers-conditioning), horticultural guidance, high for general cut-flower care | Clean vessels, fresh cuts, flower food, cool placement and water care matter | A useful post-purchase care accordion / Flower notes |
| [McQueens](https://www.mcqueensflowers.com/), luxury florist, medium for transferable design principles | Gifts, weddings, weekly flowers and workshops have different journeys | Keep purchase, enquiry and repeat visits separate in the eventual page map; do not put eight widgets on Home |
| [JamJar Flowers](https://www.jamjarflowers.co.uk/), floral design studio, medium for brand principles | Floral identity can support an editorial studio presentation | Atelier is a credible alternative for an events-led business; no copied layout or asset |
| [GOV.UK distance selling](https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses), official UK overview, high within its scope | Clear business details, goods, total prices and delivery information need explicit treatment | Reserve editable business and policy fields; do not write a generic florist refund promise / eventual legal template |
| [Your Europe guarantees](https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees/index_en.htm), official EU overview, high within its scope | Customer rights require region-appropriate wording | Preserve platform policy content at port; Cyprus legal copy and perishable-goods treatment still require specific verification |

Customer priority is inferred from the journeys above: choose an appropriate arrangement within budget and understand how it reaches the recipient. Hesitations: exact appearance, seasonal substitutions, delivery area, final cost and suitability for a sensitive occasion. Repeat journeys: home flowers, recurring workplace flowers, care and seasonal workshops. This does not prove a particular visual treatment converts better. No statistics or fabricated trust signals are used.

## Three visual theses

| Direction | Type / palette / surface | Header, hero, rhythm and footer | Signature / useful interaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper Garden — a florist’s open botanical folio | Bodoni Moda display; Manrope body/UI. Paper #F5F1E7, olive #394C3B, ink #29382D, terracotta #A44438, blush illustration accents. Fine rules; no generic rounded panels | Split wordmark/nav; side-by-side proposition and generous still life; numbered collection, occasion index, quiet care notes; olive closing invitation above a shop directory | Botanical specimen labels and double rules / three-input bouquet finder |
| Flower Market — the warmth and directness of a flower stall | Manrope bold display/body/UI; Bodoni used only by shared logo suite. Cream #FAF0D8, poppy #A52D24, blush #EBBAD0, warm yellow artwork | Centred shop sign over ruled nav; poster headline above a wide flower counter; compact illustrated product rows; oversized red closing statement and opening-hours receipt | Price-list rhythm and bold numerals / choose a bunch and carry its size into finder |
| Evening Atelier — flowers as expressive objects | Bodoni Moda display; Manrope body/UI. Charcoal #262324, ivory #F0E5D2, rose #D99382, green artwork | Quiet narrow header; offset arch still life with a narrow introduction; staggered collection; large occasion statement; salon invitation and restrained directory | Catalogue numbers, offset art and sculpture-like space / occasion selector and restrained accordion |

All three have complete phone footer compositions. Paper: invitation → brand → two link columns → visit panel. Market: bold closing sign → brand → directory → boxed hours receipt. Atelier: quiet invitation → directory → studio details. These are present in the preview, not just described.

Typography defaults: two loaded families, local WOFF2, Georgia/Arial fallbacks. Display headlines use fluid container sizes with different phone rules. Body 16px / 1.65, supporting copy 13–15px, smallest labels 12px, primary controls at least 44px. Final font stress and enlargement checks remain pending.

## Structural comparison

Inspected Oriel’s README, theme CSS header/hero/footer descriptions and native theme data, and Wrenfield’s README and CSS selectors. Oriel uses glass chrome and a property-led search composition. Wrenfield uses an inscription-band header and industrial harmonic vocabulary. Paper Garden uses an open still-life folio, botanical labels and an olive shopfront footer; Market uses a two-tier shop sign and horizontal price rows; Atelier uses an offset floral panel and staggered collection. The source fonts are reused under their open licences; no existing artwork or identity is reused. This is a targeted comparison, not an exhaustive audit of the theme catalogue.

## Platform grounding and provisional capability map

Read-only target: `C:\Projects\fastsites-frontend`, branch `port-visionary-optics`, revision `349c3779ba45e88d865c02d0c605b3b57aecadd6`. This is the current local checkout, not an assumed default or staging branch. Two existing untracked Starlight documents were left untouched. No native port was requested or performed.

Paths relative to Git root:

- `CLAUDE.md`, `DESIGN-HANDOFF-SPEC.md`
- `fastsites-frontend/README.md`, `docs/map/MAP.md`, `docs/tasks/STATUS.md`
- `fastsites-frontend/src/app/dashboard/edit-wp/themes/{format,apply,index,oriel}.ts`
- `fastsites-frontend/src/app/dashboard/edit-wp/block-catalogue.ts`
- `fastsites-frontend/docs/THEME-PORT-CONTRACT.md`: consulted type-scale rule only at this checkpoint; full read required before port.

The historic `docs/superpowers/specs/theme-chrome-designs/engine-README.md` path in the supplied brief was absent at both possible roots. Its contents are not represented as inspected.

| Desired feature | Verified editor mechanism | Reuse / theme-owned work | Gap / status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paired palettes and type | `FastSitesTheme.colours`, `fonts`; derived palette helpers in `apply.ts` | Reuse native palette and on-brand roles | Concept has one palette pair per direction; selected theme’s five pairs follow selection |
| Native header | `headerCta`, `headerUtility`, `headerSticky`, `headerChrome`, style/header layout fields | Reuse resolver; scoped authored chrome | Exact three header silhouettes need matched render checks |
| Premium editable footer | `FastSitesTheme.footer`, `footerVariants`, page footer variant mechanism | Theme-owned closing/footer block if generic composition loses fidelity | Customer override preservation not tested |
| Seasonal finder | Theme section data; bespoke blocks in catalogue, e.g. `favOrielValuation` precedent | Proposed florist-owned finder block | No native florist finder registered; sample widget is preview-only |
| Collection and occasion layouts | `ThemeSection`, `pageTemplates`, existing catalogue | Proposed florist-owned compositions with editable repeated rows | Do not substitute generic cards silently |
| Motion | `microAnimations` and `--fs-anim-<id>` contract | Reuse shared controls; explicitly wire transition disable path at port | No native switches registered by this checkpoint |
| Plans and regions | `sitemaps.single/small/standard`, template resolution and regional handling | Retain requested 3/5/10 demo counts | mini→single / standard→small / premium→standard is provisional; commercial entitlement not verified |
| Phone within wide editor | Container-responsive design convention | `.canvas` containment and `@container florist` here | Actual editor canvas, preview and published parity not run |

## Preview census

Customer surface per direction: utility band → header/menu → hero/media → finder → three-item seasonal collection → four occasion rows → three care disclosures → full footer → factual demo/policy note. Studio controls and this brief are separate and never appear in the customer menu. Every in-page destination exists. Wedding selection reports its preview boundary rather than pretending to submit an enquiry.

Stable media: `paper.svg`, `market.svg`, `atelier.svg`, `mark.svg`. Original inline-vector botanical drawings: layered organic flowers, curved stems, foliage, paper wrapping / ribbed ceramic vessels and restrained grain. These are illustrations, not fake photo replacements. Production photo direction after selection: natural side light, imperfect gathered silhouettes, true stem detail, no fake overlaid type; preserve upper blossom mass and lower vase/wrapping in mobile crops.

Finder state: occasion {just, birthday, thanks, sympathy}, size {0,1,2}, delivery {collect, local}. UK bouquet examples £38/£55/£78; delivery £6. Cyprus €45/€65/€90; delivery €7. Total = selected bouquet + chosen delivery. Defaults: just / 1 / collect. State survives direction changes per edition in tab-scoped session storage. No details are collected, no order is sent and no stock is checked.

Motion subset: nav underline 180ms ease-out; CTA press 160ms; CTA/occasion arrow 2px diagonal feedback 160–180ms. Pointer hover only on capable pointers. No sticky header, animated entrance, preloader or perpetual motion. Reduced-motion removes transitions and smooth scroll. Final twelve-example library and motion-off Studio control follow selection.

## Selection and next stage

Choose Paper Garden, Flower Market or Evening Atelier. The supplied prompt explicitly says “Wait for selection at the requested checkpoint.” The full showroom is deliberately pending that choice.

After selection: identity contract; Mini 3 / Standard 5 / Premium 10 customer pages; five palette pairs; six layouts; eight premium blocks; twelve motion examples; scripted non-modal chat; full original logo suite; image prompts and photo-planning toggle; complete design guides; self-contained offline HTML; reusable source; full census / tokens / editor mapping / deviations; two visual critique rounds and the required verification matrix. Native registration, app changes and publication need an actual integration request.