This CSS code defines the “Guardian Headline Full” font family with multiple styles and weights. It includes light (300), regular (400), medium (500), and semibold (600) variants, each in both normal and italic styles. For each style, it provides font files in WOFF2, WOFF, and TrueType formats from the Guardian’s asset server.This CSS code defines several font families for the Guardian Headline and Guardian Titlepiece fonts, specifying their sources in different formats (WOFF2, WOFF, and TrueType) along with their font weights and styles. It also includes responsive design rules for the main content column in interactive layouts, adjusting margins, widths, and positioning based on viewport size. For instance, on wider screens, it adds a left margin and a border, while on smaller screens, it adjusts element widths and positions to fit the display. The code ensures that elements like paragraphs and lists maintain a maximum width for readability, and it handles immersive elements by expanding them to full width on mobile devices and adjusting their layout on larger screens.For interactive content columns, a left border is added with a light gray color and positioned slightly to the left. Elements within these columns have no top or bottom margins but include 12px padding. When a paragraph follows an element, the padding is removed and margins are set to 12px. Inline elements are limited to a maximum width of 620px, and for wider screens, figures with a specific role also adhere to this width limit.
Color variables are defined for various text and background elements, including dateline, header borders, captions, and feature colors, with a default feature color set to red.
Elements styled as atoms have no padding. Specific rules apply to the first paragraph following certain elements or horizontal rules in different content areas, adding 14px top padding. Additionally, the first letter of these paragraphs is styled with a large, bold, uppercase font in a headline style, colored according to the defined feature color, and floated to the left with a margin.
Horizontal rules followed by paragraphs in various content sections have no top padding.Pullquotes within specific content areas have a maximum width of 620 pixels.
For showcase elements in various article containers, captions are positioned statically with full width and a 620-pixel maximum width.
Immersive elements span the full viewport width minus the scrollbar. On screens up to 71.24em wide, these elements are limited to 978 pixels, with caption padding of 10 pixels. Between 30em and 71.24em, caption padding increases to 20 pixels. For screens between 46.25em and 61.24em, the maximum width is 738 pixels. Below 46.24em, immersive elements align to the left with adjusted margins and caption padding of 20 pixels between 30em and 46.24em.
The furniture wrapper uses a grid layout on screens 61.25em and wider, with defined columns and rows for organizing content. Headlines feature a top border, meta sections have top padding, and standfirst elements include styled links with underlines that change color on hover. Initially, the first paragraph in standfirst has a top border and no bottom padding, which is removed on screens 71.25em and above.
Figures within the furniture wrapper have left margins and a maximum width of 630 pixels for inline elements. On larger screens (71.25em and up), the grid columns are reconfigured for different content placement.The layout uses a grid with specific columns and rows for different screen sizes. For smaller screens, the grid defines areas for the title, headline, standfirst, meta information, and portrait, with rows set to fixed and automatic heights. A thin line appears above the meta section, and the standfirst has a vertical line on its left side.
On larger screens, the grid adjusts to use fractional units for rows and expands column spans. The headline font size increases and its maximum width changes, while some elements like lines are hidden. The standfirst text is styled with a specific font weight and size, and the main media area is positioned within the grid, with adjustments for width and margins on smaller devices. Captions are absolutely positioned at the bottom with a background color and padding.The CSS code defines styles for a furniture wrapper component, including its layout, colors, and responsive behavior across different screen sizes. It sets background colors, text colors, and border styles using CSS custom properties for themes like dark mode. The wrapper adjusts margins, padding, and positioning on larger screens, and includes hidden elements and interactive buttons with hover effects for social sharing. Headlines and meta information are styled with specific fonts and colors, ensuring consistency in the design.This CSS code defines styles for elements within a “furniture-wrapper” class, focusing on meta information and standfirst sections. It sets text colors to light gray (#dcdcdc) and link colors to a variable-based hue, with hover effects that change text decoration color. Links in the standfirst are underlined with a specific offset and color, and hover states adjust the underline color accordingly.
For larger screens (min-width: 61.25em), the first paragraph in the standfirst gains a top border, which is removed on even larger screens (min-width: 71.25em). List items in the standfirst also adopt the light gray text color.
The code includes responsive design elements using media queries for different screen widths (46.25em, 61.25em, 71.25em, and 81.25em). These adjust the width and positioning of pseudo-elements (:before and :after) to create background areas with borders, calculating dimensions based on viewport width and scrollbar adjustments.
Additionally, it styles SVG elements within keylines and social media or comment elements in the meta section, setting their stroke and text colors to match the theme using CSS variables.The comment section has a border color that matches the header’s border color. In articles, second-level headings have a light font weight of 200, but if they contain a strong element, they use a bold weight of 700.
Additionally, the Guardian Headline Full font family is defined with various styles and weights, including light, regular, medium, and semibold, each in normal and italic versions. These fonts are sourced from specific URLs in WOFF2, WOFF, and TrueType formats.This CSS code defines several font faces for the “Guardian Headline Full” font family, each with different weights and styles (normal and italic), ranging from semibold (600) to black (900). It also includes a font face for “Guardian Titlepiece” in bold. The fonts are sourced from specific URLs in WOFF2, WOFF, and TrueType formats.
Additionally, the code sets CSS custom properties (variables) for dark mode backgrounds and feature colors, adjusting them based on the user’s color scheme preference or when the site is viewed on iOS or Android devices. It also includes styling for the first letter of paragraphs in article containers on these mobile platforms, with specific selectors to handle sign-in gates.For Android devices, the first letter of the first paragraph in standard and comment articles is styled with a secondary pillar color. On both iOS and Android, article headers are hidden, and furniture wrappers have specific padding. Labels within these wrappers use a bold, capitalized font in a headline style with a new pillar color. Headlines are set to 32px, bold, with bottom padding and a dark color. Images in furniture wrappers are positioned relatively, span the viewport width minus the scrollbar, and adjust their height automatically.For Android devices, images within article containers are set to have a transparent background, span the full viewport width minus the scrollbar, and adjust their height automatically.
On both iOS and Android, the article summary sections have top and bottom padding of 4px and 24px respectively, with a right margin offset of -10px.
The text in these summaries uses the Guardian Headline font family or similar serif fonts.
Links within the summaries are styled with a specific color, underlined with a 6px offset, and use a designated color for the underline that changes on hover to match the link color.
Additionally, metadata sections in articles on both operating systems have consistent styling.For Android devices, the margin for meta elements in standard and comment article containers is set to zero.
On iOS devices, the byline and author information in feature, standard, and comment article containers will appear in the designated pillar color. Similarly, on Android devices, the same elements in feature, standard, and comment article containers will also use the pillar color.
For both iOS and Android, the miscellaneous meta information in feature, standard, and comment article containers has no padding, and any SVG icons within them are styled with the pillar color as their stroke.
The caption button in showcase elements for feature, standard, and comment articles on both iOS and Android is displayed as a flex container. It is centered, measures 28 by 28 pixels, and positioned 14 pixels from the right with 5 pixels of padding.
The article body in feature, standard, and comment containers for iOS and Android has 12 pixels of horizontal padding and no vertical padding.For iOS and Android devices, in feature, standard, and comment article containers, non-thumbnail and non-immersive images within the article body will have no margin, a width calculated as the full viewport width minus 24 pixels and the scrollbar width, and an automatic height. Their captions will have no padding.
Immersive images in these containers will span the full viewport width minus the scrollbar width.
In the article body’s prose, quoted blockquotes will display a colored marker using the new pillar color. Links will be styled with the primary pillar color, underlined with an offset, and use the header border color for the underline. On hover, the underline color changes to the new pillar color.
In dark mode, the furniture wrapper’s background will be set to a dark gray (#1a1a1a).For iOS and Android devices, apply the following styles to feature, standard, and comment article containers:
– Set content labels to use the new pillar color.
– Remove the background color from headlines and set their text color to the header border color, ensuring this takes priority.
– Make standfirst paragraphs and links adopt the header border color.
– Use the new pillar color for byline authors and their links.
– Apply the new pillar color to the stroke of miscellaneous meta icons.
– Set the color of showcase image captions to the dateline color.
– Style quoted blockquotes in the article body prose accordingly.For iOS and Android devices, the text color of quoted blocks in article bodies is set to a specific pillar color.
Additionally, the background color for various article body sections on both operating systems is forced to a dark background.
On iOS, the first letter following certain elements in article bodies is styled with a drop cap effect.This appears to be a CSS selector targeting the first letter of paragraphs that follow specific elements in various article containers on iOS and Android platforms. The selector applies to different article types (standard, feature, comment) and accounts for sign-in gates that might appear between elements.This CSS code defines styles for specific elements on Android and iOS devices. It sets the color of the first letter in certain paragraphs to white or a custom variable color. It also adjusts padding and margins for standfirst elements in comment articles, sets font sizes for h2 headings, and modifies padding for caption buttons.
For dark mode, it changes text and icon colors to lighter shades and defines a dark background color. Additionally, it hides article headers by making them fully transparent and applies styles to furniture wrappers, though the last rule appears incomplete.For iOS and Android devices, the article container’s furniture wrapper has no margin. Labels in feature, standard, and comment articles use the new pillar color or a dark mode feature color. Headlines in these articles are set to a light gray color. Links in article headers or title sections also adopt the new pillar or dark mode feature color.
Before the meta section in these articles, a repeating linear gradient is applied as a background, using the header border color to create a striped effect. The byline text within the meta area is displayed in light gray.For iOS and Android devices, the following styles apply to links within the meta section of feature, standard, and comment article containers:
– Links are colored using the new pillar color or a dark mode feature color.
– SVG icons in the meta miscellaneous section have their stroke set to the same color.
– Alert labels display in a light gray color (#dcdcdc) with important priority.
– Spans with data-icon attributes also adopt the new pillar or dark mode feature color.For iOS and Android devices, the color of icons within the meta section of feature, standard, and comment article containers is set to a new pillar color or a dark mode feature color.
On larger screens (71.25em and above), the meta section in these containers displays a top border using the same color options. Additionally, the meta miscellaneous elements have their margin reset and a left margin of 20 pixels applied.
Paragraphs and unordered lists within the article body of these containers are limited to a maximum width of 620 pixels for both iOS and Android.
Blockquotes with the “quoted” class in the article body’s prose section also receive styling for iOS and Android across all article types.For quoted blocks in articles, the color before them uses the secondary theme color on both iOS and Android.
Links within article bodies on iOS and Android are styled with the primary theme color, featuring an underline 6 pixels below the text in a light gray color, without any background image. When hovered over, the underline changes to the secondary theme color, still without a background image.
In dark mode, the color for quoted blocks and links switches to the dark mode theme color. On hover, the underline for links also adopts the dark mode theme color.
For app rendering, various text and icon colors are defined using theme variables, including follow text, standfirst elements, bylines, and meta lines. The byline text uses the new theme color, and specific background images are applied to byline spans adjacent to follow wrappers.
In light mode, sponsor images within meta sections are inverted.
Emine Saner: I didn’t find early motherhood easy. It wasn’t my daughter’s fault – she was, thankfully, a wonderful and cheerful baby – but I underestimated how significant the change would be during an already stressful period. When I was pregnant, we relocated to a new town, into a dilapidated house we intended to renovate. My ill mother moved in with us, and suddenly I was caring for both a newborn and a dying parent – at opposite ends of life’s spectrum, yet with many overlapping needs, often simultaneously.
[View image in fullscreen | Photograph: Courtesy of Emine Saner]
My daughter’s first year coincided with the last year of my mother’s life – and was likely the loneliest of mine. One of the unspoken truths about new motherhood is its potential for loneliness, and I experienced intense…I made things harder for myself by moving to a place where I didn’t know anyone. I’d attend baby groups in the morning, unsure how to make friends when I no longer knew who I was. The long, dark afternoons seemed to stretch on forever, and I’d force myself to take endless walks with the pram, bitterly noticing other new mothers accompanied by their own moms. This photo, taken in a Boots photo booth in 2014 when my daughter was seven months old, was meant for my partner’s birthday card, but more than that, it was a way to pass the time on one of those afternoons. I had planned to dress us up differently for each of the four shots, but managing a squirming baby in a tiny space with only seconds between pictures meant only the sunglasses made it into the final shot.
On my better days, I can feel proud of how I managed to get through that year, but I’m rarely gentle with myself. Mostly, I feel guilty for bringing my daughter—who was planned and dearly wanted—into a life with a mother who was already grieving. Yet memory can be harsh too, because although I recall it as a tough period, I know it was also filled with joy and love, as this photo reminds me. I look a bit wild, as I probably did all that year, but my baby looks happy.
Zoe Williams
In 1987, my sister and I were heading to Hamburg for a distant cousin’s wedding. I was 14, she was 16, and I think only one of us needed a passport photo, but we went to a photo booth just for fun. It was at Victoria station in London, but forget what you know about it now—this was the late ’80s, before Caffè Nero existed. Costa Coffee was around but so new we called it “Costa Packet.” Back then, if you needed to meet someone or remember who you were, you had to rely on a platform number or the clock.
Just before I stepped behind the curtain, she said, “Wait! You have a hair on your chin.” I’m 52 now, and like most people, a stray hair doesn’t faze me—you wouldn’t blink if one sprouted from your ear to meet one from your nose. But at 14, it was a big deal. She tried to brush it away, but nothing happened. She brushed again. “Wait, it’s…” She tugged it. “It’s growing. Out of your face!” She started laughing so hard she was crying before any sound came out. Has anyone ever noticed how hard it is not to laugh when your sister is? Soon I was doubled over, my mascara running, and we had to use the restroom to fix it, costing us 30 pence—a rip-off then, but at least you could get change.
We returned after fixing my makeup, and she said, “Wait! You didn’t remove that hair?” If we’d been different people in another time, one of us would have had tweezers, but we didn’t, and pulling it with fingers isn’t a natural skill. She started laughing again and completely wet herself. We’d spent a fortune on the bathroom, and she hadn’t even used it for that.
You can’t really see anything wrong in the photos, but every time that hair grows back—jet black and lush, about every two weeks—and every time I pass a photo booth or use my passport, I start laughing all over again. That hair and that day feel as fresh as ever.
Ammar Kalia
Growing up, my Saturdays were mostly spent trailing along to the local Asda for the weekly grocery shopping. While my mom worked at her optician’s business, my dad would drag me through the aisles for hours, scanning the shelves.She asked the same question, and Ramla gave the same answer. We grew up together in Birmingham, getting into mischief, sharing chips after school, and surviving all those awkward stages. As teens obsessed with Pinterest and Tumblr, squeezing into a photo booth at Urban Outfitters was the ultimate cool—it was proof you’d had a real day out. After shopping or grabbing iced coffees, we’d pile into the booth, fixing our hijabs as the countdown began, trying to look our best.
After we both moved to London, we recently decided to take another photo strip to celebrate this new chapter. It felt like coming full circle: the same poses and last-minute panic before the flash, only now we were in our mid-20s, pretending to be mature adults. When the photos printed, we couldn’t help but laugh—they turned out just like always, a little quirky and far from flattering. Over the years, we’ve taken so many together, most now tucked away in books and memory boxes. One of us always keeps a copy, vowing not to lose it again.
The new strip is already creased from being passed back and forth and living at the bottom of our bags. I’ll probably misplace it again, but that’s okay. We can always take more.
Sasha Mistlin
I met my girlfriend in the summer of 2023, a few months after a bout of mental illness had forced me to leave work and start rebuilding my life. She stood out right away—not in a fairy-tale, love-at-first-sight way, but because she was adventurous and willing to trust someone she barely knew to join her on an adventure. By our fourth date, we’d booked flights to Rome, where she had studied, promising life-changing burrata and anchovy sandwiches.
Then came two setbacks: her grandfather passed away the week we were supposed to leave, and the trip conflicted with his funeral. She decided to come anyway, but the emotional weight was heavy. Then, the night before our flight, I realized my passport was too close to expiring for me to travel. We sat dejected in an airport Pret, questioning if we were really meant to be.
But then, a lightbulb moment: why not reroute to Cambridge instead? It was the closest city to Stansted and a place I knew well from my university days. It made sense—I could show her somewhere that mattered to me, even if I couldn’t yet see the places important to her.
That first night, we ended up at Revolution, a shots bar familiar to any British student. It was early on a Wednesday evening, and I ordered a birthday cake shot—a drink I’d always been oddly fascinated by. Why mix childhood nostalgia with grown-up bad decisions? The bar was nearly empty, and when we kissed, we suddenly felt absurdly exposed. So we slipped behind the curtain of a photo booth with a backdrop that read, “V is for Vodka.”
I’d loved photo booths as a teen during the millennial revival of ’90s tech. They were everywhere, tucked into corners at every bar mitzvah and birthday party. But I hadn’t used one in years.
The strip came out with four uneven frames. My expression was somewhere between smug and lost; hers was half-amused, half-guarded. They’re still my favorite pictures of us, maybe because there aren’t many others to compare. Neither of us are really into photos—posed pictures feel too staged and make us uncomfortable, while photo booths are so intentionally artificial that they somehow feel okay.
Two years later, I’m writing this from another departure lounge, on our way to Portugal for our second anniversary. That photo strip, now tucked away in a drawer with old cards and holiday trinkets, captured something I didn’t know I needed: proof thatGreat things can begin anywhere.
Emma Loffhagen
I’ve always had a weakness for photo booths. The moment I walk into a pub or club and see one, I can practically feel the cash leaving my account. My bedroom walls and phone gallery are filled with proof of all the times I’ve dragged friends—and even strangers—into those tiny curtained spaces.
Out of all my photo booth memories, one is especially vivid. It was August 2021, the first summer after the second Covid lockdown. I had just turned 22 and was moving out of my parents’ house into a new flat with three of my closest university friends. Life had felt like it was on hold for a year, with the excitement of post-graduation freedom put on ice amid canceled plans and birthdays celebrated over Zoom.
Our move-in day happened to fall on my flatmate’s birthday party, so we hurriedly unloaded our boxes and dashed out to celebrate. It was chaotic, but in the best way—things were finally moving forward again, and it felt thrilling.
The party was full of university friends I hadn’t seen together in over a year. We never got a proper graduation ceremony because the pandemic had cut our university experience short.
My flatmates and I took over the photo booth and snapped a series of wild group photos where no one could quite manage to look at the camera at once. The memory of the booth itself is a little hazy, but what stands out is the overwhelming, dizzying happiness and the sense that a new chapter of our lives was finally starting.
The next morning, we stuck one of the photo strips on our then-empty fridge. That door has since become covered with magnets and memories from four years of living together. Looking at those pictures now, I see the sheer relief on our faces—a reminder of when the world opened up again and we leaped right in.
The Photographers’ Gallery in London is celebrating 100 years of the photo booth with the exhibition Strike a Pose: 100 Years of the Photobooth, running until 22 February 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of helpful and concise FAQs about I might look a bit wild but my baby is all smiles Nine writers share their favorite photo booth snapshots
General Beginner Questions
1 What is this article about
Its a collection where nine different writers share a special photo booth picture of themselves with their baby celebrating the fun messy and joyful reality of parenthood
2 Whats the main idea behind the title I might look a bit wild
The title highlights the contrast between a parent who might look tired or disheveled and their happy smiling baby showing that perfect appearances arent necessary for a perfect moment
3 Who is this article for
Its for parents expecting parents or anyone who appreciates heartfelt reallife family stories Its especially comforting for those who feel pressured to look perfect all the time
4 Where can I find this article
It was likely published in a lifestyle magazine a parenting blog or a literary website that features personal essays and photo collections
Deeper Dive Content Questions
5 Why did they choose photo booth snapshots specifically
Photo booth pictures are often spontaneous unposed and capture raw genuine emotions in a tight frame which perfectly suits the theme of authentic unfiltered parenthood
6 What can I expect to learn from the writers stories
Youll read about their personal memories what that specific moment meant to them and how they embrace the beautiful chaos of raising a child
7 Is this just about mothers or are fathers included too
While the phrase my baby could apply to anyone the collection likely includes a mix of writers which could encompass mothers fathers and other guardians
8 Whats the benefit of reading something like this
It helps normalize the lessthanperfect side of parenting reduces feelings of isolation and reminds you to find joy and humor in the everyday mess
Practical Application Tips
9 How can I create a similar meaningful snapshot with my own child
Dont wait for a perfect moment Grab your phone or use a photo booth app be silly dont worry about your hair or clothes and just focus on having a genuine fun interaction
