System
A live design system
The swatches below are not screenshots. Each one reads its value at runtime from the same custom properties the rest of the site uses, so when you change the palette or the type pairing in the theme widget, this page follows along. What you are looking at is the system reporting on itself.
Principles
01
Three tiers, one direction. Primitives hold the values, semantic tokens name the intent, and component tokens carry the exceptions. References point down the stack rather than back up it.
02
Colour rarely works alone here. Confidence states differ by stroke style as well as hue, so the reading holds up without it.
03
One accent, one ink, one paper. The confidence ramp belongs to what the machine knows; the state ramp to what a person just did.
04
One easing curve and four durations, which stand down together when a visitor asks for reduced motion.
05
Body copy stays under a 66-character measure. Labels are set in mono, so structure reads as structure.
Token architecture
Three palettes and three type pairings give this site nine runtime combinations. That turns token discipline from a tidiness habit into a correctness one, because a hex that looks right in Studio will be wrong in the other eight. Which layer a component may read stopped being a matter of taste here, and became something a script checks.
Tier 1
Primitive
--c-ink-900
The raw ramps, named for what they are rather than what they do. Themes leave this layer alone, and components reach it through the tier above.
Tier 2
Semantic
--text-primary
The intent layer. Each token names a job (primary text, raised surface, hairline edge) and points at a primitive. This is the layer a theme rewrites.
Tier 3
Component
--btn-primary-bg
The exception layer, kept deliberately thin. It picks up where a component departs from its semantic default, or needs a state the tier above has yet to name.
How one value resolves
Each step reads the one above it. Follow the same ink down three names and the swatches stay identical, which is rather the point. The value underneath is computed live, in whichever theme you have loaded.
Tier 1 · Primitive
--c-ink-900
rgb(20, 20, 15)
Tier 2 · Semantic
--surface-inverse
rgb(20, 20, 15)
Tier 3 · Component
--btn-primary-bg
rgb(20, 20, 15)
The contract
Tier 2 references tier 1. Tier 3 references tier 2.
Components reach for tiers 2 and 3. Primitives, raw hex values and literal font stacks stay out of the JSX.
Themes rewrite tier 2 and stop there, which is how three palettes and three type pairings ship without touching a component.
Semantic tokens
The layer most of the site is built from, in four families small enough to hold in your head. The line under each name is the primitive it points at in Studio; load a theme and that value gets replaced outright, which is the swap this layer exists to allow. The figure on the right stays live either way.
Text
Hierarchy rather than appearance. Four steps, and meaning stops at tertiary; anything lighter is there to decorate.
rgb(20, 20, 15)
rgb(58, 58, 52)
rgb(107, 107, 99)
rgb(144, 144, 138)
rgb(28, 64, 168)
rgb(252, 252, 251)
Surface
Three altitudes of paper, plus ink. A fourth would have to earn its place, and so far the work has not asked for one.
rgb(252, 252, 251)
rgb(255, 255, 255)
rgb(245, 245, 243)
rgb(20, 20, 15)
rgb(237, 242, 253)
Edge
This system is drawn rather than shadowed. Two weights of line, sharing one stroke width across the site.
rgb(236, 236, 234)
rgb(222, 222, 219)
rgb(214, 224, 250)
rgb(58, 58, 52)
Signal
One blue doing four jobs. The family stays small so the colour keeps its meaning when it turns up.
rgb(36, 80, 200)
rgb(28, 64, 168)
rgb(168, 191, 242)
rgb(237, 242, 253)
Interaction states
The old layer had no names for these, so each component invented its own hover and drifted from the next. Naming them settled the argument.
rgb(245, 245, 243)
rgb(236, 236, 234)
rgb(237, 242, 253)
rgb(36, 80, 200)
rgb(63, 110, 224)
rgb(236, 236, 234)
System state
Feedback on something a person just did: a save that worked, a form that did not. Confidence, further down, answers a different question about what the machine knows. The two share hues in this version, a call made on the grounds that they seldom meet, and one worth revisiting the day they land on the same screen.
Danger
The action failed, or is about to remove something.
--state-danger
Warning
It went through, but it is worth a second look.
--state-warning
Success
It went through. Say so once, then step aside.
--state-success
Confidence colour semantics
This ramp belongs to what the machine knows. Each step carries a stroke style as well as a hue, so the reading survives in greyscale.
Auto-commit, and leave the person out of it.
--conf-high
The AI drafts; a person confirms in one keystroke.
--conf-mid
The person leads, and the editor hands over the pen.
--conf-low
No detection. Manual input.
--conf-none
Primitives
Tier one, kept here for reference. These are the raw values the semantic layer points at. Components reach them through a semantic name rather than directly, and the linter keeps it that way.
Accent
--c-accent-100
rgb(237, 242, 253)
--c-accent-200
rgb(214, 224, 250)
--c-accent-300
rgb(168, 191, 242)
--c-accent-500
rgb(63, 110, 224)
--c-accent-600
rgb(36, 80, 200)
--c-accent-700
rgb(28, 64, 168)
Paper
--c-paper-000
rgb(255, 255, 255)
--c-paper-100
rgb(252, 252, 251)
--c-paper-200
rgb(245, 245, 243)
--c-paper-300
rgb(236, 236, 234)
--c-paper-400
rgb(222, 222, 219)
Ink
--c-ink-300
rgb(184, 184, 178)
--c-ink-400
rgb(144, 144, 138)
--c-ink-500
rgb(107, 107, 99)
--c-ink-700
rgb(58, 58, 52)
--c-ink-800
rgb(31, 31, 26)
--c-ink-900
rgb(20, 20, 15)
Type
Each role owns its family, weight, leading and tracking together. That bundling is what turns a pairing swap into a single block to edit, rather than a hunt through the stylesheet.
Families
Handgloves
--f-display
Display
Handgloves
--f-body
Prose
Handgloves 0123
--f-mono
Data
Roles
Display
Headings at any size, set tight with negative tracking.
--type-display-weight
--type-display-leading
--type-display-tracking
Prose
Running body copy, held under a 66-character measure.
--type-prose-weight
--type-prose-leading
--type-prose-size
Data
Labels, indices and numbers. Mono, uppercase, tabular figures.
--type-data-weight
--type-data-tracking
--type-data-transform
Scale
Display
--t-display
Ag, the quick brown fox
H1
--t-h1
Ag, the quick brown fox
H2
--t-h2
Ag, the quick brown fox
H3
--t-h3
Ag, the quick brown fox
H4
--t-h4
Ag, the quick brown fox
Body
--t-body
Ag, the quick brown fox
Label
--t-label
Ag, the quick brown fox
Micro
--t-micro
Ag, the quick brown fox
Pairings
Three pairings ship. Spline has no italic worth using, so emphasis falls to colour and weight instead. Editorial is the exception, and there the italic returns.
Shape
Five steps, and the system stays square-ish: zero, three working radii, and a pill that belongs to chips.
--radius-none
Rules and bands
--radius-sm
Inputs and buttons
--radius-md
Cards, images, wells
--radius-lg
Floating panels
--radius-pill
Chips
Elevation
Flat on purpose. Depth gets drawn with an edge rather than a shadow, and the second step is saved for panels that genuinely float.
--elevation-0
--elevation-1
--elevation-2
Spacing scale
--s-1
--s-2
--s-3
--s-4
--s-5
--s-6
--s-7
--s-8
--s-9
Semantic spacing
Aliases for the three gaps that keep coming up. The numbered scale is still there for the rest.
--space-inset
Padding inside a card or panel
--space-stack
Gap between stacked text blocks
--space-section
Gap between page sections
Motion
One easing curve: cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1). Four durations: 120, 220, 380 and 720 ms.
120ms
--d-1
220ms
--d-2
380ms
--d-3
720ms
--d-4
Component tokens
The third tier, shown live and kept thin. Each of these reads semantic tokens and adds just the part the layer above has yet to name.
Chip
Rest, hover and selected. Chips are where the pill radius belongs.
--chip-text · --chip-edge · --chip-selected-bg
Button
Primary inverts the page; secondary is an edge and a hover wash.
--btn-primary-bg · --btn-secondary-edge · --btn-radius
Card
Raised surface, hairline edge, medium radius, standard inset.
Card
A raised surface on the page, held by a single hairline.
--card-bg · --card-edge · --card-radius · --card-inset
Input
The edge becomes the focus ring on focus, and the placeholder sits at tertiary.
--input-bg · --input-edge · --input-edge-focus