open-design/design-systems/dashboard/DESIGN.md

Design System Inspired by Dashboard

Category: Professional & Corporate Dark-themed cloud-platform aesthetic with modular grids, glass-like panels, and strong data hierarchy for productivity dashboards.

1. Visual Theme & Atmosphere

Dark-themed cloud-platform aesthetic with modular grids, glass-like panels, and strong data hierarchy for productivity dashboards.

• Visual style: modern, clean, cloud-platform aesthetic (Heroku/Vercel/GitHub inspired), dark theme, subtle gradients, soft shadows, glass-like panels, rounded components
• Color stance: primary, neutral, success, warning, danger
• Design intent: Keep outputs recognizable to this style family while preserving usability and readability.

2. Color

• Primary: #0C5CAB — Token from style foundations.

• Secondary: #0A4A8A — Token from style foundations.

• Success: #10B981 — Token from style foundations.

• Warning: #F59E0B — Token from style foundations.

• Danger: #EF4444 — Token from style foundations.

• Surface: #09090B — Token from style foundations.

• Text: #FAFAFA — Token from style foundations.

• Neutral: #09090B — Derived from the surface token for official format compatibility.

• Favor Primary (#0C5CAB) for CTA emphasis.

• Use Surface (#09090B) for large backgrounds and cards.

• Keep body copy on Text (#FAFAFA) for legibility.

3. Typography

• Scale: 12/14/16/20/24/32
• Families: primary=IBM Plex Sans, display=IBM Plex Sans, mono=IBM Plex Sans
• Weights: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900
• Headings should carry the style personality; body text should optimize scanability and contrast.

4. Spacing & Grid

• Spacing scale: 8pt baseline grid
• Keep vertical rhythm consistent across sections and components.
• Align columns and modules to a predictable grid; avoid ad-hoc offsets.

5. Layout & Composition

• Prefer clear content blocks with consistent internal padding.
• Keep hierarchy obvious: headline → support text → primary action.
• Use whitespace to separate concerns before adding borders or shadows.

6. Components

• Buttons: primary action uses #0C5CAB; secondary actions stay neutral.
• Inputs: strong focus-visible states, clear labels, and predictable error messaging.
• Cards/sections: use consistent radii, spacing, and elevation strategy across the page.

7. Motion & Interaction

• Use subtle transitions that emphasize Primary (#0C5CAB) as the interaction signal.
• Default to short, purposeful transitions (150–250ms) with stable easing.
• Ensure hover, focus-visible, active, disabled, and loading states are explicit.

8. Voice & Brand

• Tone should reflect the visual style: concise, confident, and product-specific.
• Keep microcopy action-oriented and avoid generic filler language.
• Preserve the style identity in headlines while keeping UI labels literal and clear.

9. Anti-patterns

• Do not introduce off-palette colors when an existing token can solve the problem.
• Do not flatten hierarchy by using the same type size/weight for all text.
• Do not add decorative effects that reduce readability or accessibility.
• Do not mix unrelated visual metaphors in the same interface.