Canva — decoded design system

Name: Canva design system (live decode)
Creator: Mozaika
Keywords: design system, design tokens, Canva, canva.com, light, custom

canva.com · light · modern · custom · deep decode — measured live

Canva's design system, decoded live by Mozaika: measured color roles, type scale, buttons with real hover/focus states, motion and the brand's own tokens.

Open in Mozaika →

This is a static, crawlable rendering for search & AI engines. The interactive version — filters, live decode console, copy & export — is at https://mozaika.design/decode/canva.com.

Decoded design system

Canva's decoded design system: background #FFFFFF, text #000000, accent #8B3DFF, link #0F1015, primary #9E9EFF; type scale h1 80px / h2 56px / body 18px; 4px spacing base; 12px base radius. The single interactive/action color is #8B3DFF — used only on interactive or must-notice elements (buttons, links, key highlights), never on large fills.

Color roles

Role	Value
bg	`#FFFFFF`
surface	`#EFEFEF`
border	`#D8D8D8`
text	`#000000`
text_muted	`#606060`
primary	`#9E9EFF`
accent	`#8B3DFF`
link	`#0F1015`
secondary	`#CCE1FF`
button_bg	`#8B3DFF`
button_text	`#0F1015`

Using these colors

Action color #8B3DFF — the single interactive color; only on things you click or must notice, never large fills.
accent, button_bg are all #8B3DFF — one role, not several (the action color).
accent #8B3DFF — THE accent / action color — interactive & must-notice only (buttons, links, focus, one key highlight); never large fills or backgrounds. Scarcity is what makes it read as designed.
primary #9E9EFF — a brand color — but the call-to-action uses #8B3DFF, not this.
link #0F1015 — inline text links and link-styled controls.
secondary #CCE1FF — optional secondary accent — LOW decode confidence; use rarely (a status color or a single decorative moment) or omit it entirely. Prefer one accent unless the reference clearly shows two.

Typography

Heading: Canva Sans
Body: Canva Sans
h1: 80px
h2: 56px
body: 18px

Spacing

base unit: 4px
scale: 4px, 6px, 7px, 8px, 12px, 16px, 20px, 24px, 32px, 48px

Radii

base: 12px
button: 20px

Shadow

rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08) 0px 24px 24px -18px inset, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.25) 0px 1px 0.5px 0px inset, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25) 0px -1px 0.5px 0px inset, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.14) 0px 1px 2px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.07) 0px 3px 4px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px 0px inset

Shadows (elevation)

subtle: rgba(64, 79, 109, 0.07) 0px 0px 0px 0.5px, rgba(21, 30, 130, 0.12) 0px 2px 5px 0px, rgba(21, 30, 130, 0.06) 0px 6px 12px 0px

Motion

Micro-interactions run at 100ms (dominant) with linear.

durations: 100ms · 150ms · 70ms
easings: linear · ease
animated properties: background-color, color, transform, border-color

Native design tokens

Token	Value
`--HfWZ1A`	`#3e2a14`
`--Mm01yw`	`#612dae`
`--a7O9QQ`	`#13162099`
`--XxI4hg`	`#0f1015d9`
`--x1gpxm7a`	`#101219b2`
`--x12g387`	`#c3eac4`
`--gFgXSg`	`#404f6d0f`
`--pDEiUA`	`#1c213080`
`--xstli9h`	`#fff`
`--xqjd72j`	`#fff`

…and 99 more measured on the page.

Button states (measured)

primary hover: background #FFFFFF
primary focus: outline 1px auto rgb(16, 16, 16)

Layout (measured)

container max-width: 1288px
nav: 80px sticky

Motion choreography (measured)

Load order: div.x1ghz6dp×4 → div.x1ghz6dp → div.x1ghz6dp×4 → div.x1ghz6dp → div.MxWveQ×63 → div.m75YQA×18

Scroll reveal: 40 elements rest at opacity 0, animate in over 200ms.

Stagger: div ×46 — 150ms apart.

Responsive (measured)

breakpoints: 600px · 899px · 1200px · 1416px · 1649px
mobile (390px): hero 21px · nav hamburger

Install it

Drop this measured system into any shadcn/Tailwind project in one command:

npx shadcn add mozaika.design/r/decode/canva.com

registry item · or query it over MCP: get_design_system("Canva")

Export: DESIGN.md

# Canva — Design System

> light, modern, high, custom — deep decode (measured live)

## Colors

| Role | Value |
|------|-------|
| bg | `#FFFFFF` |
| surface | `#EFEFEF` |
| border | `#D8D8D8` |
| text | `#000000` |
| text_muted | `#606060` |
| primary | `#9E9EFF` |
| accent | `#8B3DFF` |
| link | `#0F1015` |
| secondary | `#CCE1FF` |
| button_bg | `#8B3DFF` |
| button_text | `#0F1015` |

**Using these colors**

- **Action color** `#8B3DFF` — the single interactive color; it appears only on things you click or must notice (buttons, key highlights), never on large fills or backgrounds.
- `accent`, `button_bg` are all `#8B3DFF` — one role, not several (your action color).
- **accent** `#8B3DFF` — THE accent / action color — interactive & must-notice only (buttons, links, focus, one key highlight); never large fills or backgrounds. Scarcity is what makes it read as designed.
- **primary** `#9E9EFF` — a brand color — but the call-to-action uses #8B3DFF, not this.
- **link** `#0F1015` — inline text links and link-styled controls.
- **secondary** `#CCE1FF` — optional secondary accent — LOW decode confidence; use rarely (a status color or a single decorative moment) or omit it entirely. Prefer one accent unless the reference clearly shows two.
- **Page coverage** (full-page screenshot pixels): `#8C2CFD` 23.1% · `#C7E4EF` 13.7% · `#F4F5FE` 13.4% · `#7BDAE7` 11%

## Typography

- Heading: **Canva Sans** _(free fallback: Newsreader)_
- Body: **Canva Sans** _(free fallback: Newsreader)_

| Role | Size / weight · line-height · tracking |
|------|------------------------------------------|
| hero | 80px / 400 · lh 88px · tracking -0.8px |
| h2 | 56px / 400 · lh 62px · tracking -0.56px |
| h3 | 36px / 500 · lh 45px · tracking -0.36px |
| body | 18px / 600 · lh 24px |
| small | 16px / 600 · lh 22px |

- Weight ladder: 400 · 500 · 600 — use these exact measured weights, not the 400/600 defaults.

> **Fonts —** Canva Sans may be proprietary — safe free fallback: Newsreader (Google Fonts).

## Spacing
- base unit: 4px (inferred from the measured scale)
- measured scale: 4px, 6px, 7px, 8px, 12px, 16px, 20px, 24px, 32px, 48px — snap all gaps/padding to these
- section rhythm: 256px top/bottom padding per section (measured)

## Radius
- base: 12px
- button: 20px
- card: 12px
- pill: 9999px

## Buttons

| Button | Fill / text | Border | Radius | Padding | Font | Shadow |
|--------|-------------|--------|--------|---------|------|--------|
| primary | `rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.898)` / `#0F1015` | none | 20px | 0px 20px 0px 20px | 600 16px | rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08) 0px 24px 24px -18px inset, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.25) 0px 1px 0.5px 0px inset, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25) 0px -1px 0.5px 0px inset, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.14) 0px 1px 2px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.07) 0px 3px 4px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px 0px inset |
| secondary | `rgba(255, 255, 255, 0)` / `#FFFFFF` | none | 10px | 0px 12px 0px 12px | 600 14px | rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px 0px, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px 1px inset |

**States (measured, not guessed)**

- primary hover: background `#FFFFFF`
- primary focus: outline `1px auto rgb(16, 16, 16)`
- secondary hover: background `rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.07)`
- transition: `background-color 0.1s linear`

## Shadows (elevation)
- subtle: `rgba(64, 79, 109, 0.07) 0px 0px 0px 0.5px, rgba(21, 30, 130, 0.12) 0px 2px 5px 0px, rgba(21, 30, 130, 0.06) 0px 6px 12px 0px`
- button: `rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08) 0px 24px 24px -18px inset, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.25) 0px 1px 0.5px 0px inset, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25) 0px -1px 0.5px 0px inset, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.14) 0px 1px 2px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.07) 0px 3px 4px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px 0px inset`

## Motion
- durations: 100ms (dominant) · 150ms · 70ms
- easings: `linear` (dominant) · `ease`
- animated properties: background-color, color, transform, border-color

Micro-interactions use the dominant duration + easing; nothing on the page animates slower than the longest duration above — don't invent springier motion.

## Their own tokens (verbatim from :root)

| Token | Value |
|-------|-------|
| `--HfWZ1A` | `#3e2a14` |
| `--Mm01yw` | `#612dae` |
| `--a7O9QQ` | `#13162099` |
| `--XxI4hg` | `#0f1015d9` |
| `--x1gpxm7a` | `#101219b2` |
| `--x12g387` | `#c3eac4` |
| `--gFgXSg` | `#404f6d0f` |
| `--pDEiUA` | `#1c213080` |
| `--xstli9h` | `#fff` |
| `--xqjd72j` | `#fff` |
| `--xr7q9zi` | `#39466024` |
| `--jz0LSw` | `#008009` |

_…and 97 more measured on the page._

Prefer these names when extending their system — it's the brand's actual vocabulary.

## Layout (measured)
- container max 1288px
- nav: 80px sticky

| Section (y) | Height | Cols | Gap | Pad y | Split |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 796 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 876 | 1477 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 2353 | 1030 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 3479 | 742 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 4316 | 1445 | — | — | 0/0 | — |

## Motion choreography (measured)
Load order: `div.x1ghz6dp`×4 @0ms → `div.x1ghz6dp` @0ms → `div.x1ghz6dp`×4 @0ms → `div.x1ghz6dp` @0ms → `div.MxWveQ`×63 @94ms → `div.m75YQA`×18 @862ms
- `div.MxWveQ` ×24 — opacity 0.07→0.07 — 1400ms ease · loops
- stagger: `div` ×46 — 150ms apart
- scroll reveal: 40 elements rest at opacity 0, animate in over 200ms (0 revealed during the drive).

Rebuild the timeline, not just the durations — order, delays and staggers above are the choreography.

## Components (measured)
- link: #0F1015 · no underline

## Responsive (measured)
- breakpoints: 600px · 899px · 1200px · 1416px · 1649px
- mobile (390px): hero 21px · body 10px · nav: hamburger

## How to apply
Paste the Tailwind `@theme` (or CSS variables) as your base, then build each
section to its spec — verify every color, radius, and font against these tokens.
Hover/focus states, shadows and motion timings above are measured from the live page — match them exactly, don't re-guess them.

An automated reading of Canva's publicly-visible CSS (colors, fonts, spacing, motion) — not affiliated with canva.com. No screenshots stored. Removal requests: hello@mozaika.design.