Instant — decoded design system

instantdb.com · light · modern · tailwind · deep decode — measured live

Instant'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.

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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/instantdb.com.

Decoded design system

Instant's decoded design system: background #FFFFFF, text #000000, accent #F54900, link #6A7282, primary #F54900; type scale h1 48px / h2 30px / body 18px; 4px spacing base; 0px base radius. The single interactive/action color is #F54900 — used only on interactive or must-notice elements (buttons, links, key highlights), never on large fills.

Color roles

Using these colors

• Action color #F54900 — the single interactive color; only on things you click or must notice, never large fills.
• primary, accent, button_bg are all #F54900 — one role, not several (the action color).
• accent #F54900 — 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.
• link #6A7282 — reads as a neutral UI color, not a link accent — verify against the reference (action = #F54900).
• secondary #364153 — 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: Switzer
• Body: Switzer
• Mono: Berkeley Mono
• h1: 48px
• h2: 30px
• body: 18px

Spacing

• base unit: 4px
• scale: 2px, 4px, 6px, 8px, 10px, 12px, 16px, 20px, 24px, 28px

Radii

• base: 0px
• button: 8px

Motion

Micro-interactions run at 150ms (dominant) with cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1).

• durations: 150ms · 300ms
• easings: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)
• animated properties: border-color, background-color, color, outline-color

Native design tokens

…and 110 more measured on the page.

Button states (measured)

• primary hover: background oklch(0.553 0.195 38.402)
• primary focus: outline 1px auto rgb(16, 16, 16)

Layout (measured)

• container max-width: 1220px

Responsive (measured)

• breakpoints: 640px · 768px · 960px · 1024px · 1280px · 1536px
• mobile (390px): hero 30px · nav inline

Install it

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

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

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

Export: DESIGN.md

# Instant — Design System

> light, modern, medium, tailwind — deep decode (measured live)

## Colors

| Role | Value |
|------|-------|
| bg | `#FFFFFF` |
| surface | `#EFEFEF` |
| border | `#D8D8D8` |
| text | `#000000` |
| text_muted | `#606060` |
| primary | `#F54900` |
| accent | `#F54900` |
| link | `#6A7282` |
| secondary | `#364153` |
| button_bg | `#F54900` |
| button_text | `#FFFFFF` |

**Using these colors**

- **Action color** `#F54900` — the single interactive color; it appears only on things you click or must notice (buttons, key highlights), never on large fills or backgrounds.
- `primary`, `accent`, `button_bg` are all `#F54900` — one role, not several (your action color).
- **accent** `#F54900` — 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.
- **link** `#6A7282` — reads as a neutral UI color, not a link accent — verify against the reference (action = #F54900).
- **secondary** `#364153` — 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): `#FDEBDE` 64.3% · `#816554` 17.4% · `#89837C` 9.2% · `#38302D` 9%

## Typography

- Heading: **Switzer**
- Body: **Switzer**
- Mono: **Berkeley Mono** _(measured)_

| Role | Size / weight · line-height · tracking |
|------|------------------------------------------|
| hero | 48px / 400 · lh 48px |
| h2 | 30px / 400 · lh 36px |
| body | 18px / 400 · lh 28px |
| small | 16px / 400 · lh 24px |

- Weight ladder: 400 · 500 · 600 · 700 — use these exact measured weights, not the 400/600 defaults.

> **Fonts —** Switzer — free, on Fontshare.

## Spacing
- base unit: 4px (inferred from the measured scale)
- measured scale: 2px, 4px, 6px, 8px, 10px, 12px, 16px, 20px, 24px, 28px — snap all gaps/padding to these
- section rhythm: 96px top/bottom padding per section (measured)

## Radius
- base: 0px
- button: 8px
- card: 8px
- pill: 9999px

## Buttons

| Button | Fill / text | Border | Radius | Padding | Font | Shadow |
|--------|-------------|--------|--------|---------|------|--------|
| primary | `oklch(0.646 0.222 41.116)` / `#FFFFFF` | 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) | 8px | 12px 24px 12px 24px | 500 18px | none |
| secondary | `#FFFFFF` / `#333333` | none | 8px | — | — | none |

**States (measured, not guessed)**

- primary hover: background `oklch(0.553 0.195 38.402)`
- primary focus: outline `1px auto rgb(16, 16, 16)`
- transition: `color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)`

## Motion
- durations: 150ms (dominant) · 300ms
- easings: `cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)` (dominant)
- animated properties: border-color, background-color, color, outline-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 |
|-------|-------|
| `--color-purple-200` | `oklch(90.2% .063 306.703)` |
| `--color-fuchsia-700` | `oklch(51.8% .253 323.949)` |
| `--color-orange-200` | `oklch(90.1% .076 70.697)` |
| `--color-amber-400` | `oklch(82.8% .189 84.429)` |
| `--color-cyan-400` | `oklch(78.9% .154 211.53)` |
| `--color-purple-500` | `oklch(62.7% .265 303.9)` |
| `--color-indigo-300` | `oklch(78.5% .115 274.713)` |
| `--color-rose-200` | `oklch(89.2% .058 10.001)` |
| `--color-indigo-400` | `oklch(67.3% .182 276.935)` |
| `--color-slate-200` | `oklch(92.9% .013 255.508)` |
| `--color-emerald-300` | `oklch(84.5% .143 164.978)` |
| `--color-sky-500` | `oklch(68.5% .169 237.323)` |

_…and 108 more measured on the page._

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

## Layout (measured)
- container max 1220px

| Section (y) | Height | Cols | Gap | Pad y | Split |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 989 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 989 | 872 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 1861 | 2310 | — | — | 64/64 | — |
| 4171 | 2128 | — | — | 0/0 | — |

## Components (measured)
- link: oklch(0.551 0.027 264.364) · underline — hover oklch(0.278 0.033 256.848)

## Responsive (measured)
- breakpoints: 640px · 768px · 960px · 1024px · 1280px · 1536px
- mobile (390px): hero 30px · body 16px · nav: inline

## 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.

← All decoded design systems

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