Google Photos Mobile — decoded design system

photos.google.com · light · consumer · deep decode — measured live

Google Photos Mobile'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/photos.google.com.

Decoded design system

Google Photos Mobile's decoded design system: background #FFFFFF, text #202124, accent #0251CE, link #5F6368, primary #0251CE; type scale h1 110px / h2 60px / body 18px; 4px spacing base; 12px base radius. The single interactive/action color is #185ABC — used only on interactive or must-notice elements (buttons, links, key highlights), never on large fills.

Color roles

Using these colors

• Action color #185ABC — the single interactive color; only on things you click or must notice, never large fills.
• primary, accent are all #0251CE — one role, not several (the action color).
• accent #0251CE — accent for emphasis — keep it rare on the page.
• link #5F6368 — reads as a neutral UI color, not a link accent — verify against the reference (action = #185ABC).

Typography

• Heading: Google Sans Display
• Body: Google Sans Text
• h1: 110px
• h2: 60px
• body: 18px

Spacing

• base unit: 4px
• scale: 8px, 12px, 14px, 16px, 18px, 20px, 24px, 32px, 50px, 56px

Radii

• base: 12px
• button: 48px

Shadows (elevation)

• subtle: rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.3) 0px 2px 3px 0px, rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.15) 0px 6px 10px 4px
• card: rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.3) 0px 1px 3px 0px, rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.15) 0px 4px 8px 3px

Motion

Micro-interactions run at 300ms (dominant) with ease.

• durations: 300ms · 1000ms · 500ms
• easings: ease · cubic-bezier(0.6, 0, 0.05, 1)
• animated properties: opacity, color, background, stroke

Native design tokens

…and 3 more measured on the page.

Button states (measured)

• primary hover: border 1px solid rgb(26, 115, 232) · box-shadow rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.25) 0px 1px 4px 0px · background #1A73E8

Layout (measured)

• container max-width: 1200px
• nav: 65px relative
• common grid: 2 columns

Motion choreography (measured)

Load order: button.photos-blog-feed__arrow → aside.container_X6TBa

Scroll reveal: 26 elements rest at opacity 0, translateY(30px), animate in over 1s cubic-bezier(0.6, 0, 0.05, 1).

Stagger: div ×11 — 200ms apart.

Stagger: h3 ×5 — 200ms apart.

Responsive (measured)

• breakpoints: 1024px
• mobile (390px): hero 50px · nav inline

Install it

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

npx shadcn add mozaika.design/r/decode/photos.google.com

Or as a Meta Astryx theme — a ready defineTheme file with the measured hover/press states baked in:

curl -o src/themes/photos.theme.ts https://mozaika.design/api/astryx/decode/photos.google.com.ts

registry item · astryx theme · or query it over MCP: get_design_system("Google Photos Mobile")

Export: DESIGN.md

# Google Photos Mobile — Design System

> light, consumer, high — deep decode (measured live)

## Colors

| Role | Value |
|------|-------|
| bg | `#FFFFFF` |
| surface | `#F1F1F1` |
| border | `#DDDDDE` |
| text | `#202124` |
| text_muted | `#747577` |
| primary | `#0251CE` |
| accent | `#0251CE` |
| link | `#5F6368` |
| button_bg | `#185ABC` |
| button_text | `#FFFFFF` |

**Using these colors**

- **Action color** `#185ABC` — 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` are all `#0251CE` — one role, not several.
- **accent** `#0251CE` — accent for emphasis — keep it rare on the page.
- **link** `#5F6368` — reads as a neutral UI color, not a link accent — verify against the reference (action = #185ABC).
- **Page coverage** (full-page screenshot pixels): `#FFFFFF` 95.5% · `#C4C8CE` 4.5%

## Typography

- Heading: **Google Sans Display** _(free fallback: Newsreader)_
- Body: **Google Sans Text** _(free fallback: Newsreader)_

| Role | Size / weight · line-height · tracking |
|------|------------------------------------------|
| hero | 110px / 500 · lh 130px · tracking -4px |
| h2 | 60px / 500 · lh 72px · tracking -0.5px |
| h3 | 48px / 500 · lh 56px · tracking -0.5px |
| body | 18px / 400 · lh 28px |
| small | 16px / 500 · lh 24px |
| eyebrow | 11px / 500 · tracking 0.5px |

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

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

## Spacing
- base unit: 4px (inferred from the measured scale)
- measured scale: 8px, 12px, 14px, 16px, 18px, 20px, 24px, 32px, 50px, 56px — snap all gaps/padding to these

## Radius
- base: 12px
- button: 48px
- card: 30px
- sharp: 2px

## Buttons

| Button | Fill / text | Border | Radius | Padding | Font | Shadow |
|--------|-------------|--------|--------|---------|------|--------|
| primary | `#185ABC` / `#FFFFFF` | 1px solid rgb(24, 90, 188) | 48px | 12px 24px 12px 24px | 400 16px | none |
| secondary | `rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)` / `#185ABC` | 2px solid rgb(24, 90, 188) | 48px | 12px 24px 12px 24px | 400 16px | none |

**States (measured, not guessed)**

- primary hover: border `1px solid rgb(26, 115, 232)` · box-shadow `rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.25) 0px 1px 4px 0px` · background `#1A73E8`
- transition: `all 0.3s ease`

## Shadows (elevation)
- subtle: `rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.3) 0px 2px 3px 0px, rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.15) 0px 6px 10px 4px`
- card: `rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.3) 0px 1px 3px 0px, rgba(60, 64, 67, 0.15) 0px 4px 8px 3px`

## Motion
- durations: 300ms (dominant) · 1000ms · 500ms
- easings: `ease` (dominant) · `cubic-bezier(0.6, 0, 0.05, 1)`
- animated properties: opacity, color, background, stroke

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-text-default` | `#202124` |
| `--color-heading` | `#202124` |
| `--color-label` | `#3c4043` |
| `--color-text` | `#5f6368` |
| `--font-family-default` | `Google Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif` |
| `--font-family-display` | `Google Sans Display, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif` |
| `--font-family-headline` | `Google Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif` |
| `--font-family-text` | `Google Sans Text, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif` |
| `--font-family-emoji` | `"Noto Color Emoji", "Google Sans Text", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, system-ui` |
| `--header-height` | `64px` |
| `--grid-max-width` | `1296px` |
| `--grid-gap` | `64px` |

_…and 1 more measured on the page._

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

## Layout (measured)
- container max 1200px · common grid: 2-col
- nav: 65px relative · border-bottom 1px solid rgb(232, 234, 237) · bg #FFFFFF

| Section (y) | Height | Cols | Gap | Pad y | Split |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 678 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 915 | 637 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 1608 | 1280 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 3000 | 756 | — | — | 0/0 | — |
| 3868 | 2017 | 2 | — | 0/0 | — |

## Motion choreography (measured)
Load order: `button.photos-blog-feed__arrow` @0ms → `aside.container_X6TBa` @913ms
- stagger: `div` ×11 — 200ms apart
- stagger: `h3` ×5 — 200ms apart
- stagger: `h2` ×3 — 200ms apart
- scroll reveal: 26 elements rest at opacity 0, translateY(30px), animate in over 1s cubic-bezier(0.6, 0, 0.05, 1) (15 revealed during the drive).

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

## Components (measured)
- link: #1A73E8 · underline — hover #174EA6
- disabled: bg #F1F3F4 · text #9AA0A6

## Responsive (measured)
- breakpoints: 1024px
- mobile (390px): hero 50px · 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.

---

> **Decoded with Mozaika** — measured live, not guessed. Full decoded design system + one-command install: mozaika.design/decode/photos.google.com

← All decoded design systems

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