Design System Preview

Editorial hierarchy, not decoration, carries the interface.

A catalog for a Times-like system: black-on-white pages, serif story gravity, Franklin utility labels, hairline grids, measured blue actions, breaking-red signals, and compact Games modules.

The Daily Index
Saturday, May 16
The New York Times

A sober page architecture built from headlines, rules and proportion

The system creates authority through type hierarchy and editorial density, with color reserved for signals and action.

7 min read

Live updates use red dots and a quiet vertical rule

Urgency stays small, precise and unmistakable.

Live

Games modules carry brighter puzzle color

The playful product lives inside a restrained Times frame.

Games

Subscription surfaces move confidently into dark mode

Cheltenham prose and white Franklin links create the premium close.

Offer
31Colors
15Type Levels
25Components
78Tokens
01 / Colors

Color is mostly structure and signal.

Primary & Action
primary#121212

Main ink and institutional action.

accent#346EB7

Links, focus and conversion action.

accentHover#205493

Blue hover response.

accentPressed#1B4E8A

Pressed blue state.

Surfaces
canvas#FFFFFF

Default editorial background.

surfaceAlt#F8F8F8

Quiet secondary band.

placeholder#EBEBEB

Media skeleton blocks.

snackbarBg#333333

Compact raised notice.

Neutrals & Text
body#363636

Secondary dense copy.

muted#5A5A5A

Decks and summaries.

caption#727272

Credits and metadata.

border#DFDFDF

Default hairline rule.

Semantic & Brand Signatures
breaking#D0021B

Live and urgent news.

developing#E85D04

Developing/warning signal.

gamesYellow#FBD300

Puzzle tile signature.

gamesPurple#B4A8FF

Games category accent.

02 / Typography

Serif leads, sans orients.

Display headline
display - 32px / 200 / 1.15 / 0em / nyt-cheltenham
Headline large
headline-lg - 24px / 300 / 1.15 / 0em / nyt-cheltenham
Headline medium
headline-md - 20px / 700 / 1.15 / 0.01em / nyt-cheltenham
Headline small
headline-sm - 18px / 700 / 1.2 / 0.01em / nyt-cheltenham
Deck copy explains the story in a measured literary voice.
deck - 16px / 400 / 1.39 / 0em / nyt-imperial
Body text remains calm, readable and newspaper-like.
body - 16px / 400 / 1.5 / 0em / nyt-imperial
Compact summaries preserve density in story lists.
body-compact - 14px / 400 / 1.36 / 0.00625em / nyt-imperial
Read Time
label - 11px / 600 / 1.25 / 0.1em / nyt-franklin
nav - 14px / 500 / 1 / 0.00625em / nyt-franklin
Subscribe
button - 11px / 700 / 1 / 0.02em / nyt-franklin
The New York Times
caption - 10px / 400 / 1.2 / 0em / nyt-franklin
legal - 11px / 400 / 1.3 / 0em / nyt-franklin
Great journalism makes life richer.
pricing-display - 22px / 400 / 1.27 / 0.0125em / nyt-cheltenham
Games
games-title - 24px / 700 / 1.15 / 0.015625em / nyt-karnak
Play today's puzzle
games-ui - 16px / 700 / 1.25 / 0em / nyt-franklin
03 / Buttons

Compact commands, except Games.

button-primary
button-primary-active
button-accent
button-accent-hover
button-ghost
button-icon-round
button-games-primary
button-games-primary-active
04 / Cards & Surfaces

Flat modules, ruled boundaries.

Story card

A headline-first editorial module with rules instead of a box shadow.

Continue reading

Compact story

Small cards keep metadata tight and let the headline carry visual weight.

4 min read

Games card

A little radius and brighter color are allowed inside puzzle contexts.

Subscription footer

Dark, confident and typographic, with white Franklin links.

View plans

Error notice

An error occurred, please try again.

Agence France-Presse

Media package

Rectangular image placeholders preserve editorial rhythm.

05 / Brand-Specific Product Patterns

Patterns that make it unmistakably editorial.

Topic strip

HantavirusCruise ShipWhat Is It?Vaccines

Horizontal taxonomy uses Franklin labels and understated scroll behavior.

Live updates

  • New details emerge from officials.
  • Markets react as policy shifts.
  • Analysis: what happens next.

Story package grid

A Nation Goes Dark

A compact story stack with a square thumbnail.


6 min read

Games tile palette

W
O
R
D
S
P
L
A
Y
!

Mini crossword

1
2
3
4
5

Dark subscription close

The Times helps readers understand the world.

06 / Forms

Forms stay plain and legible.

07 / Spacing

Small steps support dense pages.

xs
4px
sm
8px
md
16px
lg
20px
xl
32px
section
40px
08 / Radius

Mostly square, rounded only when useful.

2px

snackbar

3px

buttons, inputs

6px

Games cards

8px

product strips

9999px

pills and icons

09 / Elevation

Depth is the exception.

This brand uses flat surfaces. Depth comes from rules, contrast and type hierarchy, with shadows reserved for small notices and Games buttons.

Flat editorial

No shadow. 1px border or rule.

Snackbar

0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.25)

0 7px 0 0 games blue.

10 / Extracted Component Tokens

The working CSS root.

:root {
  --brand-primary: #121212;
  --brand-accent: #346EB7;
  --brand-ink: #121212;
  --brand-body: #363636;
  --brand-muted: #5A5A5A;
  --brand-canvas: #FFFFFF;
  --brand-surface-alt: #F8F8F8;
  --brand-border: #DFDFDF;
  --brand-border-strong: #121212;
  --brand-breaking: #D0021B;
  --brand-games-blue: #2860D8;
  --brand-games-yellow: #FBD300;
  --font-display: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
  --font-sans: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  --radius-sm: 2px;
  --radius-md: 3px;
  --radius-lg: 6px;
  --radius-pill: 9999px;
  --space-md: 16px;
  --space-section: 40px;
  --shadow-snackbar: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.25);
  --shadow-games: 0 7px 0 0 var(--brand-games-blue);
}

Build screens that feel edited, not decorated.

Start with tokens