# DESIGN.md: DigitalOcean-style design system

Measured from https://www.digitalocean.com/ on 2026-10-15 by PikSpec (https://www.pikspec.com). An independent measurement of the rendered page, not DigitalOcean's official design system, and not affiliated with DigitalOcean.

Use it to build your own product in this design language: put this file in your project root and tell your AI tool (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Lovable, v0) to follow DESIGN.md. Never use the original's name, logo, copy or images; licensed fonts are replaced with the closest free Google Fonts.

To capture any other page, or get a ready project for your tool: https://www.pikspec.com/build-with-ai

HOW IT SHOULD LOOK
Build it in the design language of digitalocean.com, measured from the live site: it should feel designed by the same team as digitalocean.com — the same temperament, colour, type and density — for a different product. Never use digitalocean.com's name, logo, words or images.

Stack: use the one your project already has. Starting fresh: React + Vite + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS v4, with no UI kit (no shadcn/ui, MUI or Chakra) — their defaults would override this system. In a chat that shows one file (an artifact or canvas), build one HTML file instead, with the tokens below in its <style> block.
Use every value exactly as written. Do not round, rename, approximate or substitute a colour, size, radius, shadow or easing (fonts: see section 1). Anything not listed here does not exist in this system.

THE WEBSITE THIS SYSTEM COMES FROM
- Reference page: https://www.digitalocean.com/ — "www.digitalocean.com" (home page).
- Page frame: a top navigation bar and a footer.
- Content is grouped in cards (57 on the page, up to 12 side by side). Keep cards for grouped content only, not for every section.
- It uses 80 images, 2 of them large. Large, real product imagery is part of the look — leave clearly labelled image slots at those sizes rather than stock photos or abstract 3D shapes.
- Interaction: 25 buttons on one page.
- The page runs about 6 screens long at 1440px wide.
- Density is moderate.

HOW IT LOOKS (WHAT MAKES IT LOOK LIKE ITSELF, BEYOND THE VALUES)
- Almost entirely neutral: 99% of the page is painted in #000000 and #000F0F.
- #104B55 is an accent: 0.4% of the page, as small fills such as buttons and badges. Keep it to small areas.
- #6FE0ED is an accent: 0.2% of the page, as small fills such as buttons and badges. Keep it to small areas.
- The largest type (48px Plus Jakarta Sans) is bold (800), tracked to -0.031em.
- Open: text covers 11% of the page.
- Share of the painted page: #000000 84.9% (dominant, backgrounds); #000F0F 9.4% (supporting, backgrounds); #E5ECEB 2.6% (supporting, text); #F4F5F5 2.1% (supporting, text); #104B55 0.4% (accent, backgrounds); #FFFFFF 0.3% (detail, text); #6FE0ED 0.2% (accent, backgrounds and text); #6F908C 0.1% (detail, text). Keep accents at these proportions; do not promote them to fills.
- Hairline dividers: 1px lines in #1F403E separate sections and rows (8 of them).
- Large images: Photographs, video or raster artwork cover about 41% of the page.
- Type as set (size, weight and tracking measured together; use these pairs): 48px weight 800 tracking -0.031em; 36px weight 700 tracking -0.028em; 24px weight 700; 18px weight 700; 16px weight 400; 14px weight 400.

1. DESIGN TOKENS — PASTE INTO YOUR GLOBAL CSS
Allowed colours, with how the original uses each. Use no other colour, including in hover states:
- #000000 — 84.9% · backgrounds (var(--color-surface))
- #000F0F — 9.4% · backgrounds (var(--color-000f0f))
- #E5ECEB — 2.6% · text
- #F4F5F5 — 2.1% · text
- #104B55 — 0.4% · backgrounds (var(--color-positive))
- #FFFFFF — 0.3% · text (var(--color-text))
- #6FE0ED — 0.2% · backgrounds, text (var(--color-action))
- #6F908C — 0.1% · text (var(--color-text-muted))
- #1F403E — hairlines and grid lines (var(--color-border))
- #13302E — Background (var(--color-background))
Fonts — put these first in your global CSS (one import per font, so one that fails cannot stop the others):
```css
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:wght@400;500;600;700&display=swap");
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Plus+Jakarta+Sans:wght@600;700;800&display=swap");
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=JetBrains+Mono:wght@400&display=swap");
```
Inter, Plus Jakarta Sans and JetBrains Mono are on Google Fonts and loaded from there.
Keep every size, weight, line height and tracking exactly as listed whichever font renders.
```css
:root {
  --color-background: #13302E; /* Background */
  --color-surface: #000000; /* Surface */
  --color-text: #FFFFFF; /* Text */
  --color-text-muted: #6F908C; /* Text muted */
  --color-border: #1F403E; /* Border */
  --color-action: #6FE0ED; /* Action */
  --color-on-action: #000000; /* On action */
  --color-link: #6FE0ED; /* Link */
  --color-positive: #104B55; /* Positive */
  --color-000f0f: #000F0F; /* 9.4% of the page, as fills */
  --font-body: "Inter", sans-serif; /* Inter */
  --font-display: "Plus Jakarta Sans", sans-serif; /* Plus Jakarta Sans */
  --font-code: "JetBrains Mono", monospace; /* JetBrains Mono */
  --type-display-large: 48px; /* Display Large, weight 800 */
  --type-display-large-leading: 56px;
  --type-display-large-tracking: -0.031em;
  --type-display-small: 36px; /* Display Small, weight 700 */
  --type-display-small-leading: 48px;
  --type-display-small-tracking: -0.028em;
  --type-headline: 24px; /* Headline, weight 700 */
  --type-headline-leading: 32px;
  --type-title: 18px; /* Title, weight 700 */
  --type-title-leading: 26px;
  --type-body-large: 16px; /* Body Large, weight 400 */
  --type-body-large-leading: 24px;
  --type-body-small: 14px; /* Body Small, weight 400 */
  --type-body-small-leading: 20px;
  --space-1: 4px;
  --space-2: 8px;
  --space-3: 12px;
  --space-4: 16px;
  --space-6: 24px;
  --space-7: 28px;
  --space-8: 32px;
  --space-9: 36px;
  --space-10: 40px;
  --space-12: 48px;
  --space-14: 56px;
  --space-16: 64px;
  --space-18: 72px;
  --space-20: 80px;
  --space-24: 96px;
  --space-28: 112px;
  --space-34: 136px;
  --space-38: 152px;
  --radius-sm: 4px;
  --radius-md: 8px;
  --radius-xl: 16px;
  --radius-3xl: 36px;
  --radius-full: 9999px;
  --radius-64: 64px; /* component radius */
  --elevation-1: rgb(244, 245, 245) 0px 0px 0px 1px inset;
  --elevation-2: rgba(247, 248, 251, 0.1) 8px 8px 12px 0px;
  --duration-1: 0.3s;
  --duration-2: 0.35s;
  --ease-1: ease-in-out;
}
```
Tailwind CSS v4 (the default for new projects): put this after `@import "tailwindcss";`. It removes Tailwind's own palette, so only these colours exist as utilities:
```css
@theme {
  --color-*: initial;
  --color-background: #13302E;
  --color-surface: #000000;
  --color-text: #FFFFFF;
  --color-text-muted: #6F908C;
  --color-border: #1F403E;
  --color-action: #6FE0ED;
  --color-on-action: #000000;
  --color-link: #6FE0ED;
  --color-positive: #104B55;
  --color-000f0f: #000F0F;
  --font-body: "Inter", sans-serif;
  --font-display: "Plus Jakarta Sans", sans-serif;
  --font-code: "JetBrains Mono", monospace;
  --text-display-large: 48px;
  --text-display-large--line-height: 56px;
  --text-display-large--letter-spacing: -0.031em;
  --text-display-small: 36px;
  --text-display-small--line-height: 48px;
  --text-display-small--letter-spacing: -0.028em;
  --text-headline: 24px;
  --text-headline--line-height: 32px;
  --text-title: 18px;
  --text-title--line-height: 26px;
  --text-body-large: 16px;
  --text-body-large--line-height: 24px;
  --text-body-small: 14px;
  --text-body-small--line-height: 20px;
  --radius-sm: 4px;
  --radius-md: 8px;
  --radius-xl: 16px;
  --radius-3xl: 36px;
  --radius-full: 9999px;
  --shadow-e1: rgb(244, 245, 245) 0px 0px 0px 1px inset;
  --shadow-e2: rgba(247, 248, 251, 0.1) 8px 8px 12px 0px;
  --ease-1: ease-in-out;
}
```
Tailwind CSS v3 only: extend the theme with these instead, and use no other palette:
```js
// tailwind.config — theme.extend
{
  colors: { "background": "var(--color-background)", "surface": "var(--color-surface)", "text": "var(--color-text)", "text-muted": "var(--color-text-muted)", "border": "var(--color-border)", "action": "var(--color-action)", "on-action": "var(--color-on-action)", "link": "var(--color-link)", "positive": "var(--color-positive)" },
  fontFamily: { "body": ["var(--font-body)"], "display": ["var(--font-display)"], "code": ["var(--font-code)"] },
  borderRadius: { "sm": "var(--radius-sm)", "md": "var(--radius-md)", "xl": "var(--radius-xl)", "3xl": "var(--radius-3xl)", "full": "var(--radius-full)" },
  boxShadow: { "e1": "var(--elevation-1)", "e2": "var(--elevation-2)" },
}
```

2. BASE STYLES
```css
html { background: var(--color-background); }
body { margin: 0; font-family: var(--font-body); font-size: var(--type-body-large); line-height: var(--type-body-large-leading); color: var(--color-text); -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale; }
h1, h2, h3 { font-family: var(--font-display); margin: 0; }
a { color: var(--color-link); }
:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid var(--color-action); outline-offset: 2px; }
```

3. COMPONENTS — MATCH THESE EXACTLY
```css
.card { /* Default */
  background: var(--color-background);
  border-radius: var(--radius-md);
  padding: 8px 12px 8px 12px;
  min-height: 40px;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 16px;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
.card-2 { /* Alternative 1 */
  background: var(--color-000f0f);
  border-radius: var(--radius-xl);
  min-height: 358px;
  color: #F4F5F5;
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 22.4px;
}
.link { /* Inline */
  background: transparent;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 16px;
}
.link-2 { /* Inline 2 */
  background: transparent;
  color: #E5ECEB;
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-small);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 20px;
  /* recorded states: hover, focus */
}
.link-3 { /* Inline 3 */
  background: transparent;
  border-radius: var(--radius-full);
  padding: 6px 16px 6px 16px;
  min-height: 32px;
  box-shadow: var(--elevation-1);
  color: #F4F5F5;
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-small);
  font-weight: 500;
  line-height: 20px;
  /* recorded states: hover, focus-visible */
}
.button { /* Primary */
  background: var(--color-action);
  border-radius: var(--radius-full);
  padding: 8px 24px 8px 24px;
  min-height: 40px;
  color: var(--color-on-action);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 500;
  line-height: 24px;
  /* recorded states: hover, focus-visible */
}
.button-2 { /* Secondary */
  background: var(--color-action);
  border-radius: var(--radius-64);
  padding: 8px 16px 8px 16px;
  min-height: 40px;
  color: var(--color-on-action);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 500;
  line-height: 24px;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
.button-3 { /* Secondary 2 */
  background: var(--color-action);
  border: 1px solid #6FE0ED;
  border-radius: var(--radius-3xl);
  padding: 6px 6px 6px 6px;
  min-height: 34px;
  color: var(--color-on-action);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-small);
  font-weight: 500;
  line-height: 20px;
}
.nav { /* Default */
  background: transparent;
  min-height: 40px;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 22.4px;
}
```
Where a component lists recorded states, write those states using only the colours above; the capture saw that the state exists, not its values. Never invent a state colour.

4. PAGE COMPOSITION
- Dark interface on #13302E. Keep that ground; do not add a light mode or alternate section backgrounds the system does not have.
- The opening screen carries a large image or video behind or across the heading. Leave a [content: hero image or video] slot there, at least half the screen wide; the opening is not text alone.
- #6FE0ED is the action colour. Fill the primary action with it and little else — at most one #6FE0ED-filled element per screen; other accents keep to the uses listed above.
- Type: Inter for body; Plus Jakarta Sans for display; JetBrains Mono for code. Hierarchy comes from size and weight, not colour or decoration.
- Everything sits on a 4px grid.
- Corner radii are 4px, 8px, 16px, 36px, fully round (pill) — nothing else.
- Body text uses Inter at around 16px, weights 400, 500, 600, 700.
- Headings use Plus Jakarta Sans; the largest heading is 48px.
- Primary buttons are #6FE0ED, pill-shaped, weight 500.
- Cards use 8px corners.
- Corner radii in use: 8px, 999px, 16px, 64px, 36px.

HOW THE ORIGINAL PACES ITS PAGE (BORROW THE RHYTHM — THE OPENING, THE COLOURED BANDS, THE CARD GRIDS — NOT THE LIST; BUILD THE SECTIONS YOUR PRODUCT NEEDS)
1. Hero — 1170px tall, 3 equal columns, 24px gap, centred 48px heading (weight 800), full-width image.
2. Split — 790px tall, split 3 / 9, 64px gap, centred 36px heading (weight 700), image centred.
3. Split — 947px tall, 2 equal columns, 64px gap, centred 36px heading (weight 800), image on the right.
4. Text — 662px tall, a strip of 9 small items (logos, links or icons), left-aligned 36px heading (weight 800).
5. Statement — 496px tall, centred 36px heading (weight 700), image centred.
6. Footer — 1110px tall, split 3 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 2, 32px gap, left-aligned 16px heading (weight 700), on #000000.
- Content sits in a 1168px container, 176px from the edge at 1440px wide.
- A 72px header scrolls away.
- The hero is 1170px (1.3 screens): 3 equal columns, 24px gap, centred 48px heading (weight 800), full-width image.
- Column splits on a 12-column grid: thirds, 3/9, halves, 3/3/2/2/2; gaps of 32px.
- Headings are centred (4 of 6 sections).
- Sections share one background; they are separated by space and lines, not colour bands.
- A typical section is about 790px tall.

COPY SHAPE (MATCH THE LENGTH AND CASE; WRITE YOUR OWN WORDS)
- The main heading is 3 words long.
- Section headings are short: typically 1 word.
- Heading case varies.
- The page describes itself in about 21 words; keep your intro paragraph to about that length.

5. MOTION
Interactive elements change colour, background, border and opacity with the measured timing. Animate nothing else.
```css
a, button, [role="button"], input { transition: color var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1), background-color var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1), border-color var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1), opacity var(--duration-1) var(--ease-1); }
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  *, *::before, *::after { animation-duration: 0.01ms !important; animation-iteration-count: 1 !important; transition-duration: 0.01ms !important; scroll-behavior: auto !important; }
}
```
No scroll-triggered fade-ins, parallax, typewriter text or bouncing elements.

6. RESPONSIVE
- The design was measured at 1440px wide. Lay it out for that width first, then let it reflow down to 360px.
- Content sits in a column at most 1168px wide, centred, with var(--space-4) (16px) side padding on small screens.
- The largest heading scales fluidly: font-size: clamp(24px, 3.3vw, 48px). Every other size stays fixed.
- Break on composition, not device names: a row of columns drops a column when any column would be narrower than 240px; side-by-side splits stack when either side would be narrower than 320px.
- Spacing steps never change between sizes; use smaller steps from the same list where space is tight.
- On touch screens, every link and button has a hit area of at least 44 × 44px without changing its drawn size.

7. ACCESSIBILITY
- Text pairs that pass for body copy: Text on Background (14.1:1), Action on Background (9.1:1), Link on Background (9.1:1), Text on Surface (21:1), Text muted on Surface (6:1), Action on Surface (13.6:1), Link on Surface (13.6:1) and On action on Action (13.6:1).
- Only for text 24px and up, or 18.66px bold: Text muted on Background (4.1:1).
- Use no other text-on-background pairing.
- One h1 per page, headings in order, landmarks (header, nav, main, footer), real buttons and links, a label on every field, alt text on every image, an aria-label on icon-only buttons.
- Every interactive element shows the :focus-visible outline above.

8. DO NOT (THESE ARE WHAT MAKE AI-BUILT SITES LOOK GENERIC)
- Only the two shadows in the tokens, on the components that use them. (2 shadow values were measured; inventing softer ones changes the depth of the page.)
- No gradients: not in backgrounds, text, buttons or borders. (No gradient was measured.)
- Only these colours: #000000, #000F0F, #E5ECEB, #F4F5F5, #104B55, #FFFFFF, #6FE0ED, #6F908C, #1F403E, #13302E. No new tints, no Tailwind defaults (slate, indigo, violet). (They are every colour that covers a measurable part of the page, and the colours its lines and drawings use.)
- #104B55 only as small fills (buttons, badges) — never a section background or a large panel. (It covers 0.4% of the page.)
- #6FE0ED only as small fills (buttons, badges) — never a section background or a large panel. (It covers 0.2% of the page.)
- Only the fonts in the tokens: Inter for body; Plus Jakarta Sans for display; JetBrains Mono for code. No other typeface, and no Inter, Roboto or system UI font unless it is one of these. (The page is set in Inter and Plus Jakarta Sans and JetBrains Mono; the tokens carry what stands in for them.)
- The largest headlines are heavy (weight 800). Keep them that heavy, and keep smaller text at the weights in the type scale. (The page sets its biggest type at 800.)
- Large headlines tracked tight (letter-spacing -0.031em), not at the browser default. (The 48px headline is set at -0.031em.)
- No all-caps eyebrow labels above headings. (No uppercase text was measured.)
- No icon above every feature, no emoji, no decorative blobs, sparkles or glows. (None of these is part of the captured design; they are a coding model's defaults.)
- Build the sections your product needs, not the original's list. Give each one this system's look: its kinds of section (hero, split, text, statement, footer), its colours, type, shapes and spacing. (The style carries to any kind of site; the original's page was for a different product.)
- No glassmorphism, backdrop blur, glowing orbs, noise blobs or neon outlines.
- No row of three identical feature cards as the default section. Vary the layout from section to section: a split, a list, a single large statement, a table.
- No centred-everything hero with a pill badge, a gradient headline and two buttons. Lead with the most specific thing about the product.
- No filler copy: no "Unlock your potential", "Revolutionize", "Seamless", "Elevate", "Supercharge", "Next-gen" or lorem ipsum. Write plain, specific sentences a real company would publish.
- No made-up statistics, testimonials or customer logos. Leave a clearly marked [content: …] slot instead.
- No radius larger than the largest one listed.
- Do not use digitalocean.com's name, logo, copy or images. This is its design system, not its content.

BEFORE YOU FINISH
- Search your code for every colour, font size, spacing value, radius, shadow and easing, and replace anything that is not a variable above.
- Check that no [content: …] slot has been filled with invented facts.
- Search your CSS for gradient(. There should be none.
- Every colour value in your CSS is one of the allowed colours. Nothing else, including in hover states.
- #104B55 covers about 0.4% of the page or less, as on the original.
- #6FE0ED covers about 0.2% of the page or less, as on the original.
- The largest headline is set at weight 800.
- The largest headline uses letter-spacing -0.031em.
- Every section, including ones the original does not have, uses only this system's colours, type, shapes and spacing.
- Content sits in a 1168px container with 176px side margins at 1440px.
- There is no placeholder copy (lorem ipsum, "Feature one", "Your headline here"). Every word is real.
- Take a screenshot at 1440px and put it beside the original. List every difference in colour, weight, spacing, alignment and imagery, and fix each before finishing. Then check 390px wide: nothing scrolls sideways and no heading runs off the screen.