# DESIGN.md: Nothing-style design system

Measured from https://nothing.tech/ on 2026-10-15 by PikSpec (https://www.pikspec.com). An independent measurement of the rendered page, not Nothing's official design system, and not affiliated with Nothing.

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 nothing.tech, measured from the live site: it should feel designed by the same team as nothing.tech — the same temperament, colour, type and density — for a different product. Never use nothing.tech'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://nothing.tech/ — "nothing.tech" (home page).
- Page frame: a top navigation bar and a footer.
- Content is grouped in cards (4 on the page). Keep cards for grouped content only, not for every section.
- It uses 141 images, 54 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: 20 buttons and 2 form fields on one page.
- The page runs about 10 screens long at 1440px wide.
- Density is low: few elements per screen, generous space around each one.

HOW IT LOOKS (WHAT MAKES IT LOOK LIKE ITSELF, BEYOND THE VALUES)
- Almost entirely neutral: 99% of the page is painted in #F4F4F4 and #040404.
- #FFC700 is an accent: 0.1% of the page, as small fills such as buttons and badges. Keep it to small areas.
- The largest type (48px NType82-Regular) is regular weight, not bold (400).
- Very airy: text covers 3% of the page. Sections sit about 32px apart.
- Share of the painted page: #F4F4F4 70.4% (dominant, backgrounds); #040404 14.8% (supporting, backgrounds); #D8D9D9 9.5% (supporting, backgrounds); #FFFFFF 4.5% (supporting, backgrounds and text); #595A5A 0.3% (detail, text); #3C3C3C 0.2% (detail, backgrounds and text); #FFC700 0.1% (accent, backgrounds). Keep accents at these proportions; do not promote them to fills.
- Large images: Photographs, video or raster artwork cover about 78% of the page.
- Type as set (size, weight and tracking measured together; use these pairs): 48px weight 400; 40px weight 400 uppercase; 32px weight 400; 24px weight 400; 20px weight 57 uppercase; 18px 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:
- #F4F4F4 — 70.4% · backgrounds (var(--color-background))
- #040404 — 14.8% · backgrounds (var(--color-text))
- #D8D9D9 — 9.5% · backgrounds (var(--color-d8d9d9))
- #FFFFFF — 4.5% · backgrounds, text (var(--color-surface))
- #595A5A — 0.3% · text (var(--color-text-muted))
- #3C3C3C — 0.2% · backgrounds, text
- #FFC700 — 0.1% · backgrounds (var(--color-warning))
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+Tight:wght@400;700&display=swap");
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=JetBrains+Mono:wght@400&display=swap");
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Figtree:wght@300;400&display=swap");
```
Font: nothing.tech uses helvetica neue (body), LatteraMonoLL (code) and NType82-Regular (display) — its own licensed faces, not available to download. This kit uses Inter Tight for body, JetBrains Mono for code and Figtree for display, the closest free matches, already in the tokens. If you own the original, add it with @font-face and it is used first; to use another font, change the --font-* variables.
Keep every size, weight, line height and tracking exactly as listed whichever font renders.
```css
:root {
  --color-background: #F4F4F4; /* Background */
  --color-surface: #FFFFFF; /* Surface */
  --color-text: #040404; /* Text */
  --color-text-muted: #595A5A; /* Text muted */
  --color-action: #040404; /* Action */
  --color-on-action: #FFFFFF; /* On action */
  --color-warning: #FFC700; /* Warning */
  --color-d8d9d9: #D8D9D9; /* 9.5% of the page, as fills */
  --font-body: "helvetica neue", "Inter Tight", sans-serif; /* helvetica neue on the site; Inter Tight renders */
  --font-interface: "Arial", sans-serif; /* Arial */
  --font-code: "LatteraMonoLL", "JetBrains Mono", monospace; /* LatteraMonoLL on the site; JetBrains Mono renders */
  --font-display: "NType82-Regular", "Figtree", sans-serif; /* NType82-Regular on the site; Figtree renders */
  --type-display-large: 48px; /* Display Large, weight 400 */
  --type-display-large-leading: 48px;
  --type-display-small: 40px; /* Display Small, weight 400 */
  --type-display-small-leading: 40px;
  --type-headline-large: 32px; /* Headline Large, weight 400 */
  --type-headline-large-leading: 32px;
  --type-headline-small: 24px; /* Headline Small, weight 400 */
  --type-headline-small-leading: 26.4px;
  --type-title-large: 20px; /* Title Large, weight 57 */
  --type-title-large-leading: 20px;
  --type-title-small: 18px; /* Title Small, weight 400 */
  --type-title-small-leading: 25.2px;
  --type-body: 16px; /* Body, weight 400 */
  --type-body-leading: 20.8px;
  --space-1: 4px;
  --space-2: 8px;
  --space-3: 12px;
  --space-4: 16px;
  --space-5: 20px;
  --space-6: 24px;
  --space-7: 28px;
  --space-8: 32px;
  --space-10: 40px;
  --space-14: 56px;
  --space-16: 64px;
  --space-20: 80px;
  --space-24: 96px;
  --space-25: 100px;
  --space-28: 112px;
  --space-36: 144px;
  --radius-xs: 1px;
  --radius-sm: 3px;
  --radius-md: 4px;
  --radius-lg: 5px;
  --radius-xl: 6px;
  --radius-2xl: 8px;
  --radius-3xl: 10px;
  --radius-full: 9999px;
  --elevation-1: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 20px 50px 0px;
  --duration-1: 0.1s;
  --duration-2: 0.2s;
  --duration-3: 0.5s;
  --ease-1: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1);
}
```
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: #F4F4F4;
  --color-surface: #FFFFFF;
  --color-text: #040404;
  --color-text-muted: #595A5A;
  --color-action: #040404;
  --color-on-action: #FFFFFF;
  --color-warning: #FFC700;
  --color-d8d9d9: #D8D9D9;
  --font-body: "helvetica neue", "Inter Tight", sans-serif;
  --font-interface: "Arial", sans-serif;
  --font-code: "LatteraMonoLL", "JetBrains Mono", monospace;
  --font-display: "NType82-Regular", "Figtree", sans-serif;
  --text-display-large: 48px;
  --text-display-large--line-height: 48px;
  --text-display-small: 40px;
  --text-display-small--line-height: 40px;
  --text-headline-large: 32px;
  --text-headline-large--line-height: 32px;
  --text-headline-small: 24px;
  --text-headline-small--line-height: 26.4px;
  --text-title-large: 20px;
  --text-title-large--line-height: 20px;
  --text-title-small: 18px;
  --text-title-small--line-height: 25.2px;
  --text-body: 16px;
  --text-body--line-height: 20.8px;
  --radius-xs: 1px;
  --radius-sm: 3px;
  --radius-md: 4px;
  --radius-lg: 5px;
  --radius-xl: 6px;
  --radius-2xl: 8px;
  --radius-3xl: 10px;
  --radius-full: 9999px;
  --shadow-e1: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 20px 50px 0px;
  --ease-1: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1);
}
```
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)", "action": "var(--color-action)", "on-action": "var(--color-on-action)", "warning": "var(--color-warning)" },
  fontFamily: { "body": ["var(--font-body)"], "interface": ["var(--font-interface)"], "code": ["var(--font-code)"], "display": ["var(--font-display)"] },
  borderRadius: { "xs": "var(--radius-xs)", "sm": "var(--radius-sm)", "md": "var(--radius-md)", "lg": "var(--radius-lg)", "xl": "var(--radius-xl)", "2xl": "var(--radius-2xl)", "3xl": "var(--radius-3xl)", "full": "var(--radius-full)" },
  boxShadow: { "e1": "var(--elevation-1)" },
}
```

2. BASE STYLES
```css
html { background: var(--color-background); }
body { margin: 0; font-family: var(--font-body); 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: inherit; }
:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid var(--color-action); outline-offset: 2px; }
```

3. COMPONENTS — MATCH THESE EXACTLY
```css
.card { /* Default */
  background: var(--color-surface);
  border-radius: var(--radius-2xl);
  padding: var(--space-2);
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-display);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 22.4px;
}
.card-2 { /* Alternative 1 */
  background: var(--color-surface);
  border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
  padding: 45px 25px 45px 25px;
  min-height: 500px;
  color: #3C3C3C;
  font-family: var(--font-interface);
  font-size: 15px;
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 24px;
}
.card-3 { /* Alternative 2 */
  background: var(--color-surface);
  border-radius: var(--radius-2xl);
  padding: 0px 8px 0px 8px;
  min-height: 48px;
  color: #040404;
  font-family: var(--font-display);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 22.4px;
}
.link-2 { /* Inline 2 */
  background: transparent;
  color: var(--color-text-muted);
  font-family: var(--font-display);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 22.4px;
}
.button { /* Primary */
  background: var(--color-action);
  border-radius: var(--radius-md);
  padding: 12px 16px 12px 16px;
  min-height: 40px;
  color: var(--color-on-action);
  font-family: var(--font-display);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 22.4px;
}
.button-2 { /* Secondary */
  background: var(--color-action);
  border-radius: var(--radius-2xl);
  padding: 20px 40px 20px 40px;
  min-height: 60px;
  color: var(--color-on-action);
  font-family: var(--font-code);
  font-size: 14px;
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 20px;
}
.button-3 { /* Secondary 2 */
  background: #F4F4F4;
  border-radius: var(--radius-2xl);
  padding: 8px 16px 8px 16px;
  min-height: 40px;
  color: #040404;
  font-family: var(--font-interface);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 700;
  line-height: 22.4px;
  /* recorded states: disabled, hover */
}
.input { /* Default */
  background: #3C3C3C;
  border-radius: var(--radius-md);
  padding: 8px 16px 8px 16px;
  min-height: 48px;
  color: #FFFFFF;
  font-family: "Geist Mono Variable";
  font-size: 12px;
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 15px;
}
.input-2 { /* Alternative 1 */
  background: #3C3C3C;
  border-radius: var(--radius-md);
  color: #040404;
  font-family: var(--font-display);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  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
- Light interface on #F4F4F4. Keep that ground; do not add a dark 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.
- #040404 is the action colour. Fill the primary action with it and little else — at most one #040404-filled element per screen; other accents keep to the uses listed above.
- Type: Inter Tight (standing in for helvetica neue) for body; Arial for interface; JetBrains Mono (standing in for LatteraMonoLL) for code; Figtree (standing in for NType82-Regular) for display. Hierarchy comes from size and weight, not colour or decoration.
- Everything sits on a 4px grid.
- Corner radii are 1px, 3px, 4px, 5px, 6px, 8px, 10px, fully round (pill) — nothing else.
- Body text uses helvetica neue at around 14px, weights 400, 700.
- Headings use NType82-Regular; the largest heading is 48px.
- Primary buttons are #040404, 8px radius, weight 400.
- Cards use 3px corners.
- Corner radii in use: 5px, 8px, 4px, 1px, 10px.

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 — 900px tall, image behind the content.
2. Split — 170px tall, 2 equal columns, 8px gap, left-aligned 32px heading (weight 400).
3. Cards — 412px tall, 4 equal columns, 8px gap, centred 48px heading (weight 400), image on the right.
4. Statement — 900px tall, centred 48px heading (weight 400) set mid-band.
5. Text — 810px tall, left-aligned 48px heading (weight 400) set mid-band.
6. Text — 867px tall, left-aligned 48px heading (weight 400), image on the left.
7. Text — 761px tall, left-aligned 48px heading (weight 400), image on the left.
8. Split — 176px tall, 2 equal columns, 8px gap, left-aligned 32px heading (weight 400).
9. Cards — 477px tall, split 3 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 2, centred 48px heading (weight 400).
10. Statement — 575px tall, centred 48px heading (weight 400), on #040404.
11. Footer — 966px tall, centred 40px heading (weight 400), on #040404.
- Content runs 1185px wide with 127px side margins at 1440px; there is no narrower centred container.
- A 80px header stays fixed at the top, transparent over the first section.
- The hero is 900px (exactly one screen): image behind the content.
- Column splits on a 12-column grid: halves (2×), quarters, 3/3/2/2/2; gaps of 8px.
- Headings mix left (5) and centred (5) alignment.
- Sections share one background; they are separated by space and lines, not colour bands.
- A typical section is about 575px tall.

COPY SHAPE (MATCH THE LENGTH AND CASE; WRITE YOUR OWN WORDS)
- The page has no single main heading.
- Section headings are medium length: typically 4 words.
- Headings are in sentence case (only the first word capitalised).
- The page describes itself in about 26 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 672px 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 (18.6:1), Text muted on Background (6.3:1), Action on Background (18.6:1), Text on Surface (20.5:1), Text muted on Surface (6.9:1), Action on Surface (20.5:1) and On action on Action (20.5:1).
- 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: #F4F4F4, #040404, #D8D9D9, #FFFFFF, #595A5A, #3C3C3C, #FFC700. 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.)
- #FFC700 only as small fills (buttons, badges) — never a section background or a large panel. (It covers 0.1% of the page.)
- Only the fonts in the tokens: Inter Tight for body; Arial for interface; JetBrains Mono for code; Figtree for display. No other typeface, and no Inter, Roboto or system UI font unless it is one of these. (The page is set in NType82-Regular and Geist Variable and Ndot-Regular; the tokens carry what stands in for them.)
- Headings and large text never heavier than weight 400. Do not make headlines bold to add emphasis. (Every size from 24px up is set at weight 400 or lighter.)
- 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.)
- The hero is left-aligned. Do not centre it. (The captured hero sets its heading on the left.)
- Build the sections your product needs, not the original's list. Give each one this system's look: its kinds of section (hero, split, cards, statement, text, 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 nothing.tech'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.
- #FFC700 covers about 0.1% of the page or less, as on the original.
- No text 24px or larger has a font-weight above 400.
- Every section, including ones the original does not have, uses only this system's colours, type, shapes and spacing.
- 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.