# DESIGN.md: Robinhood-style design system

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

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 robinhood.com, measured from the live site: it should feel designed by the same team as robinhood.com — the same temperament, colour, type and density — for a different product. Never use robinhood.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://robinhood.com/us/en/ — "robinhood.com".
- Page frame: a top navigation bar and a footer.
- It uses 20 images including 3 videos, 16 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: 10 buttons on one page.
- The page runs about 9 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)
- Mostly neutral: 84% of the page is #000000 and #110E08 and other neutrals; #CCFF00 (15.6%) fills whole sections.
- The largest type (110px Martina Plantijn) is regular weight, not bold (400), tracked to -0.005em.
- Balanced: text covers 14% of the page.
- Share of the painted page: #000000 55.4% (dominant, backgrounds); #CCFF00 15.6% (dominant, backgrounds); #110E08 14.7% (supporting, backgrounds and text and drawings); #1C180D 7.3% (supporting, backgrounds); #FFFFFF 6.8% (supporting, backgrounds and text); #D9D9D9 0.1% (detail, text). Keep accents at these proportions; do not promote them to fills.
- Hairline dividers: 1px lines in #CCFF00 separate sections and rows (17 of them).
- Illustrations: One large illustration in filled shapes, in #110E08.
- Large images: Photographs, video or raster artwork cover about 84% of the page.
- Type as set (size, weight and tracking measured together; use these pairs): 110px weight 400 tracking -0.005em; 72px weight 400 tracking -0.014em; 52px weight 400 tracking -0.038em; 40px weight 400 tracking -0.025em; 22px weight 400 tracking -0.023em; 16px weight 400 tracking -0.016em.

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 — 55.4% · backgrounds (var(--color-background))
- #CCFF00 — 15.6% · backgrounds (var(--color-action))
- #110E08 — 14.7% · backgrounds, text, drawings (var(--color-surface))
- #1C180D — 7.3% · backgrounds (var(--color-1c180d))
- #FFFFFF — 6.8% · backgrounds, text (var(--color-text))
- #D9D9D9 — 0.1% · text (var(--color-text-muted))
- #35322D — hairlines and grid lines (var(--color-border))
- #808080 — hairlines and grid lines
- #004022 — Positive (var(--color-positive))
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=Figtree:wght@400;700&display=swap");
```
Font: robinhood.com uses Phonic (body), Capsule Sans Text (interface) and Martina Plantijn (display) — its own licensed faces, not available to download. This kit uses Figtree for body, interface and display, the closest free match, 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: #000000; /* Background */
  --color-surface: #110E08; /* Surface */
  --color-text: #FFFFFF; /* Text */
  --color-text-muted: #D9D9D9; /* Text muted */
  --color-border: #35322D; /* Border */
  --color-action: #CCFF00; /* Action */
  --color-on-action: #110E08; /* On action */
  --color-link: #CCFF00; /* Link */
  --color-positive: #004022; /* Positive */
  --color-1c180d: #1C180D; /* 7.3% of the page, as fills */
  --font-body: "Phonic", "Figtree", sans-serif; /* Phonic on the site; Figtree renders */
  --font-interface: "Capsule Sans Text", "Figtree", sans-serif; /* Capsule Sans Text on the site; Figtree renders */
  --font-display: "Martina Plantijn", "Figtree", sans-serif; /* Martina Plantijn on the site; Figtree renders */
  --type-display-1: 110px; /* Display 1, weight 400 */
  --type-display-1-leading: 110px;
  --type-display-1-tracking: -0.005em;
  --type-display-2: 72px; /* Display 2, weight 400 */
  --type-display-2-leading: 78px;
  --type-display-2-tracking: -0.014em;
  --type-display-3: 52px; /* Display 3, weight 400 */
  --type-display-3-leading: 62px;
  --type-display-3-tracking: -0.038em;
  --type-display-4: 40px; /* Display 4, weight 400 */
  --type-display-4-leading: 48px;
  --type-display-4-tracking: -0.025em;
  --type-title: 22px; /* Title, weight 400 */
  --type-title-leading: 30px;
  --type-title-tracking: -0.023em;
  --type-body: 16px; /* Body, weight 400 */
  --type-body-leading: 24px;
  --type-body-tracking: -0.016em;
  --type-label: 12px; /* Label, weight 400 */
  --type-label-leading: 19px;
  --type-label-tracking: -0.008em;
  --space-1: 4px;
  --space-2: 8px;
  --space-3: 12px;
  --space-4: 16px;
  --space-5: 20px;
  --space-6: 24px;
  --space-8: 32px;
  --space-9: 36px;
  --space-10: 40px;
  --space-11: 44px;
  --space-12: 48px;
  --space-15: 60px;
  --space-16: 64px;
  --space-18: 72px;
  --space-21: 84px;
  --space-36: 144px;
  --radius-sm: 3px;
  --radius-2xl: 24px;
  --radius-3xl: 36px;
  --elevation-1: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8) 0px 3px 7px 0px;
  --elevation-2: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 3px 5px -1px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.14) 0px 6px 10px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12) 0px 1px 18px 0px;
}
```
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: #000000;
  --color-surface: #110E08;
  --color-text: #FFFFFF;
  --color-text-muted: #D9D9D9;
  --color-border: #35322D;
  --color-action: #CCFF00;
  --color-on-action: #110E08;
  --color-link: #CCFF00;
  --color-positive: #004022;
  --color-1c180d: #1C180D;
  --font-body: "Phonic", "Figtree", sans-serif;
  --font-interface: "Capsule Sans Text", "Figtree", sans-serif;
  --font-display: "Martina Plantijn", "Figtree", sans-serif;
  --text-display-1: 110px;
  --text-display-1--line-height: 110px;
  --text-display-1--letter-spacing: -0.005em;
  --text-display-2: 72px;
  --text-display-2--line-height: 78px;
  --text-display-2--letter-spacing: -0.014em;
  --text-display-3: 52px;
  --text-display-3--line-height: 62px;
  --text-display-3--letter-spacing: -0.038em;
  --text-display-4: 40px;
  --text-display-4--line-height: 48px;
  --text-display-4--letter-spacing: -0.025em;
  --text-title: 22px;
  --text-title--line-height: 30px;
  --text-title--letter-spacing: -0.023em;
  --text-body: 16px;
  --text-body--line-height: 24px;
  --text-body--letter-spacing: -0.016em;
  --text-label: 12px;
  --text-label--line-height: 19px;
  --text-label--letter-spacing: -0.008em;
  --radius-sm: 3px;
  --radius-2xl: 24px;
  --radius-3xl: 36px;
  --shadow-e1: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8) 0px 3px 7px 0px;
  --shadow-e2: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 3px 5px -1px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.14) 0px 6px 10px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12) 0px 1px 18px 0px;
}
```
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)"], "interface": ["var(--font-interface)"], "display": ["var(--font-display)"] },
  borderRadius: { "sm": "var(--radius-sm)", "2xl": "var(--radius-2xl)", "3xl": "var(--radius-3xl)" },
  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); 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
.link { /* Inline */
  background: transparent;
  border: 1px solid #CCFF00;
  border-radius: var(--radius-3xl);
  padding: 0px 32px 0px 32px;
  min-height: 44px;
  color: var(--color-link);
  font-family: var(--font-interface);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 400;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
.link-2 { /* Inline 2 */
  background: transparent;
  min-height: 24px;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-interface);
  font-size: var(--type-body);
  font-weight: 400;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
.button { /* Primary */
  background: var(--color-action);
  border: 1px solid #CCFF00;
  border-radius: var(--radius-3xl);
  padding: 0px 32px 0px 32px;
  min-height: 44px;
  color: var(--color-on-action);
  font-family: var(--font-interface);
  font-size: 13px;
  font-weight: 400;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
```
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 #000000. 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.
- #CCFF00 is the action colour. Fill the primary action with it and little else — at most one #CCFF00-filled element per screen; other accents keep to the uses listed above.
- Type: Figtree (standing in for Phonic) for body; Figtree (standing in for Capsule Sans Text) for interface; Figtree (standing in for Martina Plantijn) for display. Hierarchy comes from size and weight, not colour or decoration.
- Everything sits on a 4px grid.
- Corner radii are 3px, 24px, 36px — nothing else.
- Body text uses Phonic at around 16px, weights 400, 700.
- Headings use Martina Plantijn; the largest heading is 110px.
- Primary buttons are #CCFF00, 36px radius, weight 400.
- Corner radii in use: 36px, 3px, 24px.

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, centred 110px heading (weight 400), artwork behind the content, on #110E08.
2. Full-bleed image — 800px tall, left-aligned 40px heading (weight 400), artwork behind the content, on #000000.
3. Full-bleed image — 800px tall, left-aligned 40px heading (weight 400) set mid-band, artwork behind the content, on #FFFFFF.
4. Full-bleed image — 800px tall, left-aligned 40px heading (weight 400), artwork behind the content, on #000000.
5. Grid — 1289px tall, 4 items in 2 columns with 48px gaps, centred 52px heading (weight 400), artwork on the left, on #1C180D.
6. Statement — 745px tall, centred 52px heading (weight 400), artwork centred, on #CCFF00.
7. Full-bleed image — 704px tall, centred 72px heading (weight 400) set mid-band, artwork behind the content, on #110E08.
8. Split — 86px tall, 2 equal columns, left-aligned 16px heading (weight 400).
9. Cards — 1522px tall, 3 equal columns, left-aligned 16px heading (weight 700).
10. Full-bleed image — 305px tall, a strip of 8 small items (logos, links or icons), artwork behind the content.
- A 64px header scrolls away.
- The hero is 900px (exactly one screen): centred 110px heading (weight 400), artwork behind the content, on #110E08.
- Column splits on a 12-column grid: halves (2×), thirds; gaps of 48px.
- Headings mix left (5) and centred (4) alignment.
- Sections change background 7 times, between #110E08, #000000, #FFFFFF: colour comes in full-width bands, not in boxes.
- A typical section is about 800px tall.

COPY SHAPE (MATCH THE LENGTH AND CASE; WRITE YOUR OWN WORDS)
- The main heading is 5 words long.
- Section headings are short: typically 3 words.
- Headings are in sentence case (only the first word capitalised).
- The page describes itself in about 24 words; keep your intro paragraph to about that length.

5. MOTION
The site has almost no motion. Keep it that way: short colour and opacity changes on hover and focus only, no entrance animations.
```css
a, button, [role="button"], input { transition: color 150ms ease-out, background-color 150ms ease-out, border-color 150ms ease-out, opacity 150ms ease-out; }
@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 907px wide, centred, with var(--space-4) (16px) side padding on small screens.
- The largest heading scales fluidly: font-size: clamp(52px, 7.6vw, 110px). 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 (21:1), Text muted on Background (14.9:1), Action on Background (17.9:1), Link on Background (17.9:1), Text on Surface (19.3:1), Text muted on Surface (13.6:1), Action on Surface (16.4:1), Link on Surface (16.4:1) and On action on Action (16.4:1).
- 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, #CCFF00, #110E08, #1C180D, #FFFFFF, #D9D9D9, #35322D, #808080, #004022. 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.)
- Only the fonts in the tokens: Figtree for body; Figtree for interface; 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 Phonic and Martina Plantijn; 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.)
- Large headlines tracked tight (letter-spacing -0.005em), not at the browser default. (The 110px headline is set at -0.005em.)
- 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, image, grid, statement, split, cards), 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 robinhood.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.
- No text 24px or larger has a font-weight above 400.
- The largest headline uses letter-spacing -0.005em.
- 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.