# DESIGN.md: Tally-style design system

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

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 tally.so, measured from the live site: it should feel designed by the same team as tally.so — the same temperament, colour, type and density — for a different product. Never use tally.so'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://tally.so/ — "tally.so" (home page).
- Page frame: a top navigation bar and a footer.
- Content is grouped in cards (44 on the page, up to 2 side by side). Keep cards for grouped content only, not for every section.
- It uses 51 images including 2 videos, 19 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: 5 buttons on one page.
- The page runs about 15 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 #FFFFFF and #FEFEFE.
- #0070D7 is an accent: 0.1% of the page, as small fills such as buttons and badges. Keep it to small areas.
- The largest type (64px Inter) is bold (700), tracked to -0.031em.
- Open: text covers 8% of the page.
- Share of the painted page: #FFFFFF 81.7% (dominant, backgrounds); #FEFEFE 10.5% (supporting, backgrounds); #37352F 3.5% (supporting, text); #000000 1.4% (supporting, text); #777672 1.3% (supporting, text); #5F5E5A 1% (detail, text); #45433E 0.3% (detail, text); #0070D7 0.1% (accent, backgrounds). Keep accents at these proportions; do not promote them to fills.
- Hairline dividers: 1px lines in #37352F separate sections and rows (13 of them).
- Small marks: 21 small decorative marks (dots, crosses or ticks under 16px) in #DFDFDE, placed at corners and edges.
- Large images: Photographs, video or raster artwork cover about 36% of the page.
- Type as set (size, weight and tracking measured together; use these pairs): 64px weight 700 tracking -0.031em; 36px weight 700; 30px weight 700; 26px weight 800; 24px weight 600; 22px weight 500.

1. DESIGN TOKENS — PASTE INTO YOUR GLOBAL CSS
Allowed colours, with how the original uses each. Use no other colour, including in hover states:
- #FFFFFF — 81.7% · backgrounds (var(--color-background))
- #FEFEFE — 10.5% · backgrounds (var(--color-fefefe))
- #37352F — 3.5% · text (var(--color-text))
- #000000 — 1.4% · text
- #777672 — 1.3% · text (var(--color-text-muted))
- #5F5E5A — 1% · text
- #45433E — 0.3% · text
- #0070D7 — 0.1% · backgrounds (var(--color-action))
- #EAEAEA — 0.1% · backgrounds
- #DFDFDE — small marks (var(--color-surface))
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;800;900&display=swap");
```
Inter is 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: #FFFFFF; /* Background */
  --color-surface: #DFDFDE; /* Surface */
  --color-text: #37352F; /* Text */
  --color-text-muted: #777672; /* Text muted */
  --color-action: #0070D7; /* Action */
  --color-on-action: #FFFFFF; /* On action */
  --color-fefefe: #FEFEFE; /* 10.5% of the page, as fills */
  --font-body: "Inter", sans-serif; /* Inter */
  --type-display-large: 64px; /* Display Large, weight 700 */
  --type-display-large-leading: 64px;
  --type-display-large-tracking: -0.031em;
  --type-display-small: 36px; /* Display Small, weight 700 */
  --type-display-small-leading: 41.4px;
  --type-headline-large: 30px; /* Headline Large, weight 700 */
  --type-headline-large-leading: 34.5px;
  --type-headline-medium: 26px; /* Headline Medium, weight 800 */
  --type-headline-medium-leading: 29.9px;
  --type-headline-small: 24px; /* Headline Small, weight 600 */
  --type-headline-small-leading: 30px;
  --type-title-large: 22px; /* Title Large, weight 500 */
  --type-title-large-leading: 27.5px;
  --type-title-small: 18px; /* Title Small, weight 800 */
  --type-title-small-leading: 20.7px;
  --type-body-large: 16px; /* Body Large, weight 400 */
  --type-body-large-leading: 24px;
  --type-body-medium: 15px; /* Body Medium, weight 400 */
  --type-body-medium-leading: 27px;
  --type-body-small: 14px; /* Body Small, weight 500 */
  --type-body-small-leading: 14px;
  --type-label: 13px; /* Label, weight 400 */
  --type-label-leading: 14.95px;
  --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-16: 64px;
  --space-25: 100px;
  --space-32: 128px;
  --space-48: 192px;
  --radius-sm: 3px;
  --radius-md: 5px;
  --radius-lg: 7px;
  --radius-xl: 8px;
  --radius-2xl: 10px;
  --elevation-1: rgb(248, 28, 229) 0px 0px 0px 2px, rgba(248, 28, 229, 0.36) 0px 0px 0px 4px;
  --elevation-2: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12) 0px 1px 1px 0px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.16) 0px 0px 0px 1px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.08) 0px 2px 5px 0px;
  --elevation-3: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.09) 0px 3px 12px 0px;
  --elevation-4: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12) 0px 1px 1px 0px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.16) 0px 0px 0px 1px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.08) 0px 3px 9px 0px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.08) 0px 2px 5px 0px;
  --duration-1: 0.1s;
  --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: #FFFFFF;
  --color-surface: #DFDFDE;
  --color-text: #37352F;
  --color-text-muted: #777672;
  --color-action: #0070D7;
  --color-on-action: #FFFFFF;
  --color-fefefe: #FEFEFE;
  --font-body: "Inter", sans-serif;
  --text-display-large: 64px;
  --text-display-large--line-height: 64px;
  --text-display-large--letter-spacing: -0.031em;
  --text-display-small: 36px;
  --text-display-small--line-height: 41.4px;
  --text-headline-large: 30px;
  --text-headline-large--line-height: 34.5px;
  --text-headline-medium: 26px;
  --text-headline-medium--line-height: 29.9px;
  --text-headline-small: 24px;
  --text-headline-small--line-height: 30px;
  --text-title-large: 22px;
  --text-title-large--line-height: 27.5px;
  --text-title-small: 18px;
  --text-title-small--line-height: 20.7px;
  --text-body-large: 16px;
  --text-body-large--line-height: 24px;
  --text-body-medium: 15px;
  --text-body-medium--line-height: 27px;
  --text-body-small: 14px;
  --text-body-small--line-height: 14px;
  --text-label: 13px;
  --text-label--line-height: 14.95px;
  --radius-sm: 3px;
  --radius-md: 5px;
  --radius-lg: 7px;
  --radius-xl: 8px;
  --radius-2xl: 10px;
  --shadow-e1: rgb(248, 28, 229) 0px 0px 0px 2px, rgba(248, 28, 229, 0.36) 0px 0px 0px 4px;
  --shadow-e2: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12) 0px 1px 1px 0px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.16) 0px 0px 0px 1px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.08) 0px 2px 5px 0px;
  --shadow-e3: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.09) 0px 3px 12px 0px;
  --shadow-e4: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12) 0px 1px 1px 0px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.16) 0px 0px 0px 1px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.08) 0px 3px 9px 0px, rgba(61, 59, 53, 0.08) 0px 2px 5px 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)", "action": "var(--color-action)", "on-action": "var(--color-on-action)" },
  fontFamily: { "body": ["var(--font-body)"] },
  borderRadius: { "sm": "var(--radius-sm)", "md": "var(--radius-md)", "lg": "var(--radius-lg)", "xl": "var(--radius-xl)", "2xl": "var(--radius-2xl)" },
  boxShadow: { "e1": "var(--elevation-1)", "e2": "var(--elevation-2)", "e3": "var(--elevation-3)", "e4": "var(--elevation-4)" },
}
```

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-body); 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-background);
  border: 2px solid #37352F;
  border-radius: var(--radius-2xl);
  box-shadow: var(--elevation-3);
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 18.4px;
}
.card-2 { /* Alternative 1 */
  background: var(--color-fefefe);
  border-radius: var(--radius-2xl);
  box-shadow: var(--elevation-4);
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 18.4px;
}
.link { /* Inline */
  background: transparent;
  min-height: 27px;
  color: #45433E;
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-medium);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 27px;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
.link-2 { /* Inline 2 */
  background: transparent;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-large);
  font-weight: 500;
  line-height: 24px;
  /* recorded states: hover */
}
.link-3 { /* Inline 3 */
  background: transparent;
  border-radius: var(--radius-lg);
  padding: 0px 10px 0px 10px;
  min-height: 28px;
  color: var(--color-text);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-small);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 14px;
  /* recorded states: focus, focus-visible, hover */
}
.button { /* Primary */
  background: var(--color-action);
  border-radius: var(--radius-xl);
  padding: 0px 14px 0px 14px;
  min-height: 36px;
  color: var(--color-on-action);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
  font-size: var(--type-body-medium);
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 15px;
  /* recorded states: focus, focus-visible, 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
- Light interface on #FFFFFF. 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.
- #0070D7 is the action colour. Fill the primary action with it and little else — at most one #0070D7-filled element per screen; other accents keep to the uses listed above.
- Type: Inter for body. Hierarchy comes from size and weight, not colour or decoration.
- Everything sits on a 4px grid.
- Corner radii are 3px, 5px, 7px, 8px, 10px — nothing else.
- Body text uses Inter at around 16px, weights 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900.
- Headings use the same family as body text; the largest heading is 64px.
- Primary buttons are #0070D7, 8px radius, weight 400.
- Cards use 10px corners with a soft shadow.
- Corner radii in use: 10px, 7px, 8px, 3px, 5px.

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 — 1280px tall, centred 64px heading (weight 700), full-width image.
2. Split — 1189px tall, split 7 / 5, 32px gap, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700), full-width image.
3. Split — 1237px tall, split 7 / 5, 168px gap, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700), image behind the content.
4. Text — 140px tall, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700), image on the right.
5. Full-bleed image — 847px tall, left-aligned 18px heading (weight 800), image behind the content, on #FEFEFE.
6. Text — 490px tall, left-aligned 18px heading (weight 800), image on the left.
7. Cards (×2) — 2 bands of 104px, 3 equal columns, 32px gap, left-aligned 16px heading (weight 500).
8. Text — 105px tall, left-aligned 18px heading (weight 700) set low in the band.
9. Cards — 1215px tall, 3 equal columns, 32px gap, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700), full-width image.
10. Split — 945px tall, split 7 / 5, 32px gap, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700), image on the right.
11. Cards — 745px tall, 4 equal columns, 32px gap, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700), image on the right.
12. Cards — 817px tall, 3 equal columns, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700), image on the right.
13. Statement — 649px tall, centred 36px heading (weight 700) set low in the band, image centred.
14. Statement — 209px tall, centred 30px heading (weight 700).
15. Text — 302px tall, left-aligned 36px heading (weight 700).
16. Footer — 582px tall, 3 equal columns, left-aligned 15px heading (weight 600).
- Content runs 976px wide with 232px side margins at 1440px; there is no narrower centred container.
- A 60px header scrolls away.
- The hero is 1280px (1.4 screens): centred 64px heading (weight 700), full-width image.
- Column splits on a 12-column grid: thirds (4×), 7/5 (3×), quarters; gaps of 32px.
- Headings align left (13 of 16 sections); centre only the occasional statement.
- Sections share one background; they are separated by space and lines, not colour bands.
- A typical section is about 745px tall.

COPY SHAPE (MATCH THE LENGTH AND CASE; WRITE YOUR OWN WORDS)
- The main heading is 6 words long.
- Section headings are medium length: typically 4 words.
- Headings are in sentence case (only the first word capitalised).
- The page describes itself in about 23 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 912px wide, centred, with var(--space-4) (16px) side padding on small screens.
- The largest heading scales fluidly: font-size: clamp(36px, 4.4vw, 64px). 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 (12.3:1), Text muted on Background (4.5:1), Action on Background (4.9:1), Text on Surface (9.2:1) and On action on Action (4.9:1).
- Only for text 24px and up, or 18.66px bold: Text muted on Surface (3.4:1) and Action on Surface (3.7:1).
- 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)
- No gradients: not in backgrounds, text, buttons or borders. (No gradient was measured.)
- Only these colours: #FFFFFF, #FEFEFE, #37352F, #000000, #777672, #5F5E5A, #45433E, #0070D7, #EAEAEA, #DFDFDE. 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.)
- #0070D7 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 for body. No other typeface, and no Inter, Roboto or system UI font unless it is one of these. (The page is set in Inter; the tokens carry what stands in for them.)
- The largest headlines are heavy (weight 700). Keep them that heavy, and keep smaller text at the weights in the type scale. (The page sets its biggest type at 700.)
- Large headlines tracked tight (letter-spacing -0.031em), not at the browser default. (The 64px 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, image, cards, 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.
- No shadows other than the levels listed.
- Do not use tally.so'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.
- #0070D7 covers about 0.1% of the page or less, as on the original.
- The largest headline is set at weight 700.
- 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.
- 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.