Compose styles
Rather than blending styles toward a middle, this gives them roles. The first one carries the structure, the next comes in as the accent, and anything after that shows up in a single detail. Where they fight each other, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow GitHub Primer: Separate lists, tabs and sidebars with fine rules and hold spacing to a small token set
- Type
- Set in GitHub Primer's manner (Use one plain sans for body and labels; build hierarchy through weight and color), and let GOV.UK Design System's lettering (One sans serif only, in five fixed sizes with nothing in between. Headings are bold and body text sits at 19px) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in GitHub Primer's material (Start from neutrals; reserve blue for links and semantic colors for success, warning and danger); bring in exactly one thing from GOV.UK Design System (Colour is tied to meaning and never used decoratively. Buttons keep a corner radius of zero and gain their thickness from a band of their own darker shade along the bottom edge. The focus state is always yellow ground with a black underline).
- Colour
- Build on #F6F8FA, #0969DA, #24292F and admit one accent from #0B0C0C, #FFDD00, #0F7A52.
Where they fight
- GitHub Primer and GOV.UK Design System both belong to Platform Screen Languages, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- GitHub Primer Adding borders and tiny controls to look like GitHub only creates a cramped admin screen when the work has no clear priority.
- GOV.UK Design System Tidying the look by rounding button corners or thinning the borders on form inputs deletes the two signals this style relies on entirely, the pressable thickness and the position of focus.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from GitHub Primer (style, 2017–) and their accent from GOV.UK Design System (style, 2012–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing GitHub Primer exists for: developer SaaS and admin tools that must hold many states and actions on one screen, or keeping information density and accessibility consistent across product teams. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from GitHub Primer - Neutral surfaces with blue links and restrained status colors - Octicons paired with short action labels - Thin borders separating lists, tabs and sidebars - Consistent steps of type and spacing even at high density Composition: Separate lists, tabs and sidebars with fine rules and hold spacing to a small token set. Type and lettering: Use one plain sans for body and labels; build hierarchy through weight and color. ## Accent comes from GOV.UK Design System, used sparingly - One undecorated left aligned column, with almost no boxes and no shadows - A green button with square corners and a darker green band along its bottom edge, which drops by that exact depth when pressed - Whatever holds keyboard focus turns yellow with a black rule drawn beneath it - Type sizes step coarsely through 48, 36, 24, 19 and 16px with nothing in between Let one material quality come from it: Colour is tied to meaning and never used decoratively. Buttons keep a corner radius of zero and gain their thickness from a band of their own darker shade along the bottom edge. The focus state is always yellow ground with a black underline. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #F6F8FA, carry the structure in #0969DA and #24292F, and let a single accent come from #0F7A52. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: technique, trust, calm. ## Where they fight - GitHub Primer and GOV.UK Design System both belong to Platform Screen Languages, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - GitHub Primer: Adding borders and tiny controls to look like GitHub only creates a cramped admin screen when the work has no clear priority. - GOV.UK Design System: Tidying the look by rounding button corners or thinning the borders on form inputs deletes the two signals this style relies on entirely, the pressable thickness and the position of focus. ## Across the four Keep the roles fixed in all four. Vary the framing, the scale and the arrangement so the set shows what this pairing can do rather than four versions of one picture. ## Constraints - Do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. - Do not reproduce the composition of an existing work. - Produce original compositions in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- GitHub Primer 2017– / Style / Platform Screen Languages
GitHub's design system for turning dense development workflows into shared rules for color, type, icons, spacing and components. It favors flow over decoration, keeping many states and actions in a small area without giving up accessibility or responsive behavior.
- GOV.UK Design System 2012– / Style / Platform Screen Languages
The design language the UK government's Government Digital Service publishes and maintains for public services. Everything runs in one undecorated left aligned column set in GDS Transport, and the green button keeps square corners while carrying a darker green band along its bottom edge, dropping by exactly that depth when pressed. Whatever holds keyboard focus turns yellow with a black rule under it.
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