Supporting terms
Useful design vocabulary that does not pass the independent-style gate remains searchable here, with the exact reason it was not counted as a style.
Responsive Web Design
レスポンシブ・ウェブデザイン / Method
A method for recomposing one document through fluid grids, flexible images and media queries instead of building a separate page for every screen. Ethan Marcotte named it in 2010, shifting the web away from fixed-width layouts.
- Why it is not a style
- A method for adapting one document to different widths; it does not determine a recognisable appearance.
- Source
- A List Apart — Responsive Web Design (Ethan Marcotte)
- Nearby styles
- Swiss / Bento Grid
Dark Mode
ダークモード / Mode
A system appearance that adapts the entire interface to low-light conditions. More than inversion, it redesigns background levels, semantic color, imagery, transparency and contrast for a dark ground.
- Why it is not a style
- A color mode that can be applied to almost any visual language, not a visual language of its own.
- Source
- Apple Human Interface Guidelines — Dark Mode
- Nearby styles
- Aqua / Solarized
VA.gov Design System
VA.govデザインシステム / System
A public-service system for U.S. veterans that turns complex benefits and health tasks into explicit steps, dependable forms and reusable content patterns.
- Why it is not a style
- A service-specific public design system whose visible grammar does not separate cleanly enough from USWDS to stand as another style.
- Source
- VA.gov Design System
- Nearby styles
- U.S. Web Design System / GOV.UK Design System
Base Web
Uber Base Web / System
Uber's Base Web provides dense, predictable interface primitives whose scale, overrides and accessibility support products from booking flows to internal tools.
- Why it is not a style
- A component foundation designed to accept product themes; its default surface is not a distinct visual lineage.
- Source
- Base Web — React UI framework
- Nearby styles
- GitHub Primer / Ant Design
Microsoft FAST
Microsoft FAST / System
Microsoft FAST separates standard Web Components, behavioral foundations and design tokens so organizations can build a system rather than inherit a fixed appearance.
- Why it is not a style
- A foundation for building design systems that explicitly avoids fixing one appearance.
- Source
- Microsoft FAST — Creating a Component Library
- Nearby styles
- Fluent 2 / design-tokens
Atomic Design
アトミックデザイン / Method
A method for seeing interfaces at five scales—atoms, molecules, organisms, templates and pages—and moving between components and finished contexts as one system.
- Why it is not a style
- A method for organizing components by scale; many unrelated styles can use it.
- Source
- Brad Frost — Atomic Design Methodology
- Nearby styles
- design-tokens / Material Design
Design Tokens
デザイントークン / Method
Design tokens give human-readable names to decisions such as color, spacing, type and motion so their meaning can travel across tools and platforms.
- Why it is not a style
- A naming and data-exchange method for design decisions, not a visible result.
- Source
- Design Tokens Community Group
- Nearby styles
- atomic-design / Adobe Spectrum
Progressive Enhancement
プログレッシブ・エンハンスメント / Method
A web philosophy that delivers content and essential actions in HTML first, then adds CSS and JavaScript capabilities in independent layers.
- Why it is not a style
- An implementation strategy for resilient delivery whose result may take any appearance.
- Source
- A List Apart — Understanding Progressive Enhancement
- Nearby styles
- Web 1.0 / responsive-web-design
Mobile First
モバイルファースト / Method
A method that decides content and function under the constraints of small screens, limited networks and touch, then progressively expands into more capable layouts.
- Why it is not a style
- A prioritization and workflow principle rather than a repeatable visual grammar.
- Source
- Luke Wroblewski — Mobile First
- Nearby styles
- responsive-web-design / Material Design
Inclusive Design
インクルーシブデザイン / Method
Inclusive design treats disability as a mismatch between people and environments and designs with excluded people to widen the available ways of using a product.
- Why it is not a style
- A participatory design process and ethical principle, compatible with many visual languages.
- Source
- Microsoft Inclusive Design
- Nearby styles
- universal-design / GOV.UK Design System
Universal Design
ユニバーサルデザイン / Method
Universal design aims for products and environments usable by as many people as possible without requiring a separate adaptation, guided by seven principles.
- Why it is not a style
- A set of usability principles that does not by itself produce one identifiable look.
- Source
- NC State Center for Universal Design — The Principles of Universal Design
- Nearby styles
- inclusive-design / Braille
Calm Technology
カーム・テクノロジー / Theory
Calm technology keeps information at the periphery until it needs attention, using subtle changes of light, sound, movement or environment rather than constant interruption.
- Why it is not a style
- An attention and interaction philosophy; its cues concern behavior more than a stable appearance.
- Source
- Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown — Designing Calm Technology
- Nearby styles
- Minimalism / Skeleton Screen
Content Design
コンテンツデザイン / Method
Content design starts from a user need and chooses the clearest structure, words and format to help someone complete it—not merely polishing copy at the end.
- Why it is not a style
- A way of structuring language around user needs, not a visual style.
- Source
- GOV.UK — Understand content design
- Nearby styles
- GOV.UK Design System / Single-Serving Site
Command Palette
コマンドパレット / UI pattern
A searchable command surface that lets keyboard users invoke navigation and actions by name without traversing the visible menu hierarchy.
- Why it is not a style
- A reusable interface pattern that can be rendered in any product style.
- Source
- Visual Studio Code — Command Palette
- Nearby styles
- Acme / Terminal UI
Feed Interface
フィード・インターフェース / UI pattern
A vertically continuous interface of independent posts or articles ordered by time or recommendation, with loading and position handled as part of navigation.
- Why it is not a style
- A content-delivery pattern defined by sequence and loading, not by a distinct look.
- Source
- W3C WAI-ARIA APG — Feed Pattern
- Nearby styles
- Skeleton Screen / Web 2.0 Gloss
Card UI
カードUI / UI pattern
A card groups image, title, summary, status and action into a self-contained unit that can be reordered across widths without losing its meaning.
- Why it is not a style
- A generic grouping pattern shared by otherwise unrelated visual systems.
- Source
- Google Material Design 3 — Cards
- Nearby styles
- Bento Grid / Material Design
Masonry Layout
メイソンリー・レイアウト / UI pattern
Masonry holds a consistent column width while packing items of different heights upward, preserving varied image ratios and reducing vertical gaps.
- Why it is not a style
- A packing algorithm and layout pattern, not an independent style lineage.
- Source
- W3C CSS Grid Layout Module Level 3 — Masonry Layout
- Nearby styles
- Bento Grid / responsive-web-design
Voice User Interface
音声ユーザーインターフェース / UI pattern
A voice interface maps varied utterances to intents and slots, completing tasks through short responses, clarification and graceful recovery rather than a visible menu hierarchy.
- Why it is not a style
- An interaction modality whose central grammar is spoken rather than visual.
- Source
- Amazon Alexa — Fundamentals of Voice Experience Design
- Nearby styles
- Diegetic UI / visionOS Spatial Design
Conversational UI
会話型UI / UI pattern
Conversational UI arranges questions, answers, choices, confirmation and repair as a sequence of turns in text, voice or both.
- Why it is not a style
- A turn-taking interaction pattern that can inherit any visual language.
- Source
- Google — Conversation Design Quick Reference
- Nearby styles
- voice-ui / Terminal UI
Metamodernism
メタモダニズム / Theory
A contemporary sensibility that oscillates between modern hope and postmodern doubt, sincerity and irony, futurity and nostalgia without resolving the contradiction.
- Why it is not a style
- A broad cultural theory of oscillation with no stable set of visual cues that reliably identifies a work.
- Source
- Notes on Metamodernism
- Nearby styles
- Post-Modernism / The New Aesthetic