Skip to content
KansoMakado design system 1.1
makado.app

Foundations

Color

Spectrum 2's structure (gray ramp, background layers, accent, semantic roles) recolored for Makado: grays lean very slightly cool toward the logo's ink, the accent is the logo's blue, and the logo's sand yellow is a small brand note. Sky and mint appear only in the WinsCard burst, illustrations and the soft app backdrop. No purple. Gradients live only in the logo, progress-bar fills (one hue, deeper to lighter) and the app backdrop.

Every swatch is live: it reads the CSS variable in the theme this page is in. Switch Light and Dark at the top to see both. Copy a name to use it as var(--name).

Surfaces

The layers a screen is built from, from the app frame to cards and menus.

background-base

The app frame: side navigation, top bar, and the page itself on mobile. Spectrum background-base (gray-25); dark is close to the logo's near-black.

background-layer-1

The main content area on desktop, behind cards. Spectrum background-layer-1 (gray-50).

background-product

Behind product pictures (cards, thumbnails, the AI picture picker): light in both themes, so dark gear on a see-through background stays visible and every shot sits on the same studio gray.

background-rest

Calendar days that are not workdays: a shade darker than the calendar surface in both themes, so the working week stands out.

background-page

The rounded page that sits in the frame on desktop, and the page on phones. Panels and cards sit on it.

background-frame

The app frame on desktop: the gray around the page and behind the side navigation.

background-layer-2

A panel that sits on layer-1 without a shadow (a table, a settings group). Spectrum background-layer-2.

background-elevated

Cards, popovers and menus, always with a drop shadow. Spectrum background-elevated.

Text and lines

Text in four strengths, and the lines between things. Each holds 4.5:1 on the surfaces it sits on.

heading

Headings and titles.

body

Body copy and control labels.

subdued

Secondary text and inactive nav icons.

detail

Metadata, captions, column headers.

divider

Dividers between rows and sections.

field-border

Text field border at rest (2px).

Accent

The brand blue, recolored by the color theme. Links, the today marker and focus rings.

accent

The logo's blue. The one call-to-action button per screen, the selected tab on phones, today in a calendar. White text on it: 6.4:1 light, 4.9:1 dark.

accent-hover

Hover and pressed accent fill.

accent-content

Accent text and icons (links, active tab, selected nav icon) on base, layer-1 and elevated: 6:1 light; 7.4:1 dark, where it takes the logo's sky blue.

accent-subtle

Subtle accent fill behind gray-1000 text (informative badges, today in a calendar, icon wells).

accent-visual

Accent marks that are not text: meter fills, status dots. The logo's second blue. 3:1 or better on every background.

on-accent

Text and icons on accent, negative and positive fills.

focus-indicator

Keyboard focus outline: 2px, offset 2px, on every control.

Neutral and calls to action

Calls to action are black (white in dark). Quiet fills for chips and hovers.

neutral

Primary button fill (Spectrum's 'primary' variant is neutral, not blue).

neutral-hover

Hover on the neutral fill.

on-neutral

Text on a neutral fill.

neutral-subtle

Secondary button, action button and selected side-nav fill.

neutral-subtle-hover

Hover on neutral-subtle.

neutral-visual

Neutral status dot.

label-fill

Solid gray fill for small labels with white text, like day notes on the calendar. White on it holds 4.5:1 in both themes.

on-label-fill

Text on label-fill.

Status

Late, in review and published. A theme never changes these, and they always come with words.

negative

Negative fill: destructive buttons, bold overdue badges. on-accent text 4.5:1.

negative-hover

Hover on the negative fill.

negative-content

Negative text and icons (error messages, overdue counts) on base, layer-1 and elevated.

negative-subtle

Subtle negative fill behind gray-1000 text.

negative-visual

Negative dots, bars and alert borders.

notice

Notice fill (orange). Text on it is gray-1000 black in both themes, as Spectrum does.

on-notice

Text on a notice fill: 6:1 or better.

notice-subtle

Subtle notice fill behind gray-1000 text.

notice-visual

Notice dots, bars and alert borders: due soon, waiting on someone.

positive

Positive fill, used only for status (paid, live). Never as a brand color.

positive-subtle

Subtle positive fill behind gray-1000 text.

positive-visual

Positive dots and bars.

informative-visual

Informative dots and bars (sent, scheduled). Same blue as the accent.

positive-content

Green text: 4.5:1 or better on the page, cards and the backdrop in both themes. For the landing page's kickers and other short green labels, never for status alone.

Stages and tags

Stage colors for custom stages and brand tiles.

cyan-subtle

Categorical fill for brand initials and category badges, behind gray-1000 text.

orange-subtle

Categorical fill from the logo's orange, for brand initials and category badges, behind gray-1000 text.

yellow-subtle

Categorical fill for brand initials and category badges, behind gray-1000 text.

cyan-visual

Categorical marks, dots and stage colors in cyan (a stage color you can pick). 3:1 on cards in both themes.

yellow-visual

Categorical marks, dots and stage colors in yellow (a stage color you can pick). 3:1 on cards in both themes.

Brand

Colors from the Makado mark.

brand-yellow

The logo's sand yellow. Small moments of delight in the interface: the Today tag, a streak, a highlight. Never for status. Text on it is on-brand-yellow (14:1).

brand-sky

The logo's sky blue. Brand moments only (cover, marketing, illustrations); never interface state.

brand-mint

The logo's mint. Brand moments only (cover, marketing, illustrations); never interface state or a button.

Gray ramp

The neutral ramp everything else is built on. It inverts between themes.

gray-25

Field fill; text on a neutral (primary) button.

gray-50

Layer-1 background.

gray-75

Hover on quiet rows.

gray-100

Secondary button and action button fill, selected side-nav item, card preview well.

gray-200

Dividers; hover on gray-100 fills.

gray-300

Field and outline-button borders. Kept at Spectrum's light value (1.4:1 on white), so a field always carries a visible label or icon.

gray-400

Disabled text and icons; pressed gray fills.

gray-500

Neutral status dot and meter track markers. Not for text.

gray-600

Detail text (labels, metadata) on background-base, layer-1 and elevated: 4.6:1 or better in both themes.

gray-700

Subdued text and inactive icons on any background.

gray-800

Body text and default icons; the neutral (primary) button fill.

gray-900

Headings and titles; hover of the neutral fill; focused field border.

gray-1000

Text on subtle color fills (subtle badges, notice fills). In light it is the logo ink, #080D15.

Illustration

The palette the Makado illustrations are drawn in.

illo-ink

Illustration line work and solid details.

illo-paper

Illustration paper: documents, screens, the clipboard. Matches the card it sits on.

illo-blue

Object fill from the logo's blue.

illo-mint

Object fill from the logo's mint.

illo-sand

Object fill and sparkles from the logo's sand yellow.

illo-blue-soft

The soft blob behind an illustration, blue.

illo-mint-soft

The soft blob behind an illustration, mint.

illo-sand-soft

The soft blob behind an illustration, sand.

Utility

For what must not change between themes, and the dimming behind drawers.

static-white

White in both themes, only where something must stay white to work, such as behind a QR code so phones can scan it.

scrim

Behind every drawer, dialog and search: one dimming everywhere, so the panel in front has focus.

Progress fills

The only gradients in the product: one hue, deeper to lighter, left to right, inside progress bars.

gradient-informative

Progress bar fills in the informative (blue) hue. Same hue, deeper to lighter, left to right. Only for bar fills: the one place gradients are allowed besides the logo.

gradient-cyan

Progress bar fills for a stage colored cyan. Same hue, deeper to lighter. Only for bar fills.

gradient-yellow

Progress bar fills for a stage colored yellow. Same hue, deeper to lighter. Only for bar fills.

gradient-positive

Progress bar fills for done and published (green). Same hue, deeper to lighter, left to right. Only for bar fills: the one place gradients are allowed besides the logo.

gradient-notice

Progress bar fills for waiting, such as In review (orange). Same hue, deeper to lighter, left to right. Only for bar fills: the one place gradients are allowed besides the logo.

gradient-negative

Progress bar fills for late (red). Same hue, deeper to lighter, left to right. Only for bar fills: the one place gradients are allowed besides the logo.

gradient-neutral

Progress bar fills for To do (gray). Same hue, deeper to lighter, left to right. Only for bar fills: the one place gradients are allowed besides the logo.

More

control-border

The edge of a control (a text field, a search field, a button that isn't quiet): 3:1 on any surface, light and dark.

container-edge

The edge of a container inside a panel (board columns, the calendar's day list), clearer than a divider.

button-fill

Solid fill for secondary Buttons and ActionButtons that aren't quiet, so they show on a panel without an edge.

button-fill-hover

Hover for button-fill.

on-brand-yellow

Text and icons on brand-yellow.