flowmanceNewspapper Design System
Newspapper is a classic online newspaper: white page, black masthead, a dense three-column front page and serif headlines that do all the talking. It reads like a print paper's web edition. Redaction, a sharp book serif, sets every headline and excerpt; Inter sets everything functional (nav, section names, categories, dates). Colour comes only from the photos and from small coloured category labels.
Four signatures make it recognisable:
- Black masthead. A full-width black bar with social icons on the left, the serif wordmark NEWSPAPER centred and a cart icon on the right. Under it a white sticky nav with a soft grey halo shadow.
- Serif over sans. Every small card has an Inter 14/600 meta line (Business Feb 2020) above a Redaction 19/700 headline. The category word is coloured, the date is black.
- Colour-coded categories. Business is navy #2E4285, World sage #88B49B, Politic coral #F6584D, Health teal #41A1B9, Science green #17974E.
- One black band. A single section (Health) flips to a black background with white serif titles, breaking the white page.
Colors
Surfaces
#FFFFFFPage background
#FFFFFFSame as canvas: cards have no fill, and the cart panel is white with a #EEEEEE border
#2F3330Text typed into the newsletter field
#D0D5DDSearch pill border
#000000The black masthead and the Health band
Ink
#FFFFFFText on primary
#1C4A36Text on secondary
#12141DText on accent
#000000Headlines, nav, dates, section labels
#000000Excerpts and paragraphs are full black too (base p is var(--black))
#4D4D4DList items in posts, input placeholders (--dim-grey)
#6B6B6BRare secondary meta (--dim-grey-2)
#FAFAFAText on inverse-canvas
#FFFFFF · 70%Secondary text on the black band
Action
#000000Black buttons and the lightning badge on trending images
#4D4D4D.button:hover background
#E4F5EESearch button: pale mint with forest-green text
#39FF14Newsletter subscribe button: neon green
#1C4A36Hover fill for both the search and subscribe buttons, with white text
#FF0E0EThe round remove button in the cart
Lines & effects
#E1E1E1Form input border
#EEEEEE · 93%The hairline above the sticky nav, cart borders
#CCCCCCDivider borders (--light-grey)
#2E4285#88B49B#F6584D#41A1B9#17974ETypography
Redaction · display-post
The quick brown fox jumpsPost-page H1. 38px · 700 · 1.16
Redaction · headline-quote
The quick brown fox jumpsBlockquotes: 2px black left rule, 25px left padding. 36px · 400 · 1
Redaction · title-lg
The quick brown fox jumpsH3 in articles. 24px · 700 · 1.25
Redaction · body-lg
The quick brown fox jumpsExcerpts and paragraphs. 18px · 400 · 1.33
Inter · label-nav
The quick brown fox jumpsNav links. 15px · 600 · 1.07
Redaction · caption
The quick brown fox jumpsSmall serif notes and credits. 13px · 500 · 1.38
Spacing & shape
| Purpose | Value |
|---|---|
| Container | max 1200px, centred |
| Breakpoints | 991px, 767px and 479px (Webflow defaults) |
Spacing scale
| Token | Value | Preview |
|---|---|---|
xs | 7px | |
sm | 10px | |
md | 16px | |
lg | 20px | |
xl | 30px | |
2xl | 40px | |
3xl | 50px | |
4xl | 60px | |
5xl | 80px | |
6xl | 100px |
Layout spacing
| Token | Value | Preview |
|---|---|---|
section-top | 40px | |
band-bottom | 64px | |
band-top | 70px |
Border radius
Motion
| Nav link hover | opacity 1 → 0.6, 200ms |
| Button hover | Background colour, 300ms (.button) or 200ms (search, subscribe) |
| Page load | Content fades in opacity 0 → 1, 1000ms outQuart, with a y −20px move over 500ms |
| Image hover | Filter and scale change over 400–500ms ease (scale 1.2 → 1) |
| Cart / mobile menu | Panel slides x 100vw → 0 or y 100vh → 0, 500ms; overlay fades 300ms ease |
Do’s and don’ts
- Set every headline in Redaction 700 and every meta, nav and button label in Inter 600.
- Start every card with the meta line: category in its own colour (#2E4285, #88B49B, #F6584D, #41A1B9, #17974E), then the date in #000000.
- Keep photos at 3:2 with square corners.
- Use the black masthead (#000000) and one black band per page for contrast.
- Keep the sticky white nav with its 0 0 12px 26px #00000014 halo.
- Use the 1200px container with 50px column gaps on the front page and 30px in category rows.
- Round cards or images. Only buttons (4–8px), the search pill and circles are rounded.
- Use category colours for buttons, backgrounds or headlines.
- Set World (#88B49B) or Politic (#F6584D) labels below 14px semibold; they are light on white and need the size and weight.
- Add a second serif, uppercase labels or letter spacing.
- Use the neon accent #39FF14 for anything but the subscribe button.
- Put grey text on the excerpts; body copy is full black.
Example prompt
Any page in the Newspapper style
More design systems like this
Blog design systems, the same colors first.
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All Access unlocks all 398 design systems, ready for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, v0 and Lovable, plus 400+ templates on all 5 platforms.
Get All AccessUpgrade to All AccessHow to use the Newspapper design system
Pick a file to see what it’s for and where it goes.
What it is
The whole design system in one markdown file, written for AI: every color, type style, spacing value, component and motion rule, plus do's, don'ts and a ready prompt.
Best for
Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor and v0, or any other AI tool that builds pages or code.
How to use it
- Put
DESIGN.mdin your project and mention it in your request, or save it as.cursor/rules/newspapper.mdc - For the rule file, start it with a front-matter block that sets
alwaysApply: true, so every chat uses it - Ask: “Build a pricing page using DESIGN.md.” Cursor follows the colors, fonts, spacing and rules
- Put
DESIGN.mdin the project root - Add one line to
CLAUDE.md: “Follow DESIGN.md for all UI.” - Ask for any page or component; Claude reads the file first
- Attach
DESIGN.mdto the chat (or paste it in) - Ask: “Build a landing page in this design system.”
- Keep the file in the chat or project knowledge, so follow-up pages stay on style
What it is
Every token as data, in the W3C Design Tokens format: colors with their roles, type styles, radius, spacing, and component tokens that point at them.
Best for
Figma (Tokens Studio), Style Dictionary and other design-token tools, and build scripts.
How to use it
- In Figma, open Tokens Studio, choose Import, and pick
tokens.json - Or point Style Dictionary’s
sourceat it to generate tokens for any platform - In code, import it like any JSON file
What it is
A Tailwind CSS v4 theme: every color, font, type style, radius and spacing value becomes a Tailwind utility, like bg-canvas, text-headline-lg or rounded-md.
Best for
Tailwind v4 projects, and AI builders that write Tailwind (v0, Lovable, Bolt).
How to use it
- Save
theme.cssnext to your main CSS file - Import it after Tailwind:
@import "tailwindcss"; @import "./theme.css"; - Use the classes:
bg-canvas text-ink rounded-md p-lg
What it is
The same tokens as plain CSS variables on :root. Component values point at the color variables, so changing one color updates everything that uses it.
Best for
Any website: plain CSS, Webflow custom code, Framer, WordPress.
How to use it
- Add it to your stylesheet, or in Webflow paste it into Site settings → Custom code inside a
<style>tag - Use the variables anywhere:
color: var(--color-ink) - Change a token once and every place that uses it follows