flowmanceSmartMag Design System
SmartMag is a classic online magazine with a modern edge. It opens like a printed paper: a ruled masthead with a huge SMARTMAG® wordmark and three small serif lines under it. Headlines are bold sans-serif (Inter 700), while all reading text is a soft serif (Playfair Display), so it reads as editorial rather than corporate. Photography is bold and colourful, and the page turns fully black for the featured stories.
Four signatures make it recognisable:
- The ruled masthead. A 1px #E2E2E2 rule under the nav, the SMARTMAG® wordmark (750px wide, SMART in black weight and MAG in light), another rule, then a three-part serif row: Ecommerce Magazine · 2021, All Rights Reserved · Based in New York.
- Sans headlines, serif text. Story and section titles are Inter 700, black on white and white on the black bands and photos; paragraphs, bylines and meta lines are Playfair Display in grey #4D4D4D (white at 57% on black, full white on photos).
- The black flip. When Featured — Stories scrolls in, the page background, nav and text switch to black and white over 500ms, then switch back for the next section.
- Em-dash section titles and pill tags. Section titles are two words joined by an em dash (Featured — Stories, Latest — Stories, View — Shop, Follow us — @smartmag). Categories are small pill tags next to a 30px round lightning icon.
Colors
Surfaces
#FFFFFFPage background
#F0F0F0Search and subscribe fields
#F1F1F7Webflow variable for a cool grey panel; not used on the home page
#F0F0F0Search and subscribe fields
#000000The featured band, Instagram band, footer
Ink
#FFFFFFText on primary
#000000Headlines, nav links, product names
#4D4D4DParagraphs, masthead meta, bylines (p, li)
#6B6B6BPrices
#6E6E6ENav link hover
#8A8A8AThe current nav link (Home)
#FFFFFF#FFFFFFText on inverse-canvas
#FFFFFF · 57%Excerpts and footer links on black
#FFFFFF · 60%Footer phone and email lines
#FFFFFFAction
#000000Buttons, category pills, the round icon
#4D4D4DButton hover
#FF0E0ELines & effects
#E2E2E2The two masthead rules
#EEEEEECart panel border
#000000 · 50%Bottom of the transparent-to-black gradient on overlay cards and Instagram tiles
Typography
Inter · display-rotator
The quick brown fox jumpsThe category strip Travelling Style Lifestyle Fashion; underlined on hover. 120px · 600 · 1.17
Inter · headline-hero
The quick brown fox jumpsHero story title: Lifestyle: Expectations vs. 52px · 700 · 1
Inter · title-xl
The quick brown fox jumpsStory card titles. 30px · 700 · 1
Playfair Display · body-lead
The quick brown fox jumpsHero standfirst. 20px · 400 · 1.4
Inter · label-lg
The quick brown fox jumpsGo To Shop. 16px · 600 · 1.25
Inter · caption
The quick brown fox jumpsCategory pills, light and dark. 13px · 500 · 1.54
Spacing & shape
| Purpose | Value |
|---|---|
| Container | max 1200px, centred; sections add 5% side padding |
| Section rhythm | 120px top and bottom with 5% sides (.section); 80px with 2% sides at ≤991; 60px top and bottom at ≤479 |
| Breakpoints | 991px, 767px and 479px (Webflow defaults), plus a min-width: 768px step |
Spacing scale
| Token | Value | Preview |
|---|---|---|
xs | 6px | |
sm | 16px | |
md | 30px | |
lg | 50px | |
xl | 80px |
Layout spacing
| Token | Value | Preview |
|---|---|---|
nav-y | 15px | |
masthead-y | 40px | |
section-strip | 50px | |
section | 120px |
Border radius
Surfaces
How the surfaces stack, from the page background up. Hex codes and roles are in Colors above.
Motion
| Black flip | Background colour, text colour and a filter change on the wordmark and icons, 500ms ease, triggered as featured sections scroll in and out of view |
| Read circle | The Read Full Story circle follows the mouse over images and grows on hover (size change 400ms outCubic) |
| Image hover | scale 1 ↔ 1.2, 500ms |
| Card lift-in | y 20px → 0, opacity 0 → 1, 300ms ease |
| Image reveal | opacity 0 → 1, 1000ms outQuart |
| Category marquee | Words translate sideways while in view (scroll-linked; x −50vw → 0vw) |
| Hover | Links and nav transition: opacity 0.2s / all 0.2s; buttons 300ms; underline on marquee words and bylines |
| Featured badge | The circular FEATURED POST text rotates |
Do’s and don’ts
- Open pages with the ruled masthead: 1px #E2E2E2 rules, the big wordmark, and a three-part Playfair meta row.
- Set headlines in Inter 700 (52px hero, 30px cards, 24px section titles) at line height 1.0, black on white and white on black.
- Set all reading text in Playfair Display: 16px / 500 / 1.5 in #4D4D4D, or 18px / 400 in white 57% on black.
- Name sections with an em dash: Latest — Stories.
- Use black pills for actions and tags (#000000, white text, 30–40px radius) and #F0F0F0 pill fields.
- Switch whole sections to black #000000 for featured content.
- Add an accent colour, shadows or rounded photos.
- Use Montagu Slab or set paragraphs in Inter.
- Use ink-faint #8A8A8A for anything but the 15px 600 current nav link; it is about 3.5:1 on white.
- Put white text on photos without the #00000080 scrim.
- Use square buttons. Every control is a pill.
- Write headlines in uppercase or title case.
Example prompt
Any page in the SmartMag style
More design systems like this
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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 SmartMag 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/smartmag.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