A sober, editorial workflow-software interface anchored on white canvas and dark-ink type, where brand voltage comes from full-bleed signature cards in coral, dark green, peach, and dark navy that punctuate long-scroll explainer pages. Primary actions use a near-black pill CTA; secondary actions sit in a white outlined button. Type runs Haas Grotesk in modest weights — never bold for its own sake.
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Airtable's marketing surfaces are quietly editorial. The base atmosphere is white canvas, dark ink type, generous whitespace, and a near-black pill CTA — nothing is fighting for attention until a section needs to. The brand voltage doesn't come from gradient washes or accent walls; it comes from **full-bleed signature cards** in `{colors.signature-coral}`, `{colors.signature-forest}`, and `{colors.surface-dark}` that punctuate long-scroll explainer pages every two or three screens. Between those signature bands, the page reads like a print magazine: a headline, supporting copy, a small image cluster, then breathing room.
Type voice is Haas Grotesk at modest weights (400 for display, 500 for sub-titles and buttons). Display headlines never go bolder than 500 — emphasis comes from size and color contrast, not from weight. Body copy stays at 14px / 400 throughout. The pricing surface runs its own dialect: **Inter Display** at unusual mid-weights (475 / 575) and **pill-shaped buttons** (`{rounded.pill}`) that don't appear on any other page — a deliberate sub-system signaling "this page is about commercial precision."
**Key Characteristics:**
These are the colors that carry Airtable's brand voltage. They appear as full-bleed, full-card surfaces — never as accents on a small element.
The system runs **Haas / Haas Groot Disp** (Airtable's licensed display + text type). Haas Groot Disp covers display sizes (h1 / h2); Haas Grotesk covers everything 24px and below. The fallback stack walks `-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif`.
The pricing surface runs a separate **Inter Display** stack at mid-weights (475 / 575) — a deliberate sub-system signaling commercial precision.
| Token | Size | Weight | Line Height | Letter Spacing | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `{typography.display-xl}` | 48px | 500 | 1.1 | 0 | Articles page h2 — second-tier editorial headline |
| `{typography.display-lg}` | 40px | 400 | 1.2 | 0 | Homepage h1 hero |
| `{typography.display-md}` | 32px | 400 | 1.2 | 0 | Platform-page h2 — feature-section headlines |
| `{typography.title-lg}` | 24px | 400 | 1.35 | 0.12px | Section titles |
| `{typography.title-md}` | 20px | 400 | 1.5 | 0 | Sub-section titles in tabbed feature cards |
| `{typography.title-sm}` | 18px | 500 | 1.4 | 0 | Article-card titles |
| `{typography.label-md}` | 16px | 500 | 1.4 | 0 | Demo-card titles, list labels |
| `{typography.button}` | 16px | 500 | 1.4 | 0 | Standard CTA button labels |
| `{typography.body-md}` | 14px | 400 | 1.25 | 0 | Body copy, footer links, top-nav items |
| `{typography.caption}` | 14px | 500 | 1.35 | 0.16px | Light captions and meta text |
| `{typography.legal}` | 13.12px | 600 | 1.2 | 0 | Cookie/legal CTA buttons |
| `{typography.pricing-display}` | 44.8px | 475 | 1.1 | 0 | Pricing-page h1 |
| `{typography.pricing-section}` | 28px | 475 | 1.2 | 0 | Pricing-page section heads |
| `{typography.pricing-card-title}` | 20px | 475 | 1.3 | 0 | Pricing tier card plan name |
The Haas system prefers weight 400 for display sizes — a 40px h1 is **not** bold. Visual emphasis is delegated to size, color contrast, and the signature surface cards. Where the system does want weight, it pivots to 500 (sub-titles, buttons, article titles), never 600 or 700 in the editorial body. The only true bold (600) lives in `{typography.legal}` — a sign that boldness is reserved for terms-of-service surfaces, not marketing.
The pricing-page sub-system uses Inter Display at `font-weight: 475` — a custom mid-weight between regular (400) and medium (500), shipped as a variable font.
If Haas Groot Disp and Haas Grotesk are unavailable, **Inter Display** (variable) is the closest open-source substitute for both — adjust line-height down by ~5% to match Haas's tighter cap-height. For the pricing sub-system, use Inter Display directly. On macOS / iOS, **system-ui** is sufficient; on Windows, the chain falls through to Segoe UI, which is a usable but slightly cooler substitute.
Airtable uses whitespace as the dominant atmospheric tool. Hero sections sit in 96px+ of pure whitespace above and below the headline + sub-headline pair, with no decoration in that whitespace. The hero is intentionally calm — there is no gradient, no aurora, no atmospheric mesh behind the type. The system trusts whitespace alone to do the framing.
| Level | Treatment | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Flat | No shadow, no border | Body sections, top nav, footer |
| Soft hairline | 1px `{colors.hairline}` border | Inputs, sub-nav rails, comparison-table dividers, secondary buttons |
| Button rest | Soft drop with subtle blue-tinted glow at low alpha | Primary CTA buttons (the blue tint is a holdover from the link color and reads as a faint accent under the dark button) |
| Button focus | Outer 2px blue ring at higher alpha | Keyboard focus state on primary buttons |
| Card flat | No shadow; relies on color contrast against the surface band | Signature coral / forest / dark cards, cream callouts, demo-grid cards |
The elevation philosophy is **color-block first, shadow second**. Shadows are minimal; depth is delegated to the contrast between white canvas and signature surface cards. There is no soft-glow / atmospheric-shadow / heavy-elevation language anywhere in the marketing system.
| Token | Value | Use |
|---|---|---|
| `{rounded.xs}` | 2px | Cookie-consent and legal CTA buttons — system-required surfaces |
| `{rounded.sm}` | 6px | Text inputs, small inline buttons |
| `{rounded.md}` | 10px | Secondary content cards, article cards, cream callouts |
| `{rounded.lg}` | 12px | Primary CTA buttons, signature surface cards, tabbed feature cards |
| `{rounded.pill}` | 9999px | Pricing-page CTA buttons (sub-system only) |
| `{rounded.full}` | 9999px / 50% | Circular icon buttons, avatar surfaces |
Product UI screenshots inside demo-card grids retain native aspect ratios (typically 4:3 or 16:10) and crop into `{rounded.md}` containers. Hero illustrations bleed full-width with no rounding. Article-card thumbnails use 16:9 with `{rounded.md}` corners. Avatars in testimonials use `{rounded.full}` (perfect circles). Pricing comparison table images stay rectangular with no rounding.
> **No hover states documented.** Per the global no-hover policy (Step 6), every component spec below documents only Default and Active/Pressed states. Variants live as separate entries in the `components:` front matter.
**`top-nav`** — A 64px-tall white bar pinned to the top of every page. Airtable wordmark sits at left; primary horizontal menu (Platform, Solutions, Resources, Enterprise, Pricing) sits center-left in `{typography.body-md}`; the right cluster carries a "Book Demo" outline link, "Sign up for free" `{component.button-primary}`, and "Log In" text link. The nav stays light on every page — Airtable does not invert the nav over dark sections.
**`button-primary`** — The signature primary CTA. Background `{colors.primary}` (near-black), text `{colors.on-primary}`, type `{typography.button}`, padding 16px × 24px, rounded `{rounded.lg}` (12px). This is the "Get started for free" / "Sign up for free" button visible on every hero. It reads as confident and final — not decorative — which is why the system uses it sparingly (one per viewport).
**`button-secondary`** — White outline button (e.g. "Book demo"). Background `{colors.canvas}`, text `{colors.ink}`, type `{typography.button}`, rounded `{rounded.lg}` (12px), 1px hairline outline. Sits next to `{component.button-primary}` as the "less-committed" choice.
**`button-secondary-on-dark`** — Same shape as `{component.button-secondary}` but used on signature coral / forest / dark surfaces. Background `{colors.canvas}`, text `{colors.ink}` — the white button stays white over dark surfaces because the system never inverts to a translucent on-dark style on the marketing site.
**`button-pricing-pill`** — The pricing-page CTA family. Background `{colors.canvas}`, text `{colors.pricing-ink}`, rounded `{rounded.pill}` (9999px), padding 12px × 24px. The only place pill-shape appears in the marketing system. Treat it as part of the pricing sub-system signaling.
**`button-legal`** — Cookie-consent and legal-banner CTAs. Background `{colors.link}`, text `{colors.on-primary}`, type `{typography.legal}` (13.12px / 600), rounded `{rounded.xs}` (2px), padding 12px × 10px. The 2px corner radius and 600 weight signal "this is a required system surface," not a designed brand surface.
**`button-icon-circular`** — 40px × 40px circular button with `{colors.canvas}` background, hairline border, and `{colors.ink}` icon. Used for carousel controls, "share", and "back" affordances.
**`text-link`** — Inline body links in `{colors.link}` (#1b61c9, the actual link blue). No underline by default. Type inherits `{typography.body-md}`.
**`hero-band`** — The full-page-width white-canvas hero. No surface card, no border, no shadow, no atmospheric gradient — just the headline, sub-headline, and primary + secondary button pair sitting in 96px of whitespace. Vertical padding `{spacing.section}` (96px).
**`signature-coral-card`** — The large full-bleed coral card on the homepage ("Production apps in prototype speed"). Background `{colors.signature-coral}` (#aa2d00, a dark coral / oxide red), text `{colors.on-primary}`, rounded `{rounded.lg}` (12px), internal padding `{spacing.xxl}` (48px). Carries an h2 in `{typography.display-md}`, supporting copy in `{typography.body-md}`, and `{component.button-secondary-on-dark}` as the CTA.
**`signature-forest-card`** — A deep green signature card (`{colors.signature-forest}` — #0a2e0e) used as a demo-grid sibling to the coral card on the homepage.
**`hero-card-dark`** — The dark navy mid-page CTA card (e.g. "The path to 10× every person in your organization"). Background `{colors.surface-dark}` (#181d26), text `{colors.on-dark}`, rounded `{rounded.lg}` (12px), internal padding `{spacing.xxl}` (48px). The same color as `{colors.primary}` because the system uses ink as both type color and signature dark surface.
**`feature-card-tabbed`** — Light-cream cards (e.g. the "Coke / Pelosi / Conde Nast / Time Inc" tabbed feature card on the homepage). Background `{colors.surface-soft}`, rounded `{rounded.lg}` (12px), internal padding `{spacing.xl}` (32px). Left rail carries vertically-stacked tab labels in `{typography.title-md}`; right pane shows the active tab's content (illustration + body copy + small CTA).
**`cream-callout-card`** — Beige callout cards (`{colors.signature-cream}`). Rounded `{rounded.md}` (10px), internal padding `{spacing.lg}` (24px). Carry product UI fragments or stat callouts — softer than the dark/coral signature cards but still a deliberate brand surface.
**`demo-grid-card`** — Used in multi-card grids that punctuate every page. Background `{colors.canvas}` or one of the demo-grid surfaces (`{colors.signature-peach}`, `{colors.signature-mint}`, `{colors.signature-yellow}`, `{colors.signature-mustard}`), rounded `{rounded.md}` (10px), internal padding `{spacing.md}` (16px). Each card frames a product UI fragment. Card heights vary deliberately to dodge a uniform "spec sheet" feel.
**`logo-strip`** — Horizontal monochrome partner-logo row (HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Time, Conde Nast). Logos render in `{colors.muted}`, surface is `{colors.canvas}`, vertical padding `{spacing.xl}` (32px). 6 logos at desktop, 3 at mobile.
**`article-card`** — The trending-stories grid on the articles page. Background `{colors.canvas}`, rounded `{rounded.md}` (10px), internal padding `{spacing.md}` (16px). Each card carries a colorful illustrated thumbnail (16:9), a small uppercase category tag, an `{typography.title-sm}` title, and a meta line. 3-up at desktop.
**`topic-filter-rail`** — The left rail on the articles page. 240px wide, `{colors.canvas}` background, `{typography.body-md}`, vertically grouped category headings ("Marketing", "Product", "Project management", "Operations") with sub-bullets. Active item carries a small numeric count badge.
**`text-input`** — Standard text input. Background `{colors.canvas}`, text `{colors.ink}`, type `{typography.body-md}`, rounded `{rounded.sm}` (6px), padding 12px × 16px, height 44px. 1px hairline border in `{colors.hairline}`.
**`text-input-focus`** — Focus state. Border thickens or recolors to `{colors.info-border}`.
**`pricing-tier-card`** — Standard tier card. Background `{colors.canvas}`, text `{colors.pricing-ink}`, type `{typography.pricing-card-title}` for the plan name, rounded `{rounded.md}` (10px), internal padding `{spacing.xl}` (32px). Carries the plan name, a price block in `{typography.pricing-display}` (44.8px / 475), feature checklist, and a `{component.button-pricing-pill}` at the bottom.
**`pricing-tier-card-featured`** — The featured tier (typically "Team" or "Business"). Background shifts to `{colors.surface-soft}`. No accent border, no badge — the background tone shift is the only signal.
**`pricing-comparison-row`** — Each row of the long comparison table at the bottom of the pricing page. Labels in the left column; checkmarks or values across 4 plan columns. 12px vertical padding per row, hairline divider between rows.
**`footer`** — Light surface (`{colors.canvas}`), 6-column link list at desktop covering Platform / Solutions / Resources / Learn / Company sub-trees. Vertical padding `{spacing.section}` divided across upper link block and lower legal row. Type `{typography.body-md}`.
**`cta-band-light`** — The light gray "Start building with Airtable" CTA strip near the footer. Background `{colors.surface-strong}` (#e0e2e6), text `{colors.ink}`, rounded `{rounded.lg}` (12px), padding `{spacing.xxl}` (48px). Carries an h2 in `{typography.display-md}` and a `{component.button-primary}`.
**Articles Vertical Rainbow Stripe Hero** — The articles-page hero treatment. Multi-color vertical bands at varying widths sitting on `{colors.surface-dark-elevated}`. The h1 + sub-head + CTA cluster sits center-left on top of the stripes. This is a single-page hero treatment, not a system-wide signature — do not promote it to a multi-page pattern.
| Name | Width | Key Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile | < 768px | Single-column body; top nav collapses to hamburger; demo-grid drops to 1-up; signature cards stay full-bleed; logo strip wraps to 2 rows; footer collapses to single-column |
| Tablet | 768–1024px | 2-up demo-grid; top nav stays horizontal but tightens; cream-callout cards stack 2-up; pricing comparison table becomes horizontally scrollable |
| Desktop | 1024–1440px | 3-up demo-grid (and 4-up for tighter content); full top-nav with all menu items visible; pricing tier cards render 4-across |
| Wide | > 1440px | Same as Desktop with more outer breathing room; max content width caps at ~1280px and the page adds outer margin rather than scaling type up |
1. Focus on ONE component at a time. Reference its YAML key directly (`{component.button-primary}`, `{component.signature-coral-card}`).
2. When adding a new component, decide first which sub-system it belongs to: the main editorial system (Haas, `{rounded.lg}`/`{rounded.md}`) or the pricing sub-system (Inter Display, `{rounded.pill}`).
3. Variants of an existing component (`-active`, `-disabled`, `-focus`) live as separate entries in `components:` — never as nested state objects.
4. Use `{token.refs}` everywhere prose mentions a color, a radius, a typography role, or a spacing value. Hex codes appear at most once next to the reference.
5. Never document hover. The system documents Default and Active/Pressed states only.
6. Run `npx @google/design.md lint DESIGN.md` after edits — `broken-ref`, `contrast-ratio`, and `orphaned-tokens` warnings flag issues automatically.
7. When in doubt about emphasis: bigger type before bolder type, signature surface card before solid accent.