The design field guide
A classroom notebook.
Not a corporate brochure.
Flatiron-inspired blue. Plainspoken type. The confidence of a good lecture and the warmth of a note in the margin.
A contemporary interpretation of the archival teaching materials, not official Flatiron or KWK brand guidelines.
01 / Color
Blue with a purpose.
#FAFAF7
#152229
#00B3E6
#00657F
#E7F7FC
#53646A
#CBD4D5
#F4DF8A
Bright cyan is a surface or accent, not small text on white. Use dark ink on cyan and deep blue for readable links on paper.
02 / Type
Say the important thing clearly.
DISPLAY / ARIAL BOLD
TIGHT, NOT CRAMPED
Teach people
to love the work.
BODY / ARIAL
17-19PX, 1.6 LINE HEIGHT
The right question does not show someone how much you know. It helps them discover what they can do next.
UTILITY / MONOSPACE
12PX, A LITTLE AIR
03 / From belief to classroom
MARGINALIA / GEORGIA ITALIC
A SMALL HUMAN MOMENT
Connect the new to the known.
System fonts only. No external font requests and no bundled font files.
03 / Components
Make the next move obvious.
Hierarchy, not decoration.
One primary action. A clear secondary path. Short labels, visible focus, and generous hit targets. No fake demo buttons.
01Meaning before mechanics.
Give people a reason to care.
A native disclosure with real content. It works with a keyboard, a touch screen, or no JavaScript.
04 / Rhythm & behavior
Room to think.
Space does the organizing.
A 1240px canvas, fluid side gutters, long section pauses, and short readable paragraphs. Fine rules separate ideas without putting every thought in a box.
Interaction should teach something.
The teaching lab connects a student’s situation with a possible response. Nothing is collected. No decorative chatbot, autoplay video, or scroll effect gets between the reader and the work.
Native disclosures, visible source notes, reduced-motion support, and a readable print view are part of the design, not later additions.
05 / Source honesty
No invented artifacts.
The hero poster is a new composition of verified source language. It is labeled as newly typeset, not a historical screenshot. The teaching examples are new writing, not quotations from students. The site credits collaborative work and does not expose private source files.
Read the source notebook