DESIGN.md inspired by Arbitrum

---
name: Arbitrum
tagline: Arbitrum Blue on white — Layer 2 chain marketing with Inter sans, structured grids, sophisticated-restraint contrasted with Solana's cinematic.
updated_at: 2026-05-08T00:00:00.000Z
published_at: 2026-05-07T20:02:51.929Z
author: webdesignhot
source_url: https://arbitrum.io
spec: webdesignhot/0.2
profile: catalog
quality: curated
featured: false
categories: [fintech]
tags: [light, structured, sans, cool, spacious]
preview_swatch: ['#ffffff', '#28a0f0', '#152d54']
related: [phantom-app, uniswap, ethereum-org]
description: 'Arbitrum''s site is the sophisticated-restrained counterpart to Solana''s cinematic experimentation. The canvas is white, headings sit in Inter at 48–72px, and the brand color is "Arbitrum Blue" `#28a0f0` (a precise sky-leaning blue) paired with deep navy `#152d54` for emphasized typography. Where Solana went gradient + true black + Diatype, Arbitrum went solid blue + white + Inter — Ethereum-side restraint expressing as L2-scaling-protocol confidence. Cards have 8-12px radius, soft blue-tinted shadows, and house structured ecosystem grids. Voice is technical-precise: "Ethereum scaling, made simple". The whole brand reads as the L2 that has read the white papers and chosen not to dramatize them.'


# Canonical 8-role aliases (bg / text / brand / border / accent / muted / surface / danger).
# Maps role names to this entry's actual token names so role-aware
# downstream tools resolve `theme.background` → entry's `bg`, etc.
# Auto-generated by scripts/add-aliases.mjs — do not edit manually;
# regenerate after changing color token names.
aliases:
  background: bg
  foreground: text
  primary: brand
  primary-foreground: on-brand
  muted: text-muted
  border: border
  ring: border-brand
colors:
  bg: '#ffffff'
  bg-soft: '#f5f7fa'
  bg-warm: '#fafbfd'
  surface: '#ffffff'
  surface-soft: '#fafbfd'
  surface-strong: '#eef2f7'
  brand: '#28a0f0'
  brand-hover: '#1d8edb'
  brand-pressed: '#1773b8'
  brand-deep: '#125a90'
  brand-tint: '#dceefb'
  brand-soft: '#a6d4f5'
  on-brand: '#ffffff'
  navy: '#152d54'
  navy-deep: '#0a1d3d'
  navy-soft: 'rgba(21, 45, 84, 0.08)'
  text: '#0d1626'
  text-strong: '#152d54'
  text-muted: '#5a647a'
  text-soft: '#8a93a6'
  text-faint: '#bcc2cf'
  text-on-brand: '#ffffff'
  link: '#28a0f0'
  link-hover: '#152d54'
  selected-bg: '#dceefb'
  border: '#dde2eb'
  border-strong: '#bcc4d2'
  border-soft: '#eaeef5'
  border-brand: '#28a0f0'
  arbitrum-orbit: '#9b59ff'
  arbitrum-nova: '#ff8a00'
  ecosystem-defi: '#28a0f0'
  ecosystem-gaming: '#9b59ff'
  ecosystem-nft: '#ff8a00'
  success: '#1a8757'
  warning: '#cc8800'
  danger: '#c4313a'
  info: '#28a0f0'

typography:
  display:
    family: '"Inter", "Söhne", "Helvetica Neue", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif'
    weights: [600, 700, 800]
  body:
    family: '"Inter", "Söhne", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif'
    weights: [400, 500, 600, 700]
  mono:
    family: '"JetBrains Mono", "IBM Plex Mono", ui-monospace, monospace'
    weights: [400, 500]
  scale:
    display-hero:    { size: 72, weight: 800, lineHeight: 1.05, tracking: '-0.02em',  family: display }
    display-xl:      { size: 56, weight: 800, lineHeight: 1.1,  tracking: '-0.018em', family: display }
    display-lg:      { size: 48, weight: 700, lineHeight: 1.15, tracking: '-0.012em', family: display }
    h1:              { size: 36, weight: 700, lineHeight: 1.2,  tracking: '-0.008em', family: display }
    h2:              { size: 28, weight: 700, lineHeight: 1.25, tracking: '-0.005em', family: display }
    h3:              { size: 22, weight: 700, lineHeight: 1.3,  tracking: '0',        family: display }
    h4:              { size: 18, weight: 600, lineHeight: 1.35, tracking: '0',        family: display }
    eyebrow:         { size: 12, weight: 700, lineHeight: 1.2,  tracking: '0.14em',   family: body }
    body-lg:         { size: 18, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.55, tracking: '0',        family: body }
    body:            { size: 16, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.55, tracking: '0',        family: body }
    body-sm:         { size: 14, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.5,  tracking: '0',        family: body }
    label:           { size: 13, weight: 700, lineHeight: 1.3,  tracking: '0.06em',   family: body }
    button:          { size: 15, weight: 700, lineHeight: 1.0,  tracking: '0.02em',   family: body }
    address:         { size: 13, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.5,  tracking: '0',        family: mono }

radius:
  micro: 4
  sm: 8
  md: 12
  lg: 16
  pill: 9999

spacing:
  base: 4
  scale: [0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 56, 80, 96, 120, 160]

layout:
  page-width: 1280
  prose-width: 720
  header-height: 72

motion:
  ease-standard: 'cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.1, 0.25, 1)'
  duration-fast: 150
  duration-standard: 240
  duration-slow: 360
  reduced-motion: 'respects prefers-reduced-motion: reduce'

breakpoints:
  mobile: 480
  tablet: 768
  desktop: 1280
  wide: 1440

shadows:
  card: '0 2px 12px rgba(40, 160, 240, 0.08)'
  card-hover: '0 6px 20px rgba(40, 160, 240, 0.14)'
  modal: '0 24px 64px rgba(21, 45, 84, 0.20)'

accessibility:
  contrast-text-on-bg: 16.7
  contrast-text-on-brand: 3.0
  focus-ring: '2px solid #28a0f0 + 2px outset gap'
  reduced-motion-honored: true
  note: 'Arbitrum Blue `#28a0f0` is on the AA edge for white text at body — primary CTAs use the navy variant `#152d54` when smaller-than-18px text is on bg, or use white-on-brand only at 16px+ bold.'

components:
  button-primary: { bg: brand, text: on-brand, padding: '14px 32px', radius: 8, font: button }
  button-navy: { bg: navy, text: on-brand, padding: '14px 32px', radius: 8, font: button }
  button-secondary: { bg: bg, text: navy, padding: '12px 30px', radius: 8, border: '1px solid border-strong' }
  button-ghost: { bg: transparent, text: brand, padding: '10px 20px' }
  card: { bg: surface, radius: 12, padding: 24, shadow: 'card', border: '1px solid border-soft' }
  pill: { bg: brand-tint, text: navy, radius: pill, padding: '4px 12px', font: 'label' }
  input: { bg: bg, border: '1px solid border-strong', text: text, radius: 8, padding: '12px 16px', focus-border: brand }

lineage:
  summary: 'Arbitrum''s marketing system descends from Offchain Labs'' 2018 founding by Princeton-Yale-Stanford crypto researchers (Ed Felten, Steven Goldfeder, Harry Kalodner). The brand''s sophisticated-restraint reflects academic origin — light canvas, structured grids, Inter typography, deep navy `#152d54` for typographic gravitas, Arbitrum Blue `#28a0f0` for accent. Where Solana went cinematic-experimental, Arbitrum went restrained-confident. Sub-product accent palette (Orbit purple `#9b59ff` for the L3 framework, Nova orange `#ff8a00` for the gaming-optimized chain) chips ecosystem categories. Voice is technical-precise: "Ethereum scaling, made simple" — confident enough to skip explainers.'
  influences:
    - { name: 'Offchain Labs (founders 2018)', role: 'Princeton-Yale-Stanford academic origin', url: 'https://offchainlabs.com' }
    - { name: 'Inter (Rasmus Andersson)', role: 'tech-app sans default', url: 'https://rsms.me/inter' }
    - { name: 'Ethereum brand language', role: 'L1 parent chain typographic restraint', url: 'https://ethereum.org' }
    - { name: 'Solana + Optimism + zkSync', role: 'L1/L2 contemporaries differentiated against', url: 'https://solana.com' }
    - { name: 'Pantone 285 / cyan palette', role: 'sky-leaning blue lineage', url: 'https://www.pantone.com' }
---

## 1. Visual Theme & Atmosphere

Arbitrum's site is the sophisticated-restrained counterpart to Solana's cinematic experimentation. The canvas is white `#ffffff`, headings sit in Inter at 48–72px Bold, and the brand color is **Arbitrum Blue** `#28a0f0` (a precise sky-leaning blue) paired with deep navy `#152d54` for emphasized typography. Where Solana went gradient + true black + Diatype, Arbitrum went solid blue + white + Inter — Ethereum-side restraint expressing as L2-scaling-protocol confidence.

The brand reflects its academic origin (Offchain Labs founded by Princeton-Yale-Stanford researchers in 2018). Layout is structured grids; section type is restrained 0.14em-tracked uppercase eyebrows. Cards have 8-12px radius and soft blue-tinted shadows. Sub-product accent palette (Orbit purple `#9b59ff` for the L3 framework, Nova orange `#ff8a00` for gaming-optimized chain) chips ecosystem categories. Voice is technical-precise: "Ethereum scaling, made simple".

A note on color contrast: Arbitrum Blue `#28a0f0` is on the AA edge for white text at body sizes (3.0:1, fails AA). Primary CTAs use the navy variant `#152d54` when text is below 18px, or only large-text white-on-brand when the size threshold (18px+ Bold) is met.

**Key Characteristics:**
- White canvas + Arbitrum Blue `#28a0f0` + Navy `#152d54`
- Inter sans for everything
- 8-12px radius on UI
- Sub-product accents: Orbit purple, Nova orange (chips only)
- Soft blue-tinted shadows
- Mono for addresses
- Light-only canvas
- Technical-precise voice
- Navy as typographic gravitas
- Academic-origin sophisticated-restraint

## 2. Color Palette & Roles

### Primary
- **Background** (`#ffffff`): white.
- **Text** (`#0d1626`): body. Slightly warm dark navy.
- **Text Strong** (`#152d54`): emphasized headlines in deep navy.

### Brand — Arbitrum Blue
- **Brand** (`#28a0f0`): primary CTA + brand mark.
- **Brand Hover** (`#1d8edb`), **Pressed** (`#1773b8`), **Deep** (`#125a90`).
- **Brand Tint** (`#dceefb`): selection wash.

### Navy — Typographic Gravitas
- **Navy** (`#152d54`): emphasized headlines, secondary CTA bg.
- **Navy Deep** (`#0a1d3d`): pressed.

### Sub-Product Accents (chips only)
- **Orbit Purple** (`#9b59ff`): Arbitrum Orbit (L3 framework)
- **Nova Orange** (`#ff8a00`): Arbitrum Nova (gaming-optimized chain)

### Surface
- **Surface** (`#ffffff`), **Surface Soft** (`#fafbfd`), **Surface Strong** (`#eef2f7`).

### Borders
- **Border** (`#dde2eb`), **Border Strong** (`#bcc4d2`), **Border Soft** (`#eaeef5`).

### Semantic
- success `#1a8757`, warning `#cc8800`, danger `#c4313a`, info = brand.

## 3. Typography Rules

### Font Family
- **Display + Body**: Inter. Falls back to Söhne → Helvetica Neue.
- **Mono**: JetBrains Mono / IBM Plex Mono.

### Hierarchy

| Role | Font | Size | Weight | LH | Tracking |
|------|------|------|--------|-----|----------|
| display-hero | Inter | 72 | 800 | 1.05 | -0.02em |
| display-lg | Inter | 48 | 700 | 1.15 | -0.012em |
| h1 | Inter | 36 | 700 | 1.2 | -0.008em |
| h2 | Inter | 28 | 700 | 1.25 | -0.005em |
| h3 | Inter | 22 | 700 | 1.3 | 0 |
| eyebrow | Inter | 12 | 700 | 1.2 | 0.14em UPPER |
| body | Inter | 16 | 400 | 1.55 | 0 |
| label | Inter | 13 | 700 | 1.3 | 0.06em |
| button | Inter | 15 | 700 | 1.0 | 0.02em |
| address | JetBrains Mono | 13 | 400 | 1.5 | 0 |

### Principles
- **Inter for everything**, mono for addresses.
- **800 weight on hero, 700 elsewhere on display.**
- **Body 16px / 1.55** — standard rhythm.
- **Mixed case display, UPPER eyebrows + buttons.**

## 4. Component Stylings

### Buttons (4 variants — 8px radius)

**Primary** — Arbitrum Blue:
- bg `#28a0f0`, text white, 15px Inter 700 0.02em UPPER
- Padding 14×32, radius 8
- Note: 3.0:1 contrast white-on-blue is borderline; use only at 15px+ Bold (which we do)

**Navy** — emphasized when smaller text or higher contrast required:
- bg `#152d54`, text white, otherwise primary

**Secondary** — bordered:
- bg white, text navy, 1px gray border, radius 8

**Ghost**: bg transparent, text Arbitrum Blue, padding 10×20.

### Cards
- bg white, **12px radius**, padding 24
- 1px `#eaeef5` soft border + soft blue-tinted shadow `0 2px 12px rgba(40,160,240,0.08)`
- Hover: shadow `0 6px 20px rgba(40,160,240,0.14)`

### Pills (sub-product chips)
- Default: `brand-tint` bg, navy text, pill radius
- Orbit chip: purple-tint bg, purple text
- Nova chip: orange-tint bg, orange text

### Inputs
- bg white, 1px gray border, 8px radius
- Focus: border Arbitrum Blue

### Navigation
- 72px sticky header, white bg
- Arbitrum wordmark left (blue), top-level nav center, "Build on Arbitrum" navy CTA right

## 5. Layout Principles

- Base 4px, 96-160px between sections
- Page max width 1280px
- Hero: structured layout — typography left, infographic / data viz right
- Ecosystem grid: 4-up at desktop, 2-up at tablet

## 6. Shapes & Radius Scale

| Tier | Value | Use |
|------|-------|-----|
| Micro | 4 | indicators |
| Standard | 8 | **buttons + inputs** |
| Comfortable | 12 | **cards** |
| Relaxed | 16 | featured cards |
| Pill | 9999 | sub-product + ecosystem chips |

## 7. Depth & Elevation

| Level | Treatment |
|-------|-----------|
| 1 | `0 2px 12px rgba(40,160,240,0.08)` resting |
| 2 | `0 6px 20px rgba(40,160,240,0.14)` hover |
| 3 | `0 12px 32px rgba(40,160,240,0.18)` featured |
| 4 | `0 24px 64px rgba(21,45,84,0.20)` modal (navy-tinted) |

## 8. Interaction & Motion

- Standard ease, 150-360ms durations
- Card hover: shadow lift, no transform
- Hero data viz: subtle animation on scroll-reveal

## 9. Accessibility & A11y

- text on bg: `#0d1626` on `#ffffff` = **16.7:1** AAA
- white on brand: `#ffffff` on `#28a0f0` = **3.0:1** — borderline, use Bold 15px+ only or fall back to navy
- white on navy: `#ffffff` on `#152d54` = **12.6:1** AAA
- 2px Arbitrum Blue focus ring + 2px outset

Sub-product chips use `aria-label="Arbitrum Orbit, layer-3 framework"`.

## 10. Responsive Behavior

mobile <479: hero 72→44; nav hamburger; 1-up. tablet: 2-up. desktop+: 4-up.

## 11. Content & Voice

### Tone
**Technical-precise.** Academic-origin sophistication without lecturing.

### Microcopy patterns
- Primary CTA: **"Build on Arbitrum"** / **"Bridge to Arbitrum"** / **"Get Started"**
- Errors: **"Bridge transaction failed. Check L1 confirmation."**
- Loading: **"Confirming on Arbitrum One…"**
- Sub-products: **"Build with Arbitrum Orbit"** / **"Play on Arbitrum Nova"**

### CTA verb conventions
- **Build / Bridge / Deploy / Get Started**
- Avoid: NFT-bro, generic "Sign up"

## 12. Dark Mode & Theming

**Light-only on web.** Mobile bridge has dark; marketing stays light.

## 13. Lineage & Influences

Arbitrum descends from Offchain Labs' 2018 founding by Princeton-Yale-Stanford crypto researchers. The brand's sophisticated-restraint reflects academic origin — Inter sans, deep navy for gravitas, Arbitrum Blue for accent. Where Solana went cinematic-experimental, Arbitrum went restrained-confident. Sub-product accents (Orbit purple, Nova orange) chip ecosystem categories.

**Named influences:**
- **Offchain Labs (2018)** — academic founders
- **Inter (Rasmus Andersson)** — tech-app sans
- **Ethereum brand language** — parent-chain restraint
- **Solana + Optimism + zkSync** — L1/L2 peers
- **Pantone 285 / cyan palette** — sky-blue lineage

## 14. Do's and Don'ts

### Do
- **Arbitrum Blue `#28a0f0` for primary CTA + brand.**
- **Navy `#152d54` for emphasized typography + smaller-text CTAs.**
- **Inter for everything.**
- **8-12px radius on UI.**
- **Sub-product chip colors (Orbit purple / Nova orange) for chips only.**
- **Mono for addresses.**
- **White text on blue only at 15px+ Bold** — accessibility on edge.
- **Soft blue-tinted shadows.**

### Don't
- **Don't put white text on Arbitrum Blue** at body sizes. Use navy bg or larger Bold.
- **Don't substitute brand colors.**
- **Don't use sub-product accents as primary CTA.**
- **Don't all-caps headlines.**
- **Don't add gradients on CTA.**
- **Don't add NFT-bro microcopy.**
- **Don't add a friendly mascot.**

## 15. Agent Prompt Guide

### Quick Color Reference
- bg: `#ffffff`
- text: `#0d1626` / strong (Navy): `#152d54`
- brand (Arbitrum Blue): `#28a0f0` / hover `#1d8edb`
- navy: `#152d54` (use for smaller-text CTAs)
- orbit-purple: `#9b59ff` / nova-orange: `#ff8a00`

### Example Component Prompts

> Build an Arbitrum-style hero: white canvas, structured layout — 72px Inter 800 heading "Ethereum scaling, made simple" left, animated data-viz infographic right 50%. Primary CTA "Build on Arbitrum" 8px-radius blue `#28a0f0` with white 15px Inter 700 0.02em UPPER (Bold ensures AA at this size).

> Design an ecosystem card: white surface, 12px radius, 24px pad, soft blue-tinted shadow. 22px Inter h3 protocol name, 13px UPPER 0.14em eyebrow "DEFI ON ARBITRUM ONE" navy. Sub-product chip "ORBIT" in purple-tint pill if applicable.

> Render an address display: JetBrains Mono 13px gray, "0xa1B2...E5f6" truncated, copy-icon button in Arbitrum Blue.

> Build a "Bridge to Arbitrum" CTA at smaller size: 8px radius, **navy `#152d54`** bg (better contrast), white 14px Inter 700 0.02em UPPER, padding 12×28.

> Design a sub-product chip: pill radius, accent-color-tint bg with accent-color text. Orbit (purple), Nova (orange), Arbitrum One (Arbitrum Blue).

### Iteration Guide

1. **White + Arbitrum Blue + Inter + Navy gravitas.**
2. **8-12px radius — gentle restrained.**
3. **White-on-blue only at 15px+ Bold** — switch to navy bg below.
4. **Sub-product accents (Orbit / Nova) for chips only.**
5. **Mono for addresses.**
6. **Soft blue-tinted shadows.**
7. **Technical-precise voice.**
8. **Reject white-on-blue at body, mascots, NFT-bro language, gradient CTAs.**