PlanetScale

---
name: PlanetScale
tagline: 'Pure-black canvas, blood-red accent, mono-set numerals — a database brand styled like a financial terminal.'
author: webdesignhot
source_url: https://planetscale.com
spec: design.md/v1.5
quality: curated
featured: false
categories: [dev-tools, saas]
tags: [dark, mono, dense, structured, brutalist, cool]
preview_swatch: ['#111111', '#c11027', '#22a652']
related: [vercel, supabase, linear]
description: 'PlanetScale runs an unapologetic near-black canvas (`#111111`) with a single blood-red accent (`#c11027`) for action and a database-green (`#22a652`) for status. The page reads like a Bloomberg terminal recast as marketing — dense, mono-leaning, numeric. The amber `#f5a623` flags warnings or hot rows; the red is reserved for the primary CTA, never for errors.'

colors:
  # Primary
  bg: '#111111'                  # near-black canvas (Tailwind zinc-950 class)
  bg-deep: '#000000'             # pure black for hero panels
  bg-elev-1: '#1a1a1a'           # card surface
  bg-elev-2: '#222222'            # secondary panel
  bg-elev-3: '#2a2a2a'            # popover surface
  surface: '#1a1a1a'              # card surface
  surface-alt: '#222222'          # secondary panel
  surface-elevated: '#2a2a2a'     # popover, dropdown

  # Brand & Dark
  brand: '#c11027'                # blood-red primary action
  brand-hover: '#e0142f'          # hover (brighter)
  brand-pressed: '#a00d22'        # pressed (darker)
  brand-deep: '#7d091a'           # deepest red — icons, emphasized text
  brand-glow: '#c1102733'         # 20% red wash
  on-brand: '#ffffff'             # white on red

  # Accent
  accent-green: '#22a652'         # database OK green
  accent-green-hover: '#2bc060'   # hover green
  accent-green-deep: '#188440'    # deeper green
  accent-amber: '#f5a623'         # warning / hot row amber
  accent-amber-hover: '#ffba3d'   # hover amber
  accent-soft: '#c1102714'        # 8% red wash

  # Interactive
  link: '#7ab2ff'                 # cool blue link (rare on the page)
  link-hover: '#a3c8ff'           # link hover
  link-visited: '#5d96e0'         # visited
  selected: '#c1102726'           # 15% red selection
  disabled: '#3a3a3a'             # disabled bg
  disabled-text: '#666666'        # disabled text

  # Neutral Scale
  text: '#ffffff'                 # primary copy
  text-heading: '#ffffff'         # headlines
  text-muted: '#a0a0a0'           # secondary
  text-soft: '#6a6a6a'            # tertiary
  text-faint: '#4a4a4a'           # quaternary
  text-disabled: '#666666'        # disabled

  # Surface & Borders
  border: '#ffffff1a'             # 10% white hairline
  border-soft: '#ffffff0d'        # 5% white
  border-strong: '#ffffff33'      # 20% emphasized
  border-brand: '#c1102766'       # 40% red on focus

  # Shadow
  shadow-ambient: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.4)'      # low ambient
  shadow-standard: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.6)'     # standard
  shadow-elevated: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.75)'    # popover
  shadow-glow: 'rgba(193,16,39,0.35)'    # red focus glow

  # Semantic
  success: '#22a652'              # database OK green
  success-bg: '#0f3a1f'           # success surface
  warning: '#f5a623'              # amber warning
  warning-bg: '#3a2710'           # warning surface
  danger: '#ff4d4d'               # bright red (distinct from brand-red)
  danger-bg: '#3a1818'            # danger surface
  info: '#7ab2ff'                 # info blue
  info-bg: '#1a2030'              # info surface

typography:
  display:
    family: '"PlanetScale Sans", Inter, -apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif'
    weights: [500, 600, 700]
    opentype-features: ['ss01', 'tnum', 'cv11']
  body:
    family: '"PlanetScale Sans", Inter, -apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif'
    weights: [400, 500, 600]
    opentype-features: ['ss01']
  mono:
    family: '"PlanetScale Mono", "JetBrains Mono", ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, monospace'
    weights: [400, 500, 600]
    opentype-features: ['zero', 'tnum', 'ss01']
  scale:
    display-hero:   { size: 88, weight: 600, lineHeight: 1.0,  tracking: '-0.035em', family: display, opentype: 'ss01' }
    display-large:  { size: 72, weight: 600, lineHeight: 1.0,  tracking: '-0.03em',  family: display, opentype: 'ss01' }
    h1:             { size: 56, weight: 600, lineHeight: 1.05, tracking: '-0.025em', family: display, opentype: 'ss01' }
    h2:             { size: 40, weight: 600, lineHeight: 1.1,  tracking: '-0.02em',  family: display }
    h3:             { size: 24, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.3,  tracking: '-0.01em',  family: display }
    h4:             { size: 18, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.35, tracking: '-0.005em', family: display }
    body-large:     { size: 17, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.5,  tracking: '0',         family: body }
    body:           { size: 15, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.5,  tracking: '0',         family: body }
    body-small:     { size: 13, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.45, tracking: '0',         family: body }
    label-mono:     { size: 12, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.3,  tracking: '0.04em',    family: mono, opentype: 'zero, tnum' }
    button:         { size: 14, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.0,  tracking: '0',         family: body }
    button-small:   { size: 12, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.0,  tracking: '0',         family: body }
    link:           { size: 15, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.5,  tracking: '0',         family: body }
    metric:         { size: 32, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.05, tracking: '-0.01em',   family: mono, opentype: 'zero, tnum' }
    metric-large:   { size: 48, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.0,  tracking: '-0.015em',  family: mono, opentype: 'zero, tnum' }
    caption:        { size: 13, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.4,  tracking: '0',         family: body }
    caption-small:  { size: 12, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.35, tracking: '0',         family: body }
    micro:          { size: 11, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.3,  tracking: '0.06em',    family: body }
    code-body:      { size: 13, weight: 400, lineHeight: 1.55, tracking: '0',         family: mono, opentype: 'zero' }
    code-bold:      { size: 13, weight: 600, lineHeight: 1.55, tracking: '0',         family: mono, opentype: 'zero' }
    code-label:     { size: 11, weight: 500, lineHeight: 1.3,  tracking: '0.05em',    family: mono, opentype: 'zero, tnum' }

radius:
  micro: 2
  sm: 4
  md: 6           # button — tight
  lg: 8           # card — tight
  xl: 12          # hero shell
  featured: 16    # signature panels
  pill: 9999

spacing:
  base: 4
  scale: [2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48, 64, 80, 96, 128]
  xxs: 2
  xs: 4
  sm: 8
  md: 16
  lg: 24
  xl: 32
  xxl: 48
  section-sm: 64
  section: 96
  section-lg: 128

layout:
  page-width: 1280
  prose-width: 720
  header-height: 56

motion:
  ease-standard: 'cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)'
  ease-emphasized: 'cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)'
  ease-decelerate: 'cubic-bezier(0, 0, 0.2, 1)'
  duration-fast: 100
  duration-standard: 180
  duration-slow: 280
  reduced-motion: 'respects prefers-reduced-motion: reduce — number-counter animations disabled, page transitions reduce to opacity, status-dot pulses removed.'

breakpoints:
  mobile: 640
  tablet: 1024
  desktop: 1280
  wide: 1536

shadows:
  ambient: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.4) 0 1px 2px'
  standard: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.6) 0 8px 16px -4px'
  elevated: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.75) 0 18px 36px -12px'
  deep: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.85) 0 30px 60px -16px'
  ring: '0 0 0 2px #c11027'
  glow: '0 0 16px rgba(193,16,39,0.4)'

accessibility:
  contrast-text-on-bg: 19.6         # AAA — white on #111111
  contrast-text-on-brand: 5.6       # AA at body sizes — white on #c11027
  contrast-muted-on-bg: 7.2         # AAA — #a0a0a0 on #111
  contrast-success-on-bg: 6.4       # AA — green on #111
  contrast-warning-on-bg: 9.8       # AAA — amber on #111
  focus-ring: '2px solid #c11027, offset 2px'
  reduced-motion-honored: true
  keyboard-nav: 'standard tab order; red focus ring on all interactive controls'

components:
  button-primary:
    bg: '#c11027'
    text: '#ffffff'
    padding: '8px 14px'
    radius: 6
    font: 'button (14/500)'
    border: 'none'
    hover: 'bg → #e0142f'
    active: 'bg → #a00d22'
    use: 'primary CTA — Sign up, Try Postgres'
  button-ghost:
    bg: 'transparent'
    text: '#ffffff'
    padding: '8px 14px'
    radius: 6
    font: 'button (14/500)'
    border: '1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.15)'
    hover: 'border → rgba(255,255,255,0.3); bg → rgba(255,255,255,0.04)'
    use: 'secondary action'
  button-danger:
    bg: 'transparent'
    text: '#ff4d4d'
    padding: '8px 14px'
    radius: 6
    border: '1px solid rgba(255,77,77,0.4)'
    hover: 'bg → rgba(255,77,77,0.08)'
    use: 'destructive — Drop branch, Delete database'
  card:
    bg: '#1a1a1a'
    text: '#ffffff'
    padding: '20px'
    radius: 8
    border: '1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.1)'
    shadow: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.4) 0 1px 2px'
    use: 'feature card, pricing tier, query metric'
  card-elevated:
    bg: '#222222'
    text: '#ffffff'
    padding: '24px'
    radius: 8
    border: 'none'
    shadow: standard
    use: 'recommended pricing tier, callout'
  input:
    bg: '#000000'
    text: '#ffffff'
    placeholder: '#666666'
    padding: '8px 12px'
    radius: 6
    border: '1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.15)'
    focus: 'border → #c11027; ring 2px solid rgba(193,16,39,0.3)'
    use: 'text input, query field'
  badge:
    bg: '#1a1a1a'
    text: '#a0a0a0'
    padding: '2px 8px'
    radius: 4
    font: 'micro (11/500 mono)'
    use: 'tag, status pill, region label'
  badge-status:
    bg: 'transparent'
    text: '#22a652'
    padding: '2px 8px'
    radius: 4
    border: '1px solid rgba(34,166,82,0.3)'
    use: 'database OK, healthy, online'
  nav-link:
    bg: 'transparent'
    text: '#a0a0a0'
    padding: '6px 10px'
    font: 'body-small (13/500)'
    hover: 'text → #ffffff'
    active: 'text → #ffffff; underline 1px'
    use: 'top nav'

lineage:
  summary: |
    PlanetScale's 2024 rebrand pulled the entire surface toward terminal-
    aesthetic territory. The canvas is `#111111` — not Vercel's pure
    black, not Linear's graphite, but a deliberate "Tailwind zinc-950"
    near-black that matches database CLI output. The blood-red brand
    (`#c11027`) is the most striking choice: red is normally an error
    or warning colour in dev tooling; PlanetScale ownership-flips it
    into the primary action. Pairing it with the database-green
    `#22a652` (the literal MySQL "OK" green) and the amber `#f5a623`
    (warning) gives the marketing the same chromatic vocabulary as a
    SQL terminal output. Mono numerals are everywhere — query latency,
    branch counts, row counts — typeset in PlanetScale Mono so metrics
    align column-wise. Buttons are 6px, cards 8px — tighter than the
    Vercel/Linear PaaS norm, reinforcing the dense-tooling feel. The
    overall lineage is "Bloomberg terminal styled as marketing" rather
    than "marketing site with a dark mode."
  influences:
    - name: 'Bloomberg / financial terminals'
      role: 'Mono numerals, dense status colours, near-black canvas — the underlying aesthetic frame.'
      url: https://www.bloomberg.com
    - name: 'Linear'
      role: 'Single-confident-accent on near-black, tight 6–8px radii, restrained shadow vocabulary.'
      url: https://linear.app
    - name: 'MySQL terminal output'
      role: 'Red-amber-green chromatic vocabulary borrowed from query-execution status colours.'
      url: https://www.mysql.com
    - name: 'Vercel'
      role: 'Near-black canvas with a single confident accent — PlanetScale rotates the accent from white to red.'
      url: https://vercel.com

dark-mode: native    # PlanetScale ships dark-only — terminal aesthetic depends on the near-black canvas
---

## 1. Visual Theme & Atmosphere

PlanetScale's home page reads like a database administrator's terminal
that learned typography. The canvas is `#111111`, the headlines are
mono-adjacent, and the numerals — query latency, region counts,
branch counts — are typeset in PlanetScale Mono so they align like
financial figures. The first impression is **Bloomberg terminal as
marketing site** — not a marketing site with a dark mode toggle, but
a brand that took the terminal aesthetic seriously enough to make it
the substrate of every page.

The blood-red brand colour (`#c11027`) is the page's most striking
choice. Red, in developer tooling, almost always means error.
PlanetScale inverts that — red is the action, the call to deploy, the
highlight on "Postgres is here." Green and amber retain their
conventional status meanings, which makes the red feel intentional
rather than alarmist. The whole chromatic system is a deliberate echo
of MySQL's terminal output: red for emphasis, green for OK, amber for
hot rows.

The mono numeral discipline is the most distinctive typographic move
in the brand. Latency figures, branch counts, region pricing, query
times — every number is typeset in PlanetScale Mono with `tnum`
tabular numerals enabled, so columns of numerics align perfectly. This
is brand-as-utility: the type does what it says it does.

The mood is **dense, technical, slightly austere**. There's no halo
gradient, no chromatic flourish, no decorative animation. PlanetScale's
brand is what happens when you take infrastructure marketing seriously
enough to make the marketing reflect the product's actual aesthetic.

**Key Characteristics**

- Near-black canvas `#111111` (Tailwind zinc-950) with pure black `#000000` panels for emphasis
- Blood-red brand `#c11027` for primary action — ownership-flipped from "error" to "action"
- Database-green `#22a652` and amber `#f5a623` retain conventional MySQL status semantics
- PlanetScale Sans + PlanetScale Mono — custom families with `ss01` alternate g, `tnum`, `zero`
- Mono numerals everywhere on metrics — tabular alignment is the brand
- Tight 6px buttons + 8px cards (denser than 8/12 PaaS norm)
- 88px display-hero with -0.035em tracking
- Pure-black shadows at varying alpha, never tinted
- Status pills set in mono with conventional red/amber/green colour-coding
- Dense feature blocks rather than spacious creative-tool layouts

## 2. Color Palette & Roles

### Primary

- **Background** (`#111111`): Tailwind zinc-950 near-black, the canvas of choice for terminal-aesthetic brands
- **Background Deep** (`#000000`): pure black for hero panels and full-bleed transitions
- **Primary Text** (`#ffffff`): full white
- **Primary CTA Fill** (`#c11027`): blood-red

### Brand & Dark

- **Brand Red** (`#c11027`): blood-red primary action — the brand's ownership-flip move
- **Brand Hover** (`#e0142f`): brightened on hover
- **Brand Pressed** (`#a00d22`): pressed/active
- **Brand Deep** (`#7d091a`): deepest red for icon strokes
- **Brand Glow** (`#c1102733`): 20% red wash for hover backgrounds
- **On-Brand Text** (`#ffffff`): white on red, 5.6:1 contrast (AA)

### Accent

- **Database Green** (`#22a652`): MySQL OK green — status, healthy
- **Accent Green Hover** (`#2bc060`): hover state
- **Accent Green Deep** (`#188440`): deeper green for emphasized success
- **Amber** (`#f5a623`): warning, hot row, attention
- **Amber Hover** (`#ffba3d`): hover amber

### Interactive

- **Link** (`#7ab2ff`): cool blue (rare — used in documentation only)
- **Link Hover** (`#a3c8ff`)
- **Link Visited** (`#5d96e0`)
- **Selected** (`#c1102726`): 15% red selection
- **Disabled** (`#3a3a3a`)
- **Disabled Text** (`#666666`)

### Neutral Scale

- **Text Heading** (`#ffffff`): full white
- **Text Body** (`#ffffff`): full white
- **Text Muted** (`#a0a0a0`): secondary copy, captions
- **Text Soft** (`#6a6a6a`): tertiary
- **Text Faint** (`#4a4a4a`): quaternary
- **Text Disabled** (`#666666`)

### Surface & Borders

- **Surface** (`#1a1a1a`): card surface, one tonal step above canvas
- **Surface Alt** (`#222222`): secondary panel
- **Surface Elevated** (`#2a2a2a`): popover, dropdown
- **Border** (`#ffffff1a`): 10% white hairline
- **Border Soft** (`#ffffff0d`): 5% white
- **Border Strong** (`#ffffff33`): 20% emphasized
- **Border Brand** (`#c1102766`): 40% red on focus

### Shadow Colors

Shadows are pure-black at varying alpha — never tinted with brand red. The exception is the focus glow (red wash):

- **Ambient** (`rgba(0,0,0,0.4)`): low resting
- **Standard** (`rgba(0,0,0,0.6)`): card hover
- **Elevated** (`rgba(0,0,0,0.75)`): popover
- **Deep** (`rgba(0,0,0,0.85)`): modal
- **Glow** (`rgba(193,16,39,0.4)`): red focus glow only

### Semantic

- **Success** (`#22a652`): database OK green — same as accent
- **Success Bg** (`#0f3a1f`): dark green surface
- **Warning** (`#f5a623`): amber — same as accent
- **Warning Bg** (`#3a2710`): dark amber surface
- **Danger** (`#ff4d4d`): bright red, deliberately distinct from brand-red `#c11027` so error states don't conflict with brand
- **Danger Bg** (`#3a1818`)
- **Info** (`#7ab2ff`): cool blue
- **Info Bg** (`#1a2030`)

## 3. Typography Rules

### Font Family

- **Display & Body**: PlanetScale Sans (custom Inter-class), Inter fallback
- **Mono**: PlanetScale Mono (custom JetBrains-class), JetBrains Mono fallback
- **OpenType**: `ss01` (alternate single-storey g), `cv11`, `tnum` enabled across display; `tnum` and `zero` (slashed zero) on mono throughout

### Hierarchy

| Role | Font | Size | Weight | Line Height | Letter Spacing | OT Features | Notes |
|------|------|------|--------|-------------|----------------|-------------|-------|
| display-hero | display | 88 | 600 | 1.0 | -0.035em | ss01 | hero only |
| display-large | display | 72 | 600 | 1.0 | -0.03em | ss01 | section opener |
| h1 | display | 56 | 600 | 1.05 | -0.025em | ss01 | page title |
| h2 | display | 40 | 600 | 1.1 | -0.02em | — | feature heading |
| h3 | display | 24 | 500 | 1.3 | -0.01em | — | sub-feature |
| h4 | display | 18 | 500 | 1.35 | -0.005em | — | card title |
| body-large | body | 17 | 400 | 1.5 | 0 | — | hero supporting |
| body | body | 15 | 400 | 1.5 | 0 | — | default — slightly tighter than 16 |
| body-small | body | 13 | 400 | 1.45 | 0 | — | dense tables |
| label-mono | mono | 12 | 500 | 1.3 | 0.04em | zero, tnum | eyebrow, label |
| button | body | 14 | 500 | 1.0 | 0 | — | primary/ghost |
| button-small | body | 12 | 500 | 1.0 | 0 | — | dense controls |
| link | body | 15 | 500 | 1.5 | 0 | — | inline link |
| metric | mono | 32 | 500 | 1.05 | -0.01em | zero, tnum | mid-tier metric callout |
| metric-large | mono | 48 | 500 | 1.0 | -0.015em | zero, tnum | hero stat |
| caption | body | 13 | 400 | 1.4 | 0 | — | footnote |
| caption-small | body | 12 | 400 | 1.35 | 0 | — | metadata |
| micro | body | 11 | 500 | 1.3 | 0.06em | — | badge |
| code-body | mono | 13 | 400 | 1.55 | 0 | zero | code blocks |
| code-bold | mono | 13 | 600 | 1.55 | 0 | zero | emphasized id |
| code-label | mono | 11 | 500 | 1.3 | 0.05em | zero, tnum | branch/region label |

### Principles

- **Mono numerals are non-negotiable**: every numeric metric (latency, row counts, branches, regions) typeset in PlanetScale Mono with `tnum`
- **Body 15px, not 16px**: PlanetScale's default body is one step smaller than typical SaaS — supports the dense-tooling feel
- **Two-mode OpenType discipline**: `tnum` always-on inside metric blocks; proportional figures elsewhere
- **Slashed zero on mono**: `zero` enabled to disambiguate `0` from `O` in identifiers, branches, hex
- **Weight ladder**: 600 for display, 500 for buttons/labels/metric, 400 for body — matches the calm-but-confident terminal voice
- **Tight tracking**: -0.025em to -0.035em on display; aggressive compression for the dense-marketing feel
- **`ss01` continuity**: alternate g feature shared between display, body, and mono — keeps the type chromatically consistent
- **Metric scale is parallel**: 32px and 48px metric tiers sit alongside the body scale, set in mono — they're the brand's hero copy

## 4. Component Stylings

### Buttons

**button-primary** — Blood-red
- Background: `#c11027`
- Text: `#ffffff` at 14/500
- Padding: 8px 14px
- Radius: 6
- Border: none
- Hover: bg → `#e0142f`
- Active: bg → `#a00d22`
- Focus: 2px solid `#c11027` ring, 2px offset
- Use: primary CTA — "Sign up", "Try PlanetScale"

**button-ghost** — Outlined
- Background: transparent
- Text: `#ffffff` at 14/500
- Padding: 8px 14px
- Radius: 6
- Border: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.15)
- Hover: border → rgba(255,255,255,0.3), bg → rgba(255,255,255,0.04)
- Use: secondary action — "Documentation", "Sign in"

**button-danger** — Destructive
- Background: transparent
- Text: `#ff4d4d` at 14/500
- Padding: 8px 14px
- Radius: 6
- Border: 1px solid rgba(255,77,77,0.4)
- Hover: bg → rgba(255,77,77,0.08)
- Use: "Drop branch", "Delete database"

**button-link** — Bare
- Background: transparent
- Text: `#7ab2ff` at 14/500
- Padding: 0
- Hover: underline grows from 0 → 1px

### Cards

**card-default**
- Background: `#1a1a1a`
- Padding: 20px
- Radius: 8 (tight)
- Border: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.1)
- Shadow: ambient
- Hover: shadow → standard, border → rgba(255,255,255,0.15)
- Use: feature card, pricing tier, query metric

**card-elevated** — Recommended tier
- Background: `#222222`
- Padding: 24px
- Radius: 8
- Border: none
- Shadow: standard
- Use: recommended pricing tier, hero callout

### Badges / Tags / Pills

**badge-tag** — Default
- Background: `#1a1a1a`
- Text: `#a0a0a0` at 11/500 micro mono
- Padding: 2px 8px
- Radius: 4
- Use: tag, version, region label

**badge-status-success** — Database OK
- Background: transparent
- Text: `#22a652`
- Padding: 2px 8px
- Radius: 4
- Border: 1px solid rgba(34,166,82,0.3)
- Use: "OK", "Healthy", "Online"

**badge-status-warning** — Hot row
- Background: transparent
- Text: `#f5a623`
- Padding: 2px 8px
- Radius: 4
- Border: 1px solid rgba(245,166,35,0.3)
- Use: "Warning", "Hot", "Slow"

**badge-status-danger** — Error
- Background: transparent
- Text: `#ff4d4d`
- Padding: 2px 8px
- Radius: 4
- Border: 1px solid rgba(255,77,77,0.4)
- Use: "Failed", "Down", "Error"

### Inputs / Forms

**input-text**
- Background: `#000000`
- Text: `#ffffff` at 15/400
- Placeholder: `#666666`
- Padding: 8px 12px
- Radius: 6
- Border: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.15)
- Focus: border → `#c11027`, ring 2px solid rgba(193,16,39,0.3)

### Navigation

**nav-link**
- Background: transparent
- Text: `#a0a0a0` at 13/500
- Padding: 6px 10px
- Hover: text → `#ffffff`
- Active: text → `#ffffff` + 1px underline

### Decorative

**status-dot** — Database state indicator
- 6px circle in the relevant status colour (`#22a652` / `#f5a623` / `#ff4d4d`)
- Optional 0 0 8px [colour at 0.4] glow on live state
- Use: next to region/branch labels, deployment cards

**metric-block** — Query latency callout
- Set in mono with metric-large (48/500) for the figure
- Caption-small below in body, `#a0a0a0`
- No padding — sits inline with surrounding copy

**code-block**
- Background: `#000000`
- Text: `#ffffff` at code-body (13/400 PlanetScale Mono)
- Padding: 16px 20px
- Radius: 6
- Border: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.08)
- Inline backticks render in `#22a652` accent green

## 5. Layout Principles

### Spacing System

- **Base unit**: 4px
- **Scale**: 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48, 64, 80, 96, 128
- **Density observation**: PlanetScale's grid is **dense** — feature blocks at 16–24px gaps, sections at 64–96px. Less whitespace than Render/Vercel; closer to a financial dashboard

### Grid & Container

- **Page width**: 1280px max
- **Prose width**: 720px (documentation, marketing body)
- **Hero treatment**: full-bleed black, content constrained to 1024px
- **Feature grid**: 4-col at desktop, 2-col at tablet, 1-col at mobile

### Whitespace Philosophy

- Whitespace is **functional**, not decorative — only where it improves scan-ability
- Section gaps are tight by SaaS standards (64–96px) reflecting the dense-tooling positioning
- Cards sit close together to support comparison-grid layouts

### Section Cadence

- Black canvas → near-black surface card grid → black hero callout → pricing-tier grid → footer
- Sections rarely shift colour; tonal layering (`#000` → `#111` → `#1a1a1a` → `#222`) provides break
- The brand red never anchors a section background — stays foreground for action

## 6. Shapes & Radius Scale

| Tier | Px | Use |
|------|----|----|
| Micro | 2 | inline pills, tight chips |
| Standard | 4 | small badges, status pills |
| Comfortable | 6 | buttons, inputs |
| Relaxed | 8 | cards |
| Featured | 12 | hero shells |
| Large | 16 | signature illustrative panels |
| Pill | 9999 | rare — most pills are 4px instead |

The 4px status pill (instead of 9999 pill) is a brand signature — pulls the controls toward terminal-tag feel rather than soft SaaS-pill aesthetic.

## 7. Depth & Elevation

| Level | Treatment | Use |
|-------|-----------|----|
| 0 | flat | hero copy on canvas |
| 1 | 1px translucent hairline | inline cards, code blocks |
| 2 | 1px hairline + ambient shadow | feature cards |
| 3 | standard shadow | hover state |
| 4 | elevated shadow | popover, dropdown |
| 5 | deep shadow | modal, command palette |

**Shadow Philosophy**: shadows are pure black at varying alpha — never tinted with the brand red. The intensity ladder (0.4 → 0.6 → 0.75 → 0.85) keeps depth subtle; PlanetScale's depth is more often tonal (canvas vs surface) than elevation-shadow. The only chromatic shadow is the red focus glow, reserved for interactive controls.

## 8. Interaction & Motion

### Easing

- **Standard**: `cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)` — default
- **Emphasized**: `cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)` — modal enter, page transition
- **Decelerate**: `cubic-bezier(0, 0, 0.2, 1)` — tooltip enter

### Durations

- **Fast** (100ms): hover state — fast for terminal-tooling feel
- **Standard** (180ms): card lift, button press — slightly faster than typical
- **Slow** (280ms): modal enter, page transition

### Per-Component Recipes

- **Button hover**: bg colour transitions over 100ms; no scale (terminal aesthetic doesn't lift)
- **Card hover**: border opacity 0.1 → 0.15, shadow ambient → standard, over 180ms
- **Status dot pulse**: live state — opacity 0.7 → 1.0 over 1.2s ease-in-out infinite
- **Number counter animation**: hero metrics tween from 0 to value over 1.5s on first scroll-into-view (disabled with reduced-motion)
- **Link hover**: underline grows from 0 → 1px over 100ms

### Page Transitions

- Default: opacity-only fade over 280ms — no translate, no scale (terminal aesthetic stays planar)

### Reduced Motion

When `prefers-reduced-motion: reduce` is set:

- Number counter animations disabled (display final value immediately)
- Status dot pulse animation disabled
- All transitions reduce to opacity
- Link underline appears instantly

## 9. Accessibility & A11y

### Contrast Pairs

- **White text on `#111111` bg**: 19.6:1 (AAA)
- **White on `#1a1a1a` surface**: 17.0:1 (AAA)
- **Muted `#a0a0a0` on `#111`**: 7.2:1 (AAA)
- **White on `#c11027` brand**: 5.6:1 (AA at body sizes; bold display recommended)
- **Green `#22a652` on `#111`**: 6.4:1 (AA)
- **Amber `#f5a623` on `#111`**: 9.8:1 (AAA)
- **Soft `#6a6a6a` on `#111`**: 3.6:1 (AA Large only — never for body)

### Focus Indicators

- Default: 2px solid `#c11027` ring, 2px offset
- Inputs: focus border → `#c11027` + ring 2px solid rgba(193,16,39,0.3)
- Always visible

### ARIA Patterns

- **Combobox**: standard listbox pattern with role="combobox", aria-expanded
- **Dialog**: aria-labelledby + aria-describedby; trap focus; ESC to close
- **Status badges**: aria-label spelling status (e.g., "Status: OK") — never relies on colour alone
- **Region pills**: aria-label spelling region

### Keyboard Navigation

- Tab order follows visual order; skip-link at page top
- Enter/Space activates buttons
- Cmd/Ctrl+K opens command palette
- Escape closes modals, popovers
- Arrow keys navigate within tab groups

### Screen Reader Hints

- Status indicators always paired with text (red/green/amber dot + status word)
- Mono code uses `<code>` semantic
- Pricing tier "RECOMMENDED" badges include aria-label

### Reduced Motion

`prefers-reduced-motion: reduce` honored throughout — see §8.

## 10. Responsive Behavior

### Breakpoints

| Name | Min Width | Use |
|------|-----------|----|
| Mobile | — | default |
| Tablet | 640 | 2-col grids |
| Desktop | 1024 | 3-col grids |
| Wide | 1280 | 4-col grids, max page |
| Ultra | 1536 | wide hero |

### Touch Targets

- Minimum 44×44px for primary controls
- 4px-radius status pills expand hit-area to 32×24px

### Collapsing Strategy

- **Nav**: collapses to hamburger ≤ 768px
- **Feature grid**: 4-col → 3-col @ 1280 → 2-col @ 1024 → 1-col @ 640
- **Hero**: display-hero (88px) reduces to 48px @ 640
- **Metric blocks**: 48px metric-large reduces to 32px @ 640
- **Code blocks**: scroll horizontally on overflow; never wrap

### Image Behavior

- All UI imagery is SVG/screenshot-based, render crisp
- Region maps respond fluidly
- Icons lock at 14–16px

## 11. Content & Voice

### Tone

Direct, confident, slightly austere. PlanetScale writes like a senior database engineer documenting their work — no marketing fluff, full sentences, technical precision. Microcopy is action-led; documentation is reference-grade. Occasionally wry, never funny-for-funny's-sake.

### Microcopy Patterns

- **Button verbs**: "Sign up", "Try free", "Connect", "Branch", "Deploy" — single or two-word maximum
- **Error message recipe**: `[noun] [failed verb]: [specific reason]` — e.g., "Branch creation failed: insufficient permissions"
- **Success confirmations**: `[noun] [verb-past]` — "Database created", "Branch deployed", "Migration applied"
- **Empty states**: technical and direct — "No branches yet. [CTA: Create your first branch]"

### CTA Verb Conventions

- Top-level: "Sign up free" (not "Start trial")
- Product: "Try PlanetScale", "Try Postgres" (verb-led)
- Documentation: "Read the docs"
- Sales: "Talk to sales"
- Pricing: "Get started" or "Contact us"

## 12. Dark Mode & Theming

PlanetScale is **dark-only**. There is no light-mode variant — the terminal aesthetic depends on the near-black canvas. Light-flipping the brand would collapse the chromatic story (red/amber/green status colours lose their meaning, mono numerals lose their density).

The dashboard product runs the same chromatic palette as the marketing site; both are dark-only. Documentation occasionally renders in a light theme as a code-readability accommodation — but the brand identity remains dark-canvas-with-red-action.

If a light variant were ever needed: invert canvas to `#fafafa`, body text to `#111`, brand red stays `#c11027` (works on both), but the status green would deepen to `#0a8754` and amber to `#cc7400` for AA contrast on light. The result would not be PlanetScale-feeling — but it would be accessible.

## 13. Lineage & Influences

PlanetScale's 2024 rebrand pulled the entire surface toward terminal-aesthetic territory. The canvas is `#111111` — not Vercel's pure black, not Linear's graphite, but a deliberate "Tailwind zinc-950" near-black that matches database CLI output. The blood-red brand (`#c11027`) is the most striking choice: red is normally an error or warning colour in dev tooling; PlanetScale ownership-flips it into the primary action.

Pairing the red with the database-green `#22a652` (the literal MySQL "OK" green) and the amber `#f5a623` (warning) gives the marketing the same chromatic vocabulary as a SQL terminal output. Mono numerals are everywhere — query latency, branch counts, row counts — typeset in PlanetScale Mono so metrics align column-wise. Buttons are 6px, cards 8px — tighter than the Vercel/Linear PaaS norm, reinforcing the dense-tooling feel.

- **Bloomberg / financial terminals** — https://www.bloomberg.com — mono numerals, dense status colours
- **Linear** — https://linear.app — single-confident-accent on near-black, restrained shadows
- **MySQL terminal output** — https://www.mysql.com — red/amber/green chromatic vocabulary
- **Vercel** — https://vercel.com — near-black canvas with single accent (PlanetScale rotates accent from white to red)

## 14. Do's and Don'ts

### Do

- **Do** reserve `#c11027` for primary action — using it for errors collapses the chromatic story
- **Do** typeset all numerics (latency, row counts, branches) in PlanetScale Mono with `tnum` for tabular alignment
- **Do** use the green/amber/red status trio with the same semantics as MySQL output — that vocabulary is the brand
- **Do** keep canvas at `#111111` — Tailwind zinc-950, not pure black, not graphite
- **Do** use 6px button radius and 8px card radius — denser than typical PaaS
- **Do** set body at 15px (not 16px) for the dense-tooling feel
- **Do** use `zero` slashed-zero on mono throughout
- **Do** pair status colour-coding with text labels for accessibility
- **Do** honor `prefers-reduced-motion` — disable counter animations and pulses
- **Do** keep shadows pure-black; only the focus glow is brand-tinted

### Don't

- **Don't** soften the canvas above `#111111`; lifting toward graphite reads as Linear
- **Don't** mix brand-red `#c11027` with pink, coral, or magenta — saturation and exact hue are deliberate
- **Don't** use brand-red for error states — error uses `#ff4d4d` deliberately distinct
- **Don't** apply heavy drop shadows; depth is tonal layering + minimal pure-black shadow
- **Don't** soften the geometry — 6/8/12 radii, not 8/12/16
- **Don't** use proportional figures on metrics — `tnum` is non-negotiable
- **Don't** flip to light mode; PlanetScale's terminal aesthetic depends on the near-black canvas
- **Don't** introduce decorative gradients or chromatic halos — PlanetScale is flat-on-flat
- **Don't** use 9999 pill radius for status — 4px terminal-tag radius is the brand
- **Don't** set body in mono — mono is for metrics, code, identifiers, status labels

## 15. Agent Prompt Guide

### Quick Color Reference

```
bg: #111111
bg-deep: #000000
surface: #1a1a1a
text: #ffffff
text-muted: #a0a0a0
brand: #c11027
brand-hover: #e0142f
accent-green: #22a652
accent-amber: #f5a623
border: rgba(255,255,255,0.1)
on-brand: #ffffff
```

### Example Component Prompts

1. "Create a hero section: near-black `#111111` background, an 88px display-hero in white at 600 weight with -0.035em tracking and `ss01` alternate g enabled, body-large 17px subhead in `#a0a0a0`. Add a primary blood-red button (`#c11027` fill, white text, 6px radius, 8px 14px padding, 14/500 button text) saying 'Sign up free' and a ghost button 'Read the docs.'"

2. "Design a 4-card metrics grid: each card `#1a1a1a` bg, 20px padding, 8px radius, 1px rgba(255,255,255,0.1) border. Each card shows a 48px PlanetScale Mono metric with `tnum` and `zero` features (e.g., '5.2ms', '99.99%', '180+'), a 13px label in `#a0a0a0` below. Numbers are tabular, column-aligned across cards."

3. "Build a status-pill row: 4 inline pills with 4px radius, 2px 8px padding, 11px PlanetScale Mono with 0.06em tracking. Pills: 'OK' (green border + green text on transparent), 'WARN' (amber border + amber), 'FAILED' (#ff4d4d border + text), 'BETA' (white border + text). Add aria-label spelling each status."

4. "Create a code block: pure-black `#000000` background, 13px PlanetScale Mono `#ffffff` body text with `zero` feature, 16px 20px padding, 6px radius, 1px rgba(255,255,255,0.08) border. Inline backticks within prose render in `#22a652` database green."

5. "Design a pricing-tier grid: 3 cards on `#111` canvas. Default tiers use card-default styling; recommended (middle) tier uses card-elevated (`#222222` bg, no border, standard shadow). Recommended badge: 'POPULAR' in 11px PlanetScale Mono at 500 with 0.06em tracking, on `#c11027` red 4px-radius pill. CTAs: red primary on recommended, ghost on the others."

6. "Build a database branch indicator: 6px green `#22a652` status dot with `0 0 8px rgba(34,166,82,0.4)` glow, paired with branch name in 13px PlanetScale Mono, region in 11px mono `#a0a0a0` after a `/` separator. Add aria-label 'Branch online: main / iad'."

### Iteration Guide

1. **Start with the canvas** — `#111111` (zinc-950), not `#000` and not `#1a1a1a`. The exact hex matters
2. **Confirm the red is `#c11027`** — not Tailwind red-600, not crimson, not coral. The blood-red specificity is the brand
3. **Mono everywhere metric** — every number wears mono with `tnum` and `zero`; verify tabular alignment
4. **Tight radii** — 6px buttons, 8px cards, 4px status pills; if you're at 8/12, you're at Vercel, not PlanetScale
5. **No chromatic shadows** — pure black at varying alpha; only the focus ring uses red
6. **Status semantics match MySQL** — red/amber/green carry their conventional meanings
7. **Body 15px, not 16** — one step smaller for the dense feel
8. **`ss01` continuity** — alternate g feature shared across display, body, mono — verify in headings