Files
voculinux/web/DESIGN.md
T
xavierk c9be45d3c3 fix(web): link the fork's own source host and drop the upstream star count
The header badge fetched the star count of VocaHQ/vocalinux at build time
and labelled it as Voculinux's. The fetch and the count are gone; the
header, footer and social "source" links now go to the fork repository at
git.bongbetic.com/xavierk/voculinux, as do the issue links, the docs
anchors, the home page JSON-LD and the xbps release card.

Upstream GitHub stays only where it is the real artefact or provenance and
is labelled as such: the install script, the AppImage release card, the
upstream card and the changelog release links. The changelog now says its
entries are upstream history, the open-source page no longer claims
VocaHQ membership or an active GitHub community, and the organization
JSON-LD drops the upstream author as founder. DESIGN.md and PRODUCT.md
follow.
2026-11-06 18:22:17 +05:30

6.3 KiB
Raw Blame History

name, description, colors, typography, rounded, spacing
name description colors typography rounded spacing
Voculinux website Linux voice dictation marketing site in the Carbon-mapped house-palette language
paper paper-deep paper-bright ink muted-copy faint line brand brand-dark brand-soft brand-softer dark-ink sun red terminal terminal-fg
#f4f1e8 #ebe5d8 #fffdf7 #14231c #58625c #5f6861 #c9c8bd #0f6b57 #0b493d #cfe9dc #e5f2eb #0b1a15 #e9b949 #de6a57 #0b1a15 #cfe9dc
display body mono
"Avenir Next", "Helvetica Neue", ui-sans-serif, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", sans-serif ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, monospace
sm md lg
0.45rem 1rem 1.4rem
shell section-y
min(1180px, calc(100% - 2rem)) 5.5rem

Design system: voculinux.com

Overview

Creative north star: the Linux desk, Carbon-mapped to the house palette

Voculinux.com is the fork site. It adopts Carbon's spacing, type-role, motion, and contrast discipline remapped to the house palette — warm paper, deep green ink, one teal accent, editorial type, flat surfaces, and real product proof. Carbon blue and Carbon typefaces are not adopted; system stacks only. Bongbetic appears only as attribution chrome in the header and footer, linking hosted assets.

The Linux-specific job is to show local desktop dictation with distribution and display-server truth. Pair a GTK-style window (not macOS traffic lights) with a terminal. Explain the user outcome before the install command.

Child pages share the same shell, tokens, and paper canvas. Paper is the only marketing theme. There is no site-wide dark mode. The screenshots gallery is the exception: a page-local Light/Dark flip shows the captured GTK shots in both appearances, defaulting to prefers-color-scheme until the visitor overrides it for that tab.

Colors

Warm paper with one product teal. No second chromatic brand color.

Surfaces

  • Paper #f4f1e8: page canvas
  • Deep paper #ebe5d8: recessed bands (install, engines)
  • Bright paper #fffdf7: windows and cards
  • Dark ink #0b1a15: panel bar, terminal, optional dark band

Ink

  • Ink #14231c: headings and strong borders
  • Muted copy #58625c: body
  • Faint #5f6861: metadata
  • Line #c9c8bd: quiet borders
  • Line dark #9ea59f: window outlines

Accent

  • Brand teal #0f6b57: primary buttons, links, live marks
  • Dark teal #0b493d: hover / pressed
  • Mint #cfe9dc / mint soft #e5f2eb: tags and chips

Annotations only

  • Sun #e9b949: focus rings
  • Red #de6a57: recording dot, never as a brand fill

Named rules

The family paper rule. Backgrounds stay warm paper, with dark ink only for the tray bar, terminal, and ribbon. Not zinc white, not a second site-wide dark theme, not purple mesh.

The one signal rule. Teal is the only chromatic accent on marketing pages. Yellow and red are physical details (focus, recording), not competing brands.

The no-gradient rule. Solid fills only. No linear, radial, or conic gradients.

Typography

System-first, system stacks only; no remote webfonts.

  • Display: Avenir Next / Helvetica Neue / Segoe UI / Arial
  • Body: system UI sans
  • Mono: system UI monospace for commands, tags, and metadata

No remote webfonts. No Geist, Inter, or Bricolage as the page face.

Hierarchy

  • Hero display: clamp ~3.7–7.4rem, weight ~780, tracking -0.075em, line-height ~0.92
  • Section title: clamp ~2.2–4.7rem, tracking -0.065em
  • Body: 16–18px, line-height ~1.65. Reflow with the shell; do not pretty-wrap or cap titles at 20ch
  • Mono tags: ~0.7rem, used sparingly

Accent words in a headline use the same family, font-style: normal, brand color. Do not mix a second family into a heading.

Layout

  • Shell: min(1180px, calc(100% - 2rem))
  • Sticky paper header, ~70px, one line of nav on desktop
  • Home first viewport: split offer + Linux workbench when wide; stacked on small screens
  • Section padding ~5.5–9rem desktop, ~4–6rem mobile
  • Alternate paper / deep paper for rhythm
  • Child pages: breadcrumbs + content in the same shell

Elevation and shapes

Flat fills, 1px borders, paper-window shadows. Small rotations only on decorative notes, never on long copy or controls.

  • Controls: 0.45rem radius
  • Windows: ~10–14px radius
  • Pills only for tiny tags (engine badge, section tag)

Components

Buttons

  • Primary: brand teal, paper-bright text, 44px min height
  • Homepage / closing CTA: "Install Voculinux", jumps to #install
  • Secondary: transparent with a 3:1 control outline
  • Hover: 2px lift, no bounce scale as the only affordance
  • Focus: 3px sun outline, 3px offset

Linux window

  • GTK-style headerbar: title, then window controls on the right
  • Grey control circles, not red/yellow/green traffic lights
  • Bright paper body, dark ink panel bar above (tray analogue)

Terminal

  • Dark ink surface, mint command text, copy in the chrome
  • GTK headerbar: copy on the left, title centered, grey window controls on the right
  • Prompt is user@linux:~$ with colored user, host, and path, not a Mac $
  • Long URLs wrap (break-all / overflow-wrap) so mobile never overflows

Navigation

  • Sticky paper bar, mark + name, 3–5 text links, a "Source" link to the fork repository on desktop (no star count)
  • Mobile menu keeps Install Voculinux as the conversion action
  • Real mobile disclosure with aria-expanded
  • Resource-rich footer, not a second mega-menu in the header
  • Paper chrome stays paper; do not put html.dark on this page
  • Light/Dark is a sliding switch over stacked light and dark PNG pairs
  • Default from the browser color scheme; sessionStorage holds a tab override

Do's and don'ts

Do

  • Lead with the dictation outcome, then the install command
  • Use real screenshots and a faithful Linux window, not a fake SaaS dashboard
  • Keep product claims accurate (offline local engines; remote only when configured)
  • Honor prefers-reduced-motion

Don't

  • CSS gradients, gradient text, mesh/orbs, or glass panels
  • macOS traffic-light chrome on Linux surfaces
  • Tracked uppercase eyebrows on every section
  • Invent metrics, testimonials, or "AI-powered" claims
  • Recolor the Voculinux mark