Pulse — Brand & UI styleguide

The fastest place to say something and hear back, for one community that actually cares.

01 · Color

High-contrast text on a calm canvas. One indigo accent for primary actions and links. Like is a warm accent that fills only when active. Dark mode is first-class — designed alongside light, not after it.

Canvas
#FFFFFF
Surface
#F7F8FA
Ink
#0F1419
Accent / Indigo
#4F46E5
Like (active)
#E0245E
OK
#1A8754
Limited
#B4750F
Destructive
#D62828

Dark mode (designed in parallel)

#fielddesign Background #0B0F14 · surface #1B2229 · text #E7E9EA

02 · Type

Inter throughout. Generous line-height for scanning long threads, tabular numerals for counts and times, relative timestamps everywhere.

Display 48
Say it. Hear back. In real time.
H1 32
A timeline that feels alive.
H2 22
Latest, ranked · you choose
H3 17
Trending in field recording · 142 posts
H4 14
In reply to @maren
Body 15
Pulse shows you the people you follow. Ranking is opt-in and clearly labeled — you can flip to Latest whenever you want, and you won’t lose your place in the thread.
Small 13
12s ago · 4 replies · 28 likes · 6 reposts
Tabular num
Timeline p95 1.42s · new post propagation 2.8s · 14.2K DAU

03 · Buttons

04 · Form fields

Choose carefully — you can change it twice a year.
Display name can’t be empty.
160 characters. Links are clickable.
Apply per post when composing.
Disables the stream-insert animation when new posts arrive.

05 · Cards

M
Maren Kohler@maren·12s

The fourth blue refused all night. Switched to the Hahnemühle for a single test pull — turns out the third blue wasn’t dry yet. Three minutes of patience is the whole post.

14 6
Trending · field design #hahnemuhle 214 posts · up 38% this hour

Started after Maren’s post about the four blues. Mostly printmakers and conservators.

Trending · field design Cold-set ink, two questions 142 posts · conversation

Two specific questions from @aiden. Reply rate 64%.

A
Aiden Park@aiden·3mLimited reach

Quoting Pulse’s ranking docs: “Follow is a choice, reach is earned.” That’s the bit I trust this place for.

3 1

06 · Pills, chips, toggles

Real-time Limited reach Following you Sensitive content Reported Muted
For you Following #fielddesign #hahnemuhle Media only

07 · Nav rail

08 · Voice

Fast. Plainspoken. Civic.

Pulse talks like the product feels: short sentences, no engagement tricks. We name trade-offs out loud instead of hiding them behind “the algorithm.”

We say

“Latest is everything you follow, in order. For-you is ranked — here’s how.”

We don’t say

“Discover the magic of your personalized algorithmic experience!”

We say

“Your block hard-isolates. They can’t see your posts, you can’t see theirs.”

We don’t say

“Block this user to enhance your engagement journey.”