designmds
← all sites

AKQA

www.akqa.com
achromaticmonochromesquareminimaleditorialspaciousagencypremiumasymmetric
AKQA
Agent-readable design overview — paste into any LLM.
DESIGN.md

AKQA — Design System

North Star

An agency portfolio that lets the work breathe — quiet chrome, big imagery, every grid cell a story.

Theme: light Category: agency Tags: achromatic · monochrome · square · minimal · editorial · spacious · agency · premium · asymmetric

Description

AKQA's site is almost all photography and case-study tiles with the absolute minimum of chrome. A near-white canvas, a slim sans-serif logo and nav at the top, and a varied-cell grid below that mixes phone mockups, on-set photography, brand films, and motion poster art. Typography stays understated — labels and titles in a small editorial sans — letting each project's imagery dominate. The voice is confident, premium, restrained.

Colors

NameHexGroupRoleTailwind
neutral-700#414141neutralneutral step 700neutral-700 (Δ0.004)
neutral-900#121212neutralneutral step 900neutral-900 (Δ0.022)
neutral-50-1#ffffffneutralneutral step 50zinc-50 (Δ0.015)
neutral-500#717171neutralneutral step 500neutral-500 (Δ0.007)
neutral-400#989898neutralneutral step 400
neutral-800#222222neutralneutral step 800neutral-800 (Δ0.017)
neutral-950#000000neutralneutral step 950
neutral-50-2#f8f8f8neutralneutral step 50gray-50 (Δ0.006)

Surfaces (Elevation)

LevelNameHexPurpose
0background#ffffffPage background
1surface-1#989898Cards / elevated panels
2surface-2#717171Elevation tier 2
3surface-3#414141Elevation tier 3
4surface-floor#222222Elevation tier 4

Elevation philosophy. Almost completely flat. The grid relies on white-space gutters and the imagery itself to imply layering. Hover states subtly lift and zoom but the rest of the time the canvas reads like a printed page.

Typography

goudy-old-style — weight 400

body

Times New Roman — weight 400

serif

akzidenz-grotesk-pro — weight 400

h4

Type Scale

RoleSizeLine-heightTracking
h338px1.21-1
body16px1.63
link16px1.63
h414px1-0.2
ui-action14px1.29-0.2

Spacing & Radius

Radius

  • none: 0

Spacing

  • base: 2px

Layout

A varied-cell grid (mosaic-style) — large feature cells next to smaller ones, mixing aspect ratios. Top has a three-item primary nav. Bottom is a small, dense footer with utility links.

Imagery

A constant rotation of project work: phone mockups, on-set photography, motion film stills, brand identity boards. Each tile is a different aspect ratio, building a visual rhythm. People, products, places — all premium, all on-brand for the client.

Do

  • Let project imagery occupy the largest cells — chrome plays second to the work
  • Use varied-size grid cells; uniform grids feel too clinical for creative work
  • Set labels and titles in a small editorial sans, kept low-contrast
  • Reserve color for the work itself; the canvas should stay near-white or near-black

Don't

  • Don't overlay heavy chrome on imagery — captions sit BELOW each cell, not on top
  • Don't use a uniform grid; vary cell heights and widths to create rhythm
  • Don't introduce loud accent colors; the imagery already brings color in
  • Don't crowd the nav — three or four items max, top-aligned, always thin