Manuscript
A warm cream reading theme: Lora serif, espresso-brown accents, and soft paper tones for blogs and long-form writing.
Build something people love.
A live preview of this theme — every color, font, radius, and shadow you see is rendered straight from its tokens.
Color system
Click any swatch to copy. Contrast graded against WCAG.
Typography
Body sample. Inter carries running text — readable paragraphs, comfortable measure, and a rhythm that holds up across long pages of content and UI.
Radius, shadow & fonts
Components
Real UI rendered with this theme's tokens.
A surface for grouping content, with the theme's border, radius, and shadow.
Principles, guidelines & component specs
Do's & don'ts, spacing, motion, iconography, accessibility, and exact component specs — all in the design.md too.
Do
- •Keep the measure comfortable; prioritise leading and rhythm.
- •Use the espresso accent only for links and emphasis.
Don't
- •Don't introduce cool, screen-blue tints.
- •Don't crowd the column with UI chrome.
- •Slow, gentle transitions suit a calm reading mood.
Hover to feel this theme's base transition.
Lucide · 1.5px stroke · 1rem. Outline icons with a consistent stroke width; size icons to match adjacent text and align them optically.
- Never use color as the only signal — pair it with text, an icon, or a shape.
- Every interactive element must be keyboard reachable and show a visible focus ring.
- Honor prefers-reduced-motion: reduce by disabling non-essential animation.
- Keep a logical heading order and give every form control a label.
Button
| Background | var(--primary) |
| Text | var(--primary-foreground) |
| Radius | 0.5rem |
| Padding | 0 1.1rem |
| Height | 2.6rem |
| Weight | 600 |
Badge
| Background | var(--accent) / var(--primary) |
| Text | var(--accent-foreground) / var(--primary-foreground) |
| Radius | 0.375rem |
| Padding | 0.15rem 0.55rem |
| Font size | 0.72rem |
| Weight | 600 |
Use for status, counts, and short labels. Keep to one or two words.
Alert
| Radius | 0.75rem |
| Padding | 1rem 1.25rem |
| Border | 1px solid var(--border) |
Always pair the color with an icon and a text label — never rely on color alone.
Form field
| Background | var(--background) |
| Border | 1px solid var(--input) |
| Radius | 0.5rem |
| Height | 2.6rem |
| Padding | 0.5rem 0.75rem |
Label sits above the field; helper or error text sits below.
Card
| Background | var(--card) |
| Text | var(--card-foreground) |
| Border | 1px solid var(--border) |
| Radius | 0.625rem |
| Padding | 1.5rem |
| Shadow | 0 6px 18px -8px rgba(43,33,23,0.14) |
The design brief
Manuscript is a warm reading design system for blogs, essays, and documentation. Lora serif over cream paper with an espresso-brown accent makes long-form text feel comfortable and timeless.
Principles
- Warm paper tones reduce glare for long reading sessions.
- One espresso-brown accent for links and emphasis.
- Comfortable measure and leading over visual flourish.
When to use
Use Manuscript for personal blogs, newsletters, and documentation. Avoid it for high-density product UIs.
Signature details
- Lora serif headings, Inter body, espresso
#92400eaccent. - Cream
#faf7f0paper, 0.5rem radius.
Use this with your AI
Download or copy the design.md and paste it into Claude, Cursor, or v0 — it tells the agent exactly which colors, fonts, radii, and shadows to use, so your site comes out looking like this.
Export tokens
Drop straight into your codebase.
:root {
--radius: 0.5rem;
--background: #faf7f0;
--foreground: #2b2117;
--card: #fffdf8;
--card-foreground: #2b2117;
--popover: #fffdf8;
--popover-foreground: #2b2117;
--primary: #92400e;
--primary-foreground: #fffdf8;
--secondary: #f1eadc;
--secondary-foreground: #2b2117;
--muted: #efe8d8;
--muted-foreground: #6b5d49;
--accent: #f5e6c8;
--accent-foreground: #78350f;
--destructive: #b91c1c;
--destructive-foreground: #ffffff;
--border: #e6dcc6;
--input: #e6dcc6;
--ring: #92400e;
--shadow-sm: 0 1px 2px rgba(43,33,23,0.05);
--shadow-md: 0 6px 18px -8px rgba(43,33,23,0.14);
--shadow-lg: 0 20px 44px -16px rgba(43,33,23,0.20);
--font-sans: 'Inter', ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif;
--font-serif: 'Lora', ui-serif, Georgia, serif;
--font-mono: 'JetBrains Mono', ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, monospace;
--ease-standard: cubic-bezier(0.4,0,0.2,1);
--ease-emphasized: cubic-bezier(0.16,1,0.3,1);
--duration-base: 260ms;
}
.dark {
--background: #16120b;
--foreground: #ece3d2;
--card: #1e1910;
--card-foreground: #ece3d2;
--popover: #1e1910;
--popover-foreground: #ece3d2;
--primary: #fbbf24;
--primary-foreground: #451a03;
--secondary: #272015;
--secondary-foreground: #ece3d2;
--muted: #272015;
--muted-foreground: #bdae93;
--accent: #5a4216;
--accent-foreground: #f5e6c8;
--destructive: #f87171;
--destructive-foreground: #450a0a;
--border: #312818;
--input: #312818;
--ring: #fbbf24;
}More designs
Paper
Editorial light theme with a serif display voice.
Folio
A refined portfolio theme: Newsreader serif, near-black ink, and quiet neutrals for designers, studios, and case studies.
Linen
Warm minimal theme on stone neutrals.