INBOX/adhd-friendly-dashboard-variants-v2 (1)/adhd-friendly-colour-variants/orchid-pop/orchid-pop-style-guide.md
2026-08-07 15:50:54 +02:00

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Orchid Pop UI Style Guide

A rich orchid-violet system built around your exact colour #B744C4. It uses softened plum surfaces and cool grey-blue secondary support to keep the interface clean and readable.

The exact anchor colour is #B744C4. Because it is already visually assertive, the supporting palette is intentionally softer and more neutral.

This system keeps the interface ADHD-friendly by using layered neutral surfaces, one clear primary colour, one quieter secondary colour and restrained supporting accents.


1. Core rules

  • Use neutral backgrounds and surfaces for most of the page.
  • Reserve the primary colour for the next important action.
  • Use the secondary colour for optional or supporting actions.
  • Use spacing and typography before adding colour.
  • Keep one main task visible at a time.
  • Avoid decorative motion and unexpected layout changes.
  • Never communicate status using colour alone.

2. Light mode

Token Value Purpose
--page #FCF7FD Main page background
--page-accent #F2E6F5 Subtle page depth
--surface #FFFFFF Cards and dialogs
--surface-alt #F8EEFA Inputs and secondary regions
--surface-strong #EDD8F0 Selected and elevated elements
--text #33273A Main text
--muted #766A7D Secondary text
--border #E0CEE4 Borders and dividers
--primary #B744C4 Main action and brand colour
--primary-hover #972FA3 Primary hover and active state
--secondary #E0E5EB Secondary action
--secondary-hover #D1D9E1 Secondary hover state

3. Dark mode

Token Value Purpose
--page #040105 Main dark background
--page-accent #0B0610 Background depth
--surface #180F1A Cards and dialogs
--surface-alt #25172A Inputs and secondary regions
--surface-strong #39253F Selected and elevated elements
--text #F8EFFA Main text
--muted #CCBFCE Secondary text
--border #5A4060 Borders and dividers
--primary #C865D3 Main action and brand colour
--primary-hover #B744C4 Primary hover and active state
--secondary #455B68 Secondary action
--secondary-hover #587180 Secondary hover state

4. Colour roles

Primary

Use the primary colour for distinct primary actions, selected states and confident brand emphasis.

Use it on:

  • the main button
  • active navigation
  • selected controls
  • important links
  • compact brand marks

The primary colour should answer:

What should I do next?

Secondary

Use the secondary colour for cool grey-blue controls and supporting actions that keep the palette calm.

Use it on:

  • secondary buttons
  • optional actions
  • toolbars
  • supporting cards
  • inactive navigation

The secondary colour should answer:

What else can I do?

Supporting accents

Role Light Dark
Accent 1 #D38ADC #DEA7E4
Accent 2 #758FA0 #8CA3B2
Accent 3 #C3A06D #D0B07B
Success #6C8974 #94AF9B
Danger #AF5F7B #DA93AB

Use one supporting accent per component whenever possible.

Recommended page balance:

  • 70% neutral backgrounds and surfaces
  • 20% primary and secondary structure
  • 10% supporting accents and status colours

5. Typography

--font-body:
  "Atkinson Hyperlegible",
  "Segoe UI",
  Arial,
  sans-serif;

--font-ui:
  "Lexend",
  "Segoe UI",
  Arial,
  sans-serif;

Use Atkinson Hyperlegible for paragraphs, instructions, tables and form help.

Use Lexend for headings, buttons, navigation and labels.

Recommended settings:

  • body text: 18px
  • body line-height: 1.6
  • paragraphs: no wider than 70ch
  • labels and buttons: 1618px
  • left-aligned body text
  • concise headings
  • no long all-caps passages

6. Layout and spacing

Use an 8-pixel spacing rhythm.

4px   tiny adjustment
8px   closely related elements
16px  normal component spacing
24px  groups inside a section
32px  separation between sections
48px+ major page regions

Keep one purpose per card. Prefer spacing and surface changes over thick borders or multiple shadows.


7. Components

Primary button

background: var(--primary);
color: var(--on-primary);

Use one obvious primary button per task area.

Secondary button

background: var(--secondary);
color: var(--on-secondary);

Use for optional or reversible actions.

Inputs

background: var(--surface-alt);
border: 1px solid var(--border);
color: var(--text);

On focus:

border-color: var(--primary);
outline: 3px solid var(--focus);

Validation

  • Place the error beside the affected field.
  • Explain how to fix the problem.
  • Preserve the users entered data.
  • Use text or an icon as well as colour.

8. ADHD-friendly interaction rules

  • Present one main task at a time.
  • Reduce optional decisions near the primary action.
  • Keep related controls close together.
  • Use consistent button placement.
  • Avoid unexpected layout movement.
  • Respect prefers-reduced-motion.
  • Keep notifications short and actionable.
  • Use progressive disclosure for advanced options.

9. Accessibility checks

Before release:

  • test keyboard navigation
  • verify visible focus states
  • check text and button contrast
  • test at 200% zoom
  • connect labels to controls
  • test light and dark modes separately
  • use semantic HTML before ARIA

10. Quick tokens

:root {
  --page: #FCF7FD;
  --surface: #FFFFFF;
  --surface-alt: #F8EEFA;
  --text: #33273A;
  --muted: #766A7D;
  --border: #E0CEE4;
  --primary: #B744C4;
  --secondary: #E0E5EB;
}

html[data-theme="dark"] {
  --page: #040105;
  --surface: #180F1A;
  --surface-alt: #25172A;
  --text: #F8EFFA;
  --muted: #CCBFCE;
  --border: #5A4060;
  --primary: #C865D3;
  --secondary: #455B68;
}

11. Final rule

When the interface begins to feel busy, remove emphasis before adding another colour. Neutral surfaces should make the primary action easy to find without demanding constant attention.


Typography sample card

Every login demo includes a sample content card so the heading, subheading and paragraph fonts can be compared in a realistic surface.

The demos load the fonts through the Google Fonts CSS API:

@import url(
  "https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Atkinson+Hyperlegible:wght@400;700&family=Lexend:wght@400;500;600;700&display=swap"
);

Recommended use:

  • Lexend for the card heading, subheading, labels and badges
  • Atkinson Hyperlegible for the paragraph and longer reading text

Example structure:

<article class="sample-card">
  <p class="sample-card__eyebrow">Typography sample</p>
  <h3>A calm and readable card heading</h3>
  <p class="sample-card__subheading">
    A concise subheading demonstrates Lexend at a smaller interface size.
  </p>
  <p class="sample-card__body">
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
  </p>
</article>