Digicert Brand Design System Deep Dive

1. Brand Overview

Digicert’s visual language screams trust. No surprise — they’re in the digital security business. This is a brand that needs to look credible to CTOs, developers, and compliance officers, not “fun” to teenagers. The site is clean, professional, with a corporate-tech polish. You can tell they’ve put thought into every pixel — and they play it safe, but not boring.

The vibe? Precision with a human touch. The color palette is dominated by blues — from a bright, energizing primary (#0f9dff) to a deeper, corporate navy (#1a3d73). Blue is the universal “trust” color in tech, and here it’s deployed with discipline. Whites and grays keep things airy, while occasional deep gray (#353535) anchors text and footers. No surprise: not a single playful pastel or neon. This is serious tech branding.

Typography is equally restrained. They’ve gone all-in on Roboto Condensed and Roboto variants — a workhorse sans-serif with clean lines, paired with light weights for elegance and medium weights for emphasis. It’s a Google Fonts staple, which makes sense for a web-heavy, developer-facing product. They’re using condensed styles for headings — smart move in security contexts where long technical phrases need to fit.

Spacing feels tight but structured — they’re clearly on an 8px scale with occasional deviations (9.5px padding caught my eye — unusual). Breakpoints are plentiful, indicating obsessive responsiveness — they’ve got over 60 distinct breakpoints, which is rare. This tells me their site has complex layouts across many devices.

Buttons are textbook enterprise: solid-filled for primary CTAs, outlined for secondary, high-contrast hover states with subtle elevation (shadow) and a -5px lift animation. Even in hover states, they don’t get flashy — the transition is purely functional.

Overall, the design philosophy is security-first, clarity-focused, enterprise-ready. This is not a lifestyle brand. It’s a UI that says: “You can trust us to secure your infrastructure — and our design is as tight as our encryption.”

2. Color System

2.1 Primary Colors

The main brand color is rgb(15, 157, 255) → #0f9dff. It’s vivid, almost electric, but still in the blue family. This works because it catches the eye without feeling risky. Competitors like Sectigo or GlobalSign also lean on blues, but Digicert’s primary is slightly lighter — more “approachable” than dark navy, yet still authoritative.

Psychologically: Blue = trust, stability, intelligence. Bright blue = energy, modernity. In security, that combination says: “We’re rock-solid, but we’re also forward-thinking.”

2.2 Complete Palette

2.3 Color Relationships

Contrast ratios are solid — white on #0174c3 and #0f9dff is well above WCAG AA. #353535 on white is safe for body text. They’ve avoided low-contrast combos.

No dark mode here — the palette is tuned for a light background. If they ever go dark, #0f9dff would pop dramatically against navy or black.

2.4 Usage Guide

Works well:

• #0f9dff buttons on white backgrounds — high energy, clear CTAs.
• Deep blue links (#0174c3) with hover to bright blue — clear interaction cue.
• Navy (#1a3d73) headings over white — strong hierarchy.

Avoid:

• Primary blue text on white for body copy — too intense for long reads.
• Gray (#636a6e) on navy — low contrast.
• Mixing navy and deep blue in the same UI element — they’re too close in tone.

3. Typography

3.1 Font Families

It’s all Roboto Condensed and related Roboto weights (Light, Medium, Bold), with occasional Arial fallback. No fancy custom type. No serif. They’re using Google Fonts (though not explicitly loaded via the data — likely via CSS import). This keeps performance good and ensures cross-platform consistency.

Fallback stacks:

• Some Roboto-Light styles fall back to Open Sans.
• Arial appears in buttons and headings in rare cases — possibly for legacy content.

3.2 Type Scale

Here’s the extracted scale:

…and many more micro-sizes down to 13px for tiny link text.

3.3 Hierarchy

The scale is large — 64px H1 for hero titles, but also many intermediate heading sizes (40px, 32px, 24px) for sub-sections. Condensed fonts let them fit long technical headings without wrapping.

Line heights vary — some large headings have tight line height (0.50 for 48px), making them look compact. Body text (~16px Roboto-Regular/Light) is readable, with a comfortable 1.50 line height.

4. Spacing & Layout

4.1 Spacing Scale

Base scale is 8px, but they have oddball values (2px, 3px, 9.5px). This is not a pure modular scale — they tweak for pixel-perfection.

Common values:

• 2px — hairline spacing
• 4px — tight UI elements
• 10px — button padding
• 40px — section gaps
• 60px — large section spacing
• 240px — huge layout elements (hero padding?)

4.2 Layout

Breakpoints are obsessive: from 360px up to 1650px, with dozens in between. This suggests a fully responsive design that reflows at many widths, not just mobile/tablet/desktop.

No max container width in the data, but given the breakpoints, they’re likely using fluid widths with capped content around 1440px+.

5. Visual Elements

Border Radius

They use radii from 1px (almost square) to 50% (perfect circles). Common:

• 4px — buttons
• 8px — cards
• 40px — pill buttons
• 50% — round icons or indicators

Shadows

Mostly subtle:

• rgba(0, 1, 1, 0.15) 0px 4px 12px 0px — used for hover elevation.
• No heavy drop shadows — depth is restrained.

Borders & Dividers

Borders are functional — 1px and 2px solid lines in brand colors or grays. Outlines are used for hover focus (4px solid light outline).

6. Components

6.1 Buttons

Primary Filled (btn primary blue-filled)

• Default: background: #0174c3, color: #ffffff, padding: 5px 15px, border-radius: 4px, border: 1px solid #015a99
• Hover: background: #0f9dff, color: #0174c3, outline 4px light, shadow elevation, -5px translate
• Active: transparent background, color: #1297f3, border #003e6b
• Focus: transparent background, border white, color: #1297f3

Home Tout Button (home-tout-btn)

• Default: white background, navy text (#00306e), padding 12px 40px, radius 40px (pill)
• Hover: navy background, white text, shadow, lift
• Active/Focus: same as primary’s transparent states

Outline Primary (btn primary primary)

• Default: transparent background, border 2px solid #0f9dff, text #0f9dff
• Hover: filled bright blue, text deep blue
• Active/Focus: transparent with blue border

6.2 Links

They have multiple link styles:

• Deep blue (#0174c3) underlined — hover bright blue
• White text — hover bright blue underline
• Bright blue text — hover underline

6.3 Forms

Not much in data — some border colors for form elements (#c1c8cd, #0174c3).

6.4 Cards

Border radius 8px, subtle 1px borders in light grays, occasional shadows.

7. Design Tokens (CSS Custom Properties)

:root {
  /* Colors */
  --color-brand-dark-gray: #353535;
  --color-white: #ffffff;
  --color-primary-blue: #0f9dff;
  --color-deep-blue: #0174c3;
  --color-corporate-navy: #1a3d73;
  --color-neutral-gray: #636a6e;

  /* Typography */
  --font-roboto-condensed: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif;
  --font-roboto-light: "Roboto Light", sans-serif;
  --font-roboto-medium: "Roboto Medium", sans-serif;
  --font-roboto-regular: "Roboto Regular", sans-serif;
  --font-arial: Arial, sans-serif;
  --font-open-sans: "Open Sans", sans-serif;

  /* Spacing */
  --space-2: 2px;
  --space-4: 4px;
  --space-5: 5px;
  --space-9-5: 9.5px;
  --space-10: 10px;
  --space-40: 40px;
  --space-60: 60px;
  --space-240: 240px;

  /* Border Radius */
  --radius-4: 4px;
  --radius-8: 8px;
  --radius-40: 40px;
  --radius-full: 50%;

  /* Shadows */
  --shadow-hover: rgba(0, 1, 1, 0.15) 0px 4px 12px 0px;

  /* Breakpoints */
  --bp-mobile: 360px;
  --bp-desktop: 1440px;
}

8. AI Coding Assistant Prompt

# Digicert Design System Specification

You are a Digicert design expert. Build UIs matching their visual language exactly.

## Brand Context
Digicert values trust, clarity, and enterprise professionalism. Their design is security-first, with disciplined color usage, restrained typography, and precise spacing. Interactions are functional with subtle elevation on hover.

## Color Palette
- Brand Dark Gray: #353535 — Body text, footer
- White: #ffffff — Backgrounds, text on dark
- Primary Blue: #0f9dff — Primary CTAs, hover states
- Deep Blue: #0174c3 — Links, secondary buttons
- Corporate Navy: #1a3d73 — Headings, navigation
- Neutral Gray: #636a6e — UI chrome, icons

## Typography
Fonts:
- Roboto Condensed, sans-serif
- Roboto Light, Roboto Medium, Roboto Regular
- Arial fallback
- Open Sans fallback for some light styles

Sizes:
| Level | Font | Size | Weight | Line Height | Use |
|-------|------|------|--------|-------------|-----|
| H1 | Roboto Condensed | 64px | 400 | 1.13 | Hero titles |
| H2 | Roboto-Light | 48px | 400 | 0.50 | Large headings |
| H3 | Roboto Condensed | 42px | 600 | 1.19 | Section headings |
| Body | Roboto-Regular | 16px | 400 | 1.50 | Paragraphs |
| Caption | Roboto-Light | 14px | 400 | 1.50 | Small labels |

## Spacing & Grid
Base: 8px grid with exceptions.
Scale: 2px, 4px, 5px, 9.5px, 10px, 40px, 60px, 240px.
Use: Button padding (5px/15px), section gaps (40px, 60px).

## Border Radius
- sm: 4px — buttons
- md: 8px — cards
- lg: 40px — pill buttons
- full: 50% — round indicators

## Shadows
- Hover elevation: rgba(0, 1, 1, 0.15) 0px 4px 12px 0px

## Components

### Primary Button
Default: background #0174c3, color #ffffff, padding 5px 15px, radius 4px, border 1px solid #015a99.
Hover: background #0f9dff, color #0174c3, outline 4px solid #f8f8f8, shadow hover, translateY(-5px).
Active: transparent background, color #1297f3, border #003e6b.
Focus: transparent background, border white, color #1297f3.

### Secondary (Outline) Button
Default: transparent background, border 2px solid #0f9dff, text #0f9dff.
Hover: filled #0f9dff, text #0174c3.

### Navigation Link
Default: color #0174c3, underline.
Hover: color #0f9dff, underline.

## Layout & Responsive Rules
Breakpoints: 360px → 1650px with many intermediate widths.
Page padding: multiples of 8px.

## Interaction Rules
- Hover lift: translateY(-5px)
- Transition: 150ms ease
- Focus outline: 4px solid light color

## DO
- Use only palette colors
- Maintain 8px grid
- Roboto Condensed for headings
- White backgrounds for main sections
- High contrast for all text

## DON'T
- Introduce new colors
- Mix rounded and sharp corners
- Use heavy shadows
- Set body text below 16px

## Code Examples

### Primary Button
```css
.btn-primary {
  background: #0174c3;
  color: #ffffff;
  padding: 5px 15px;
  border-radius: 4px;
  border: 1px solid #015a99;
  transition: all 150ms ease;
}
.btn-primary:hover {
  background: #0f9dff;
  color: #0174c3;
  box-shadow: rgba(0,1,1,0.15) 0px 4px 12px 0px;
  transform: translateY(-5px);
}
```

### Outline Button
```css
.btn-outline {
  background: transparent;
  color: #0f9dff;
  border: 2px solid #0f9dff;
  border-radius: 4px;
  padding: 9.5px 15px;
}
.btn-outline:hover {
  background: #0f9dff;
  color: #0174c3;
}
```

### Card
```css
.card {
  background: #ffffff;
  border: 1px solid #e7ebf0;
  border-radius: 8px;
  padding: 40px;
}
```

9. Summary

TL;DR: Digicert’s design system is disciplined, corporate, and built for trust. Blues dominate, Roboto Condensed keeps headings tight, and spacing follows an 8px grid with pixel-perfect tweaks. Buttons lift subtly on hover — functional, not flashy.

Brand Keywords:

• security-focused
• enterprise-clean
• trust-driven
• precision-spaced
• blue-dominant