Liftoff Brand Design System Deep Dive
1. Brand Overview
Liftoff’s visual language is exactly what you’d expect from a brand positioning itself at the AI frontier: clean, confident, and deliberately restrained. This isn’t a “throw gradients everywhere” tech startup look. It’s controlled, minimal, and built to feel serious enough for enterprise buyers, but still warm enough to invite curiosity.
The first thing you notice: their palette is heavy on deep navy-greys and pure white, with occasional bursts of saturated color (a single hit of pitaya pink at #e51462 and a sharp accent blue in hover states). They avoid noise. Backgrounds tend toward solid blocks. Text is high contrast. Every element feels placed with intent.
Typography is consistent—Poppins everywhere, no rogue font weights or decorative styles. The type scale is generous at the top end (H1 at 62px) but drops quickly to compact sizes for UI labels. They’re clearly designing for both marketing splash and tight interface density.
Spacing builds on a predictable 8px grid, but they’ve allowed half-step increments (4.5px, 8.5px) where optical alignment needs finessing. This suggests a design team that actually measures and adjusts, not just blindly applies tokens.
Buttons are pill-shaped with absurdly high radii (9999px), which works because they keep borders crisp and padding balanced. Link styles toggle between underlined and clean depending on context—text links tend to keep a 1.5px underline in default, with hover shifting to a lighter accent color.
Overall, Liftoff’s design system reads as “enterprise AI, but friendly.” They’re not chasing visual novelty. They’re building trust through consistency, high-contrast legibility, and controlled use of motion. The odd playful element (like the pink button with rotateY(180deg) on hover) is a wink to those paying attention—it’s not loud, but it’s there.
2. Color System
2.1 Primary Colors
The semantic primary is pure white (#ffffff). That’s interesting—it means their “primary” semantic token is likely bound to text or background defaults, not CTAs. In practice, visual primaries are deep navy (#273143) and black (#000000) for text, with accent blues like rgb(0, 145, 174) in hover states.
Primary brand color psychology:
- Deep navy: trust, authority, tech seriousness.
- White: clarity, openness.
- Occasional bright accent: energy injection.
Competitor comparison: Many AI brands lean on electric blues or gradients. Liftoff’s choice to anchor in navy and white positions them closer to enterprise SaaS than consumer AI.
2.2 Complete Palette
| Color Name | Hex | Role | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | #000000 | Text/utility | Headers, body text, borders |
| Deep Navy | #273143 | Primary UI background/text | Nav, buttons, section headers |
| Cool Grey | #6d7588 | Secondary text | Captions, muted UI |
| Midnight Navy | #00081c | Dark backgrounds | Buttons, overlays |
| White | #ffffff | Background/text | Cards, buttons, body bg |
| Warm Grey | #e7e7df | Divider/bg | Section backgrounds |
| Slate Blue | #4a5871 | Active states/bg | Active buttons |
| Near Black | #222222 | Text | Secondary headings |
| Muted Blue-Grey | #33475b | Accent bg/text | Rare UI elements |
| Medium Grey | #666666 | Utility text | Placeholders |
| Accent Blue | #555fff | Accent highlight | Rare emphasis |
| Pitaya Pink | #e51462 | CTA highlight | Special button |
| Green (semantic var) | green | Category header active | Cookie banner |
| Accent Orange | #F56E28 | Slider inactive | Cookie settings |
| Accent Blue (slider) | #1e73be | Slider active | Cookie settings |
| Light Grey | #f2f2f2 | Border | Cookie banner deny button |
| Dark Grey Text | #333333 | Button text | Cookie settings |
2.3 Color Relationships
Contrast is strong. White on navy is crisp. Navy on white meets WCAG AAA easily. The only questionable pairing is pitaya pink (#e51462) on white—it’s fine for large text/buttons, but wouldn’t pass AA for small body text.
Dark mode? They’re halfway there—the palette includes deep backgrounds (#00081c, #273143) and light text, but the site isn’t running a full alternate theme. It’s more a “dark section” approach.
2.4 Usage Guide
Works well:
- White text on deep navy (
#273143) for CTAs. - Navy text on white backgrounds for content.
- Pitaya pink for “special” CTA moments—it pops because everything else is muted.
Avoid:
- Pink on navy—it collapses contrast.
- Accent blue (
#555fff) in small text—too low contrast.
3. Typography
3.1 Font Families
- Primary: Poppins (Google Fonts, variable).
- Fallbacks: Helvetica, Roboto, Arial (only in some styles).
- No decorative alternates—everything is sans-serif, geometric.
3.2 Type Scale
| Element | Font | Size | Weight | Line Height | Spacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 62px | 400 | 1.16 | -3.1px |
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 46px | 400 | 1.13 | -0.92px |
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 38px | 400 | 1.16 | -0.76px |
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 38px | 400 | 1.16 | -0.84px |
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 24px | 400 | 1.17 | -0.48px |
| Button | Poppins | 20px | 400 | 1.00 | |
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 18.72px | 700 | ||
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 18px | 400 | 1.33 | -0.36px |
| Button | Poppins | 18px | 400 | 1.33 | -0.36px |
| Link | Poppins | 18px | 400 | 1.33 | -0.36px |
| Link | Poppins | 16px | 400 | 1.50 | -0.32px |
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 16px | 400 | ||
| Link | Poppins | 16px | 400 | ||
| Button | Poppins | 16px | 400 | 1.50 | -0.32px |
| Heading-1 | Poppins | 16px | 400 | 1.50 | -0.32px |
| Caption | Poppins | 14px | 500 | ||
| Button | Poppins | 14px | 500 | 1.57 | -0.28px |
| Link | Poppins | 14px | 500 | 1.43 | -0.28px |
| Link | Poppins | 14px | 400 | 1.43 | -0.28px |
| Caption | Poppins | 14px | 400 | 1.43 | -0.28px |
| Link | Poppins | 14px | 500 | ||
| Button | Poppins | 14px | 400 | 2.29 | |
| Caption | Poppins | 14px | 400 | 2.29 | |
| Button | Poppins | 13.33px | 400 | ||
| Caption | Poppins | 12px | 400 | 1.50 | |
| Button | Poppins | 12px | 400 | 1.50 | |
| Caption | Poppins | 12px | 500 | ||
| Link | Poppins | 12px | 400 | ||
| Caption | Poppins | 12px | 400 | 1.33 | -0.24px |
| Caption | Poppins | 12px | 600 | 1.33 | 0.24px |
| Caption | Poppins | 12px | 600 | 1.33 | 0.24px |
3.3 Hierarchy
Headings are large and airy at the top end, but they compress quickly—this is a marketing/UI hybrid scale. Weight shifts are subtle; most headings are still at 400, with only small labels going heavier (500/600). This keeps the overall tone light and modern.
4. Spacing & Layout
4.1 Spacing Scale
Base: 8px grid, but with half-step increments. Full list:
| Value | rem | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 4px | 0.25rem | 15 |
| 4.5px | 0.28rem | 5 |
| 6px | 0.38rem | 11 |
| 8px | 0.50rem | 42 |
| 8.5px | 0.53rem | 36 |
| 10px | 0.63rem | 73 |
| 15px | 0.94rem | 7 |
| 16px | 1.00rem | 6 |
| 20px | 1.25rem | 8 |
| 21px | 1.31rem | 20 |
| 24px | 1.50rem | 33 |
| 27px | 1.69rem | 6 |
| 31px | 1.94rem | 78 |
| 32px | 2.00rem | 82 |
| 40px | 2.50rem | 38 |
| 48px | 3.00rem | 32 |
| 90px | 5.63rem | 10 |
| 96px | 6.00rem | 12 |
| 120px | 7.50rem | 16 |
| 128px | 8.00rem | 6 |
4.2 Layout
Breakpoints are numerous, starting from 320px all the way to 1800px. This suggests they’re doing fine-grained responsive adjustments, not just three-tier breakpoints. Likely a combination of marketing page layout shifts and component-level tweaks.
5. Visual Elements
Border Radius
| Value | Count | Elements | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0px 2px 0px 0px | 1 | div | Very minor rounding |
| 0px 2px 2px 0px | 1 | ul | Subtle |
| 3px | 2 | button | Rare, utility buttons |
| 12px 12px 0px 0px | 1 | button | Card-like top rounding |
| 18px | 2 | img | Image corners |
| 24px | 8 | div/card | Card corners |
| 30px | 5 | badge | Badge styling |
| 32px | 1 | image | Large rounding |
| 100px | 6 | button | Large pill buttons |
| 999px | 1 | button | Extreme rounding |
| 9999px | 33 | button | True pill shape |
Shadows
Mostly flat design. Only three shadow tokens:
rgba(0,0,0,0.02) 0px 10px 10px— subtle elevation.rgba(0,0,0,0.3) 0px 0px 4px— stronger, rare.rgb(234,240,246) 0px -1px 3px— light top shadow.
Borders
Heavy use of 1px solid lines in greys/navy. Also cookie banner uses orange/green for sliders.
6. Components
6.1 Buttons
Primary (cmplz-accept)
- Default: bg
#273143, text#ffffff, padding10px 24px, radius100px, border1px solid #1e73be. - Hover: text
#0091ae, opacity0.75, bg initial, no border. - Active: text
#ffffff, bg#4a5871, opacity0.85. - Focus: text
#ffffff, no bg change, no border.
Secondary (cmplz-deny)
- Default: bg
#ffffff, text#273143, padding10px 24px, radius100px, border2px solid #273143. - Hover: same hover color as primary.
- Active: bg
#4a5871, text#ffffff. - Focus: same as primary.
Special Pink (wp-block-button__link has-new-pitaya...)
- Default: bg
#e51462, text#ffffff, radius9999px. - Hover: rotates Y 180°, text
#0091ae. - Active: bg
#ffffff, shadow#00081c 5px 5px 0px. - Focus: bg
#273143, border1.5px solid #00081c, box-shadow#245FCC 0px 0px 0px 2px, translateY(-110%).
Outline (wp-element-button)
Same as pink but bg transparent, border 1px solid #273143.
6.2 Links
Four variants: navy underlined, white no underline, black underlined, grey no underline. Hover shifts all to accent blue (#0091ae) with underline.
6.3 Forms
Single email input: transparent bg, black text, padding 2px 48px 10px 0px. Focus: box-shadow #245FCC 0px 0px 0px 2px.
6.4 Cards
Cards use 24px radius, subtle shadow (rgba(0,0,0,0.02)), and 32px padding in many cases.
7. Design Tokens
:root {
/* Colors */
--color-black: #000000;
--color-deep-navy: #273143;
--color-cool-grey: #6d7588;
--color-midnight-navy: #00081c;
--color-white: #ffffff;
--color-warm-grey: #e7e7df;
--color-slate-blue: #4a5871;
--color-near-black: #222222;
--color-muted-blue-grey: #33475b;
--color-medium-grey: #666666;
--color-accent-blue: #555fff;
--color-pitaya-pink: #e51462;
--color-green: green;
--color-accent-orange: #F56E28;
--color-slider-blue: #1e73be;
--color-light-grey: #f2f2f2;
--color-dark-grey-text: #333333;
/* Typography */
--font-primary: 'Poppins', Helvetica, Roboto, Arial;
--font-size-h1-xl: 62px;
--font-size-h1-lg: 46px;
--font-size-h1-md: 38px;
--font-size-h1-sm: 24px;
--font-size-body-lg: 20px;
--font-size-body-md: 18px;
--font-size-body-sm: 16px;
--font-size-caption: 14px;
--font-size-caption-sm: 12px;
/* Spacing */
--space-4: 4px;
--space-4-5: 4.5px;
--space-6: 6px;
--space-8: 8px;
--space-8-5: 8.5px;
--space-10: 10px;
--space-15: 15px;
--space-16: 16px;
--space-20: 20px;
--space-21: 21px;
--space-24: 24px;
--space-27: 27px;
--space-31: 31px;
--space-32: 32px;
--space-40: 40px;
--space-48: 48px;
--space-90: 90px;
--space-96: 96px;
--space-120: 120px;
--space-128: 128px;
/* Radius */
--radius-sm: 3px;
--radius-md: 18px;
--radius-lg: 24px;
--radius-xl: 30px;
--radius-pill: 100px;
--radius-full: 9999px;
/* Shadows */
--shadow-subtle: rgba(0,0,0,0.02) 0px 10px 10px;
--shadow-strong: rgba(0,0,0,0.3) 0px 0px 4px;
--shadow-top-light: rgb(234,240,246) 0px -1px 3px;
}8. AI Coding Assistant Prompt
# Liftoff Design System Specification
You are a Liftoff design expert. Build UIs matching their visual language exactly.
## Brand Context
Liftoff’s design is minimal, high-contrast, and built on a disciplined 8px grid. Color usage is restrained—deep navy and white dominate, with rare accent bursts. Typography is consistent (Poppins everywhere), and components favor pill-like forms with precise padding.
## Color Palette
- Black: #000000 — body text, headers, borders
- Deep Navy: #273143 — nav backgrounds, primary buttons
- Cool Grey: #6d7588 — secondary text
- Midnight Navy: #00081c — dark section backgrounds
- White: #ffffff — primary background, text on dark
- Warm Grey: #e7e7df — dividers, light section bg
- Slate Blue: #4a5871 — active button bg
- Near Black: #222222 — secondary headings
- Muted Blue-Grey: #33475b — rare accent bg/text
- Medium Grey: #666666 — placeholders
- Accent Blue: #555fff — rare highlights
- Pitaya Pink: #e51462 — special CTA buttons
- Green: green — cookie banner category header
- Accent Orange: #F56E28 — slider inactive
- Slider Blue: #1e73be — slider active, button border
- Light Grey: #f2f2f2 — borders
- Dark Grey Text: #333333 — cookie settings text
## Typography
Font family: 'Poppins', Helvetica, Roboto, Arial
| Level | Size | Weight | Line Height | Use For |
|-------|------|--------|-------------|---------|
| H1 XL | 62px | 400 | 1.16 | Hero titles |
| H1 LG | 46px | 400 | 1.13 | Page titles |
| H1 MD | 38px | 400 | 1.16 | Section headings |
| H1 SM | 24px | 400 | 1.17 | Subheadings |
| Body LG | 20px | 400 | 1.00 | Prominent labels |
| Body MD | 18px | 400 | 1.33 | Paragraphs |
| Body SM | 16px | 400 | 1.50 | Compact text |
| Caption | 14px | 400-500 | 1.43-2.29 | Labels, meta |
| Caption SM | 12px | 400-600 | 1.33-1.50 | Tiny UI text |
## Spacing & Grid
Base: 8px grid. Allowed values: 4px, 4.5px, 6px, 8px, 8.5px, 10px, 15px, 16px, 20px, 21px, 24px, 27px, 31px, 32px, 40px, 48px, 90px, 96px, 120px, 128px.
## Border Radius
- sm: 3px — small buttons
- md: 18px — images
- lg: 24px — cards
- xl: 30px — badges
- pill: 100px — large buttons
- full: 9999px — true pills
## Shadows & Depth
- Subtle: rgba(0,0,0,0.02) 0px 10px 10px
- Strong: rgba(0,0,0,0.3) 0px 0px 4px
- Top Light: rgb(234,240,246) 0px -1px 3px
## Components
### Primary Button
Default: bg #273143, color #ffffff, padding 10px 24px, radius 100px, border 1px solid #1e73be
Hover: color #0091ae, opacity 0.75, bg initial, border none
Active: bg #4a5871, color #ffffff, opacity 0.85
Focus: color #ffffff, no bg change, no border
### Secondary Button
Default: bg #ffffff, color #273143, padding 10px 24px, radius 100px, border 2px solid #273143
Hover/Active/Focus: same hover color and states as primary
### Special Pink Button
Default: bg #e51462, color #ffffff, radius 9999px
Hover: rotateY(180deg), color #0091ae
Active: bg #ffffff, shadow #00081c 5px 5px, opacity 0.85
Focus: bg #273143, border 1.5px solid #00081c, box-shadow #245FCC 0px 0px 0px 2px, translateY(-110%)
### Input Field (Email)
Default: transparent bg, color #000000, padding 2px 48px 10px 0px
Focus: box-shadow #245FCC 0px 0px 0px 2px
## Layout & Responsive Rules
Breakpoints: 320px, 350px, 400px, 425px, 480px, 600px, 640px, 768px, 800px, 900px, 960px, 992px, 1024px, 1150px, 1200px, 1280px, 1500px, 1600px, 1800px.
## Interaction Rules
- Transitions: 150ms ease for hover/focus changes
- Focus indicators: 2px outline in accent blue
- Hover on special buttons: transform rotateY
## DO
- Use only colors from the palette
- Maintain 8px grid (with allowed half-steps)
- Apply Poppins for all text
- Keep button radii pill-shaped
- Respect hover/focus color shifts
## DON'T
- Invent new colors
- Mix sharp and rounded corners on same element
- Use shadows excessively
- Break the type scale with arbitrary sizes
## Code Examples
```css
.btn-primary {
background: #273143;
color: #ffffff;
padding: 10px 24px;
border-radius: 100px;
font-weight: 500;
font-size: 14px;
border: 1px solid #1e73be;
transition: all 150ms ease;
}
.btn-primary:hover {
color: #0091ae;
opacity: 0.75;
background: initial;
border: none;
}
.btn-primary:focus {
outline: none;
}
.card {
background: #ffffff;
border-radius: 24px;
padding: 32px;
box-shadow: rgba(0,0,0,0.02) 0px 10px 10px;
}
.input-email {
background: transparent;
color: #000000;
padding: 2px 48px 10px 0px;
}
.input-email:focus {
box-shadow: #245FCC 0px 0px 0px 2px;
}
```9. Summary
TL;DR — Liftoff’s design system is disciplined: deep navy + white foundation, Poppins type scale, 8px grid with optical half-steps, pill-shaped buttons, and rare accent pops. It’s enterprise-focused but with moments of play.
Brand Keywords:
- tech-serious
- restrained-minimal
- high-contrast
- enterprise-friendly
- subtle-playfulness