Design System: Ollama
> Hermes Agent — Implementation Notes
>
> The original site uses proprietary fonts. For self-contained HTML output, use these CDN substitutes:
> - Primary: Inter | Mono: JetBrains Mono
> - Font stack (CSS): font-family: 'Inter', system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, sans-serif;
> - Mono stack (CSS): font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', 'Courier New', monospace;
> `html
>
> `
> Use write_file to create HTML, serve via generative-widgets skill (cloudflared tunnel).
> Verify visual accuracy with browser_vision after generating.
1. Visual Theme & Atmosphere
Ollama's interface is radical minimalism taken to its logical conclusion — a pure-white void where content floats without decoration, shadow, or color. The design philosophy mirrors the product itself: strip away everything unnecessary until only the essential tool remains. This is the digital equivalent of a Dieter Rams object — every pixel earns its place, and the absence of design IS the design.
The entire page exists in pure grayscale. There is zero chromatic color in the interface — no brand blue, no accent green, no semantic red. The only colors that exist are shades between pure black (#000000) and pure white (#ffffff), creating a monochrome environment that lets the user's mental model of "open models" remain uncolored by brand opinion. The Ollama llama mascot, rendered in simple black line art, is the only illustration — and even it's monochrome.
What makes Ollama distinctive is the combination of SF Pro Rounded (Apple's rounded system font) with an exclusively pill-shaped geometry (9999px radius on everything interactive). The rounded letterforms + rounded buttons + rounded containers create a cohesive "softness language" that makes a developer CLI tool feel approachable and friendly rather than intimidating. This is minimalism with warmth — not cold Swiss-style grid minimalism, but the kind where the edges are literally softened.
Key Characteristics:
- - Pure white canvas with zero chromatic color — completely grayscale
- - SF Pro Rounded headlines creating a distinctively Apple-like softness
- - Binary border-radius system: 12px (containers) or 9999px (everything interactive)
- - Zero shadows — depth comes exclusively from background color shifts and borders
- - Pill-shaped geometry on all interactive elements (buttons, tabs, inputs, tags)
- - The Ollama llama as the sole illustration — black line art, no color
- - Extreme content restraint — the homepage is short, focused, and uncluttered
- - Pure Black (
#000000): Primary headlines, primary links, and the darkest text. The only "color" that demands attention. - - Near Black (
#262626): Button text on light surfaces, secondary headline weight. - - Darkest Surface (
#090909): The darkest possible surface — barely distinguishable from pure black, used for footer or dark containers. - - Pure White (
#ffffff): The primary page background — not off-white, not cream, pure white. Button surfaces for secondary actions. - - Snow (
#fafafa): The subtlest possible surface distinction from white — used for section backgrounds and barely-elevated containers. - - Light Gray (
#e5e5e5): Button backgrounds, borders, and the primary containment color. The workhorse neutral. - - Stone (
#737373): Secondary body text, footer links, and de-emphasized content. The primary "muted" tone. - - Mid Gray (
#525252): Emphasized secondary text, slightly darker than Stone. - - Silver (
#a3a3a3): Tertiary text, placeholders, and deeply de-emphasized metadata. - - Button Text Dark (
#404040): Specific to white-surface button text. - - Ring Blue (
#3b82f6at 50%): The ONLY non-gray color in the entire system — Tailwind's default focus ring, used exclusively for keyboard accessibility. Never visible in normal interaction flow. - - Border Light (
#d4d4d4): A slightly darker gray for white-surface button borders. - - None. Ollama uses absolutely no gradients. Visual separation comes from flat color blocks and single-pixel borders. This is a deliberate, almost philosophical design choice.
- - Display:
SF Pro Rounded, with fallbacks:system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui - - Body / UI:
ui-sans-serif, with fallbacks:system-ui, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji - - Monospace:
ui-monospace, with fallbacks:SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, Liberation Mono, Courier New - - Rounded display, standard body: SF Pro Rounded carries display headlines with its distinctive rounded terminals, while the standard system sans handles all body text. The rounded font IS the brand expression.
- - Weight restraint: Only two weights matter — 400 (regular) for body and 500 (medium) for headings. No bold, no light, no black weight. This extreme restraint reinforces the minimal philosophy.
- - Tight display, comfortable body: Headlines compress to 1.0 line-height, while body text relaxes to 1.43–1.56. The contrast creates clear hierarchy without needing weight contrast.
- - Monospace for developer identity: Code blocks and terminal commands appear throughout as primary content, using the system monospace stack.
- - Background: Light Gray (
#e5e5e5) - - Text: Near Black (
#262626) - - Padding: 10px 24px
- - Border: thin solid Light Gray (
1px solid #e5e5e5) - - Radius: pill-shaped (9999px)
- - The primary action button — understated, grayscale, always pill-shaped
- - Background: Pure White (
#ffffff) - - Text: Button Text Dark (
#404040) - - Padding: 10px 24px
- - Border: thin solid Border Light (
1px solid #d4d4d4) - - Radius: pill-shaped (9999px)
- - Secondary action — visually lighter than Gray Pill
- - Background: Pure Black (
#000000) - - Text: Pure White (
#ffffff) - - Radius: pill-shaped (9999px)
- - Inferred from "Create account" and "Explore" buttons
- - Maximum emphasis — black on white
- - Background: Pure White or Snow (
#fafafa) - - Border: thin solid Light Gray (
1px solid #e5e5e5) when needed - - Radius: comfortably rounded (12px) — the ONLY non-pill radius in the system
- - Shadow: none — zero shadows on any element
- - Hover: likely subtle background shift or border darkening
- - Background: Pure White
- - Border:
1px solid #e5e5e5 - - Radius: pill-shaped (9999px) — search inputs and form fields are pill-shaped
- - Focus: Ring Blue (
#3b82f6at 50%) ring - - Placeholder: Silver (
#a3a3a3) - - Clean horizontal nav with minimal elements
- - Logo: Ollama llama icon + wordmark in black
- - Links: "Models", "Docs", "Pricing" in black at 16px, weight 400
- - Search bar: pill-shaped with placeholder text
- - Right side: "Sign in" link + "Download" black pill CTA
- - No borders, no background — transparent nav on white page
- - The Ollama llama mascot is the only illustration — black line art on white
- - Code screenshots/terminal outputs shown in bordered containers (12px radius)
- - Integration logos displayed as simple icons in a grid
- - No photographs, no gradients, no decorative imagery
- - Pill-shaped tab selectors (e.g., "Coding" | "OpenClaw")
- - Active: Light Gray bg; Inactive: transparent
- - All pill-shaped (9999px)
- - Small pill-shaped tags (e.g., "ollama", "launch", "claude")
- - Light Gray background, dark text
- - The primary way to browse models
- - Monospace code showing
ollama runcommands - - Minimal styling — just a bordered 12px-radius container
- - Copy button integrated
- - Grid of integration logos (Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, LangChain, etc.)
- - Each in a bordered pill or card with icon + name
- - Tabbed by category (Coding, Documents & RAG, Automation, Chat)
- - Base unit: 8px
- - Scale: 4px, 6px, 8px, 9px, 10px, 12px, 14px, 16px, 20px, 24px, 32px, 40px, 48px, 88px, 112px
- - Button padding: 10px 24px (consistent across all buttons)
- - Card internal padding: approximately 24–32px
- - Section vertical spacing: very generous (88px–112px)
- - Max container width: approximately 1024–1280px, centered
- - Hero: centered single-column with llama illustration
- - Feature sections: 2-column layout (text left, code right)
- - Integration grid: responsive multi-column
- - Footer: clean single-row
- - Emptiness as luxury: The page is remarkably short and sparse — no feature section overstays its welcome. Each concept gets minimal but sufficient space.
- - Content density is low by design: Where other AI companies pack feature after feature, Ollama presents three ideas (run models, use with apps, integrations) and stops.
- - The white space IS the brand: Pure white space with zero decoration communicates "this tool gets out of your way."
- - Comfortably rounded (12px): The sole container radius — code blocks, cards, panels
- - Pill-shaped (9999px): Everything interactive — buttons, tabs, inputs, tags, badges
- - Use pure white (
#ffffff) as the page background — never off-white or cream - - Use pill-shaped (9999px) radius on all interactive elements — buttons, tabs, inputs, tags
- - Use 12px radius on all non-interactive containers — code blocks, cards, panels
- - Keep the palette strictly grayscale — no chromatic colors except the blue focus ring
- - Use SF Pro Rounded at weight 500 for display headings — the rounded terminals are the brand expression
- - Maintain zero shadows — depth comes from borders and background shifts only
- - Keep content density low — each section should present one clear idea
- - Use monospace for terminal commands and code — it's primary content, not decoration
- - Keep all buttons at 10px 24px padding with pill shape — consistency is absolute
- - Don't introduce any chromatic color — no brand blue, no accent green, no warm tones
- - Don't use border-radius between 12px and 9999px — the system is binary
- - Don't add shadows to any element — the flat aesthetic is intentional
- - Don't use font weights above 500 — no bold, no black weight
- - Don't add decorative illustrations beyond the llama mascot
- - Don't use gradients anywhere — flat blocks and borders only
- - Don't overcomplicate the layout — two columns maximum, no complex grids
- - Don't use borders heavier than 1px — containment is always the lightest possible touch
- - Don't add hover animations or transitions — interactions should feel instant and direct
- - All buttons are pill-shaped with generous padding (10px 24px)
- - Navigation links at comfortable 16px size
- - Minimum touch area easily exceeds 44x44px
- - Navigation: Collapses to hamburger menu on mobile
- - Feature sections: 2-column → stacked single column
- - Hero text: 48px → 36px → 30px progressive scaling
- - Integration grid: Multi-column → 2-column → single column
- - Code blocks: Horizontal scroll maintained
- - Llama mascot scales proportionally
- - Code blocks maintain monospace formatting
- - Integration icons reflow to fewer columns
- - No art direction changes
- - Primary Text: "Pure Black (#000000)"
- - Page Background: "Pure White (#ffffff)"
- - Secondary Text: "Stone (#737373)"
- - Button Background: "Light Gray (#e5e5e5)"
- - Borders: "Light Gray (#e5e5e5)"
- - Muted Text: "Silver (#a3a3a3)"
- - Dark Text: "Near Black (#262626)"
- - Subtle Surface: "Snow (#fafafa)"
- - "Create a hero section on pure white (#ffffff) with an illustration centered above a headline at 48px SF Pro Rounded weight 500, line-height 1.0. Use Pure Black (#000000) text. Below, add a black pill-shaped CTA button (9999px radius, 10px 24px padding) and a gray pill button."
- - "Design a code block with a 12px border-radius, 1px solid Light Gray (#e5e5e5) border on white background. Use ui-monospace at 16px for the terminal command. No shadow."
- - "Build a tab bar with pill-shaped tabs (9999px radius). Active tab: Light Gray (#e5e5e5) background, Near Black (#262626) text. Inactive: transparent background, Stone (#737373) text."
- - "Create an integration card grid. Each card is a bordered pill (9999px radius) or a 12px-radius card with 1px solid #e5e5e5 border. Icon + name inside. Grid of 4 columns on desktop."
- - "Design a navigation bar: transparent background, no border. Ollama logo on the left, 3 text links (Pure Black, 16px, weight 400), pill search input in the center, 'Sign in' text link and black pill 'Download' button on the right."
2. Color Palette & Roles
Primary
Surface & Background
Neutrals & Text
Semantic & Accent
Gradient System
3. Typography Rules
Font Family
Note: SF Pro Rounded is Apple's system font — it renders with rounded terminals on macOS/iOS and falls back to the system sans-serif on other platforms.
Hierarchy
| Role | Font | Size | Weight | Line Height | Letter Spacing | Notes |
| ------ | ------ | ------ | -------- | ------------- | ---------------- | ------- |
| Display / Hero | SF Pro Rounded | 48px (3rem) | 500 | 1.00 (tight) | normal | Maximum impact, rounded letterforms |
| Section Heading | SF Pro Rounded | 36px (2.25rem) | 500 | 1.11 (tight) | normal | Feature section titles |
| Sub-heading | SF Pro Rounded / ui-sans-serif | 30px (1.88rem) | 400–500 | 1.20 (tight) | normal | Card headings, feature names |
| Card Title | ui-sans-serif | 24px (1.5rem) | 400 | 1.33 | normal | Medium emphasis headings |
| Body Large | ui-sans-serif | 18px (1.13rem) | 400–500 | 1.56 | normal | Hero descriptions, button text |
| Body / Link | ui-sans-serif | 16px (1rem) | 400–500 | 1.50 | normal | Standard body text, navigation |
| Caption | ui-sans-serif | 14px (0.88rem) | 400 | 1.43 | normal | Metadata, descriptions |
| Small | ui-sans-serif | 12px (0.75rem) | 400 | 1.33 | normal | Smallest sans-serif text |
| Code Body | ui-monospace | 16px (1rem) | 400 | 1.50 | normal | Inline code, commands |
| Code Caption | ui-monospace | 14px (0.88rem) | 400 | 1.43 | normal | Code snippets, secondary |
| Code Small | ui-monospace | 12px (0.75rem) | 400–700 | 1.63 | normal | Tags, labels |
| Level | Treatment | Use | ||||
| ------- | ----------- | ----- | ||||
| Flat (Level 0) | No shadow, no border | Page background, most content | ||||
| Bordered (Level 1) | 1px solid #e5e5e5 | Cards, code blocks, buttons | ||||
| Name | Width | Key Changes | ||||
| ------ | ------- | ------------- | ||||
| Mobile | <640px | Single column, stacked everything, hamburger nav | ||||
| Small Tablet | 640–768px | Minor adjustments to spacing | ||||
| Tablet | 768–850px | 2-column layouts begin | ||||
| Desktop | 850–1024px | Standard layout, expanded features | ||||
| Large Desktop | 1024–1280px | Maximum content width |
Touch Targets
Collapsing Strategy
Image Behavior
9. Agent Prompt Guide
Quick Color Reference
Example Component Prompts
Iteration Guide
1. Focus on ONE component at a time
2. Keep all values grayscale — "Stone (#737373)" not "use a light color"
3. Always specify pill (9999px) or container (12px) radius — nothing in between
4. Shadows are always zero — never add them
5. Weight is always 400 or 500 — never bold
6. If something feels too decorated, remove it — less is always more for Ollama