Todoist DESIGN.md

Calm, focused productivity design built around a warm off-white canvas, a signature tomato-red accent, and dense-but-breathable task lists. Todoist's public product and marketing site feel friendly and quietly confident, pairing crisp typography with soft illustration and a disciplined use of color for priorities.

1. Visual Theme & Atmosphere

Overall Aesthetic

Todoist feels like a tidy paper planner rendered as software. Warm neutral surfaces, generous line height, and a single red brand accent keep attention on tasks while priority colors add just enough signal.

Mood & Feeling

• Calm, organized, and reassuring
• Friendly without being playful to excess
• Focused and distraction-free
• Warm, human, and approachable
• Quietly premium

Design Density

Medium density. Task lists are compact single-line rows, but whitespace, hairline dividers, and relaxed line heights prevent the interface from feeling cramped.

Visual Character

• Warm off-white (#FEFDFC) canvas with near-black text
• Signature red (#DC4C3E-adjacent) for primary CTAs, logo, and "add task"
• Circular checkboxes whose stroke color reflects task priority
• Left sidebar navigation with project color dots
• Soft, hand-drawn-feeling illustrations on marketing pages

2. Color Palette & Roles

Core Foundation

Priority & Support Palette

3. Typography Rules

Font Stack

css--font-display: "Graphik", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", sans-serif;
--font-sans: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif;

Type Scale

Typography Philosophy

Type is quiet and highly legible. The product leans on native system fonts for speed and familiarity, while marketing uses a slightly more characterful grotesque for headlines.

4. Component Stylings

Buttons

css.button-primary {
  background: #dc4c3e;
  color: #ffffff;
  border: none;
  border-radius: 5px;
  min-height: 32px;
  padding: 0 12px;
  font-size: 13px;
  font-weight: 600;
}

.button-primary:hover {
  background: #c3392c;
}

.button-secondary {
  background: #f5f5f5;
  color: #444444;
  border: none;
  border-radius: 5px;
  min-height: 32px;
  padding: 0 12px;
}

Task Row

css.task-row {
  display: flex;
  align-items: flex-start;
  gap: 8px;
  padding: 8px 0;
  border-bottom: 1px solid #f0f0f0;
}

.task-checkbox {
  width: 18px;
  height: 18px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  border: 1px solid #808080;
}

.task-checkbox.p1 {
  border: 2px solid #d1453b;
  background: rgba(209, 69, 59, 0.1);
}

Quick Add Input

css.quick-add {
  background: #ffffff;
  border: 1px solid #e6e6e6;
  border-radius: 10px;
  padding: 10px 12px;
  box-shadow: 0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08);
}

.quick-add:focus-within {
  border-color: #b3b3b3;
}

Component Notes

• The "Add task" affordance is a red plus icon that fills on hover
• Checkboxes are circles, not squares; priority is encoded only in stroke/tint color
• Project colors appear as small dots in the sidebar, never as large fills
• Hover reveals row actions (edit, date, comment) to keep resting state clean

5. Layout Principles

Spacing Scale

Layout Behavior

• App uses a collapsible left sidebar (~280px) with a centered content column (max ~800px)
• List view is the default; board view uses fixed-width columns (~260px)
• Marketing pages alternate text blocks with product screenshots and illustrations

Whitespace Philosophy

Whitespace should feel like a clean desk — enough room for the mind to settle, but never so sparse that lists lose their scannability.

6. Depth & Elevation

Elevation Strategy

Todoist is mostly flat. Depth appears only for floating layers such as quick add, menus, and modals.

css--shadow-menu: 0 0 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12);
--shadow-modal: 0 15px 50px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35);
--shadow-input: 0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08);

Surface Hierarchy

• Warm off-white canvas
• Slightly tinted sidebar
• White floating menus, popovers, and modals with soft shadows

7. Do's and Don'ts

Do

• Keep red reserved for brand, primary CTAs, and P1 priority
• Use circular checkboxes with priority-colored strokes
• Keep task rows compact with hairline dividers
• Reveal secondary actions on hover

Don't

• Do not use heavy card shadows on list items
• Do not fill large areas with project or priority colors
• Do not use cold pure-gray backgrounds; keep neutrals warm
• Do not crowd rows with persistent icons

8. Responsive Behavior

Breakpoints

Responsive Rules

• Floating action button (56px, red, circular) replaces inline "Add task" on mobile
• Task rows grow to at least 44px tall for touch
• Board view scrolls horizontally on narrow screens

9. Agent Prompt Guide

Quick Reference

• Warm off-white canvas, near-black text
• Tomato red for brand and primary actions
• Circular priority-colored checkboxes
• Compact list rows with hairline dividers

Prompt Template

textDesign this like Todoist's current public product and brand style:
- warm off-white canvas with near-black system-font text
- a single tomato-red accent for CTAs, the add-task button, and P1 priority
- compact task rows with circular checkboxes colored by priority (red, orange, blue, gray)
- left sidebar with small colored project dots and a centered content column
- flat surfaces, with soft shadows only on menus, quick-add, and modals
- calm, organized, friendly productivity tone