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Design language comparison

Arc vs Family

Both Arc and Family commit to a light-canvas approach, and they pair different display families (Marlin vs Inter). Beyond surface, motion divides them — Arc is subtle, Family is expressive.

Palette · side by side

Up to 8 dominant swatches each

Side A · light

Arc

Full Page

#3139fb

brand

#000000

foreground

#fffcec

background

#ffffff

background

#696969

foreground

#210784

accent

#ff9999

accent

Side B · light

Family

Full Page

#474645

foreground

#000000

foreground

#ffffff

background

#262626

foreground

#808080

foreground

#fbfaf9

background

#4dafff

accent

#999999

background

Typography · side by side

Primary family + weight ladder + sample

Side A · light

Arc

Full Page

Display
Marlin Soft SQ
Body
Marlin
Mono
ABC Favorit Mono
Weights
500 · 700

Sample

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

1234567890 — Body sample renders in the captured family if your browser has it; otherwise system fallback signals the weight ladder.

Side B · light

Family

Full Page

Display
Inter
Body
LFE Sans
Weights
400 · 500 · 600

Sample

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

1234567890 — Body sample renders in the captured family if your browser has it; otherwise system fallback signals the weight ladder.

Spacing scale · side by side

Base unit + first 8 scale values

Side A · light

Arc

Full Page

Base unit
4 px
Container max
1440 px
4px
6px
8px
10px
12px
16px
20px
24px

Side B · light

Family

Full Page

Base unit
4 px
Container max
1904 px
1px
4px
6px
8px
10px
12px
14px
16px

Motion vocabulary · side by side

Level + durations + easings

Side A · light

Arc

Full Page

Level
subtle
Libraries

Durations

0.1s0.15s0.2s

Easings

easeease-outease-in-out

Side B · light

Family

Full Page

Level
expressive
Libraries

Durations

0.1s0.18s0.2s0.22s0.4s

Easings

cubic-bezier(0.19, 1, 0.2…ease-outeaseease-in-out

Palette & spacing overlap

Their palettes share 11% of swatches at the dominant tier — a quiet signal both teams drew from the same neutral library before applying brand accents. Their spacing scales overlap by 67% (4, 6, 8, 10, 12 px shared) — a rhythm any agent can transfer between the two systems with minimal recalibration.

Shared swatches (2)

#000000#ffffff

Curator verdict

Pick a side. Mixing Arc's light-first canvas with Family's expressive motion vocabulary produces visual whiplash. Adopt one system as your primary, study the other for individual technique transfers (e.g. Arc's spacing, Family's shadow).

Full Arc brief →Full Family brief →Back to gallery

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