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Design language comparison

Chronicle vs Maze

Chronicle runs a both-canvas system while Maze chose light, and they pair different display families (Diatype vs ui-sans-serif). Beyond surface, motion levels are both expressive.

Palette · side by side

Up to 8 dominant swatches each

Side A · both

Chronicle

Full Page

#000000

foreground

#0000ee

brand

#151515

foreground

#ffffff

background

#e2e2e2

neutral

#b3b3b3

background

#292929

foreground

Side B · light

Maze

Full Page

#000000

foreground

#212121

foreground

#ffffff

background

#d0d5d2

background

#008000

accent

#1863dc

accent

Typography · side by side

Primary family + weight ladder + sample

Side A · both

Chronicle

Full Page

Display
Diatype
Body
Diatype
Weights
400 · 500

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

Maze

Full Page

Display
Phonic
Body
ui-sans-serif
Weights
300 · 400

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 · both

Chronicle

Full Page

Base unit
4 px
Container max
1212 px
3px
8px
10px
12px
16px
20px
24px
30px

Side B · light

Maze

Full Page

Base unit
4 px
Container max
1280 px
1px
4px
8px
10px
12px
16px
20px
22px

Motion vocabulary · side by side

Level + durations + easings

Side A · both

Chronicle

Full Page

Level
expressive
Libraries
GSAP, Lottie

Durations

220ms400ms600ms900ms

Easings

cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3…cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.3…

Side B · light

Maze

Full Page

Level
expressive
Libraries
GSAP

Durations

0.15s0.25s0.4s0.5s

Easings

linearcubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)cubic-bezier(0, 0, 0.2, 1)ease-in-out

Palette & spacing overlap

Their palettes share 29% 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 58% (8, 10, 12, 16, 20 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 Chronicle's both-first canvas with Maze's expressive motion vocabulary produces visual whiplash. Adopt one system as your primary, study the other for individual technique transfers (e.g. Chronicle's spacing, Maze's shadow).

Full Chronicle brief →Full Maze brief →Back to gallery

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