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Design language comparison

Contra vs Maze

Both Contra and Maze commit to a light-canvas approach, and they pair different display families (GT Standard M vs ui-sans-serif). Beyond surface, motion levels are both expressive.

Palette · side by side

Up to 8 dominant swatches each

Side A · light

Contra

Full Page

#14171f

foreground

#ffffff

background

#677084

foreground

#373f51

foreground

#d0d4dc

foreground

#000000

foreground

#9ba2b0

foreground

#e5e7eb

neutral

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 · light

Contra

Full Page

Display
GT Standard L
Body
GT Standard M
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.

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 · light

Contra

Full Page

Base unit
4 px
Container max
1848 px
2px
4px
6px
8px
10px
12px
16px
20px

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 · light

Contra

Full Page

Level
expressive
Libraries

Durations

0.17s0.2s0.3s0.32s0.35s

Easings

easeease-in-outease-out

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 10% 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 75% (4, 8, 10, 12, 16 px shared) — a rhythm any agent can transfer between the two systems with minimal recalibration.

Shared swatches (2)

#ffffff#000000

Curator verdict

If you are building an interface that needs to reference both, Contra's restraint reads as the safer default and Maze's rhythm provides the accent moments — pair them at section-level, not at component-level.

Full Contra brief →Full Maze brief →Back to gallery

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