Skip to main content

Design language comparison

Contra vs Modal

Contra runs a light-canvas system while Modal chose dark, and they pair different display families (GT Standard M vs Inter Variable). 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 · dark

Modal

Full Page

#5b6d5c

foreground

#000000

foreground

#ddffdc

background

#def0dd

background

#7fee64

accent

#181818

foreground

#10a550

accent

#485346

neutral

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 · dark

Modal

Full Page

Display
Goga
Body
Inter Variable
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.

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 · dark

Modal

Full Page

Base unit
4 px
Container max
1400 px
2px
4px
6px
8px
10px
12px
16px
18px

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 · dark

Modal

Full Page

Level
expressive
Libraries

Durations

0.15s0.3s0.5s0.6s0.9s

Easings

cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)cubic-bezier(0, 0, 0.2, 1)cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, …ease-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 92% (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 px shared) — a rhythm any agent can transfer between the two systems with minimal recalibration.

Shared swatches (2)

#ffffff#000000

Curator verdict

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

Full Contra brief →Full Modal brief →Back to gallery

AI2 Design counts anonymous traffic always — no cookies, no identifiers, no fingerprinting. For optional session insights (PostHog, EU region) — page funnel, performance — turn on opt-in analytics below. Cookie policy.