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Design language comparison

Maze vs Obsidian OS

Both Maze and Obsidian OS commit to a light-canvas approach, and they pair different display families (ui-sans-serif vs sans-serif). Beyond surface, motion divides them — Maze is expressive, Obsidian OS is moderate.

Palette · side by side

Up to 8 dominant swatches each

Side A · light

Maze

Full Page

#000000

foreground

#212121

foreground

#ffffff

background

#d0d5d2

background

#008000

accent

#1863dc

accent

Side B · light

Obsidian OS

Full Page

#000000

foreground

#ffffff

background

#0000ee

brand

#1d1d1d

foreground

#ff5700

accent

#0d0d10

foreground

#67d243

accent

#383838

background

Typography · side by side

Primary family + weight ladder + sample

Side A · 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.

Side B · light

Obsidian OS

Full Page

Display
Ivory LL TT Light
Body
sans-serif
Weights
300

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

Maze

Full Page

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

Side B · light

Obsidian OS

Full Page

Base unit
4 px
Container max
1512 px
2px
6px
8px
10px
12px
16px
20px
24px

Motion vocabulary · side by side

Level + durations + easings

Side A · 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

Side B · light

Obsidian OS

Full Page

Level
moderate
Libraries
Framer Motion

Durations

0.1s

Easings

cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)ease-outease

Palette & spacing overlap

Their palettes share 22% 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% (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 Maze's light-first canvas with Obsidian OS's moderate motion vocabulary produces visual whiplash. Adopt one system as your primary, study the other for individual technique transfers (e.g. Maze's spacing, Obsidian OS's shadow).

Full Maze brief →Full Obsidian OS brief →Back to gallery

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