Design language comparison
Modal vs xAI
Modal runs a dark-canvas system while xAI chose light, and they pair different display families (Inter Variable vs -apple-system). Beyond surface, motion divides them — Modal is expressive, xAI is subtle.
Palette · side by side
Up to 8 dominant swatches eachSide A · dark
Modal
Full Page
#5b6d5c
foreground
#000000
foreground
#ddffdc
background
#def0dd
background
#7fee64
accent
#181818
foreground
#10a550
accent
#485346
neutral
Side B · light
xAI
Full Page
#404040
foreground
#595959
foreground
#0051c3
brand
#000000
foreground
#ffffff
background
#ebebeb
background
Typography · side by side
Primary family + weight ladder + sampleSide A · 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.
Side B · light
xAI
Full Page
- Display
- -apple-system
- Body
- Times New Roman
- Weights
- 300 · 400 · 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 valuesSide A · dark
Modal
Full Page
- Base unit
- 4 px
- Container max
- 1400 px
Side B · light
xAI
Full Page
- Base unit
- 4 px
- Container max
- 1536 px
Motion vocabulary · side by side
Level + durations + easingsSide A · dark
Modal
Full Page
- Level
- expressive
- Libraries
- —
Durations
Easings
Side B · light
xAI
Full Page
- Level
- subtle
- Libraries
- —
Durations
Easings
Palette & spacing overlap
Their palettes share 20% of swatches at the dominant tier — a quiet signal both teams drew from the same neutral library before applying brand accents. Spacing scales diverge entirely — agents porting components from one to the other should expect to re-derive the ladder, not interpolate.
Shared swatches (2)
Curator verdict
Pick a side. Mixing Modal's dark-first canvas with xAI's subtle motion vocabulary produces visual whiplash. Adopt one system as your primary, study the other for individual technique transfers (e.g. Modal's spacing, xAI's shadow).