republic-design

name

republic-design

description

Republic-style UX design reviewer and scorer for pitch decks, landing pages, and investor-facing materials. Applies Republic.com's design DNA (financial-grade trust, data-forward, restrained elegance) to score and improve any visual artifact. Use when user says "republic", "republic style", "score design", "polish deck", "investor-grade design", or wants to elevate visual quality to crowdfunding-platform standards.

Republic-Style Design System

Design DNA

Republic's design is built on one principle: financial-grade trust through visual restraint. Every pixel earns investor confidence. No decoration exists without purpose. The platform feels like a Bloomberg terminal dressed in Dieter Rams' philosophy.

The Republic Aesthetic

1. Color Palette (The Trust Stack)

Background:         #ffffff (pure white, no off-whites)
Surface:            #f9fafb (cards, containers)
Surface elevated:   #ffffff + box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.06), 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.04)
Border:             #e5e7eb (light gray, 1px)
Border emphasis:    #d1d5db (slightly darker, for active/hover)

Text primary:       #111827 (near-black, high contrast)
Text secondary:     #6b7280 (muted gray)
Text tertiary:      #9ca3af (captions, timestamps)

Brand green:        #10b981 (emerald-500, success, CTA, growth)
Brand green light:  #ecfdf5 (emerald-50, subtle badge backgrounds)
Brand green border: #a7f3d0 (emerald-200, badge borders)

Danger:             #ef4444 (red-500, sparingly)
Danger light:       #fef2f2 (red-50, badge background)

Accent:             #3b82f6 (blue-500, links only)

Rules:

• Maximum 2 accent colors per slide (green + one other)
• Never use gradients on backgrounds or cards
• Never use colored left borders on cards (AI slop pattern)
• Dark cards (#111827 or #1a1a1a) used sparingly: max 1 per slide for contrast
• No opacity tricks for backgrounds; use real color values

2. Typography

Primary font: Inter (the fintech standard) Display/headline alternative: DM Sans 600-700 (acceptable substitute) Monospace: JetBrains Mono or SF Mono (code blocks only)

Hero stat:          64-80px, weight 700, tracking -0.02em
Slide headline:     36-44px, weight 600, tracking -0.01em
Card title:         18-22px, weight 600
Body text:          15-16px, weight 400, line-height 1.6
Small label:        12-13px, weight 500, uppercase, tracking 0.05em
Caption:            13-14px, weight 400, color #9ca3af

Rules:

• Max 3 font size tiers per slide (hero, body, caption)
• Headlines never bold-italic or decorated
• No text shadows, no text-stroke, no gradient text
• Labels always uppercase with letter-spacing
• Line-height: 1.3 for headlines, 1.6 for body

3. Spacing System

Slide padding:      64px vertical, 80px horizontal
Section gap:        48px between major sections
Card padding:       24-32px
Card gap:           16-20px between cards
Element gap:        12-16px between items in a list
Icon-to-text:       12px

Rules:

• Consistent rhythm: pick one spacing unit (8px base) and stick to multiples
• Generous whitespace beats cramming content
• Never let content touch container edges (min 24px padding)

4. Cards & Containers

Standard card:

background: #ffffff;
border: 1px solid #e5e7eb;
border-radius: 12px;
padding: 24px 28px;
/* No shadow by default */

Elevated card (important content):

background: #ffffff;
border: 1px solid #e5e7eb;
border-radius: 12px;
padding: 28px 32px;
box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.06), 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.04);

Accent card (CTA or key metric):

background: #ecfdf5;
border: 1px solid #a7f3d0;
border-radius: 12px;
padding: 28px 32px;

Dark card (sparingly, max 1 per slide):

background: #111827;
color: #f9fafb;
border: none;
border-radius: 12px;
padding: 32px;

Rules:

• border-radius: 12px universally (never 0, never 20px+)
• No colored left borders on cards
• No gradient backgrounds on cards
• No double borders or border tricks
• Cards should feel like they could exist on republic.com

5. Data Presentation

Stat display (Republic's signature):

<div class="stat">
  <span class="stat-value">$2.4M</span>
  <span class="stat-label">RAISED TO DATE</span>
</div>

• Value: 48-72px, weight 700, color #111827 or #10b981
• Label: 12px, uppercase, tracking 0.05em, color #9ca3af
• Always value above label, never inline

Progress bars:

.bar-track { height: 6px; background: #f3f4f6; border-radius: 3px; }
.bar-fill { height: 6px; background: #10b981; border-radius: 3px; }

• Thin (6-8px), not chunky
• Rounded ends
• No gradients or stripes in bars

Charts:

• Clean axes, minimal gridlines (#f3f4f6)
• Data points as small circles (6-8px), not large dots
• Area fills at 10-15% opacity of the line color
• Max 2 data series per chart
• Always include axis labels

6. Icons & Visual Elements

Icon style: Outlined/stroke, 1.5px stroke weight, 20-24px size Icon color: #6b7280 (muted) or #111827 (emphasis) Icon containers: 40x40px circle or rounded square, background #f3f4f6

Rules:

• No filled/solid icons (too heavy)
• No colored icon backgrounds (except green for success states)
• No emoji-style icons
• Prefer Heroicons outline or Lucide
• If using brand logos: real SVGs from SimpleIcons, never text-in-circles

7. Buttons & CTAs

/* Primary */
background: #10b981;
color: #ffffff;
border: none;
border-radius: 8px;
padding: 12px 24px;
font-size: 15px;
font-weight: 600;

/* Secondary */
background: #ffffff;
color: #111827;
border: 1px solid #e5e7eb;
border-radius: 8px;
padding: 12px 24px;

• No gradient buttons
• No pill-shaped buttons (border-radius: 9999px)
• No icon-only buttons without labels
• Max 1 primary CTA per slide

8. Badges & Tags

/* Standard badge */
background: #f3f4f6;
color: #6b7280;
border-radius: 6px;
padding: 4px 10px;
font-size: 12px;
font-weight: 500;

/* Success badge */
background: #ecfdf5;
color: #059669;
border: 1px solid #a7f3d0;

/* Danger badge */
background: #fef2f2;
color: #dc2626;
border: 1px solid #fecaca;

9. Backgrounds & Atmosphere

• Pure white (#ffffff) for slide backgrounds
• No gradient meshes, no noise textures, no ambient glows
• No radial gradient decorations (they look AI-generated)
• If depth is needed: use a single subtle shadow, not background effects
• No dot-grids or pattern overlays

10. Diagrams & Flow Charts

• Connectors: 1.5px solid lines, color #d1d5db
• Arrow heads: small, clean triangles (6px)
• Flow direction: left-to-right or top-to-bottom
• Node style: standard card style (white, 1px border, 12px radius)
• Connection points: small circles (6px) at node edges
• Use green (#10b981) only for the active/highlighted path
• Gray for secondary paths

---

Scoring Rubric (10 Dimensions)

When scoring a slide or deck, evaluate on these 10 axes (1-10 each):

1. Trust Signal (Does it feel like a financial platform?)

• 10: Could be a Republic deal page
• 5: Looks like a startup landing page
• 1: Looks like a hackathon project

2. Typography Discipline

• 10: 3 clear tiers, consistent sizing, proper tracking
• 5: Too many sizes, inconsistent weights
• 1: Random sizing, decorative fonts

3. Color Restraint

• 10: 2 colors max, used with surgical precision
• 5: 3-4 colors, some unnecessary
• 1: Rainbow, gradients everywhere

4. Whitespace & Breathing Room

• 10: Content breathes, nothing feels cramped
• 5: Adequate but could use more space
• 1: Wall of content, no margins

5. Card & Container Quality

• 10: Consistent radius, borders, padding. Republic-standard.
• 5: Mixed styles, some inconsistency
• 1: Random borders, colors, no system

6. Data Presentation

• 10: Numbers are heroes, clean stat displays, thin progress bars
• 5: Data exists but layout is average
• 1: Data buried in text, no visual treatment

7. Icon & Visual Coherence

• 10: Consistent stroke icons, proper sizing, real brand logos
• 5: Mixed icon styles
• 1: Emoji, filled icons, text-in-circles

8. Layout Composition

• 10: Clear visual anchor, asymmetric columns, purposeful grid
• 5: Functional but predictable
• 1: Everything centered or evenly spaced

9. Dark Element Usage

• 10: Dark cards used sparingly for maximum impact
• 5: Too many or too few dark elements
• 1: Dark elements feel random or overwhelming

10. AI-Slop Avoidance

• 10: No colored left-borders, no gradient cards, no emoji, no generic patterns
• 5: Some AI-slop patterns present
• 1: Looks like ChatGPT generated the CSS

Scoring formula:

• Average of 10 dimensions = raw score
• Penalty: -0.5 for each AI-slop pattern detected
• Bonus: +0.3 for each "this could be on Republic" element

---

Common Republic-Style Fixes

Problem	Republic Fix
Dark card with colored left border	Remove border-left, use full dark bg or green accent border (all sides)
Gradient background on container	Solid color: #f9fafb for light, #111827 for dark
Too many colors	Reduce to #111827 + #10b981 + #ef4444 (if needed)
Large rounded corners (16-20px)	Standardize to 12px
Thick borders (2px+)	Reduce to 1px #e5e7eb
Chunky progress bars	6px height, rounded, no stripes
Icon size inconsistency	Standardize to 20px in 40px containers
Text-heavy sections	Extract key stat as hero number, demote rest
Multiple CTAs per slide	One primary CTA, rest are secondary/text links
Decorative background effects	Remove entirely, pure white

---

Workflow

1. Audit: Read all slides/pages, catalog every design choice
2. Score: Apply the 10-dimension rubric to each slide
3. Prioritize: Rank fixes by visual impact (highest delta per change)
4. Fix: Apply Republic-style corrections, starting with highest-impact
5. Verify: Screenshot and re-score after fixes
6. Iterate: Repeat until average score >= 9.0