# Ableton design system

> Ableton design system measured from ableton.com: futura-pt font, #0000FF primary on #FFFFFF, 9 color hex codes, type scale, spacing and a free DESIGN.md.

Canonical page: https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/ableton.com/

Ableton’s website (ableton.com) uses the futura-pt font and #0000FF as its main color on a white background. Measured by Sitepeel on November 4, 2026.

## What font does Ableton use?

Ableton uses futura-pt (weights 400 and 700) on ableton.com. Page titles are 30px at weight 700 (20px on phones) and body text is 16px. Measured on November 4, 2026.

- futura-pt (weights 400, 700)

## Ableton colors: palette and hex codes

Ableton’s main colors are #FFFFFF (white) for the background, #000000 (near black) for text and #0000FF (vivid indigo) as the main accent, with #00D2BE (teal) and #FF8389 (light red) as other accents. Measured on November 4, 2026.

- #FFFFFF: white
- #000000: near black
- #F3F3F3: mist
- #EEEEEE: mist
- #0000FF: vivid indigo
- #00D2BE: teal
- #FF8389: light red

## What is Ableton built with?

Ableton’s website (ableton.com) is built with jQuery, Gunicorn and imgix. Measured on November 4, 2026.

- JavaScript framework: jQuery 2.1.4
- Analytics: TikTok Pixel
- Server: Gunicorn
- Media: imgix

## Questions and answers

### What font does Ableton use?

Ableton’s website uses futura-pt (weights 400 and 700). Page titles are 30px at weight 700 (20px on phones) and body text is 16px. Measured on November 4, 2026.

### What are the Ableton colors and hex codes?

On ableton.com: #FFFFFF (white) for the background, #000000 (near black) for text and #0000FF (vivid indigo) as the main accent, with #00D2BE (teal) and #FF8389 (light red) as other accents. The color palette above lists all 9 colors with their hex codes and where each one is used.

### What is the Ableton design system?

The design system on this page is ableton.com’s, as measured on November 4, 2026: futura-pt type, #0000FF as the main color and square corners, written down as a DESIGN.md. It is not Ableton’s own documentation.

### What is Ableton built with?

Ableton’s website (ableton.com) is built with jQuery, Gunicorn and imgix. The full tech stack Sitepeel found: jQuery, TikTok Pixel, Gunicorn and imgix. Measured on November 4, 2026.

### What is the Ableton DESIGN.md?

A plain-text file with Ableton’s measured colors, type, spacing, corners and components as tokens, plus short rules, in the DESIGN.md format Google published with Stitch. Your AI coding agent reads it and builds in this style. More about DESIGN.md.

### How do I use it with Claude Code or Cursor?

Download the file and put it in your project’s root folder, then ask your agent to follow DESIGN.md. Step-by-step guides: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot.

### Is this Ableton’s official design system?

No. Sitepeel measured it from ableton.com’s public page on November 4, 2026. It is an independent analysis, not made or approved by Ableton.

### Can I use Ableton’s style in my own product?

Use it to learn, prototype and compare. For a real product, make the style your own, and never copy Ableton’s logo, name, pictures or text.

### How accurate are the values?

Each value was measured on the rendered page after it fully loaded, on desktop and mobile: colors where they appear, type with tracking, spacing, corners, shadows and hover states. Sites change, so check the date at the top.

## Files

- [DESIGN.md](https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/ableton.com/DESIGN.md): the plain file to put in your project.
- [All brand DESIGN.md files](https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/examples/index.md)

Independent analysis by Sitepeel (sitepeel.dev), not affiliated with Ableton.

## The DESIGN.md file

```markdown
---
version: alpha
name: Ableton
description: "Light interface measured from ableton.com: futura-pt type, vivid indigo accents, tonal surfaces and square corners."
colors:
  background: "#FFFFFF"
  surface: "#FFFFFF"
  on-surface: "#000000"
  on-background: "#000000"
  surface-container-low: "#F3F3F3"
  surface-container: "#EEEEEE"
  outline: "#EEEEEE"
  primary: "#0000FF"
  on-primary: "#000000"
  secondary: "#00D2BE"
  tertiary: "#FF8389"
typography:
  display-hero:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 40px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.2
  headline-display:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 30px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.4
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 24px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.5
  headline-md:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 20px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.5
  body-md:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 16px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
  body-sm:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 14px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
  label-md:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 16px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.5
  label-sm:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 14px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.5
  headline-display-mobile:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 20px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.5
  headline-md-mobile:
    fontFamily: futura-pt
    fontSize: 14px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
rounded:
  none: 0px
spacing:
  xs: 2.8px
  sm: 5px
  md: 10px
  lg: 18px
  xl: 60px
  section: 60px
  margin: 120px
  container: 1600px
components:
  button-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
    textColor: "{colors.on-primary}"
    typography: "{typography.body-md}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 0px
    height: 60px
  button-secondary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.secondary}"
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface}"
    typography: "{typography.label-sm}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 1.96px 11.9px
    height: 25px
  button-tertiary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.tertiary}"
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface}"
    typography: "{typography.label-sm}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 1.96px 11.9px
    height: 25px
  button-ghost:
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface}"
    typography: "{typography.headline-md}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 0px
  input-field:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface-container}"
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface}"
    typography: "{typography.headline-md}"
    rounded: "{rounded.none}"
    padding: 8px 15px
  link:
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface}"
---

# Ableton Design System

## Overview

Ableton describes itself as: “Ableton makes software, hardware and other creative tools for a global community of music makers.” The interface is light, built on **White (#FFFFFF)** with **Near Black (#000000)** text, and **Vivid Indigo (#0000FF)** as the main accent.

Type is set in **futura-pt**. Headlines run large; body text is 16px. The surface language is flat. Corners are square.

Measured from [ableton.com](https://www.ableton.com/) on November 4, 2026 at 1440×900 and 390×844 from 179 rendered elements. Values are computed styles from the live page, not the original source files.

## Colors

The palette has 9 roles.

- **White (#FFFFFF):** Page background, seen 1 time. Token `background`.
- **Near Black (#000000):** Primary text and headings, seen 59 times. Token `on-surface`.
- **Mist (#F3F3F3):** Raised areas one step from the page, seen 1 time. Token `surface-container-low`.
- **Mist (#EEEEEE):** Cards and panels, seen 4 times. Token `surface-container`.
- **Mist (#EEEEEE):** Borders and dividers, seen 1 time. Token `outline`.
- **Vivid Indigo (#0000FF):** Primary buttons and calls to action, seen 20 times. Token `primary`.
- **Near Black (#000000):** Text and icons on primary. Token `on-primary`.
- **Teal (#00D2BE):** Secondary buttons, seen 2 times. Token `secondary`.
- **Light Red (#FF8389):** Secondary buttons, seen 1 time. Token `tertiary`.

## Typography

**futura-pt** carries the whole interface. Fallback stack: `futura-pt, Avenir, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont`.

- **display-hero:** futura-pt 40px at weight 700, line height 1.2. Oversized hero statements.
- **headline-display:** futura-pt 30px at weight 700, line height 1.4 (20px on mobile). Page title (h1).
- **headline-lg:** futura-pt 24px at weight 700, line height 1.5. Section headings (h2).
- **headline-md:** futura-pt 20px at weight 700, line height 1.5 (14px on mobile). Sub-section headings.
- **body-md:** futura-pt 16px at weight 400, line height 1.5. Body text.
- **body-sm:** futura-pt 14px at weight 400, line height 1.5. Secondary and small text.
- **label-md:** futura-pt 16px at weight 700, line height 1.5. Buttons, navigation and labels.
- **label-sm:** futura-pt 14px at weight 700, line height 1.5. Small labels and badges.

## Layout

Spacing does not follow a strict grid: 19% of measured values are multiples of 4px, so match the measured steps rather than rounding to a grid.

- **Scale:** xs 2.8px, sm 5px, md 10px, lg 18px, xl 60px.
- **Sections:** 60px vertical padding between major sections.
- **Container:** content is capped at 1600px.
- **Page margin:** 120px on each side of full-width sections.

## Elevation & Depth

The design is flat: no shadows were measured. Hierarchy comes from tonal surface steps (#F3F3F3 → #EEEEEE) and #EEEEEE borders.

## Shapes

Corners are square. Measured radii, most used first:

- **none (0px):** measured.

## Components

Measured from the rendered page. Token values reference the tokens above.

- **button-primary (“Scroll down”):** #0000FF fill, #000000 text, 16px/400, padding 0px.
- **button-secondary (“View posts in category: Tutorial”):** #00D2BE fill, #000000 text, 14px/700, padding 1.96px 11.9px.
- **button-tertiary (“View posts in category: Download”):** #FF8389 fill, #000000 text, 14px/700, padding 1.96px 11.9px.
- **button-ghost (“More”):** transparent fill, #000000 text, 20px/700, padding 0px.
- **input-field (“Email Address”):** #EEEEEE fill, #000000 text, 20px/400, padding 8px 15px.
- **link:** transparent fill, #000000 text, padding 0px.

## Do's and Don'ts

- Do use #FFFFFF for the page and lift surfaces in small steps: #F3F3F3, #EEEEEE.
- Do reserve #0000FF for primary actions and key highlights.
- Do reuse the measured spacing steps (5px, 10px, 18px).
- Don't add drop shadows for depth; use tonal surfaces.
- Don't introduce new font families beyond futura-pt.
- Don't use #0000FF for large backgrounds or body text.
- Don't make interface transitions slower than 0.35s.

## Motion

Interface transitions are quick: 0.15s, 0.35s.

- **Easing:** `ease`.

Generated by [Sitepeel](https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/ableton.com/), the free DESIGN.md generator (engine 2026.10.29+b828a475ee10).

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