Tisza Project · 2026-04-09

Design Language

River Minimal + Artisan Stamps. A clean modern UI with handcrafted soul in the stamp and badge details.

Playful yet elegant. Smart friend energy. Not extreme sport bro, not hippie, not corporate. Like opening a beautifully designed app that makes you feel calm and curious at the same time.

Aesthetic Direction

Direction: Hybrid — River Minimal + Artisan Stamps

Decoration level: Intentional. Clean modern UI with handcrafted soul in stamp and badge details.

Anti-patterns: No purple gradients. No 3-column icon grids. No centered-everything. No generic hero images of kayakers in sunsets.

Typography

Display / Hero · Satoshi 800

Fedezd fel a Tiszát

Body · DM Sans 400

DM Sans is the workhorse — clean, friendly, excellent readability at every size. It's what the user reads when they're scanning trip details, route descriptions, and the wiki.

Stamps / Coordinates · JetBrains Mono

N 47.18351° · E 20.19672° · river_km 412.7 · 2026-04-09

Scale

Hero: 48px desktop / 32px mobile
H1: 32px · H2: 24px · H3: 20px
Body: 16px · Small: 14px · Caption: 12px
Stamp date: 10px (JetBrains Mono)

Color

Approach: Restrained. White dominant, one strong blue accent, gold for achievements.

Background

#FFFFFF

River Mist

#F0F6FF

Tisza Blue

#2563EB

Blue Dark

#1D4ED8

Blue Wash

#DBEAFE

Badge Gold

#E5A100

Stamp Ink

#B45309

Text Primary

#1A2332

River Stone

#6B7A8D

Stamp / Badge System

This is the signature design element. Where the artisan soul lives.

✦

2026·04·09

Circular, hand-crafted feel. Inner border in stamp ink (#B45309), outer dashed ring like an old postal stamp, slight random tilt (-2° to +3°) so it feels like a real rubber stamp pressed into a passport. Date in JetBrains Mono. Check-in animation: ink-bloom, 400ms.

Spacing & Layout

Base unit: 8px. Density: Comfortable — content breathes.
Scale: 2px · 4px · 8px · 16px · 24px · 32px · 48px · 64px
Grid: 12 columns desktop, 4 columns mobile. Max content width 1200px.
Border radius: 8 / 12 / 16px for app UI. 50% (circular) for stamps and badges.

Motion

Philosophy: Like a canoe. You push, it glides, it settles. Never snappy, never sluggish.

Easing: enter (ease-out) · exit (ease-in) · move (ease-in-out)
Duration: micro 100ms · short 200ms · medium 300ms · stamp-bloom 400ms
Map: water-ripple on hover (single pulse, not looping)

Decisions Log

Date	Decision	Rationale
2026-04-09	Hybrid direction: River Minimal + Artisan Stamps	Founders wanted playful + clean + blue/white (River Minimal base) but loved the handcrafted stamp aesthetics from Living River. The hybrid gives a modern, approachable app with artisan soul in the details.
2026-04-09	White + blue as dominant palette	Founders explicitly requested "more white and blue, more minimalist" — differentiates from green-heavy outdoor apps (Komoot, AllTrails, Canoë France).
2026-04-09	Satoshi as display font	Warm geometric that's modern but not cold (unlike Inter/Roboto). Playful enough for the brand, serious enough for trust.
2026-04-09	Stamp system as signature element	The passport / badge system is the product's key differentiator. Making stamps feel physical and artisanal (not videogame achievements) reinforces the "real experience" brand promise.

tisza-project · source: DESIGN.md · internal sharing