# Personal style guide

Version 1 · September 2026

A minimal visual style for documents and digital spaces. Inspired by the clarity, restraint, and spacious typography of Apple’s design language. This is an independent personal style, with no Apple logos or imitation product branding.

## Default use

Use this style for new documents, reports, study packs, presentations, spreadsheets, and personal web pages unless a request specifies another visual direction. Preserve required academic, employer, client, and submission formats. A branding request does not authorize rewriting existing documents or altering their content.

Life HQ remains the name of the hub. Finished documents have no personal name, signature, monogram, or logo. Use only the document title and useful metadata. Do not add Life HQ branding to documents. If a later request or mandatory submission format explicitly requires an author, follow that requirement.

## Visual principles

- Let content lead. Use a strong title, a short introduction, and clear sections.
- Create hierarchy with size, weight, alignment, and space. Avoid decorative panels around every paragraph.
- Use one accent for links, actions, and a selected data series. Most of each page stays neutral.
- Give text room to breathe. Prefer fewer elements and comfortable type over compressed layouts.
- Keep color functional. Retain meaningful subject, category, and status colors with text labels.

## Color

| Token | Light | Dark | Use |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Canvas | #F5F5F7 | #111113 | Website background |
| Surface | #FFFFFF | #1C1C1E | Cards and document pages |
| Secondary surface | #F5F5F7 | #272729 | Quiet emphasis and table headers |
| Text | #1D1D1F | #F5F5F7 | Headings and body |
| Secondary text | #616166 | #B2B2B8 | Supporting copy |
| Metadata | #6E6E73 | #A1A1A8 | Dates, labels, captions |
| Divider | #DCDCE0 | #3A3A3E | Fine boundaries, never body text |
| Blue | #0066CC | #69B2FF | Accent and focus |
| Link | #005BB5 | #87C1FF | Text links |
| Blue tint | #EDF5FF | #162B42 | Selected states |

Use white pages for print and PDF. Filled blue buttons use #0066CC with white text in either theme. Check contrast against the actual background; ordinary text should meet at least 4.5:1. Pale dividers are decorative, not the sole signal for an input or selection. Text labels and focus indicators must remain visible.

## Typography

Web: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif. This uses the native system font on Apple devices without bundling proprietary fonts or requiring a font download. Use monospace only for actual code, identifiers, and formulas.

Office and PDF: use Arial as the portable default; Helvetica Neue is acceptable when available and verified in the exported file. Embed licensed fonts in PDFs when supported. Use one sans-serif family throughout, with regular and semibold or bold weights. No light-weight body text.

| Role | Web | Documents | Slides |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Main title | 40–64 px | 28–32 pt | 36–44 pt |
| Section heading | 24–32 px | 16–18 pt | 26–32 pt |
| Subheading | 18–20 px | 12–13 pt | 22–24 pt |
| Body | 16–18 px | 11 pt | 20–24 pt |
| Metadata | 12–14 px | 9 pt | 12–14 pt |

Use sentence case, left alignment, and a heading weight around 600 on the web. Document headings may use bold where semibold is unavailable. Tighten tracking slightly only in large web headings. Body line height: about 1.5–1.65 on screen, 1.35–1.5 in documents. Keep reading lines around 60–75 characters.

## Layout

Use a spacing rhythm of 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, and 88 px on screen. Desktop content is at most 1120 px wide; long-form text is around 70 characters wide. Mobile gutters are 22 px. Use 16–20 px card corners, 8–12 px input corners, and subtle or no shadows. Reserve pills for filters and short statuses.

For Letter documents, use margins around 0.8 inches; adapt to A4 when requested. Place 6–8 pt after body paragraphs and 18–24 pt before major headings. Keep headings with following content. Avoid forced cover pages on short reports. Use page numbers on longer documents and unobtrusive citations next to the claims they support.

Slides use 16:9 by default, generous safe margins, and one main idea per slide. Use editable text and shapes. Spreadsheets use 11 pt Arial, restrained gray headers, frozen header rows, readable number formats, and a blue accent for key outputs. Data colors must also have labels.

## Components

- Title: near-black, descriptive, large; no underline or decorative rule beneath it.
- Summary: one short lead paragraph. A pale gray callout is optional when a decision or thesis needs emphasis.
- Table: light gray header, generous cell padding, subtle horizontal rules; use a full grid only when required for readability. Right-align numeric columns and align units consistently. Repeat table headers across pages.
- Chart: neutral axes, direct labels where practical, blue for the primary series. Use additional distinguishable colors only when the data needs them.
- Links: descriptive wording, blue, underlined in running text. Do not rely only on hover to reveal actions.
- Icons: simple 1.5–2 px strokes at consistent sizes. No emoji as navigation icons or decorative branding.
- Footer: a short document title if helpful, date if useful, and page number. No personal name or logo. Keep it small and quiet.

## Voice

Clear, calm, and direct. Lead with the useful point. Prefer concrete headings, short paragraphs, and everyday language. Avoid inflated claims, slogans, unnecessary labels, and repeating the same conclusion. Keep technical detail when it helps the reader act or understand.

## Review before delivery

Review the actual rendered output. Check desktop and mobile for websites; check every exported page or slide for documents. Confirm no clipping, awkward page breaks, tiny text, broken links, or missing fonts. Preserve keyboard navigation, visible focus, meaningful labels, reduced-motion preferences, and print readability. The style should support the content, never remove necessary information to achieve a cleaner appearance.