Design lab

Design themes

How the organizations this site links to present themselves, what each approach buys the visitor, and five color themes you can switch between right here.

The sites
Eight analyzed
By benefit
Five themes

The sites this one links to

Twenty-six destinations across organizations, campaigns, government and publications. The first eight were opened in a browser and their fonts and colors read directly from the page styles.

Site	What it is	Type
EJI	Equal Justice Initiative: Legacy Museum, lynching documentation	Organization	Analyzed below
NAACP LDF	Civil rights litigation and policy	Organization	Analyzed below
Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation	Jesuit and GU272 descendant partnership	Organization	Analyzed below
Coming to the Table	Descendants of enslavers and enslaved working together	Organization	Analyzed below
Real Rent Duwamish	Monthly rent to the Duwamish Tribe	Campaign	Analyzed below
LANDBACK	NDN Collective land return campaign	Campaign	Analyzed below
NAARC	National African American Reparations Commission	Organization	Analyzed below
Reparations4Slavery	Personal reparations guide for white families	Resource	Analyzed below
N'COBRA	National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America	Organization
GU272 Descendants Association	Descendant-led association	Organization
Claims Conference	Holocaust reparations administration	Organization
Native Land Digital	Map of Indigenous territories and treaties	Tool
First Nations Development Institute	Native-led economic development	Organization
City of Evanston Reparations	Municipal reparations program	Government
California AB 3121	State task force and final report	Government
H.R. 40 on congress.gov	Federal study commission bill	Government
OHCHR Basic Principles	UN framework on remedy and reparation	Government
Densho Encyclopedia	Civil Liberties Act of 1988	Reference
The Atlantic	"The Case for Reparations" (2014)	Publication
Brookings	Policy essay on reparations	Publication
Federal Reserve	Survey of Consumer Finances analysis	Publication
The Conversation	Micro-reparations research explainer	Publication
NBER	Working paper on the racial wealth gap	Publication
NPR	Evanston reporting	Publication
UNC Press	From Here to Equality	Publication
Wikipedia	Overview articles	Reference

Eight sites, analyzed

Fonts and colors below are measured from each site's computed styles on its home page, not guessed. Swatches are the dominant backgrounds, text and accent colors.

Credibility

Equal Justice Initiative

Atlas Grotesk for everything, headings at weight 900

Warm paper background (#f7f6f3) instead of pure white, so photography carries the color.
Almost no accent color: black type, square corners, zero-radius buttons. Authority comes from restraint.
Dense "latest news" list right under one hero card. Reads like a serious publication.
Takeaway: one typeface used with conviction beats a palette.

Credibility

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Mercury Text (serif) body, Gotham headings

Deep navy header and slate card, with one high-voltage yellow (#fddb00) reserved for buttons.
Serif body copy signals law and scholarship; geometric sans headings keep it modern.
Square corners throughout. Nothing playful, everything legible.
Takeaway: institutional blue plus a single warm action color is a proven trust formula.

Trust with warmth

Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation

Proxima Nova throughout, headings 34px bold

Deepest navy (#001a2a) as the page background, lifted by teal (#0091b3) and a pale yellow (#f1e87c).
Full-width photography of children and classrooms. People first, policy second.
White header sits on the dark page, giving the brand a clean frame.
Takeaway: dark backgrounds can feel warm when the accents are sea-colored and the photos are human.

Warmth

Coming to the Table

Lato body, Balthazar display at 50px

Sage green (#81a78e) for links and buttons. Soft, non-confrontational, "come sit down."
Body text is mid-grey (#666) on white, which falls below comfortable contrast on phones.
Event poster hero, floating Donate tab, Share bar: a lot of competing calls to action.
Takeaway: the sage palette is right for an invitation; the clutter and low contrast are not.

Urgency

Real Rent Duwamish

Raleway body, Catamaran headings

A single brick-red block (#a82e2e) holds the whole pitch: portrait, two giant buttons, one quote.
"Pay Rent" is the first thing you can click. The ask is the design.
Charcoal buttons with 10px radius, grey body text. Not polished, but impossible to misunderstand.
Takeaway: when the site exists for one action, put that action above everything, in one color.

Urgency

LANDBACK

Azo Sans body, Alternate Gothic Extra Condensed headings at 66px

Black, white and two reds. Condensed uppercase headlines. A news ticker across the top.
Reads like a protest poster and a newsroom at once. Energy over comfort.
Square corners, hard edges, heavy weight. Nothing here asks permission.
Takeaway: condensed display type plus a hot red is the fastest way to signal a movement.

Credibility

NAARC

Lora (serif) body, system sans headings

Maroon (#9b3131) as the only accent, on white, with a serif body. Academic and sober.
Conventional NGO structure: hero slider, "About us", news grid.
Photography of the commissioners themselves builds credibility through faces.
Takeaway: a deep red-brown can read as scholarly rather than urgent when paired with a serif.

Urgency

Reparations4Slavery

Raleway body, Montserrat 900 uppercase headings at 52px

Black-and-white oak-alley photo, lime green (#94ba33) headline and button, navy secondary.
The headline is a rhetorical confrontation; the button is "Learn more". Emotion first, then a path.
Only four colors on the whole page. Discipline.
Takeaway: a single unexpected accent on monochrome photography is memorable and cheap to maintain.

Four approaches, by what they do for the visitor

Grouped by benefit rather than by organization, because that is what a design decision should be judged on.

Credibility and authority

EJI, NAACP LDF, NAARC

One deep institutional color (navy, black, maroon) plus at most one accent.
Serif body text or a single heavy grotesk. Square corners.
Dense, well-organized information; photographs of real people and places.
Benefit: visitors trust it, cite it, and feel safe giving. Risk: can feel cold or bureaucratic.

Warmth and belonging

Coming to the Table, Descendants Foundation

Sage, teal, sky and sand. Softer display type, generous rounding.
People-centered photography; gentle asks such as "become a member."
Benefit: lowers defensiveness and invites first-timers into a personal practice. Risk: clutter and low-contrast grey text.

Urgency and one clear action

Real Rent Duwamish, LANDBACK, Reparations4Slavery

Black and white with one hot color: red, brick, lime.
Condensed or black-weight headlines, often uppercase. Giant single call to action above the fold.
Benefit: conversion on a single ask, movement energy, memorability. Risk: reads as a campaign, tiring for long reads.

Reflective and editorial

This site's original Ember theme

Paper tones, serif display, long measure, calm rhythm.
Benefit: comprehension and calm for people processing a hard subject. Risk: too much reading on a phone, low action energy.

Five themes for microreparations.com

Each theme is a complete light and dark palette plus a corner radius and display typeface, applied through the same CSS variables the live site uses. Ledger is the default. Pick another with the buttons and the whole site remembers it on this device; "Open the home page" shows the real pages in that theme.

Ember

Reflective editorial (previous default)

Borrowed from: our current direction, with EJI's warm paper and NAARC's red-brown accent.

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Light

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Dark

Best fora reference people return to and read slowly.

Moodcalm, literate, grounded.

Watch out forlong pages on phones; keep the category split.

Open the home page in Ember

Ledger

Credibility and authority (current default)

Borrowed from: NAACP LDF's navy and yellow, EJI's restraint, NAARC's serif.

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Light

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Dark

Best forbeing quoted, shared with skeptics, and trusted by donors.

Moodinstitutional, considered, serious.

Watch out forfeeling like a law firm; the gold accent is what keeps it human.

Open the home page in Ledger

Sage

Warmth and belonging

Borrowed from: Coming to the Table's sage, with clay and gold added and the contrast fixed.

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Light

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Dark

Best forinviting people who feel nervous about the topic to take a first step.

Moodgentle, hospitable, hopeful.

Watch out forlooking like wellness marketing; keep the type editorial.

Open the home page in Sage

Harbor

Trust with warmth

Borrowed from: Descendants Foundation's deep navy, teal and pale yellow.

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Light

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Dark

Best fora trustworthy site that still feels alive and human.

Moodsteady, clear, optimistic.

Watch out forthe dark mode is the hero here; the light mode needs photography to sing.

Open the home page in Harbor

Signal

Urgency and one clear action

Borrowed from: LANDBACK's black, white and red; Real Rent's single-ask layout; Oswald stands in for the condensed display type.

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Light

A practice, not a policy debate

Repair doesn't have to wait.

Small, direct, repeated acts of repair that don't require anyone's permission.

See ways to contributeThe concept

RecurringSet up a standing transferPick a fund, set it monthly, don't revisit.

One-timeFund a specific needA deposit, a bill, a semester.

microreparations.com● Dark

Best fora campaign moment, a pledge drive, or a "do this one thing" landing page.

Moodurgent, confident, loud.

Watch out forfatigue over long reads. Pair with short pages and one action per screen.

Open the home page in Signal