Design System Analysis of SAP

An enterprise system built like an application frame rather than a marketing surface: a light chrome bar above a product tab rail, a canvas broken by four full-width flat bands, and one blue that does all the acting. Depth comes from band and gradient rather than shadow, and corners stop at 8px on controls and 12px on media.

01 — Foundations

Color Palette

primary

#0057d2

The acting colour. Every filled button, every inline link, the active product tab.

primary-deep

#0040b0

The solid hero band on interior pages, and the label inside an outline button.

on-primary

#ffffff

The label on every blue fill and all type inside the hero band.

navy

#022879

The anchor of the home hero gradient, the one atmospheric surface in the system.

sky

#6bc0ff

A light blue panel used inside the services layout.

canvas

#ffffff

The working ground. Content panes, cards and most sections sit on it unchanged.

chrome

#f5f6f7

The global navigation bar, and the neutral band used to set a section apart.

band

#eaecee

The footer ground, and the largest non-canvas surface on the home page.

band-blue

#ebf8ff

A pale blue strip that lifts a section out of the canvas run.

band-lavender

#f7f4ff

A softer wash on product pages, the one band with a curved upper edge.

ink

#000000

Headings at every level, set at full strength.

ink-lead

#3c3c3c

The 28px lead paragraph that follows a display headline.

ink-body

#223548

Body copy. A slate rather than a grey.

ink-list

#354a5f

List items, one step lighter than body.

ink-meta

#475e75

Captions and footnotes, the quietest legible tier.

ink-nav

#545454

Navigation, breadcrumbs and tab labels — the chrome's own grey.

hairline

#475e75

The rule on an outline button.

02 — Foundations

Typography

72 Brand Variable is SAP's own variable typeface (Inter shown as substitute). What the variable axis buys is a weight range wider than most corporate systems use — 350, 400, 500 and 700 all appear — and the design leans on it hardest at the small end, where a 15px list item at 350 and a 15px nav link at 400 read as different classes of text at identical size. Tracking is left at zero everywhere.

display
72 Brand Variable · 57px · 700
lh 62.7px · ls 0
Home display headline
hero-title
72 Brand Variable · 36px · 500
lh 39.6px · ls 0
Interior hero title
section-title
72 Brand Variable · 32px · 500
lh 35.2px · ls 0
Section heading
lead
72 Brand Variable · 28px · 400
lh 30.8px · ls 0
Lead paragraph
subhead
72 Brand Variable · 20px · 500
lh 22px · ls 0
Feature title, active tab
body-lg
72 Brand Variable · 20px · 400
lh 30px · ls 0
Large body copy
body
72 Brand Variable · 18px · 400
lh 27px · ls 0
Body copy
button
72 Brand Variable · 16px · 500
lh 17.6px · ls 0
Button label
link
72 Brand Variable · 16px · 400
lh 24px · ls 0
Inline text link
nav-link
72 Brand Variable · 15px · 400
lh 21px · ls 0
Navigation, breadcrumb
list-item
72 Brand Variable · 15px · 350
lh 21px · ls 0
List item
caption
72 Brand Variable · 14px · 400
lh 21px · ls 0
Caption, tab label, footnote
03 — Components

Button Variants

button-primary · 8px

The acting colour. Blue is the only thing on this site that signals an action.

button-outline · hairline rule

The quiet partner in a hero CTA pair, bounded by a hairline with the deeper blue as its label.

button-floating · 58px
product-tab / tab-activeOverviewPricing
04 — Components

Cards & Surfaces

media-frame

The container around a photograph or illustration, at the system's 12px corner.

navy-hero

The home hero field: a gradient anchored on navy, the one atmospheric surface in a system that is otherwise flat.

band-neutral

A full-width flat band with square edges. Bands are how this layout separates sections — never a border, never a shadow.

05 — Components

Form Elements

field · 8px
textarea
06 — Foundations

Spacing Scale

An 8px base unit with a fine sub-step for control padding. Controls sit tight — the primary button pads 12px by 14px — and the large steps from 32px upward carry the vertical rhythm between bands.

xxs
2
xs
3
sm
8
md
9
lg
10
xl
12
xxl
15
wide
16
section
20
giant
24
max
32
huge
40
hero
48
band
56
page
72
07 — Foundations

Border Radius

The scale is short and stops early: 8px on every control, 12px on media, and nothing at all on full-width regions. Nothing in this system is a pill.

0px
none
4px
sm
8px
md
12px
lg
08 — Foundations

Elevation & Depth

Level 1 — 1px hairline. Card borders & footer dividers.
Level 2 — soft drop shadow. The floating nav pill & modals.
09 — Responsive

Responsive Behavior

NameWidthKey changes
Mobile480–767pxSingle column; nav collapses to a menu; two-column features stack
Tablet768–1023pxTwo-column features hold; hero image moves below its text
Laptop1024–1279pxFull grid; tab rail shows all tabs; hero returns to side-by-side
Desktop1280–1439pxCentred content column at full width
375
768
1024
1280
1440

Touch targets: button-floating clears 44×44 WCAG-AAA at 58px and button-primary meets it exactly at 44px; the inactive product tab sits at 32px. Collapsing: the global bar collapses its links behind a menu but keeps the logo, search and account affordances; the product tab rail becomes a horizontal scroller so the active tab stays anchored; two-column features stack and the 2x2 grid keeps its hairlines; bands hold their full-bleed width at every size while their inner padding compresses.