Care UK Design System

A guide to our brand colours, typography, semantic tokens, and interactive components.

Colour Palette

The Care UK brand palette is anchored by Dark Purple as the primary colour, with Pink and Dark Pink as accent colours. The full primitive set includes warm secondary tones.

Dark Purple 100
#560A61
--color-brand-primary
Dark Blue 100
#321267
--color-brand-primary-dark
Pink 100
#D7088B
--color-brand-accent
Dark Pink 100
#9E1E87
--color-surface-secondary
Medium Purple 100
#663399
Secondary/Medium Purple
Sky Blue 100
#00A8E0
Secondary/Sky Blue
Green 100
#96D600
Secondary/Green
Yellow 100
#FFD500
Secondary/Yellow
Orange 100
#FFA400
Secondary/Orange
Dark Purple 10
#EDE5EE
Background/Secondary
White
#FFFFFF
--color-surface-default

Typography

All type is set in Apex Rounded — a friendly, accessible typeface. Two weights are used: Book (400) for body copy and Medium (600) for headings, navigation, and emphasis.

2XL Headline64px / 90 lh
Weight 600
Care starts here
XL Headline48px / 68 lh
Weight 600
Care starts here
Large Headline36px / 50 lh
Weight 600
Care starts here
Medium Headline30px / 42 lh
Weight 600
Care starts here
Small Headline24px / 34 lh
Weight 600
Care starts here
XS Headline21px / 30 lh
Weight 600
Care starts here
Body Large18px / 25 lh
Weight 400
We provide award-winning care for older people and those living with dementia across our network of homes.
Body Regular16px / 22 lh
Weight 400
We provide award-winning care for older people and those living with dementia across our network of homes.
Body Small14px / 20 lh
Weight 400
We provide award-winning care for older people and those living with dementia across our network of homes.
Button Text18px / 25 lh
Weight 500 · UPPERCASE
Find a care home

Semantic Tokens

Semantic tokens map brand colours to functional roles, ensuring consistency across all components and contexts.

Surfaces

Background/Primary#FAFAFA
Background/White#FFF
Background/Secondary#EDE5EE
Background/Tertiary#560A61
Background/Alternate-1#9E1E87

Text

Text/Primary#333333
Text/Secondary#560A61
Text/Tertiary#FFF
Text/Link#D7088B
Text/Disabled#999

Buttons

Button/Primary#560A61
Button/Secondary#FFF
Button/Tertiary#D7088B
Button/Alternate-1#321267

Borders

Border/Primary#EDE5EE
Border/Secondary#D7088B
Border/Tertiary#FFF

Inverse Theme

Surface#560A61
Text#FFF
Links#FEC576
Focus ring#FEC576

Buttons

Buttons use Apex Rounded at 18px uppercase with consistent padding of 12px vertical and 20px horizontal. Each variant supports Default, Hover, and Pressed states.

Primary Button

The default action button. Dark Purple 100 fill with white text. Darkens to Dark Blue 100 on press.

Default
Hover
Pressed
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Secondary Button

Outlined variant for secondary actions. White fill with Dark Purple border and text. Fills with Dark Purple on hover.

Default
Hover
Pressed
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Secondary on Colour Background

White-outlined variant used on coloured backgrounds. Fills with brand purple on hover.

Default
Hover
Pressed
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Secondary on Image

Solid white variant used over photographic backgrounds. Gains a border on hover.

Default
Hover
Pressed
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Icons

The Care UK icon library — 73 brand-specific icons across three groups: System (UI affordances), Social (external networks) and Care Home (facilities and amenities). All icons are Care UK-only and not shared across other brands in the multi-brand framework.

System

UI affordances — navigation, actions, status, feedback. 41 icons.

add
add
autocomplete-search
autocomplete-search
back-to-top
back-to-top
call
call
call-receive
call-receive
call-us
call-us
care-home-result
care-home-result
chat
chat
close
close
download
download
error-outline
error-outline
favourite
favourite
favourite-add
favourite-add
favourite-added
favourite-added
favourite-filled
favourite-filled
filters
filters
home-search
home-search
info
info
info-outline
info-outline
job-search
job-search
link
link
link-external
link-external
make-a-payment-solid
make-a-payment-solid
map-pin
map-pin
maximize
maximize
menu
menu
no
no
password-eye
password-eye
payment
payment
play
play
play-alt
play-alt
purple-map-pin
purple-map-pin
quote-marks
quote-marks
rating
rating
recently-viewed
recently-viewed
scroller-arrow
scroller-arrow
share
share
thick-arrow
thick-arrow
view-360
view-360
web
web
yes
yes

Social

External social networks. 4 icons.

Facebook
facebook
Instagram
instagram
LinkedIn
linkedin
X
X

Care Home

Facilities, amenities and services available in care homes. 28 icons.

bar
bar
bowling-green
bowling-green
cafe
cafe
church-services
church-services
cinema-room
cinema-room
concierge
concierge
conservatory
conservatory
couples-suite
couples-suite
family-guest-room
family-guest-room
games-room
games-room
garden-view
garden-view
gym
gym
hair-beauty
hair-beauty
independent-living
independent-living
library
library
local-shops-nearby
local-shops-nearby
location
location
location-point
location-point
minibus-for-outings
minibus-for-outings
multi-faith-room
multi-faith-room
music
music
namaste-room
namaste-room
pets
pets
pharmacy
pharmacy
reminiscence-room
reminiscence-room
retro-themed-lounge
retro-themed-lounge
sea-view
sea-view
shop
shop

Toggle

A pill-shaped switch with a magenta thumb. Used for binary on/off settings.

Off
On
Hover off
Hover on
Disabled off
Disabled on
Try it

Specification

PropertyValueToken
Track size34 × 14 px
Track radius7 px (full pill)
Thumb size20 × 20 px
Thumb colour (all states) #D7088B--color-brand-accent
Track — Off #EBEBEB
Track — On #EB83C5Pink 50
Track — Disabled #707070--color-grey-70
Hover halo40 × 40 light purple Dark Purple 10
Thumb positionCentred vertically — overhangs track top & bottom by 3px

Accessibility — Contrast Grid

WCAG 2.1 requires a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text (AA) and 7:1 for enhanced contrast (AAA). Large text (18px+ bold or 24px+) requires 3:1 (AA) and 4.5:1 (AAA).