Signals Colour, type and surface
rounded-2xl, soft shadow, 1px grey border — on everything
- Category
- Colour, type and surface
- Direction
- Pushes the score up
- Weight
- +8
What it is
The visual defaults, applied unedited. Looks are the weakest evidence in the whole set. Anyone can reach for a gradient on purpose, which is why craft damps this entire category.
How it is weighted
8 points is mid-weight: real evidence, not a smoking gun. On its own it moves the number a few points.
What to do about it
Settle on one radius scale and one shadow scale, then apply them consistently. Not every card needs a 2xl radius and a 2xl shadow.
Where it fires
Of the homepages we scan as worked examples, this signal fired on 2:
- tailwindcss.com 75/100 — 33 extra-rounded cards, 7 oversized shadows and 0 hairline borders — the untouched shadcn card, applied to content of wildly different importance.
- v0.app 37/100 — 10 extra-rounded cards, 6 oversized shadows and 0 hairline borders — the untouched shadcn card, applied to content of wildly different importance.