Tibetan Buddhist

Thangka Painting · Sacred Geometry · Jewel Tones

། མང་ལམ །

01

Color Palette

Drawn from thangka pigments, prayer flags, and monastery walls

In Tibetan Buddhist art, color carries deep symbolic meaning. The five prayer flag colors represent the five elements and five wisdoms. Thangka paintings use mineral pigments — lapis lazuli, cinnabar, malachite, gold leaf — where every hue serves both aesthetic and spiritual purpose.

Prayer Flag Colors — Five Elements

Sky Blue
#1B3A6B · Space
Cloud White
#F5F0E8 · Air
Fire Red
#9B2335 · Fire
Water Green
#2D6A4F · Water
Earth Yellow
#D4A017 · Earth

Thangka Pigments — Jewel Tones

Lapis Lazuli
#1A237E
Cinnabar
#C62828
Malachite
#1B5E20
Gold Leaf
#C9962B
Saffron Robe
#E8772E
Turquoise
#00838F
Amethyst
#6A1B9A

Monastery Neutrals

Parchment
#FAF6EE
Warm Cream
#F5EFE0
Aged Paper
#EDE4D0
Monastery
#3E2723
Deep Night
#0D1B2A
02

Typography

Solemn inscriptions and contemplative text

Display — Cinzel
The Dharma Wheel Turns
Cinzel 700 / clamp(2rem, 5vw, 3.5rem) / 1.2
Heading — Cinzel
Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhist Tradition
Cinzel 600 / 1.8rem / 1.3
Body — Cormorant Garamond
In the Vajrayana tradition, thangka paintings serve as meditation aids and visual teachings. Each follows precise iconographic rules passed down through centuries of monastic tradition, with deities drawn according to sacred proportional grids on prepared cotton canvas.
Cormorant Garamond 400 / 1.125rem / 1.8
Caption
Mineral pigments: lapis lazuli (blue), cinnabar (red), malachite (green), orpiment (yellow). Gold leaf applied last, burnished to mirror finish.
Cormorant Garamond 400 / 0.875rem / 1.6
Tibetan Script — Noto Serif Tibetan
། ཨོམ་མ༎ནི་པད་མེ་ཧུམ་ །
Noto Serif Tibetan 500 / 1.5rem / 1.8
Type Scale
3.5rem Om
2.4rem Mandala
1.8rem Lotus Throne
1.4rem Dharma Wheel
1.125rem Body text for contemplative reading
0.875rem Caption and auxiliary text
03

Spacing

A measured rhythm, like the steady turning of a prayer wheel

XS · 4px
4px
SM · 8px
8px
MD · 16px
16px
LG · 32px
32px
XL · 64px
64px
2XL · 96px
96px
04

Buttons

Actions illuminated with gold leaf and jewel tones

Primary Variants
Sizes
With Icons
05

Forms

Mindful inputs for gathering intention

The name given by your teacher during refuge ceremony

06

Cards & Panels

Content vessels like painted scrolls and illuminated texts

Thangka Painting

Green Tara: Mother of Liberation

Green Tara sits in lalitasana posture, her right foot extended in readiness to spring into action to help all sentient beings. She holds a blue utpala lotus in each hand.

Sacred Geometry

Kalachakra Sand Mandala

Created grain by grain over weeks of concentrated meditation, the sand mandala represents the impermanence of all compounded phenomena. Upon completion, it is swept away.

Meditation Hall

The Four Noble Truths

The foundation of all Buddhist teaching: the truth of suffering (dukkha), the truth of the origin of suffering (samudaya), the truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha), and the truth of the path leading to cessation (magga). These truths were first taught by the Buddha at the Deer Park in Sarnath.

07

Alerts

Notifications themed as aspects of the path

Wisdom (Prajna)

The Perfection of Wisdom sutras teach that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence. This insight is the heart of the Madhyamaka philosophical tradition.

Enlightenment (Bodhi)

Practice session completed successfully. 108 recitations of the mantra have been dedicated to the benefit of all sentient beings throughout the six realms.

Mindfulness (Smriti)

The mind has wandered from the object of meditation. Gently return awareness to the breath without judgment. Distraction is natural; recognition of distraction is the practice.

Attachment (Upadana)

Clinging to this experience will only generate further suffering. Observe the arising and passing of this sensation with equanimity and release your grip.

08

Design Principles

Guided by the Eight Auspicious Symbols

Sacred Proportion

Follow the precise iconometric grids used in thangka painting. Every element has a measured relationship to the whole, creating natural visual harmony.

Layered Depth

Build interfaces like a thangka: background landscapes first, then architecture, then figures, then gold detail. Each layer adds meaning.

Interconnection

Like the Endless Knot, every component should relate to others. Navigation, content, and action form an unbroken loop of user flow.

Jewel Tones

Use color with the intensity and purity of mineral pigments. Each hue is saturated and meaningful, never arbitrary or decorative alone.

Contemplative Space

Generous whitespace mirrors the stillness of meditation. Give content room to breathe.

Gold as Hierarchy

Gold is applied last and only to the most sacred elements. Use it sparingly for primary actions.