Material Design

Material Design 3 (Material You)

Apply Google's Material Design 3 principles when designing and developing user interfaces with emphasis on personalization, accessibility, and cross-platform consistency.

When to Activate

Use this skill when:

• Designing or implementing Android applications
• Building web applications following Material Design
• Working with Flutter or Jetpack Compose
• Implementing dynamic theming and color systems
• Creating Material components
• Reviewing designs for Material Design compliance

What is Material Design 3?

Material Design 3 (Material You) represents Google's latest design system with:

• Personalization: Dynamic color extraction from user preferences
• Expressiveness: Softer, rounded components with visual hierarchy
• Adaptability: Responsive across devices and platforms
• Accessibility: Built-in inclusive design features

Key Differences from Material Design 2

Aspect	MD2	MD3
Colors	Fixed brand palettes	Dynamic, user-generated schemes
Customization	Limited theming	Highly personalized
Components	Flat, rigid shapes	Rounded, expressive
Accessibility	Basic support	Priority built-in

Core Foundations

1. Dynamic Color System

Material Design 3 uses HCT (Hue, Chroma, Tone) color space for perceptually accurate color generation.

Key concepts:

• Color roles (primary, secondary, tertiary, error, neutral)
• Tonal palettes (50-99 tones per color)
• Automatic light/dark theme generation
• User-driven personalization from wallpaper/system

For detailed color system implementation, see references/color-system.md.

2. Typography

Type scale with 5 display sizes and 9 text sizes:

Quick example:

• Display Large: 57sp
• Headline Large: 32sp
• Body Large: 16sp
• Label Small: 11sp

For complete typography system and responsive scaling, see references/typography.md.

3. Layout

Responsive breakpoints and grid system:

• Compact: 0-599dp (phones)
• Medium: 600-839dp (tablets, folded phones)
• Expanded: 840dp+ (desktops, large tablets)

For layout guidelines and examples, see references/layout.md.

Component Guidelines

Material Design 3 provides specifications for:

• Common Buttons: Elevated, Filled, Tonal, Outlined, Text
• Cards: Elevated, Filled, Outlined variants
• Text Fields: Filled, Outlined with labels and helper text
• Navigation: Navigation bar, rail, drawer
• Chips: Assist, Filter, Input, Suggestion chips
• Dialogs: Basic, Full-screen dialogs

For detailed component specifications, consult references/components.md.

Quick Component Examples

Buttons

// Jetpack Compose
Button(onClick = { }) {
    Text("Filled Button")
}

OutlinedButton(onClick = { }) {
    Text("Outlined Button")
}

Cards

Card(
    modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth(),
    elevation = CardDefaults.cardElevation(defaultElevation = 6.dp)
) {
    Column(modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp)) {
        Text("Card Title", style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineSmall)
        Text("Card content", style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium)
    }
}

Text Fields

OutlinedTextField(
    value = text,
    onValueChange = { text = it },
    label = { Text("Label") },
    supportingText = { Text("Helper text") }
)

For more component examples and patterns, see references/components.md.

Implementing Dynamic Color

Android (Jetpack Compose)

val dynamicColor = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.S

val colorScheme = when {
    dynamicColor && darkTheme -> dynamicDarkColorScheme(LocalContext.current)
    dynamicColor && !darkTheme -> dynamicLightColorScheme(LocalContext.current)
    darkTheme -> darkColorScheme()
    else -> lightColorScheme()
}

MaterialTheme(
    colorScheme = colorScheme,
    typography = Typography,
    content = content
)

Web

For web implementation with Material Web Components, see references/web-implementation.md.

Motion and Animation

Material Design 3 motion principles:

• Easing: Standard, emphasized, decelerated curves
• Duration: Based on travel distance and complexity
• Choreography: Coordinated element movements

For motion specifications, see references/motion.md.

Accessibility

Material Design 3 prioritizes accessibility:

• Minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio (text)
• 3:1 contrast ratio (UI components)
• Touch targets minimum 48dp × 48dp
• Screen reader support
• Semantic color usage (not color-only indicators)

For accessibility implementation details, see references/accessibility.md.

When to Consult References

• Color system implementation: Read references/color-system.md
• Typography scales and usage: Read references/typography.md
• Layout and responsive design: Read references/layout.md
• Component specifications: Read references/components.md
• Web implementation: Read references/web-implementation.md
• Motion and animation: Read references/motion.md
• Accessibility guidelines: Read references/accessibility.md

Key Principles

• User-driven personalization: Colors adapt to user preferences
• Expressive and flexible: Rounded corners, dynamic elevation
• Accessible by default: Built-in contrast, touch targets, semantics
• Cross-platform consistency: Same principles across Android, web, iOS
• Design tokens: Use semantic tokens, not hardcoded values
• Responsive: Adapt to device size and orientation

Resources

• Material Design 3: https://m3.material.io/
• Material Theme Builder: https://m3.material.io/theme-builder
• Jetpack Compose: https://developer.android.com/jetpack/compose/designsystems/material3
• Material Web Components: https://github.com/material-components/material-web
• Flutter Material 3: https://flutter.dev/docs/development/ui/material