# What is Gradiently? The design tool built around living backgrounds [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/what-is-gradiently) Most design tools start with a blank canvas or a template everyone else is also using. Gradiently starts with the background, and makes it yours alone. ## The short version - Gradiently is a design tool built around Marks: living gradient and material backgrounds that render live behind everything you design. - Every Mark has a public code and exactly one owner at a time, and each is checked against every other Mark so no two look alike. - Anyone can design with a Mark nobody has claimed for free; claiming it makes you its owner and the only person who can export with it. - The Studio, the AI Designer, the Market and a connection for ChatGPT, Claude and other MCP assistants all work with the same Marks. - Ownership is a Gradiently registry record with a numbered certificate, not an NFT and not a trademark. **What is Gradiently?** Gradiently is a design tool built around Marks: living gradient and material backgrounds that render live behind everything you design, from an Instagram post to a printed poster. You design with any Mark nobody has claimed, for free. When you find the one that feels like your brand, you claim it, and it becomes yours alone: one owner at a time, your name on its public record, a numbered certificate, and nobody else able to export with it. That one idea, a background with exactly one owner, shapes the rest of the product: the Studio where you design, the Designer that can do it with you, and the Market where Marks are found, claimed and passed on. ## Marks: the living backgrounds at the centre A Mark is not an image file. It is a recipe: a set of colours, up to three stacked materials, a light, grain, motion and a type voice. Because it is a recipe, it is drawn fresh at every size you design in, so a story gets a composition made for a tall frame and a banner gets one made for a wide frame. Nothing is cropped or stretched. One Mark on its own. Its code, owner and full history are public on its Market page. Gradiently crafts every Mark and checks each new one against all the others. Anything too close to an existing Mark is refused, which is what makes owning one meaningful. Each has a public code like `GR·K7Q2·MX`, a creator that never changes and an owner that can. [What is a Gradiently Mark](https://gradiently.design/guide/what-is-a-mark) goes deeper into the recipe. Marks also know where your words are. The calmest, best contrasting part of the material moves behind your text, colours near the letters deepen or lift, and Auto ink picks light or dark type for each line from the Mark's own palette. No boxes, no shadows, no blur. A portrait post saying Open late on Fridays with a busy gradient running behind the headline The material running straight through the words, as a flat image would. The same post where the gradient calms and deepens behind the headline so it reads clearly The same Mark making room: a calmer, deeper area settles behind the headline. ## The Studio, where designs get made The Studio is the editor. It has templates for posts, stories, posters, menus, cards and wallpapers, and you can swap your Mark into any of them. You add text, photos, shapes and icons, arrange layers with snapping, animate text with rise, pop, wipe or typewriter, and build carousels or decks across pages. Photos can be tinted in the Mark's colours as mono, duotone or a wash, so even a stock photo looks like part of the brand. - Instagram post 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350 - Story 1080×1920: 1080 × 1920 - LinkedIn profile banner 1584×396: 1584 × 396 - A4 poster 2480×3508: 2480 × 3508 A few of the built in sizes. Every common platform size is there, plus custom sizes from 200 to 8,000 px. The [Studio guide](https://gradiently.design/guide/studio-guide) covers each tool. If you run more than one business, one account can hold several brands, each with its own brand kit: logos, palettes, a heading and body font, voice, audience and what the brand does. ## The Designer and AI assistants The Designer is Gradiently's AI. You describe what you need, such as "a story announcing our spring opening hours", and it asks what it needs to know, writes the words in your brand kit's voice, lays the design out in your Mark and makes other sizes. It also edits existing designs and picks templates. AI use is measured in credits. More in the [Designer guide](https://gradiently.design/guide/designer-ai-guide). Gradiently also works inside ChatGPT, Claude and any assistant that supports remote MCP servers. With a scoped API key, which owners and admins create in Settings, your assistant can search Marks, read the workspace and create designs that open in the Studio, without spending Gradiently credits. Setup is in [connect an AI assistant](https://gradiently.design/guide/connect-ai-assistant). ## The Market and what owning a Mark means The [Market](/market) is where you browse Marks. Search by name, by colour words such as "deep teal", or by code, which works without the dots and in any case. Filter by look, and save the ones you love as favourites. | What you get | Designing with a Mark | Owning a Mark | | --- | --- | --- | | Cost to start | Free, any unclaimed Mark | A one-time claim | | Export designs with it | No | Yes, only you | | Public record | None | Your name, plus a numbered certificate | | Keeping it | Not applicable | First year included; then free with Pro or a yearly fee | | Pass it on | Not applicable | Give it free, or list it on the Market | Designing is open to everyone. Claiming is what makes a Mark yours. Owners can give a Mark to anyone on Gradiently for free, or list it on the Market at a price they set; when a brand claims it, Stripe pays the seller and Gradiently keeps a fee. Anyone can look up a certificate number such as `GRC-7K2M-9QXA-4TPW` or a Mark's code to see who holds it and its full history. If a yearly keeping payment goes unpaid there is a grace period, then the Mark returns to the Market. Designs you already exported stay yours. > **A registry record, nothing more exotic** Ownership lives in Gradiently's own registry. It is not an NFT, there is no blockchain, and it is not a trademark. ## Free and Pro in brief ### Free - Design with any unclaimed Mark - Keep up to 3 designs - A one-time allowance of AI credits - PNG or JPG at 720p with a small watermark, on a Mark you own ### Pro - Exports up to 4K, no watermark, every format - Unlimited designs and the full template library - Resize to every size, bulk create, video, version history - Brand kit, comments, team workspaces, monthly AI credits - Every Mark you own kept free The full breakdown, including what claiming adds on either plan, is in [Gradiently Free vs Pro](https://gradiently.design/guide/gradiently-pricing-explained). ## Who Gradiently is for - **Small businesses** that post every week and want a look nobody else in town has. See [Gradiently for small business](https://gradiently.design/guide/gradiently-for-small-business). - **Creators** whose feed, thumbnails and covers should be recognisable before anyone reads the name. - **Agencies and teams** running several brands, with roles, comments and shared brand kits. - **Developers and AI power users** who would rather ask ChatGPT or Claude for a design than open an editor. - **Anyone who isn't a designer** but needs the words to read on every background, every time. A vertical story announcing new spring opening hours for a bakery, set on a soft gradient Mark The kind of thing most people make first: a simple story where the background carries the brand. The app speaks 12 languages, and a person reads every support request, through the Help centre or hello@gradiently.design. To start, open the Market, try a few Marks on your own words and keep the one that still looks right a week later. ## FAQ ### What is Gradiently used for? Making social posts, stories, banners, posters, menus, cards and short videos on a living background called a Mark, which can be owned by one brand at a time. ### Is Gradiently free? You can design with any unclaimed Mark and keep up to 3 designs for free. Exporting needs a Mark you own, and Pro adds 4K exports without a watermark, every format and unlimited designs. ### Is a Gradiently Mark an NFT? No. Ownership is a record in Gradiently's own registry with a numbered certificate. There is no blockchain, and a Mark is not a trademark. ### Can two brands have the same Mark? No. Every Mark has exactly one owner at a time, and new Marks are checked against every existing one so nothing too similar is published. ### Does Gradiently work with ChatGPT and Claude? Yes. Gradiently works inside ChatGPT, Claude and any assistant that supports remote MCP servers, using a scoped API key from Settings.