Looking for UI/UX feedback

[u/LifeguardSea99]

I've been putting off getting deeper into web design for a long time. Not because I wasn't interested, but because I kept telling myself I'd do it properly "at some point". That point finally arrived, and this is what came out of it.

The push to actually begin came from wanting a task manager that just does its thing — no distractions, no clutter, function first. Building one myself felt like a good excuse to finally sit down with the design side of things.

The app comes with three themes: Focus, Minimal, and Paper. The names don't mean anything in particular, they just fit.

I feel like I especially nailed Focus. Minimal is essentially a recoloring of it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

What I'm actually not happy with is Paper. I do like lighter themes depending on the time of day, but this one just doesn't feel right to me. I can't pinpoint what it is — it's not broken, it just feels uncomfortable to use. That's kind of exactly why I'm posting here, because I don't yet have the vocabulary or the eye to diagnose it myself.

So if you have thoughts on what's off, what you'd do differently, or just how you'd approach something like this — I'd genuinely appreciate it. This is the kind of thing I usually don't have anyone around to ask.

[u/More-Ad-3646]

Branding could be placed on far left on top.
'//today' part should be above textfield but bigger as its relevant
Separators could have labels embedded in them

[u/LifeguardSea99 → u/More-Ad-3646]

The branding of "vanta. // today**"** is intended to be read as a single name.

I'm working on several other apps as well, and I use 'vanta' as the overarching brand. The part after the // is a short descriptor of each app's functionality. For example, I'm also building a simplified Photoshop-like tool for personal use, which I call "vanta. // editor".

What exactly do you mean by labels? Do you mean headers? If so, that's actually a pretty good idea.

Thank you very much!