diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue b/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
index fab666f..5ce2c85 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { useShortcuts } from "@/composables/useShortcuts";
 import { useAuthStore } from "@/stores/auth";
 import AppLogo from "@/components/AppLogo.vue";
 import NotificationBell from "@/components/NotificationBell.vue";
-import { Sun, Moon, Palette, Settings, Trash2 } from "lucide-vue-next";
+import { Sun, Moon, Settings, Trash2 } from "lucide-vue-next";
 
 const { theme, toggleTheme } = useTheme();
 const { toggleShortcuts } = useShortcuts();
@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
           <router-link to="/projects" class="nav-link">Projects</router-link>
           <router-link to="/snippets" class="nav-link">Snippets</router-link>
           <router-link to="/rules" class="nav-link">Rulebooks</router-link>
+          <!-- A design system is a RECORD you author, not a setting. It sat in
+               the utility cluster with Trash and Settings while /design was a
+               read-only gallery, and stayed there after it became a record type
+               with its own table, sharing and MCP tools. Content, by the same
+               rule that puts Snippets and Rulebooks here. -->
+          <router-link to="/design-systems" class="nav-link">Design</router-link>
         </div>
       </div>
 
@@ -64,16 +70,6 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
           <Moon v-else :size="16" />
         </button>
 
-        <!-- Design. An icon rather than a sixth primary nav link: it's a
-             meta-surface like Trash and Settings, but hiding it entirely would
-             defeat the point of having somewhere the design system is visible.
-             Points at the RECORD, not the live-token view — the record is what
-             you work with; the live view is the check on it, and it's a tab
-             away. -->
-        <router-link to="/design-systems" class="btn-icon" aria-label="Design" title="Design">
-          <Palette :size="16" />
-        </router-link>
-
         <!-- Trash link -->
         <router-link to="/trash" class="btn-icon" aria-label="Trash" title="Trash">
           <Trash2 :size="16" />
@@ -106,9 +102,9 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
       <router-link to="/projects" class="nav-link">Projects</router-link>
       <router-link to="/snippets" class="nav-link">Snippets</router-link>
       <router-link to="/rules" class="nav-link">Rulebooks</router-link>
+      <router-link to="/design-systems" class="nav-link">Design</router-link>
       <router-link to="/shared" class="nav-link">Shared</router-link>
       <div class="mobile-divider"></div>
-      <router-link to="/design-systems" class="nav-link">Design</router-link>
       <router-link to="/trash" class="nav-link">Trash</router-link>
       <router-link to="/settings" class="nav-link">Settings</router-link>
       <div class="mobile-divider"></div>
@@ -346,6 +342,22 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
   margin-top: 0.25rem;
 }
 
+/* The pill bar is absolutely centred, so when the header runs out of room it
+   OVERLAPS the brand and the utility cluster rather than pushing them — nothing
+   wraps, it just collides. Six primary links reach that point sooner than five
+   did, so reclaim the width here instead of leaving one out of the bar.
+   The wordmark goes first: the logo beside it says the same thing and is still
+   the link home. */
+@media (max-width: 1150px) {
+  .brand-text {
+    display: none;
+  }
+  .nav-link {
+    padding: 0.3rem 0.5rem;
+    font-size: 0.78rem;
+  }
+}
+
 @media (max-width: 768px) {
   .nav-center {
     display: none;