Color
The cold family on one hue, terracotta as a detail, and the proportion that keeps them in place.
Action · the founder’s navy
Ultramarine #1E3CE6 is still the live action colour. The dashboard proposal swaps it for the navy the founder picked looking at dark screens: #183E75 in dark, #2457A8 in light. Same colour, one step lighter where there is light.
Until 2026-09-20 the action was ultramarine #1E3CE6 in light and #7086FF in dark. The ultramarine stays in the brand palette and in the Depth gradient; what it stopped being is the colour of the buttons.
Blue is spent on four things
Primary button, link, the "new" mark and Amanda’s sphere. The goal bar and the high signal are that same fourth thing: blue marking the agent’s progress.
Outside those four it does not appear. Selected tab, row and navigation go grey at 6% and text weight — selected is neutral. Terracotta stays "person", not a second accent spread around.
Why the link lifts in dark
The navy holds white letters comfortably, but as a letter over the island it collapses. It is the same colour in both cases: what changes is which side of it you are on.
So the navy is a highlight surface and nothing else — never text, never a line, never a loose icon. Link and focus ring climb to #7aa3f0, which does read over the elevated surface. In light the problem does not exist: #2457A8 on white passes, so there the link stays the action colour.
One value on the ladder does not pass AA
Muted text #707070 over the island lands below 4.5:1. In the study it only carries 10–11 px mono metadata (a row’s time, a signal label), never prose.
It is written here because it is the one measured thing in the proposal that does not pass, and it is a decision, not an oversight: if the founder approves, either that grey goes up, or the rule gets written that it never carries text anyone has to read.
The values
- Action · dark
- #183E75
- Action · light
- #2457A8
- Link / focus · dark
- #7AA3F0
- Link / focus · light
- #2457A8
- New chip · dark
- navy fill · letters #DBE7FF
- New chip · light
- #E6EDF8 · letters #2457A8
- Amanda sphere
- radial 32% 28% · #9DBCFF → navy → #0D2347
- Selected
- neutral grey, never blue
- Person · handoff
- terracotta, unchanged
Live canon
The palette
Ink
Paper
Navy → Depth
Ultramarino
Terracota
Graphite
Fog
White
Everything cold is one single hue
Ink, navy, graphite, fog and the action blue are the same blue at different intensities — not neutral greys with an accent on top. That is what makes the palette read as a system instead of assorted colours.
Terracotta is the only thing that leaves the family, and it leaves on purpose.
- Inkhue 231
- Navyhue 231
- Depthhue 231
- Ultramarinohue 231
- Graphitehue 231
- Foghue 231
- Paperhue 231
Proportion: terracotta is a detail
Paper, ink and navy carry the volume. Ultramarine is the only action. Terracotta lives in small pieces: a chip, a badge, an underline, a secondary control, a node in a diagram.
It is never a page background, never a large field, never a surface bigger than a control. If a view reads as "blue and orange", the orange went too far.
- Papel y blanco
- ~75%
- Tinta y navy
- ~15%
- Ultramarino
- ~7%
- Terracota
- ~3%
Terracotta carries ink, never white
That follows from being matte, it is not a defect. A terracotta light enough for white to pass has stopped being matte and become a signal orange.
For terracotta text on a light background there is the step --sds-terracotta-700, which does pass over paper.
A person stepped in
A person stepped in
Ramps
Only two. Product states have no ramp of their own: they use their semantic tokens, which live in 11 · Density and states.
ultramarino
terracota
Semantic roles
- Black
The mark only. Never text, never a surface.
- Ink
Primary text and dark fields. Carries a trace of the family blue.
- Navy
Brand depth. Carries the volume together with paper.
- Depth
Middle step of the navy → ultramarine gradient.
- Ultramarino
The single action: buttons, links, focus. Nothing else is blue.
- Paper
Page atmosphere. Surfaces go pure white.
- White
Elevated surfaces and product evidence.
- Fog
Divisions and atmosphere. Not usable as a control border.
- Graphite
Secondary text and quiet chrome.
- Terracota
A detail. Cap ~3% of the view. Carries ink, never white.
- Jade
Resolved, connected, healthy. Product only.
- Honey
Opportunity and review. Product only.
- Crimson
Error and blocked. Product only.
The two modes
The landing is light in this phase. The product needs both, and the action blue is not the same value in each: #1e3ce6 over a dark surface gives 2.3:1 and is illegible.
Light
Qualified lead
Replies in 4 minutes
Dark
Qualified lead
Replies in 4 minutes
- Family hue
- 231
- Action · light
- #1E3CE6
- Action · dark
- #7086FF
- Accent · hue
- 18
- Accent · saturation
- 52%
- Terracotta cap
- ~3% of the view