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.

Contact#183E75
white 10.58:1 AA
the navy in dark
Contact#2457A8
white 6.99:1 AA
the navy in light

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.

Contact
1 · primary button
see all three slots
2 · link
New
3 · the "new" mark
4 · Amanda’s sphere
Selected row
does not carry it · selected row, grey at 6%

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.

Contact#183E75
10.58:1 AA
the navy as a surface
see all three slots
1.74:1 no pasa
the same navy as a letter
see all three slots
6.31:1 AA
the tone the link climbs to

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.

#707070#707070
3.72:1 no pasa
muted text, measured against the dark island

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

#0C0D13
HSL 231, 23%, 6%
RGB 12, 13, 19

Paper

#EFF0F6
HSL 231, 28%, 95%
RGB 239, 240, 246

Navy → Depth

#181D3A
#1E2967

Ultramarino

#1E3CE6
HSL 231, 80%, 51%
RGB 30, 60, 230

Terracota

#C46B45
HSL 18, 52%, 52%
RGB 196, 107, 69

Graphite

#434551
HSL 231, 9%, 29%
RGB 67, 69, 81

Fog

#D5D7E2
HSL 231, 18%, 86%
RGB 213, 215, 226

White

#FFFFFF
HSL 0, 0%, 100%
RGB 255, 255, 255

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
measured hue of every cold value

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%
any given view, as a percentage of area

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

ink 5.11:1 AA

A person stepped in

white 3.79:1 no pasa
same surface, two texts

Ramps

Only two. Product states have no ramp of their own: they use their semantic tokens, which live in 11 · Density and states.

ultramarino

e7eafdc8cff97384e81e3ce61732cf0f2395

terracota

f7ede9ebcec2d89c83c46b45a65430813f22

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

ContactView threadA person stepped in

Dark

Qualified lead

Replies in 4 minutes

ContactView threadA person stepped in
Family hue
231
Action · light
#1E3CE6
Action · dark
#7086FF
Accent · hue
18
Accent · saturation
52%
Terracotta cap
~3% of the view