Docs / Brand
Colour
The palette is restrained: black text on white, quiet cream panels, and one blue accent. The values below are the website's exact tokens.
Palette
| Name | Value | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Black | #1d1d1d | Ordinary text |
| White | #ffffff | Main reading surface |
| Gray | #646363 | Secondary text |
| Gray light | #eeeeee | Image placeholders |
| Blue | #73adff | Interaction and identity accent |
| Blue ink | #1c4e8f | Readable static blue text |
| Cream light | #f8f8f4 | Large quiet panels |
| Cream | #efeee7 | Cards and panels |
| Cream dark | #c0beb2 | Borders and resting states |
| Cream darker | #6f6e66 | Muted captions |
| Yellow | #e3be00 | Link hover in running text |
| Yellow light | #fefbe9 | Link hover on dark surfaces |
| Charcoal | #323232 | Dark panels and buttons |
| Button hover | #000000 | Button hover |
How to use it
Use black for text and white for the reading surface. Cream light and cream make quiet panels. Use gray and cream darker for secondary text only where it stays readable.
Blue is the accent. It marks interaction on the website, and it colours the word "openness" in the tagline "Advancing science through openness". It is too light for ordinary text on white and is never a background. For blue text that has to be read, use blue ink.
Dark panels use charcoal with white text. Yellow belongs to link hover states and is not a campaign colour.
Do not add gradients, shadows, coloured ribbons or new accent colours. Do not recolour photographs to fit the palette.
Readable pairings
Normal text needs a contrast of at least 4.5:1, large text at least 3:1. Essential interface graphics and control borders need 3:1 against what surrounds them.
| Text on background | Contrast | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Black on white | 16.86:1 | Normal text |
| White on charcoal | 12.82:1 | Normal text |
| Blue ink on white | 8.28:1 | Normal text |
| Gray on white | 5.99:1 | Normal text |
| Black on blue | 7.35:1 | Normal text |
| Cream darker on cream light | 4.81:1 | Normal text |
| Blue on white | 2.29:1 | Not for text |
| White on blue | 2.29:1 | Not for text |
Colour alone must never carry meaning, such as a status. Add a word or a symbol.
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