Five pigments that follow the year.
Moss, corn, sunset, sky and blossom. Four of them are a season and the fifth is an accent. They are the illustration and data layer, they are brighter and warmer than the interface, and with one exception none of them is ever used for text.
The five, with their values.
The pigments
- Moss #5C6B2F
- Spring4.7:1 on chalk — the only field pigment that clears AA
- Corn #E9B93D
- Summer1.9:1 on chalk — guarded
- Sunset #F0794A
- AutumnIllustration only
- Sky #7FB6D9
- WinterIllustration only
- Blossom #E9899E
- Accent, and the spring secondaryIllustration only
How they are bound
- Spring
- --season: moss · --season-2: blossom
- Summer
- --season: corn · --season-2: moss-lift
- Autumn
- --season: sunset · --season-2: furrow
- Winter
- --season: sky · --season-2: slate
- Default
- corn and moss-liftIf data-season is somehow absent
These are the real token values in the build. The [data-season] blocks in the stylesheet are the single source of truth and this page is a description of them, not a second copy.
What each one is for.
| Pigment | Hex | Season | Used for | Never used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moss | #5C6B2F | Spring | Ground fills, chart series, the farming accent | Nothing — it is the one field pigment that clears AA on chalk |
| Corn | #E9B93D | Summer | Illustration, the brewing lift, seasonal furniture | Text on chalk. Roughly 1.9:1, and the guard refuses it |
| Sunset | #F0794A | Autumn | Illustration and the autumn sky treatment | Text, anywhere |
| Sky | #7FB6D9 | Winter | Illustration, the winter sky, the schooling lift | Text, anywhere |
| Blossom | #E9899E | Accent | Illustration and the spring secondary | Text, anywhere |
The palette in numbers.
Why the field palette exists at all.
The interface could have been done in one palette. Most sites are. The reason there are two is that an interface has to be legible for years and an illustration has to be alive for a season, and those are different jobs with different constraints.
So the field palette is allowed to be bright, saturated and occasionally illegible, because it is never asked to carry a sentence. The poster palette is allowed to be sober, because it is asked to carry all of them.
The two never blend arbitrarily. A field pigment appears in an illustration, a chart series, a seasonal ground or a beast mark. It does not appear in a button, a body paragraph or a legal notice, and if it ever does that is a bug.
Bright is a licence you earn by never being asked to be read.
Corn on chalk is refused
Corn #E9B93D on chalk #EDE6D6 is roughly 1.9:1, which is nowhere near the 4.5:1 that WCAG AA asks for body text. It is the single most tempting pairing in the whole build — it looks like a wheat field — and the contrast guard refuses it every time. Text over corn uses ink instead, which clears 8.8:1 comfortably.
Four seasons
Moss, corn, sunset, sky.
One accent
Blossom, and it is not a season.
Illustration only
With the single exception of moss.
One guarded pair
Corn on chalk, refused every time.
The other palette.
Ink, petrol, chalk, ochre and claret. The interface, which does not move with the season.
