# 03 · Colour

Green carries the brand, bright neutrals give it light, and every colour has one job. They are not interchangeable.

## Grounds: where everything sits

| | Name | Hex | RGB | CMYK (FOGRA39) | Job |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ![](../swatches/white.svg) | **White** | `#FFFFFF` | 255 255 255 | 0 0 0 0 | Main band on the website, header, footer, cards on Sand |
| ![](../swatches/sand.svg) | **Sand** | `#F3EFE5` | 243 239 229 | 6 5 12 0 | The alternating band, product image grounds, buying panels, hero band |
| ![](../swatches/linen.svg) | **Linen** | `#FBFAF6` | 251 250 246 | 2 2 4 0 | Paper tone in print, email background, social text cards |
| ![](../swatches/pale-sage.svg) | **Pale Sage** (new) | `#E6EEE5` | 230 238 229 | to confirm with printer | Soft green ground: announcement bar, review summary, showroom panel, social cards |
| ![](../swatches/mist.svg) | **Mist** | `#EFF4EF` | 239 244 239 | 7 4 7 0 | Quietest green ground: certification strips |

## The greens

| | Name | Hex | RGB | CMYK (FOGRA39) | Job |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ![](../swatches/forest-ink.svg) | **Forest Ink** | `#24312A` | 36 49 42 | 79 51 73 81 | Headings, product names, interface text, the logo |
| ![](../swatches/sage.svg) | **Sage** | `#537156` | 83 113 86 | 70 36 69 29 | **The action colour**: primary buttons, selected states, eyebrows, focus rings |
| ![](../swatches/deep-green.svg) | **Deep Green** | `#365644` | 54 86 68 | 82 42 73 47 | Button hover, text links, product tags, dark panels (the hero text panel on phones) |
| ![](../swatches/slate-green.svg) | **Slate Green** | `#48534D` | 72 83 77 | 72 51 60 45 | Running paragraphs, descriptions, captions |
| ![](../swatches/moss.svg) | **Moss** | `#5E6F5C` | 94 111 92 | 64 40 62 29 | Secondary labels on light grounds |
| ![](../swatches/pale-green.svg) | **Pale Green** | `#C9D7CE` | 201 215 206 | 26 10 22 0 | Fine print (captions, legal lines) on Forest Ink or Deep Green |
| ![](../swatches/fern.svg) | **Fern** | `#A7C09B` | 167 192 155 | 39 10 45 5 | Botanical line art, patterns, charts. Never text, never buttons |

## Details

| | Name | Hex | RGB | CMYK (FOGRA39) | Job |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ![](../swatches/hairline.svg) | **Hairline** | `#DCD8CC` | 220 216 204 | 17 14 22 0 | Rules, card borders, dividers, table lines |
| ![](../swatches/control.svg) | **Control** (new) | `#7F8B82` | 127 139 130 | to confirm with printer | Borders of inputs and selectors, so they are visible (3.5:1 on White) |
| ![](../swatches/honey.svg) | **Honey** (new) | `#955B18` | 149 91 24 | to confirm with printer | Star ratings only |
| ![](../swatches/clay.svg) | **Clay** | `#877A69` | 135 122 105 | 47 45 56 20 | An occasional warm band, large type only |
| ![](../swatches/taupe.svg) | **Taupe** | `#585048` | 88 80 72 | 63 59 65 42 | Narrow dark strips in print and packaging |

## Proportion

**Mostly light, anchored by green.** About 80% White, Sand and Linen; about 15% photography and soft green grounds; 5% or less deep colour. Most web pages have no dark band at all: the green comes from the buttons, the eyebrows and the photographs.

## Text and ground pairs

Contrast ratios (WCAG 2.1). ✓ = passes for all text (4.5:1). L = large text only (24 px or 19 px bold and up). ✗ = never.

| Text \ Ground | White | Sand | Linen | Pale Sage | Forest Ink | Deep Green | Sage | Clay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Ink | 13.6 ✓ | 11.8 ✓ | 13.0 ✓ | 11.5 ✓ | · | 1.7 ✗ | 2.5 ✗ | 3.2 L |
| Deep Green | 8.2 ✓ | 7.1 ✓ | 7.8 ✓ | 6.9 ✓ | 1.7 ✗ | · | 1.5 ✗ | 2.0 ✗ |
| Sage | 5.4 ✓ | 4.7 ✓ | 5.2 ✓ | 4.6 ✓ | 2.5 ✗ | 1.5 ✗ | · | 1.3 ✗ |
| Slate Green | 8.0 ✓ | 7.0 ✓ | 7.7 ✓ | 6.8 ✓ | 1.7 ✗ | 1.0 ✗ | 1.5 ✗ | 1.9 ✗ |
| White | · | 1.1 ✗ | 1.0 ✗ | 1.2 ✗ | 13.6 ✓ | 8.2 ✓ | 5.4 ✓ | 4.2 L |
| Pale Green | 1.5 ✗ | 1.3 ✗ | 1.4 ✗ | 1.3 ✗ | 9.1 ✓ | 5.5 ✓ | 3.6 L | 2.8 ✗ |
| Honey | 5.5 ✓ | 4.8 ✓ | 5.3 ✓ | 4.7 ✓ | 2.4 ✗ | 1.5 ✗ | 1.0 ✗ | 1.3 ✗ |

**Text on any green or dark ground is White**, eyebrows included. Pale Green only for fine print such as captions and legal lines.

## What changed for the final 2026 brand

| Change | Why |
| --- | --- |
| **Sage is now the action colour** (buttons are Sage pills, Deep Green on hover) | Brighter and more inviting than Deep Green blocks, and still 5.4:1 with White text |
| **White and Sand are the main grounds**, alternating in full-width bands | Cleaner and brighter than an all-Linen page. Linen stays for paper, email and social |
| **Pale Sage added** | A soft green ground that lifts a section without a dark band |
| **Honey replaces Ochre** for stars | Ochre looked dull and failed contrast on White. Honey passes 5.5:1 |
| **Control added** | Hairline was too faint for input borders. Control is visible at 3.5:1 |
| **Retired:** Ochre `#9A7A31`, coral `#C45A4E` / `#E16F62`, apricot `#EDB67C` / `#F4D3B0`, logo grey | Off-palette, low contrast, or they made tags look cheap |

## Gradients and tints

- No decorative gradients.
- The one allowed gradient is a **photo shade**: Forest Ink from 50% to 0%, behind text on a photograph, only where the text needs it.
- No tints of brand colours outside this palette. A lighter green ground is Pale Sage or Mist. A lighter warm ground is Sand or Linen.

## Print colour

- The CMYK builds above are converted from sRGB with **FOGRA39 (ISO Coated v2)**, relative colorimetric. They are starting points for **coated** stock.
- On **uncoated** stock colours print darker and duller: ask the printer to convert from the sRGB values with their uncoated profile (FOGRA52 / PSO Uncoated v3) and approve a **hard proof**.
- Pale Sage, Control and Honey have no approved CMYK build yet. The printer proposes one from the sRGB value; approve it on a hard proof and record it here.
- Pantone matches for Forest Ink, Sage, Deep Green and Sand are chosen with the printer from a physical guide under D50 light, never on screen. Details in [08 · Print](08-print.md).

## Don't

- Don't use retired colours (coral, Ochre, apricot, logo grey) anywhere.
- Don't use pure grey or black for text. Text is Forest Ink; body copy is Slate Green.
- Don't put Honey on a button, link or heading. It is for stars.
- Don't use Fern or Pale Sage for text or buttons.
- Don't make a button any colour other than Sage (White on photographs).
- Don't stack two dark bands next to each other.