DD-DIGPROD-ADR-0004: Devonside Labs Color Palette Approved¶
Status¶
approved — ratified by the Founder on 2026-07-30.
Date¶
2026-07-30
Context¶
Both ../brand-assets.md and
../strategy/brand-and-positioning.md explicitly flag
that Devonside Labs has no real color-palette decision — the navy (#0D1B2A) used in the mark's
current exports is an inherited Devonshire Digital LLC default, "not a recorded Devonside Labs
color decision." A distinct palette, built around this venture's "structured, trustworthy,
auditable tools" positioning (venture-brief.md,
brand-and-positioning.md) rather than reusing the
parent's navy, was proposed and reviewed with the Founder in a 2026-07-30 session and accepted.
Decision¶
The following colors are approved as Devonside Labs' brand palette, for marketing collateral, the marketing site, and marketplace (Etsy) listings:
| Token | Value | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger Teal | #1F4B4C |
Primary |
| Graphite | #17262A |
Body text; dark-mode ground |
| Audit Amber | #D9A441 |
The one warm accent — reserved for "verified/reviewed" marks, callouts, highlighted totals; not decorative |
| Paper | #F4F6F5 |
Ground — a cool off-white, deliberately distinct from Shelfery's warm off-white |
| Sage-teal | #6E8B87 |
Secondary text, table gridlines |
| Flag Red | #C4574A |
Semantic — formula error / out-of-balance state |
This is scoped to brand collateral and marketing surfaces. It does not alter the in-workbook
input/output cell-color convention governed by
../standards/workbook-visual-design-standard.md,
which remains the authority for colors used inside a delivered .xlsx file itself.
The existing navy/white mark colorway exports (b3-mark-navy.svg, b3-mark-white.svg, and their
PNG/badge derivatives — see ../brand-assets.md) remain valid mark assets;
this decision does not require regenerating them in teal. Producing a teal-colorway mark export is
a reasonable follow-up but is not required by this ADR.
Typography for marketing/body copy (beyond the already-approved Montserrat Medium wordmark) is also approved: Inter for body copy and marketing text, and a tabular monospace face (e.g. Consolas or an equivalent system monospace) for spreadsheet-derived figures quoted outside Excel itself (marketing pages, listing copy) — reinforcing the "structured, auditable" positioning by letting numbers read as data rather than prose.
Consequences¶
- Resolves the "Still open" color-palette gap in both
brand-assets.mdandbrand-and-positioning.md. - Gives Devonside Labs a color identity that reads as genuinely its own rather than a placeholder borrowed from the parent — visually distinguishing it from both Devonshire Digital LLC's navy and Shelfery's terracotta, consistent with the independent-brand-architecture model.
- Amber is scoped narrowly (a trust signal, not decoration) specifically so it doesn't dilute into general-purpose highlight use — its meaning depends on staying rare.
Alternatives Considered¶
- Keep the inherited navy as the actual Devonside Labs color. Rejected —
brand-and-positioning.mdwas explicit this was never a real decision, and it collapses visual distinction from the parent brand thatADR-0002was careful to say the color/typography-sharing decision did not extend to. - Reuse Shelfery's terracotta/sage. Not considered live — the two ventures need to stay visually distinguishable from each other, not just from the parent.
Follow-up Actions¶
- Update
../brand-assets.mdand../strategy/brand-and-positioning.mdto reflect this decision (done as part of this same change). - Optional, not required: produce a teal-colorway export of the "B3" mark for contexts where the navy colorway now reads as inconsistent with marketing collateral.