01
Concrete & Steel
Architectural sequences, urban negative space, low-key reportage.
Ink#0A0A0A
Grey 15#2A2A28
Grey 45#6E6E6A
Grey 75#B8B8B2
— Color
Ink. Paper.
Everything between.
MB has no chromatic accent. The palette is two anchors and a quiet ramp of nine greys — calibrated against the warmth of paper, not the cold of pure neutral.
— Anchors
The two ends.
Ink and Paper. They appear on every surface, in some ratio. The greys live between them.
Ink
Paper
— Grey ramp
Nine steps, slightly warm.
The ramp is biased two degrees toward warm — to harmonize with paper white and with golden-hour photography. Use sparingly: pick one or two steps per surface, never the whole ladder.
Ink
#0A0A0A
L*06
Grey 15
#1A1A18
L*10
Grey 25
#2D2C28
L*18
Grey 40
#56554F
L*36
Grey 55
#807F7B
L*53
Grey 70
#ABAAA5
L*70
Grey 85
#D6D5D0
L*85
Grey 95
#ECEBE6
L*93
Bone
#F2F1EC
L*95
Paper
#FAFAF7
L*98
— Usage
Ratios, by surface.
Every surface picks a primary, a secondary, and one accent step from the ramp. Below: the canonical recipes for the three most common contexts.
Editorial · Light
- 70% Paper
- 22% Ink
- 8% Grey 55
Editorial · Dark
- 80% Ink
- 12% Paper
- 8% Grey 55
Print · Letterhead
- 60% Bone
- 30% Ink
- 10% Grey 85
— Accessibility
Pairings that pass.
Approved foreground/background pairings, with WCAG contrast ratios. Anything below 4.5:1 is reserved for non-text decoration.
Aa
Ink / Paper19.6 : 1 · AAA
Aa
Grey 40 / Paper9.1 : 1 · AAA
Aa
Grey 55 / Paper4.7 : 1 · AA
Aa
Paper / Ink19.6 : 1 · AAA
Aa
Grey 70 / Ink8.4 : 1 · AAA
Aa
Grey 55 / Ink4.6 : 1 · AA
— Capsules
Four named extracts.
Each capsule is a four-step extract from the master ramp, named for the subject it tends to live alongside. Capsules govern editorial pairings — they do not replace the master palette.
02
Shifting Sands
Desert work — Liwa, Empty Quarter, the warm half of the ramp.
Sepia 20#4A4338
Sand 45#857C69
Sand 75#CDC4B3
Bone#F0EAD8
03
Tidelands
Coastal sequences, Musandam & the Gulf, cool grey washes.
Slate 12#1F2422
Slate 32#4F5856
Slate 58#8C9694
Slate 82#D4DAD8
04
Summit
Hajar mountain ranges, granite atmospherics, high-contrast monochrome.
Ink#0A0A0A
Grey 25#3F3F3D
Grey 55#8E8E89
Paper#FAFAF7
i
Rule of one
A single capsule governs a single edit, brief, or installation. Mixing capsules
within one piece is permitted only when the subject itself spans them
(a coastline meeting a desert; a mountain seen through a city window).