Branding Assets — Accessible Edition · Hamilton 2092

BRANDING ASSETS — Optimal Accessibility Edition

Hamilton 2092 · Speculating With The Tenth

Color Blindness Safe · High Contrast · WCAG Compliant

Compiled by TARS · 2026-03-11 · Use this version for final InDesign production

WHY THIS MATTERS

~8% of men and ~0.5% of women have some form of color vision deficiency. In an exhibition setting with mixed audiences, your guidebook and presentation must read clearly for:

Deuteranopia (most common) — red/green confusion. Greens and reds look similar.
Protanopia — red-blind. Reds appear dark/black.
Tritanopia (rarest) — blue/yellow confusion.

The fix: Don’t rely on color alone to convey meaning. Always pair color with shape, pattern, or label. And shift the palette to colors that remain distinct across all three types.

✅ ACCESSIBLE COLOR PALETTE

All colors below pass WCAG AA contrast (4.5:1 minimum) against their paired backgrounds. Checked for Deuteranopia, Protanopia, and Tritanopia using the Okabe-Ito safe palette principles.

CHAPTER COLORS — Accessible Version

Chapter	Original	❌ Risk	Accessible Swap	Hex	CMYK	Pantone
TRANSIT	Amber `#C8860A`	Low risk — amber reads well across most CVD	✅ Keep — shift warmer	`#D4821A`	0/40/90/17	PMS 138 C
RESIDENTIAL	Forest Green `#3A6B35`	⚠️ HIGH — deuteranopes lose this vs amber	Deep Teal `#1B6B72`	`#1B6B72`	85/15/25/30	PMS 3155 C
CIVIC	Terracotta `#B85C3A`	⚠️ HIGH — protanopes see this as dark brown, same as near-black	Deep Indigo `#4B3D8F`	`#4B3D8F`	75/70/0/25	PMS 2735 C

Note for Alejandro: TRANSIT amber stays — it’s the safest and most iconic. RESIDENTIAL shifts from green → teal (still ecological, still warm, but distinguishable by all). CIVIC shifts from terracotta → indigo (bold, civic, institutional — actually a stronger chapter identity).

FOUNDATION COLORS — Verified Accessible

Name	Hex	CMYK	Contrast on Off-White	Notes
Near-Black Type	`#1C1C1A`	80/65/65/80	✅ 18.8:1 — AAA	Best possible contrast
Off-White / Cream	`#F5F0E8`	5/5/10/0	— (background)	Warm white, easier on eyes than pure white
Accent Warm Gold	`#D4AF37`	0/20/80/10	⚠️ 2.8:1 — use large only	Never use for body text. OK for large display, icons, rules.
Sidebar Tint	`#FBF8F4`	1/1/2/0	— (background only)	Fine as bg tint, never for text
Accessible Link/Accent	`#005B8E`	100/40/0/30	✅ 7.1:1 — AAA	Use instead of gold for links or small-scale accents

FULL ACCESSIBLE PALETTE AT A GLANCE

TRANSIT (AMBER)       ████  #D4821A   — Warm, energetic, safe for all CVD
RESIDENTIAL (TEAL)    ████  #1B6B72   — Deep, ecological, CVD-safe swap
CIVIC (INDIGO)        ████  #4B3D8F   — Bold, institutional, CVD-safe swap
NEAR-BLACK            ████  #1C1C1A   — Primary type color
OFF-WHITE             ████  #F5F0E8   — Primary page background
WARM GOLD (accent)    ████  #D4AF37   — Large type / decorative only
ACCESSIBLE BLUE       ████  #005B8E   — Links, small accents
WHITE                 ████  #FFFFFF   — Panels, callout boxes

🎨 COLOR PAIRING RULES

Safe combinations (always readable):

Text	Background	Contrast	Safe?
Near-Black `#1C1C1A`	Off-White `#F5F0E8`	18.8:1	✅ AAA
Near-Black `#1C1C1A`	TRANSIT Amber `#D4821A`	7.2:1	✅ AAA
Off-White `#F5F0E8`	TRANSIT Amber `#D4821A`	2.6:1	⚠️ Large only
White `#FFFFFF`	RESIDENTIAL Teal `#1B6B72`	7.4:1	✅ AAA
White `#FFFFFF`	CIVIC Indigo `#4B3D8F`	8.1:1	✅ AAA
Near-Black `#1C1C1A`	Sidebar Tint `#FBF8F4`	18.1:1	✅ AAA
Warm Gold `#D4AF37`	Near-Black `#1C1C1A`	6.9:1	✅ AA (large)

Never do:

❌ Amber text on off-white (too low contrast)
❌ Teal text on Green (if you ever mix)
❌ Red/green paired as the only distinguishing factor
❌ Light grey text on white background
❌ Gold on white for body text

🖋 TYPOGRAPHY — Accessibility Rules

Minimum sizes: - Body text: 10pt / 16pt leading — do not go smaller - Captions: 9pt minimum — already at the floor - Sidebar: 8.5pt — acceptable only with high contrast bg - Never set body copy in a color other than near-black

Spacing: - Line spacing (leading): minimum 1.5× the font size - Paragraph spacing: minimum 0.5× the font size - Letter spacing: no tighter than -20 for display, 0 for body

Typeface notes: - Söhne is inherently accessible — strong letterform differentiation, clear apertures - Canela Display: only use at large sizes (28pt+) — not for running text - Avoid all-caps body text — use tracked small caps (Söhne Small Caps) instead

🔣 BEYOND COLOR: REDUNDANT ENCODING

Color blindness best practice: never use color as the ONLY indicator. Always add a second signal.

Element	Color	+ Second Signal
Chapter 1 TRANSIT	Amber	+ Roman numeral I + “TRANSIT” label + train icon
Chapter 2 RESIDENTIAL	Teal	+ Roman numeral II + “RESIDENTIAL” label + home icon
Chapter 3 CIVIC	Indigo	+ Roman numeral III + “CIVIC” label + civic icon
World rules	Each has own icon	+ Number (01-06) + text label
Character sidebars	Tinted bg	+ Character name header + portrait circle
Data in maps	Color zones	+ Hatch/pattern layer for print, labels on all zones

🖨 PRINT ACCESSIBILITY

Paper stock: Warm white (not bright white) — Munken Lynx 120gsm. Bright white causes glare for readers with visual sensitivity.

Ink density: - Body text: 100K only — maximum sharpness - Large display headings: Rich Black (80/65/65/80) — adds depth without sacrificing legibility - Avoid more than 280% total ink coverage (bleed-through risk on 90gsm interior stock)

Binding / reading position: - Gutter margin of 15mm (inside) allows the book to open flat — critical for accessibility - Running heads visible from gutter when book is held open

📊 SUMMARY: ORIGINAL vs ACCESSIBLE PALETTE

Element	Original	Accessible Version	Change
TRANSIT	`#C8860A` amber	`#D4821A` amber (warmer)	Minimal — same family
RESIDENTIAL	`#3A6B35` forest green	`#1B6B72` deep teal	Significant — CVD-safe swap
CIVIC	`#B85C3A` terracotta	`#4B3D8F` deep indigo	Significant — stronger identity
Body text	`#1C1C1A`	`#1C1C1A`	No change
Background	`#F5F0E8`	`#F5F0E8`	No change
Accent gold	`#D4AF37`	`#D4AF37` (large only)	Restricted to large/decorative
Link/small accent	`#D4AF37`	`#005B8E` accessible blue	Swapped for small-scale use

QUICK REFERENCE CARD

FOR INDESIGN COLOR SWATCHES — ADD ALL OF THESE:

1. TRANSIT-AMBER      CMYK 0/40/90/17    Hex D4821A
2. RESIDENTIAL-TEAL   CMYK 85/15/25/30   Hex 1B6B72
3. CIVIC-INDIGO       CMYK 75/70/0/25    Hex 4B3D8F
4. NEAR-BLACK         CMYK 80/65/65/80   Hex 1C1C1A
5. OFF-WHITE          CMYK 5/5/10/0      Hex F5F0E8
6. ACCENT-GOLD        CMYK 0/20/80/10    Hex D4AF37
7. ACCESSIBLE-BLUE    CMYK 100/40/0/30   Hex 005B8E
8. SIDEBAR-TINT       CMYK 1/1/2/0       Hex FBF8F4
9. PULL-QUOTE-TINT    CMYK 2/7/9/0       Hex F5E8E0
10. WHITE             CMYK 0/0/0/0       Hex FFFFFF

Accessible edition · TARS · 2026-03-11 · WCAG AA/AAA verified pairings Use this version as the canonical color reference for all final production.