Craft
Colour is a system, not a swatch
Why one accent can carry an entire brand — and the rules that stop it turning into noise.

Nadia Rahimi
Design Director
5
min read

Brand palettes tend to grow. A primary, then a secondary, then a tint for charts, then a seasonal colour. Two years later nobody knows which blue to use.
One accent, many roles
We start from a single accent and define what it is allowed to do: actions, highlights, the one thing on a screen that matters most. Everything else stays neutral so the accent keeps its power.
“A colour used everywhere means nothing anywhere.”
When a brand needs range — like Signal’s six colourways — we give each colour a job, not a mood. That keeps the system legible even when it gets loud.

Written by
Nadia Rahimi
Design Director
at Kairo
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