The palette in one sentence

Espresso and paper carry the brand, warm neutrals give it room, earth accents mark the details, and garnet appears only where the next step is.

Color philosophy

Warm, never clinical. Interzo is about recovering somewhere that feels like home, not in a ward. The palette has no pure white and no pure black. Text is espresso, surfaces are paper and linen, and every neutral leans toward sand.

Espresso is the brand color. It is the color of the logo, of the text and of the dark sections that frame photography. The brand is recognized by this deep, warm brown before any accent appears.

Accents work at the scale of an element. Cognac and brass mark icons, labels and small details. Garnet is kept for action: the buttons that search, book and confirm. None of them fill a page.

Primary color

Espresso #2B1E18 RGB 43, 30, 24 CMYK 0, 30, 44, 83 The logo, primary text, dark sections, solid primary buttons and selected states.

Espresso does the heavy lifting. It sets every headline and paragraph, fills the dark bands of the site with paper text on top, colors the solid primary buttons and marks selected states such as the chosen day in a calendar. It replaces black everywhere: a dark surface in the Interzo system is always espresso.

Warm neutrals

The neutrals are the air of the system. Linen is the page itself; paper lifts cards, panels and form fields off it; sand marks a change of section or a softer surface; line draws every border.

Paper #FFFDF9 RGB 255, 253, 249 CMYK 0, 1, 2, 0 Cards, panels and form fields. Text and icons on espresso and garnet.
Linen #F6F0E8 RGB 246, 240, 232 CMYK 0, 2, 6, 4 The page background. Search fields and chips.
Sand #ECDCC8 RGB 236, 220, 200 CMYK 0, 7, 15, 7 Section bands, icon discs, tags, hover fills and confirmation messages.
Sand deep #DCC3A6 RGB 220, 195, 166 CMYK 0, 11, 25, 14 The third tone in stacked cards and the warm end of image fallbacks.
Line #E3D6C6 RGB 227, 214, 198 CMYK 0, 6, 13, 11 Borders, dividers, field outlines and loading states.

Paper is the brand’s white. It is used for every surface that would otherwise be white, and for text and icons placed on espresso or garnet. Pure white #FFFFFF does not appear in the system.

Text tones

Two lighter browns sit between espresso and the neutrals to build hierarchy in text without leaving the warm family.

Espresso soft #5E4A3F RGB 94, 74, 63 CMYK 0, 21, 33, 63 Secondary text: lead paragraphs and body copy inside cards.
Stone #6A5A50 RGB 106, 90, 80 CMYK 0, 15, 25, 58 Labels, metadata, captions and hint text in empty fields.

Espresso soft carries reading text that sits one step below the headline. Stone is for the small print around it: labels, metadata, captions, the hint text inside an empty field.

Accents

The accents come from the same earth as espresso. They give the interface its details: an icon, the label above a step, a bullet, the ring that shows keyboard focus.

Cognac #8C5A3A RGB 140, 90, 58 CMYK 0, 36, 59, 45 Icons, step labels, the focus ring and the current-day marker.
Cognac deep #6E4229 RGB 110, 66, 41 CMYK 0, 40, 63, 57 Hover state of solid espresso buttons and the dark end of image fallbacks.
Brass #C39A5C RGB 195, 154, 92 CMYK 0, 21, 53, 24 Bullet dots, brass tags with espresso text and notice messages.

Cognac is the accent for icons and short labels, and it draws the focus ring on every interactive element. Cognac deep is its darker shade, used as the hover state of espresso buttons. Brass is the lightest accent: small dots, tags set with espresso text, and the tone of notice messages.

Action color

Garnet #85212E RGB 133, 33, 46 CMYK 0, 75, 65, 48 Search and booking buttons, highlighted badges, the active map pin and hover on links.
Garnet deep #651823 RGB 101, 24, 35 CMYK 0, 76, 65, 60 Hover state of garnet buttons.

Garnet is reserved for action. It colors the buttons that search, book and confirm, the badge that highlights a recommended option, the active pin on a map, and the hover state of links and secondary buttons. Garnet deep is its hover.

Because garnet is rare, it reads as the next step on any screen. In the product it stays at the scale of a button or a badge. A full garnet field belongs to brand moments, carrying the logo in its on-garnet treatment.

Functional color

Error #A1342B RGB 161, 52, 43 CMYK 0, 68, 73, 37 Form validation messages, and their background at 10% opacity.

Error red communicates state, not identity. It is used only in forms: the message under a field that needs fixing, the summary above the form, and the faint background of an error notice at 10% opacity. It is darker and duller than garnet so the two never read as the same signal.

Other states stay inside the brand palette: a confirmation is set on sand, a notice on brass at 30% opacity. Every state is written out in words; color never carries a message alone.

Dosage

The system works in a stable proportion that keeps it calm and lets the action color stand out.

Warm neutrals (about 65%). Linen, paper and sand. Most of every layout sits on light, warm ground: linen as the page, paper for cards and forms, sand to mark a change of section. This is what makes Interzo feel calm and domestic rather than clinical.

Espresso (about 25%). Text, solid buttons and the occasional dark band that frames photography or a key message. Espresso gives the system its weight and its contrast; used in larger doses it turns heavy, used less it loses the brand.

Accents (about 10%). Cognac, brass and garnet, always at element scale. Within that share, garnet is the rarest: one or two actions per screen, so the next step is never in doubt.

The proportion describes the feel of the system, not a quota for every layout. What must not happen is accents taking more space than espresso: at that point the palette stops being warm and quiet and starts competing for attention.

Approved pairs and contrast

These are the text and background pairs the system uses, with their contrast ratio under WCAG 2.1, calculated from the HEX values. AA requires 4.5:1 for body text; AAA requires 7:1; AA Large (3:1) passes only for text from 24 px, or 19 px bold, and for icons.

14.24:1
AAA Espresso on Linen Text on the page background.
15.88:1
AAA Espresso on Paper Text in cards, panels and forms.
12.01:1
AAA Espresso on Sand Text in sand sections and tags.
9.52:1
AAA Espresso on Sand deep Text in stacked cards.
6.22:1
AA Espresso on Brass Brass tags.
15.88:1
AAA Paper on Espresso Dark sections and solid primary buttons.
9.16:1
AAA Paper on Garnet Search and booking buttons, badges.
8.35:1
AAA Paper on Cognac deep Primary button on hover.
7.33:1
AAA Espresso soft on Linen Lead paragraphs on the page.
8.17:1
AAA Espresso soft on Paper Body copy inside cards.
6.47:1
AA Stone on Paper Labels and metadata in cards.
5.81:1
AA Stone on Linen Labels on the page background.
5.68:1
AA Cognac on Paper Icons and step labels.
4.29:1
AA Large Cognac on Sand Icons on sand discs. Icons and large text only.
6.79:1
AA Error on Paper Validation messages in forms.

Cognac on sand is the one approved pair below 4.5:1. It is used for icons, which need 3:1, and must not carry body text.

Pairs to avoid

1.73:1
Fail Espresso on Garnet Two dark tones: text on garnet is always paper.
2.55:1
Fail Paper on Brass Brass is too light for paper text: set it in espresso.
1.40:1
Fail Line on Paper Line draws borders only, never text.

The CMYK values on this page are calculated from sRGB with the standard device-independent formula. Each channel is divided by 255 to give R′, G′ and B′; then K = 1 − max(R′, G′, B′), and C = (1 − R′ − K) / (1 − K), with M and Y calculated the same way from G′ and B′. Results are rounded to whole percentages. No ICC profile is applied.

They are starting values, not colorimetric matches. Before any print run, convert from the HEX through the printer’s own profile and approve a physical proof.

  • Espresso and the dark tones come out of the formula as four-color browns with a heavy K. On large solid areas, ask the printer for a rich build tested on the chosen stock.
  • Paper, linen and sand are very light tints. On uncoated or warm-toned stock they are often best left to the paper itself rather than printed as a flat tint.
  • No Pantone references are specified yet. When a spot ink is needed, choose it against a physical guide with the printer and add it to this page.

Usage rules

  • Never use pure white #FFFFFF or pure black #000000 in brand applications. Paper and espresso take their place. The monochrome black logo for single-ink media is the only exception.
  • Garnet is for action. Do not use it for headlines, decoration or large backgrounds in the product.
  • Error red appears only in forms and validation. It is never a brand accent.
  • Text on garnet, espresso and cognac deep is always paper. Text on brass is always espresso.
  • When placing text on a color not covered by the pairs above, check its contrast before using it.