Specimen · Kestrel Ferry Line

Three colours, two weights.

Casco Bay passenger and freight ferry · six vessels · eleven landings. Delivered March 2025 · audited September 2026. Everything below is set in type and CSS — there is no logo file on this site, because the point of the system is what it does when nobody has the file.

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Colour

The third one fails contrast against the first, which is not a defect in the palette. It is why rule 7 exists and why the rule contains the number rather than the word “avoid”.

Ink

#12303A

The only colour type is ever set in. 10.69:1 against Sand and 13.91:1 against white.

Sand

#E8E1D3

The ground. Chosen because it is printable on uncoated stock and survives a vinyl match within a shade.

Flag

#E4552B

Fill only, never type. It sits at 3.73:1 on Ink, which fails AA, and rule 7 exists because of that number.

The wordmark, at four real sizes

Scaled down rather than up, which is the order rule 4 was supposed to be written in.

KESTREL

Hull, 2.4 m — One colour, read at forty metres from a moving boat.

KESTREL

Landing sign, 900 mm — Two colours, read at eight metres in fog.

KESTREL

Letterhead, 48 mm — The size the guidelines were written from, which turned out to matter.

KESTREL

Minimum, 22 mm — Wordmark stops here. Below it, the K alone.

Flag, as a fill. It never carries type, anywhere, at any size.

The ten rules, on one page

This is the whole document that people actually read. The long version exists and is read by the two people who would have got it right anyway.

1. One ink for type All text is Ink. Not Flag, not a tint of Ink, not black.
2. The mark sits on Sand or on white Never on a photograph. If the only option is a photograph, use the wordmark on a Sand bar.
3. Half the mark’s height of clear space Nothing within half the height of the mark on any side. Measure with the mark itself.
4. Never smaller than 22 mm Below 22 mm wide, use the K mark alone. On screen that is 96 px.
5. Sentence case everywhere Headings, buttons, signs, ticket stubs. No all-caps except on the hull.
6. One typeface, two weights Regular and Bold. If it is not installed, use Georgia and do not apologise.
7. Flag never carries type Flag is a fill. Text on it fails contrast at 3.73:1 and it is not a judgement call.
8. Photography is people working Crew, ropes, weather, freight. No empty decks and no sunsets without a person in them.
9. The mark is never rotated or outlined Not on merchandise, not for an anniversary, not once.
10. No gradients anywhere Flat colour only, in every medium.