Colour hierarchy · review
Who gets
to be loud?
to be loud?
What's off in v2: pale-blue canvas, brand-blue hero, navy recovery card and navy tab bar are four blues all at similar volume, so nothing leads. Each option below sets one dominant field, one structural colour and one accent, with a fixed share for each.
1aInk-led, one blue moment
70 white · 18 ink · 9 blue · 3 Sunrise. Brand blue appears once per screen, on the hero. Ink carries every action and the tab bar.
Feels: editorial, Nike-like. Blue becomes precious and so reads as brand.
Risk: the calmest of the three; excitement comes from photography and type, not colour.
1bDeep Tide, blue as light
72 navy · 14 depth · 11 blue · 3 Sunrise. The whole app lives in Deep Tide; brand blue is the light source: the CTA, the active tab, the glow.
Feels: closest to Calm. Premium and immersive; photos glow against it.
Risk: dark-first for an older, clinical audience. It needs a light mode, and long reading screens get heavy.
1cBlue sky, blue action
52 white · 38 blue · 8 ink · 2 Sunrise. Brand blue becomes the sky at the top of every screen: unmistakably TrackActive. White cards float on it. The main action is a bright blue pill #1AB0EA with ink text (6.8:1, hover #5FC8F0). Sunrise is touch points only: play marks and the player's play/pause, never a button fill.
Feels: the most energetic and branded. Warm against cool gives real pop.
Trade-off: blue carries both brand and action, so rewards lean on First Light alone.