Palette Book

Colours, pairings and logo grounds for The Drive-In and RecDek House. A reference for the people making the launch film.

Core colours

The neon five

Taken from the Drive-In sign, which runs hot pink at the top down to cyan at the bottom. The RecDek House logo uses the same family in its stacked shadow.

Tap a swatch to copy its hex code. Values are sampled from the supplied logos and are for screen use; proof anything going to print.

The sign gradient

Pink to cyan

The sign reads top to bottom: pink, magenta, orchid, blue, cyan. Keep that order. Run it vertically in lettering, or sideways as a divider line.

0% FD476830% FC359655% BB53D078% 4293FD100% 01C1FE

Grounds and supports

Black, slate and paper

Neon only glows on dark. Night is the logo's own ground. Slate and Teal come from the RecDek House shadow. Ink and Dusk are suggestions for softer large areas.

The marks

Logos and their grounds

The Drive-InSupplied on black. It carries its own glow, so keep it on Night or another very dark ground and leave clear space around it.

RecDek House, light groundThe black lettering needs a light or bright ground. On Paper white it reads as intended.

RecDek House, bright groundWorks on Neon Cyan as well. Avoid pink grounds, where the coral shadow disappears.

Legibility

Pairings that work

Contrast ratios worked out from the hex values above. For small text aim for 4.5:1 or better. Anything under 3:1 is for shapes and decoration only.

Pull up#F8F8F8 on #00000019.8:1Any size

Pull up#FD4768 on #0000006.3:1Body text

Pull up#FC3596 on #0000006.1:1Body text

Pull up#01C1FE on #00000010.1:1Any size

Pull up#4293FD on #0000006.8:1Body text

Pull up#BB53D0 on #0000005.3:1Body text

Pull up#000000 on #FD47686.3:1Body text

Pull up#000000 on #01C1FE10.1:1Any size

Pull up#F8F8F8 on #FD47683.1:1Large text

Pull up#F8F8F8 on #4293FD2.9:1Decoration only

Pull up#F8F8F8 on #1A103017.0:1Any size

Pull up#FD4768 on #01C1FE1.6:1Decoration only

In use

A few leanings, not laws

Lean towards

Lots of black, with the neon used sparingly so it feels lit.
One or two core colours per frame, with the gradient saved for the big moments.
Flat colour and clean shapes, in the spirit of classic 80s minimalism.
Paper white for small text and the odd quiet line.

Be careful with

Pink text on cyan, or the reverse. They vibrate and fail contrast.
Stretching, recolouring or redrawing either logo.
Putting the black RecDek House lettering on a dark ground.
Muddy mixes: stay with the five neon stops rather than blending new ones.

The creators are free to interpret all of this. The palette is the anchor, and everything else is theirs to play with.