Threshold
Brand standards · No 001

A quieter standard.

Threshold is the considered moment before the door opens. What follows is the system that holds the idea together: the mark, the colors, the words, the silences.

Six sections. About four minutes to read.

I

Mark

The arch

An entry, not a barrier. The floor line below is the threshold itself. The line you cross when you decide to.

Application icon

Champagne-gradient stroke, warm near-black ground. Rendered with 8× supersampling for true edges at every size.

Threshold
Wordmark lockup

Fraunces Light at 60 opsz, paired with the mark. The arch never floats without intent. It is always the start of a line.

II

Palette

Obsidian
#0C0B09
Ground. Always.
Carbon
#171411
Cards, raised surfaces.
Bone
#ECE6DA
Primary text.
Linen
#908778
Secondary text, labels.
Champagne
#C8A876
The one accent. Use it like ink.
Coral
#D27866
Only for the honest "no."
III

Typography

Fraunces
Display, editorial copy, numbers
Variable. opsz 9–144. Use heavy opsz for hero numerals; lighter opsz for body italics.
Threshold
The standard is the choice you make next.
Did you do what you came to do?
Inter
Labels, controls, structural copy
Wide tracking for eyebrows. Sentence case for actions. Never compete with Fraunces for emphasis.
Eyebrow label
CONFIGURE SITES
Body copy is for instruction, not for atmosphere. The serif is for atmosphere.
Numerals
Honesty score, durations
Tabular nums always. Italic Fraunces for denominators and units, never roman next to a roman value.
73/100
12m
IV

Voice

The standard is the choice you make next.

House line
Sounds like
  • Before you enter youtube.
  • Your budget is spent.
  • Did you do what you came to do?
  • Noted.
Never sounds like
  • You wasted 47 minutes today.
  • Caught you scrolling again.
  • Streak broken. Try again tomorrow.
  • Time is up. Get back to work.

No shame. Honest reflection requires safety. Threshold never roasts, scolds, or surveils. Every line we write should pass the dinner-with-an-old-friend test: if you wouldn't say it across a quiet table, don't say it.

V

First principles

  1. 1

    Quiet over clever.

    No emojis. No exclamation. No exclamation about no emojis. The signal is in the restraint.

  2. 2

    One number that matters.

    Honesty Score. Everything else is a footnote. Vanity metrics belong in apps you cancel.

  3. 3

    Friction, not force.

    We hold the door, we never lock it. Locks invite picking; thresholds invite reflection.

  4. 4

    Local-first, always.

    Your data lives on your device. The moat is trust, and you cannot un-betray that.

  5. 5

    The standard is yours.

    We do not pick the number. We hold space for you to pick it, and to keep it.

VI

References

Where this register came from. Threshold owes its restraint to four houses who learned long before us that a beautiful object holds its own weight.