Independent studio · Lisbon000010020030040050060070080090100
BLOCKWORK
Building the grid
Field notes
Colour in Lisbon daylight
Blue looks different at nine in the morning and at six. How we test colour where people will actually see it.
- KindField notes
- DateMay 2026
- Read4 min
Field notes
Colour in Lisbon daylight
Blue looks different at nine in the morning and at six. How we test colour where people will actually see it.
- KindField notes
- DateMay 2026
- Read4 min
Field notes
Colour in Lisbon daylight
Blue looks different at nine in the morning and at six. How we test colour where people will actually see it.
- KindField notes
- DateMay 2026
- Read4 min
We test every palette outside. On the river terrace below the studio, at three times of day, in whatever weather Lisbon gives us that week.
It started as a joke during a hot August when the print room was unbearable. It became method within a month, because the results were so different from what we saw indoors.
Three walks a day
The routine is simple. We print swatches of every colour in the palette on the actual stock the client will use: board for packaging, coated paper for print, a phone and a tablet for screens. Then we take them for a walk.
- Nine in the morning: low, cool light off the water. Blues look their bluest, warm greys look cold.
- One in the afternoon: flat overhead sun. Everything washes out; contrast is tested hardest.
- Six in the evening: long golden light. Reds and oranges glow, anything subtle disappears.
Each colour gets a mark in a notebook at each stop: holds, drifts, or fails. A palette is only signed off when every primary holds at all three.
A colour is not a hex code. It is a hex code under a particular sky.
What we learned
Strong, saturated blues are remarkably stable. Our own signal blue reads as the same colour at nine and at six, which is a large part of why we chose it. Warm greys are the opposite. A beige that looked sophisticated on the monitor turned pink in the evening and green under the afternoon sun.
Pale tints are the most dangerous. A light mint background that a client loved indoors simply vanished outside; the text on it became the only visible thing. We now ask for at least 20 percent more density on any tint that will live on a shelf near a window.
Screens in sunlight
Screens fail differently. In direct sun, a phone at full brightness still loses most of its contrast, and dark interfaces suffer most. Thin grey type on black becomes unreadable at one in the afternoon. This is one reason we hold body text to at least 4.5 to 1 contrast and usually aim far higher. The guideline numbers are a floor measured indoors.
Take it for a walk
You do not need a river. Any window, any street, any shop with ugly fluorescent lights will do. The important thing is to look at colour where people will actually see it, not where designers usually look at it.
Print a swatch, put it in your pocket and check it at the bus stop, in the supermarket, at your kitchen table. If it still looks like itself everywhere, keep it.
We test every palette outside. On the river terrace below the studio, at three times of day, in whatever weather Lisbon gives us that week.
It started as a joke during a hot August when the print room was unbearable. It became method within a month, because the results were so different from what we saw indoors.
Three walks a day
The routine is simple. We print swatches of every colour in the palette on the actual stock the client will use: board for packaging, coated paper for print, a phone and a tablet for screens. Then we take them for a walk.
- Nine in the morning: low, cool light off the water. Blues look their bluest, warm greys look cold.
- One in the afternoon: flat overhead sun. Everything washes out; contrast is tested hardest.
- Six in the evening: long golden light. Reds and oranges glow, anything subtle disappears.
Each colour gets a mark in a notebook at each stop: holds, drifts, or fails. A palette is only signed off when every primary holds at all three.
A colour is not a hex code. It is a hex code under a particular sky.
What we learned
Strong, saturated blues are remarkably stable. Our own signal blue reads as the same colour at nine and at six, which is a large part of why we chose it. Warm greys are the opposite. A beige that looked sophisticated on the monitor turned pink in the evening and green under the afternoon sun.
Pale tints are the most dangerous. A light mint background that a client loved indoors simply vanished outside; the text on it became the only visible thing. We now ask for at least 20 percent more density on any tint that will live on a shelf near a window.
Screens in sunlight
Screens fail differently. In direct sun, a phone at full brightness still loses most of its contrast, and dark interfaces suffer most. Thin grey type on black becomes unreadable at one in the afternoon. This is one reason we hold body text to at least 4.5 to 1 contrast and usually aim far higher. The guideline numbers are a floor measured indoors.
Take it for a walk
You do not need a river. Any window, any street, any shop with ugly fluorescent lights will do. The important thing is to look at colour where people will actually see it, not where designers usually look at it.
Print a swatch, put it in your pocket and check it at the bus stop, in the supermarket, at your kitchen table. If it still looks like itself everywhere, keep it.
We test every palette outside. On the river terrace below the studio, at three times of day, in whatever weather Lisbon gives us that week.
It started as a joke during a hot August when the print room was unbearable. It became method within a month, because the results were so different from what we saw indoors.
Three walks a day
The routine is simple. We print swatches of every colour in the palette on the actual stock the client will use: board for packaging, coated paper for print, a phone and a tablet for screens. Then we take them for a walk.
- Nine in the morning: low, cool light off the water. Blues look their bluest, warm greys look cold.
- One in the afternoon: flat overhead sun. Everything washes out; contrast is tested hardest.
- Six in the evening: long golden light. Reds and oranges glow, anything subtle disappears.
Each colour gets a mark in a notebook at each stop: holds, drifts, or fails. A palette is only signed off when every primary holds at all three.
A colour is not a hex code. It is a hex code under a particular sky.
What we learned
Strong, saturated blues are remarkably stable. Our own signal blue reads as the same colour at nine and at six, which is a large part of why we chose it. Warm greys are the opposite. A beige that looked sophisticated on the monitor turned pink in the evening and green under the afternoon sun.
Pale tints are the most dangerous. A light mint background that a client loved indoors simply vanished outside; the text on it became the only visible thing. We now ask for at least 20 percent more density on any tint that will live on a shelf near a window.
Screens in sunlight
Screens fail differently. In direct sun, a phone at full brightness still loses most of its contrast, and dark interfaces suffer most. Thin grey type on black becomes unreadable at one in the afternoon. This is one reason we hold body text to at least 4.5 to 1 contrast and usually aim far higher. The guideline numbers are a floor measured indoors.
Take it for a walk
You do not need a river. Any window, any street, any shop with ugly fluorescent lights will do. The important thing is to look at colour where people will actually see it, not where designers usually look at it.
Print a swatch, put it in your pocket and check it at the bus stop, in the supermarket, at your kitchen table. If it still looks like itself everywhere, keep it.