nrds Brand Guidelines

nrds

light bg Copy SVG

mochi bg, soft mark

plum bg, mochi squircle

plum bg, dragonfruit squircle

YRSO

light bg Copy SVG

mochi bg, soft mark

plum bg, mochi squircle

plum bg, dragonfruit squircle

monmonmon

light bg Copy SVG

mochi bg, soft mark

plum bg, mochi squircle

plum bg, dragonfruit squircle

Plum

Named after the ume, the Japanese plum blossom that flowers in late winter, before anything else dares to. In Japanese culture it stands for resilience and quiet endurance. Plum is the darkest color in our palette, almost black but with a living warmth that pure black never has. It's the field our logo marks sit on, the foundation that everything else grows from. When you see plum, you're looking at the identity itself. Something that was here before you arrived and will be here after.

Ink

The color of sumi, the carbon ink used in Japanese calligraphy. Not black, but a deep blue-charcoal with just enough warmth to feel human. Ink is our primary text color and the backbone of every interface. Calligraphy ink rewards precision and intention; each stroke is deliberate. That's how we think about the words and interfaces we put in front of people: say what you mean, then stop.

Mochi

Mochi is pounded rice cake: soft, slightly chewy, deceptively simple to look at but surprisingly involved to make well. The pink comes from sakura mochi, wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf. It's our primary accent color: the warmth in what could otherwise be a cold, technical product. Security software doesn't have to look like a threat dashboard. Mochi says we take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. When mochi needs to raise its voice, it becomes dragonfruit, the campaign color in our matsuri palette.

Matcha

Matcha is stone-ground green tea, the centerpiece of the tea ceremony, where every gesture has purpose. The color is vegetal, alive, and calming. In our products, matcha means things are healthy: checks passing, systems compliant, status green. The deep variant doubles as our success color. Matcha reminds us that security isn't a crisis to manage. It's a practice to maintain, one deliberate step at a time, like whisking tea.

Yuzu

Yuzu is a Japanese citrus: intensely aromatic, tart, impossible to ignore when you encounter it. The color is a warm, honeyed gold. We use it for things that need attention without alarm: warnings, highlights, deadlines approaching, boolean values in terminal output. Yuzu is the gentle tap on the shoulder before matcha deep or azuki need to raise their voice. It says look here without saying panic.

Azuki

Azuki is the red bean at the heart of Japanese sweets: earthy, grounding, a little bitter before the sweetness comes through. The color is a deep wine that sits between brown and crimson. We reach for azuki when something is serious: critical findings, destructive actions, things that deserve a moment of pause. It carries weight without being aggressive. Where mochi is warmth and matcha is health, azuki is gravity, the color that says this matters, pay attention.

Matsuri (祭)

The festival colors: high-energy accents for moments that need to cut through. Each matsuri color is the loud counterpart of a botanical: dragonfruit for mochi, nami for ink, yuzu electric for yuzu, wasabi for matcha, torii for azuki, sakura UV for plum. When the calm palette needs to raise its voice, these are the ones that step in.

Backgrounds

Status & Semantic

White Opacity Variants (on dark)

Mochi Opacity Variants

Terminal Syntax Colors

How the specials work together and with the core palette. Shown on dark and light backgrounds with sample button treatments.

Dragonfruit #FF006E

On backgrounds

Accent pairings

Nami #06B6D4

On backgrounds

Accent pairings

Yuzu Electric #FFB800

On backgrounds

Other candidates on Ink

In context

Navbar with Dragonfruit accent

nerd as a service

Home Services Products Team Get in touch

Navbar with Nami accent

nerd as a service

Home Services Products Team Get in touch

Navbar with Mochi accent (current)

nerd as a service

Home Services Products Team Get in touch

Triple combos

Reusable patterns for communicating status, alerts, and confirmations. All colors come from the existing palette.

Alert boxes

Status badges

Toast notifications

Modal / popover

Modals use a fog overlay with backdrop-filter: blur(2px) over ink at 25% opacity. The card pops in with a spring animation.

Confirmation (default)

Destructive action

Modal CSS reference

/* Fog overlay */
.fog {
  position: fixed;
  inset: 0;
  background: rgba(26,26,46,0.25);
  backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
  z-index: 40;
}

/* Modal card */
.modal {
  position: fixed;
  top: 50%; left: 50%;
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
  background: white;
  border-radius: 16px;
  box-shadow: 0 25px 50px rgba(26,26,46,0.15);
  z-index: 55;
}

/* Pop-in animation */
@keyframes modal-pop {
  0%   { opacity: 0; transform: translate(-50%,-50%) scale(.92); }
  60%  { opacity: 1; transform: translate(-50%,-50%) scale(1.02); }
  100% { opacity: 1; transform: translate(-50%,-50%) scale(1); }
}
.modal.active {
  animation: modal-pop .3s cubic-bezier(.34,1.4,.64,1) forwards;
}

What we radiate

Compliance has a branding problem. On one end you get the enterprise monoliths (the IBMs, the Big Four) radiating authority through sheer mass: dark suits, navy palettes, stock photos of handshakes in glass boardrooms. On the other end you get the VC-funded SaaS plays (the Vantas) radiating speed and automation: gradients, dashboards, "get compliant in weeks" urgency. Both are effective. Neither is us.

nrds is the calm professional in the room. The one who has read the standard cover to cover, understands the business context, and explains things in plain language without reaching for jargon or fear. We don't judge, we solve. When something is broken we fix it, understand why it broke, and make sure it doesn't happen again. The Japanese call this saihatsu bōshi (再発防止): prevention of recurrence. It's the engine behind our approach to continuous improvement and it runs through everything we build.

We are not selling authority or velocity. We are selling clarity.

This shapes every visual decision. The design language draws equally from two traditions that share a deep conviction: less, but better.

The overlap between these traditions is the brand. Zen gives us the palette, the breathing room, the quiet confidence. Bauhaus gives us the grid, the type system, the functional rigour. Together they produce something that feels considered rather than designed: a tool that gets out of your way and lets you focus on the work that matters.

When in doubt, ask: would a calm, competent professional choose this? If the answer is yes, ship it. If it feels like it is trying to impress rather than inform, strip it back.

Two gears, one brand

The visual identity operates in two registers. Most of the time it is quiet, grounded, and trustworthy: the botanical palette doing its job. But when a moment needs to land (a hero, a CTA, a campaign splash) it shifts into something louder. Understanding when to use which register is the single most important design decision you will make.

Mochi - the identity color

nerd as a service

Logo lockup: mochi highlights the human element

Active states & links

Learn more about our ISO 27001 process or read the compliance guide.

Form elements

jeroen@nrds.nl

Focus ring uses mochi

Dragonfruit - the campaign color

The rule

Mental model