Journal

Notes from the darkroom on color, contrast, and pulling palettes from real photos.

• June 8, 2026 From Reference Photo to Brand Palette: A Practical Workflow

  A step-by-step process for turning one strong reference image into a usable set of brand colors, from raw extraction to a trimmed final palette.

• May 26, 2026 Reading a WCAG Contrast Ratio: What AA and AAA Actually Require

  How contrast ratios are calculated, what the AA and AAA thresholds mean in practice, and how to test a palette before you ship it.

• May 14, 2026 Why Your Photos Have a Color Cast (and How It Skews Extracted Palettes)

  A plain-English look at white balance and color casts, and why the same product photographed under different light gives you a different palette.

• May 2, 2026 Duotone vs. Full Palette: How Many Colors Should You Pull From a Photo?

  Why a 2-color duotone and an 8-color palette serve completely different jobs, and how to decide which one to extract from a given photo.