Decision recorded — Refinement 2, Signal Junction, was selected. Alex approved Refinement 2 on 2026-08-26 (ADR-0001): blue is fixed routing infrastructure, coral is the active signal being routed. Refinements 1 and 3 are retained below as unchanged decision evidence and must not be used in product. The canonical system, usage rules and downloadable assets are at /brand. The three original candidates remain at /brand/candidates.
Three controlled refinements of the same routing/junction family. All three use Link Blue #245BFF, Signal Coral #FF4D35, Near Black #080A0F and Cold White #F5F7FB as the working palette. Steel is used only for secondary interface text on this review page and never inside the marks, so grey cannot dilute the identity. Each refinement is shown with identical proofs, in the same order, at the same sizes. None is preselected or visually privileged.
Corrections applied across all three: rounded elbows and round caps removed, all direction changes mitred at 45 degrees, silhouette weighted toward the destination, and the coral made load-bearing rather than decorative. The single-ink proofs below are the test that each mark holds at 16px without colour.
Refinement 1
Dual Route Junction
Two equal routes converge, under control, into one destination
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In context — branded Coming Soon domain
Rationale and corrections applied
Two routes of identical weight enter flat, break at a hard 45-degree mitre and converge onto a shared spine that terminates in one closed square mass. Every bend is mitred rather than radiused, which is the specific change that removes the pipe-fitting and cable reading of the original: a pipe has a constant-radius elbow, this has a corner. Stroke weight is a constant 9 units on a 64 grid and the destination block is 22x20, so roughly a third of the mark's visual mass sits at the terminus — the silhouette is deliberately right-heavy, which is what makes it read as arrival rather than as a flowchart connector.
Why the coral is structural
Coral is one of the two routes, not a highlight. Removing it removes half the concept, which is the test for structural colour.
Remaining similarity / collision concerns
Converging-arrow and merge motifs exist widely in logistics and version-control branding. The differentiators here are the equal-weight dual entry and the solid rectangular terminus rather than an arrowhead. No trademark or registry search was performed in this environment.
Refinement 2
Signal Junction
Blue is fixed infrastructure; coral is the signal being routed
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In context — branded Coming Soon domain
Rationale and corrections applied
The two blue rails are static structure — same mitred 45-degree language, drawn at 8 units so they recede slightly — and they hand off to a short blue platform bar. The coral element is a single solid triangle: the request that has actually been routed and is leaving at speed. Separating structure from traffic is what gives this variation motion without resorting to a pulse line or a curved cable. At small sizes the solid triangle survives before the rails do, so the mark degrades toward a directional glyph rather than toward mush.
Why the coral is structural
Coral carries the only solid mass in the mark. It is the subject, not an accent applied to a finished blue mark.
Remaining similarity / collision concerns
Solid right-pointing triangles are heavily used as play buttons and 'send' glyphs, which is the main risk in this variation. The rail structure to its left is what disambiguates it, and that structure is the first thing lost at 16px. No trademark or registry search was performed in this environment.
Refinement 3
Unified Junction
The whole junction collapsed into one compact, bold mark
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In context — branded Coming Soon domain
Rationale and corrections applied
The two routes are merged into a single solid chevron mass with an internal notch — the notch is the junction, cut out rather than drawn, so the concept survives as pure silhouette. To its right, an ink bar and a coral block form a two-stage terminus: hand-off, then destination. This is the boldest and most compact of the three, with the largest filled area and the fewest separate parts, which makes it the most robust at favicon size and the most stencil-safe for embroidery, foil or single-ink print.
Why the coral is structural
Coral is the destination block itself — the endpoint of the whole mark. It cannot be deleted without removing the destination.
Remaining similarity / collision concerns
Solid chevrons are common in media and finance marks, and a chevron plus blocks can read as a progress or step indicator. The internal cut notch and the two-stage terminus are the ownable part. No trademark or registry search was performed in this environment.
Measured contrast on this page
Calculated with the WCAG 2.1 relative-luminance formula for the exact pairs rendered here. Coral is never used as a text colour on light backgrounds because it fails AA there; it appears only as mark and shape colour.
Contrast ratios for text and background combinations used on this page
Combination
Ratio
Result
Near Black #080A0F text on Cold White #F5F7FB
18.46:1
Passes AA and AAA
Cold White #F5F7FB text on Near Black #080A0F
18.46:1
Passes AA and AAA
Steel Ink #5A6478 secondary text on Cold White
5.55:1
Passes AA
Steel Ink Dark #8A94A8 secondary text on Near Black
6.49:1
Passes AA
Link Blue #245BFF on Cold White
4.88:1
Passes AA for normal text
Link Blue Light #5B8CFF on Near Black
6.26:1
Passes AA (base #245BFF would be 3.79:1)
Signal Coral #FF4D35 on Near Black
6.00:1
Passes AA — but used for shapes only here
Signal Coral #FF4D35 on Cold White
3.08:1
Fails AA — never used for text on light
Cold White #F5F7FB text on Near Black button
18.46:1
Passes AA and AAA
Near Black #080A0F text on Cold White button
18.46:1
Passes AA and AAA
What happens next
Alex selects Refinement 1, 2 or 3, requests a specific combination of them, or rejects the direction. Only after an explicit selection is ADR-0001 recorded and any full brand system work begun.