Photography and illustration
Sourcing rules, treatment, and the abstract illustration style.
Sources
Preferred: Unsplash and Pexels — royalty-free, no attribution required for commercial use. Commission custom photography where possible, from local European photographers.
Never use: watermarked Shutterstock or Getty imagery, or AI-generated imagery.
Every photograph must pass the test: “would a developer trust this?” Stock imagery of handshakes in glass lobbies fails it. A real desk, real hardware, or real people working passes it.
Treatment
- Photographs in dark mode receive a subtle black overlay so they do not punch a hole in the page.
- The logo never sits directly on an unmodified photograph — see Logo usage.
- Never place text over a busy region. Add a scrim or crop to a quiet area.
Illustration
The illustration style is abstract system diagrams — nodes, flows, and pipelines drawn in the brand palette.
- Midnight for structure, slate for supporting lines, accent for the single element that matters.
- Dashed strokes indicate inferred or optional relationships.
- Labels use Source Sans 3; never letter-space diagram labels.
- Diagrams are line-based, not filled — the system reads as engineering drawing, not infographic.
Do
Draw the actual architecture. Use accent once per diagram, on the element the reader should look at first.
Don't
Use isometric 3D illustration, gradient-filled shapes, or generic “tech” clip art.