Style Guide

This style guide defines Polmanarkivet's "Living Arkiv" design language to ensure our brand is cohesive, accessible, and always looks its best.

Our Philosophy: The Living Arkiv

Our design language is built on the principle of "Archive as Foundation, Museum as Experience."

The Polmanarkivet identity faces a classic challenge in the cultural heritage sector: how to be both an authoritative archive and an engaging museum. Our design language, which we're calling Living Arkiv, was created to solve this. It is built on the principle of "Archive as Foundation, Museum as Experience."

This means our design feels trustworthy, scholarly, and structured at its core (the Archive), but the way users interact with it is beautiful, intuitive, and story-driven (the Museum). Every element, from our typography to our footnotes, is designed to feel historically authentic while being presented with contemporary clarity and elegance.

The Coat of Arms icon is our identity, the face of Polmanarkivet. The icon and our strong wordmark are our most recognisable brand assets.

The preferred approach is to use the combined logo — icon and wordmark— in contexts where Polmanarkivet is unfamiliar and the Coat of Arms icon by itself, unlocked from the wordmark when already established to the audience. This allows us flexibility across different forms of communication and to use the logo version with the greatest impact.

Polmanarkivet logo
Polmanarkivet logo with icon and wordmark

Logo Do’s and Dont’s

Using our logos consistently ensures brand recognition and allows for creativity elsewhere. Below are some examples of incorrect use of our logos.

Download Logos

Download our full logo and icon variant in the appropriate colours and vector format.


Colours

Our colour palette is built on a foundation of rich, organic neutrals inspired by the materials of an archive, all brought to life by our signature gold.

Polmanarkivet Gold

Our gold stands out. We have dubbed our unique blend of gold as Polmanarkivet Gold, and it is the most recognisable colour in our brand. It is used for primary interactive elements like button hovers, link highlights, and key brand moments. When gradients are unavailable, we use the lighter gold variant.

Polmanarkivet Gold
#bda369 to #d1b76d
Our signature accent, a unique blend of two gold tones that create a rich, warm gradient.

Our Palettes

Light Palette: Parchment & Ink

This palette evokes the feeling of reading a historical document in a well-lit room. It is warm, soft, and easy on the eyes.

Parchment Background
#F9F8F5
A warm, off-white that mimics the feel of aged parchment paper.
Card Background
#FFFFFF
Pure white, used to create a subtle pop, like fresh paper laid on a desk.
Ink Text
#3A3A3A
A soft, warm charcoal that is more sophisticated and readable than pure black.

Dark Palette: Charcoal and Vellum

This palette creates a rich, focused environment, like a quiet study at night. It is layered and elegant.

Charcoal Background
#1F1F1F
A soft charcoal that feels warmer and less stark than pure black.
Card Background
#141414
A deeper charcoal to create a subtle, sophisticated layering effect.
Vellum Text
#EAE6E1
A warm, vellum-toned off-white that harmonizes beautifully with gold.

Voice

Polmanarkivet’s voice is evolving to ensure we’re meeting our audience’s needs.

We aim to provide a clear and genuine voice that delights and informs visitors. To achieve this, we will use a consistent voice that uses active voice, avoids slang and jargon, and uses positive language. Our voice uses both functional and expressive voices to create more space for learning and connection.


Typography

Our typographic system is the cornerstone of our identity. We use two versatile fonts, each with a distinct role, to create a voice that is both authoritative and highly readable.

Our Typefaces

Headings: Source Serif 4

Source Serif 4 is a transitional serif typeface and our primary font for establishing historical character and scholarly authority of our content, acting as the "curator's voice." Its clarity and strong character make it ideal for impactful headlines and titles that need to convey a sense of gravitas.

Body & UI: Source Sans 3

Source Sans 3 is an open-source grotesque typeface and our primary font for all body text and UI elements. Its clean, slightly condensed letterforms are exceptionally legible on-screen, providing a comfortable and modern reading experience for everything from paragraphs to navigation.

Typographic Scale & Usage

Our typographic scale provides a clear hierarchy and visual rhythm for all content. Below are the specific guidelines for usage, followed by examples.


Headings

Headings (H1-H2) are set in Source Serif 4. Headings (H3-H6) are set in Source Sans 3. All headings should be typeset in sentence case. Do not use all caps or all lowercase. For optimal legibility, use default letter spacing and kerning.

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5
Heading 6

Body Text

All standard paragraph text is set in Source Sans 3 with a line-height of 1.5 for optimal readability.

The Polman, Påhlman, von Pohlmann family can be traced to the Late Middle Ages. It is said that the family came from the parish of Hille, Westphalia, where there was a noble family Polman, whose coat of arms depicted an arm holding a ring.


Signature Content Styles

These bespoke elements are what define the Living Arkiv language, transforming standard content into moments of scholarly elegance and brand identity.

Drop Caps

To signal the start of a major story, long-form articles tagged with #drop-cap feature a classic typographic drop cap, set in our signature gold.

This is an example of a drop cap, creating a beautiful and classic opening for a long-form article. It invites the reader to settle in for a substantial story, adding a touch of literary and scholarly tradition to the page.


Captions

Image captions are styled as an elegant "Museum Plaque." They are set in italics with a gold border on the top, clearly separating them from the body text while providing crucial context for images.

Fig. 3 - Georg Günther Kräill (1584-1641), Field Marshal Herman Wrangel, 1626. Image by Skoklosters slott/SHM (CC BY 4.0).

Blockquotes (The "Scholarly Aside")

Standard blockquotes are for citing sources. They are styled as a clean, scholarly aside with a subtle neutral border, using Source Serif 4 to give them a formal, transcript-like feel.

This is a standard blockquote, designed for citing sources with scholarly clarity.

Pull Quotes (The "Editorial Statement")

Pull quotes highlight a key phrase from the text. They are styled as a dramatic, purely typographic "Editorial Statement" using a large, bold Source Serif 4 to command attention.

This is our "Editorial Statement" pull quote, designed for maximum typographic impact.

UI & Core Components

The user interface is built on a foundation of simple, consistent, and on-brand components. These are the core building blocks that create a cohesive and accessible user experience.


Shape & Spacing

Our approach to shape is one of understated elegance. All primary interface elements including cards, images, and buttons use a standardized, subtle corner radius of 8px. This creates a cohesive visual language, softening the harshness of digital rectangles to hint at the feel of high-quality, physical archival materials.

8px Radius

Buttons

Buttons are used for primary calls to action. We use two styles to signal the importance of an action. The primary button should be used for the most desired action on a page. Secondary buttons (used sparingly) are next to primary buttons to execute the second most desired action. The text on a button should be short and describe the action the button performs.


Curator's Notes

The standard callout block has been redesigned as a "Curator's Note." Styled with a soft Linen Gold background and a subtle border, it provides a visually distinct and on-brand way to highlight important asides and insights.

💡
This is an example of a "Curator's Note," designed to feel like an integrated part of the page while still drawing the reader's attention.

Archival Tags

Inline code blocks have been restyled as "Archival Tags." This transforms a generic element into a sophisticated component that looks like a small, physical label, perfect for displaying metadata or keywords.

An example of an Archival Tag and another Status: To Read.


Photography

Our photography is authentic. We use imagery that is genuine and specific to time and place.

The photographs we use on Polmanarkivet match the content as closely as possible. If a page mentions an event in the 17th century, for example, an appropriate image from that time period is used where possible. This reflects Polmanarkivet’s emphasis on research and accuracy.

A text description or alt attribute must be used for all images to convey content to those who cannot see the image, except for purely decorative images. It is also recommended to include captions with images, providing supplementary information such as author information and dating.

Example of photography that is authentic
Gustav Adolf’s letter to Jürgen Pohlmann about the village of Öötla, 1631PDM Eesti Ajaloomuuseum SA