A proposal for
The evolution of Nebula Fund's visual system.
Round two — responding to your feedback. A working document to review the direction and decide a few specific points.
● Before we choose · settled
What's already decided.
So we spend this round on the open questions, not the closed ones.
Principles · legibility & contrast
Legibility is an inclusion choice.
The easier the type is to read, the more people we include — low vision, dyslexia, a tired reader, a bad screen, a second language.
Readable blurred.
If you can still read it blurred, so can someone with low vision or on a cheap projector. Body text uses a calm, sturdy face — never decorative.
I l 1 · O 0
Look-alike characters trip up tired or dyslexic eyes — and anyone reading a name, code or amount. A good body face keeps them clearly different.
Legible all the way down.
Captions, footnotes, mobile — tall, open letters keep small text readable.
Inter passes all three → our pick for body. Archivo has more character → great for headlines & numbers. Benchmark: Atkinson Hyperlegible.
✓ Rule — gradients are reserved
Gradients are for the loud moments.
Full-bleed gradients belong to the pieces meant to stop you — posters, covers, email banners, social. Everyday pieces stay quiet: cream paper, flat color, the gradient only as a thin accent.
Origin
Where we come from.
The current system already has pieces and empirical decisions. We listen to them before proposing.
Origin
What we've learned.
The palette needs boundaries.
A clear light-background design line.
A broader visual system.
The proposal · palette
Lighter — without breaking from today.
One coherent system: a single signature gradient — royal blue → violet → wine — three surfaces for the day-to-day, and coral as the only warm accent. Lighter, and still tied to nebulafund.org through periwinkle and that deep blue.
The proposal · body type · your call
Type that speaks every language we do.
The body face has to hold Latin (FR, DE), Cyrillic (RU) and Arabic. Compare the two candidates — the same sentence, live.
We resource movements for gender justice.
Inter covers Latin + Cyrillic; Archivo has more character. Your pick is saved for Decide.
The proposal · wordmark · your call
Which typeface carries the wordmark?
Tap to compare — the mark updates here. Saved for Decide.
The proposal · symbol · your call
The form that accompanies “nebula fund”.
Four directions for the symbol. Pick the one that feels most Nebula.
Selected option is saved for Decide.
Stream system · placeholder names
A signature for every stream.
Each stream keeps the cosmic theme, gets one line-glyph identifier and one accent drawn from the master palette. Same skeleton, infinitely repeatable — drop in the real streams and colors follow.
Shape language
Shapes that hold space — not bodies.
We keep the organic, gradient-filled forms. We drop anything that reads as a human figure.
Organic blobs
Soft, gradient-filled forms that frame photos and headings.
Lines, rings & orbits
Hand-drawn ring and wave motifs — abstract, cosmic, never figurative.
Shapes that form people
The figurative “characters” direction — removed per feedback.
Your turn
Help us choose.
The picks you made along the way — review, add a note on color or shapes, and send. No names.
Thanks — your picks are in.