01 · Air
Envelope air-tightness
Uncontrolled air movement is the single largest driver of comfort, humidity, and energy loss in our climate.
PHP Brand System · v0.1
The look of building science, done right.
This is the visual and verbal system for Practical Home Performance — a consulting brand that competes with LaGrange and Paul locally, and with building-science media personalities nationally. Charcoal, cream, and aged brass. Editorial serif meets technical mono. Restraint over noise.
§ 01
Principles
Show the math.
Every page has at least one measured number visible. Blower door, CFM25, Manual J load, humidity readings. This is the primary way PHP differentiates from LaGrange's credential-forward positioning and Paul's radio-personality positioning. We put physics on the surface.
Editorial, not corporate.
PHP looks like a serious independent publication — think Stripe Press, The Atlantic, or a boutique architectural monograph — not a contractor lead-gen site. Serif headlines, generous whitespace, and one image per section carry authority without noise.
Historic, not nostalgic.
The palette references aged brass and bone — materials found in the historic Gulf Coast housing PHP specializes in. It never falls into sepia, Victorian ornament, or fake-vintage stock photography. Modern typography, historic material palette.
Restraint is the identity.
One primary accent (brass). One secondary (cypress green) for structural elements. One warning (rust) for warnings and code callouts. Never more than two non-neutral colors on screen at once. Personality comes from type, spacing, and photography — not color effects.
The photography is real.
Documentary jobsite work, historic architecture at dusk, and B&W founder portraits. Never suburban stock houses. Never smiling-family stock. If we can't photograph it in the field, we illustrate it as a technical diagram.
§ 02
Color
Charcoal for authority. Bone for breathing room. Aged brass as the signature. Blue is what everyone else uses — brass is how PHP is remembered.
Signature palette
Data & warning palette
Usage rules
DO
Brass on charcoal, brass on bone
These are the signature combinations. Brass CTAs on charcoal data sections, or brass text accents on bone editorial pages. Both pass WCAG AA.
DO
One accent per section
A section can use brass OR cypress OR rust — never all three. Rust is reserved for warnings, code callouts, and diagnostic red-flag data.
DON'T
Never use construction-cone yellow
The original temp site used #FDB813 — too saturated, reads as safety-signage. Always use the deeper aged brass #B0821F.
DON'T
Never use corporate blue
Blue is what LaGrange (#215a9d) and Paul (#2EA3F2) use. Blue = commodity contractor. Brass = PHP.
§ 03
Typography
A three-font system. Fraunces for editorial authority. Inter for interface and body. JetBrains Mono for measured data — the visual signal that PHP does math.
Show the math.
Six things that actually move the needle.
R-value is a specification. Performance is a system.
Every 80-to-120-year-old cottage, shotgun, camelback, and Creole townhouse in this climate is one bad detail away from a moisture problem. And most of the "fixes" being sold across the Gulf Coast create the problems they claim to solve.
Practical Home Performance · New Orleans
7.8 ACH50
·
142 CFM25
·
2.4 tons
§ 04
Voice
Direct. Numeric. No sales pitch. PHP writes like a senior building scientist who respects the reader's time and doesn't need to prove credentials in every sentence.
SOUNDS LIKE
Field-tested, not credential-forward
"Foam an attic without accounting for combustion air and you own a code violation." Short. Physical. Consequence-first.
SOUNDS LIKE
Measured, not marketing
"3.2 ACH50 · 62 CFM25 · 2.8 tons." Real numbers are more persuasive than any adjective. Use them.
SOUNDS LIKE
Historic-home literate
"Shotgun. Camelback. Creole townhouse. Pier-and-beam." PHP names the housing stock the way locals do. That vocabulary is instant credibility.
DOESN'T SOUND LIKE
Certifications first
Not "As a BPI-certified building analyst professional…" LaGrange does this. PHP leads with the measurement, not the acronym.
DOESN'T SOUND LIKE
Marketing sing-song
Not "Comfort you can feel!" or "Save on energy today!" PHP is not a rebate call center.
DOESN'T SOUND LIKE
Contractor sell
Not "Get your free quote!" PHP sells diagnostics and specifications. DE performs the work. The line stays clean.
§ 05
Components
Buttons
Metric row (data surface)
Envelope leakage (blower door)
7.8ACH50
Duct leakage to outside
142CFM25
Manual J cooling load
2.4tons
Topic card
Design tokens
| Token | Value | Use |
|---|---|---|
| --color-primary | #B0821F | CTA, accent, brand mark |
| --color-cypress | #5B6E5A | Secondary marks, structural rules |
| --color-rust | #9C3B1C | Warnings, code violations, data |
| --color-bg (light) | #FDFBF7 | Body background — bone |
| --color-text (light) | #121212 | Charcoal body text |
| --font-display | Fraunces | Headlines, hero, section titles |
| --font-body | Inter | Body, nav, UI |
| --font-mono | JetBrains Mono | Measurements, code, technical data |
| --radius-md | 0.375rem | Buttons, cards |
| --radius-lg | 0.5rem | Large surfaces, hero visual |