# El Paso in Focus — brand guide

El Paso in Focus is the publication brand. El Paso Resident is the writer’s alias, used in bylines and author information. “Data center guide” describes this publication’s subject. The identity is original and is not an official City of El Paso seal.

## Brand idea

Local questions. Open evidence. Your perspective.

The logo combines a mountain ridge, a star and a flowing line. These elements evoke the Franklin Mountains, El Paso’s mountain star and the river landscape. Their forms are interpretive, not a geographic diagram. The visual identity should feel grounded, open and confident.

## Color palette

| Color | Hex | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Night sky | `#132C36` | Main text, dark surfaces, primary logo |
| River turquoise | `#006F78` | Water and context sections, links, secondary actions |
| Adobe | `#B7472D` | Calls to action, electricity topic, editorial accents |
| Desert gold | `#F3B43B` | Hero button, emphasis and jobs topic; use navy text |
| Limestone | `#FFF8EE` | Warm reading surfaces and light logo backgrounds |

Use white or limestone text on navy, turquoise and adobe. Use navy text on gold and limestone. Do not use gold as small text on white, or put turquoise text on adobe. Color complements labels; it must not be the only way to communicate status.

## Typography

- **Manrope:** display headlines and section headings. Use medium to semibold weight, with close but readable spacing.
- **DM Sans:** paragraphs, navigation, forms and evidence labels. Main reading text should be 16–18px with generous line spacing.
- **Georgia Italic:** occasional editorial emphasis, such as “Your perspective.” Never set entire articles or essential small labels in this style.

The site uses browser fallbacks if a webfont cannot load. English and Spanish receive equivalent hierarchy; never shrink Spanish text simply to match an English line break.

## Logo system

Master symbol: `logo-symbol.png`, a transparent 1024 × 1024 PNG. The horizontal lockup pairs this symbol with the two-line “EL PASO / IN FOCUS” wordmark set in Manrope. A white presentation of the same symbol is used on dark surfaces. A small PNG serves as the favicon.

Preserve the original proportions. Keep surrounding clear space of at least one star-height. Use the complete horizontal lockup at 150px wide or larger; use the symbol for compact contexts. At small sizes, ensure the star and mountain remain distinguishable. Do not stretch, outline, tilt, add shadows or rebuild the symbol using an unrelated icon. The master is raster artwork; no production vector master is claimed.

## Composition

Pair large, simple headlines with restrained supporting text. Use color to give topic sections distinct identities: turquoise for water, adobe for electricity, gold for employment, limestone for public finances and deep green/navy for environmental evidence. Keep long-form reading surfaces light and consistent.

Use generous margins, short paragraphs and visible original-source links. Labels must distinguish forecasts, contract conditions, measured results and unresolved evidence. Visual prominence must not imply that one side of the debate has stronger evidence than it does.

## Images and motion

The existing hero is an original conceptual desert illustration. Always label it as conceptual; it does not show a verified campus, utility route or exact geography. The current design uses gentle motion of the still image. No Higgsfield video has been generated.

Future video should use the same composition and a calm 10–12-second blue-hour loop. Keep the left side quiet for the headline, and preserve mountains/buildings between frames. Use no sound, no dramatic hazards, no futuristic cityscape and no implied measured resource flows. Respect reduced-motion and data-saving preferences and keep a matching poster.

## Editorial voice

Use precise, approachable language. State what a document establishes, whose claim it is and what remains unknown. Avoid campaign slogans, promotional claims and unsupported risk rankings. Spanish should use natural regional language and preserve every condition attached to a claim.

## Asset use

The source image and logo were created with AI assistance for this project. The identity does not imply government sponsorship. External source documents remain the work of their original publishers and are linked as evidence, not repackaged as this publication’s original research.

## Text contrast checks

Calculated WCAG contrast ratios for the intended solid-color text/background pairs:

| Pair | Ratio |
|---|---|
| White on Night sky | 14.57:1 |
| White on River turquoise | 5.92:1 |
| White on Adobe | 5.31:1 |
| Night sky on Desert gold | 7.91:1 |
| Night sky on Limestone | 13.82:1 |

Each listed pair exceeds 4.5:1. These calculations cover solid colors, not a complete accessibility certification of image overlays or every interface state.