The Science Framework's question color system, and the exhibit-poster decisions that build on it. Per the SFEI decision of Aug 14, 2026, every question shares a single orange family; the poster badges inherit it.
Every guiding question shares one WRMP-orange family, stepped light-to-dark across the three hierarchy levels (guiding question, management question, priority recommended action) plus the exhibit badge, which draws from the same ramp. Every tier meets WCAG AA contrast.
The brand orange is the source hue; the solid tiers are deepened so white text holds AA contrast.
Guiding question and management question are both solid with white text: guiding deepest, management a clear step lighter. Priority recommended action is the pale wash. The same four tiers apply to all five questions.
Consecutive questions in the Science Framework layout, all in the shared orange family. Hierarchy is carried by the tier steps, not by hue.
What new information do we need to better understand regional lessons from tidal wetland restoration projects?
What new information do we need to better understand regional lessons from tidal marsh restoration projects and ensure their continued success?
Where and when can interventions, such as dredged-sediment placement, watershed reconnection, and living shorelines, help sustain tidal marsh ecosystems?
Pilot sediment-placement and living-shoreline projects at index sites, and track marsh response against untreated references.
How do policies, programs, and projects to protect and restore tidal marshes affect the distribution, abundance, and health of plants and animals?
How are habitats for assemblages of resident species of fish and wildlife in tidal marsh ecosystems changing over time?
How are the distribution and abundance of key resident species of fish and wildlife of tidal marsh ecosystems changing over time?
Establish index stations for resident fish and wildlife assemblages and track community change alongside restoration milestones.
How do efforts to protect and restore tidal wetlands benefit and/or impact public health, safety, and recreation?
What mosquito and vector control strategies need to be considered in restoration design and management?
How are the benefits of wetlands, such as flood-risk reduction, water quality, and public access, distributed regionally?
Coordinate vector control and public-access planning into restoration design, and track wetland benefits across communities over time.
One badge, on the poster only: smaller than before, with the label carrying the management-question code. Every badge shares the orange family. Each option is shown at the reduced size with a single-tag card and a multi-tag card (3A + 1A).
The near-white fill, kept here for comparison. Tradeoff: quietest, but the color barely registers; that is why A2 was adopted.
A clearly-colored but still-light fill with dark text, now the live treatment on the exhibit posters. The leading clipboard icon is dropped there to keep the small chip clean over a cover. Tradeoff: color reads at a glance and the label stays dark and legible, a measured middle ground.
Filled with the solid orange and white text, the same treatment as the active filter chip. Tradeoff: boldest and unmistakably colored (ADA-safe 6–9:1), but heaviest on the image.
Adopted: A2, the saturated tint, now live on the exhibit posters (gallery, Science Framework, topic pages), with the leading clipboard icon dropped on the poster.
The corner marker should signal stepping inside to explore, not playback. The play glyph reads as video, so here it sits beside Lucide alternatives in the same frosted top-right circle, each labeled with its icon name.
play Original marker. Reads as video.
telescope On-theme for a monitoring program.
compass Explore and navigate.
layers A stepped, layered exhibit.
maximize-2 Open into full screen.
scan-eye Look closer, interactive.
Recommendation: telescope. It ties to the monitoring mission and is unmistakably not a play button. Compass is the safe runner-up.
Exhibits also belong to site topics (Fish & Wildlife, Baylands Geography, and five more). The topic is a quieter, neutral signal, deliberately not badge-colored, so the two systems never get confused. The orange management-question badge stays the bright overlay; topic reads as gray metadata.
A small neutral chip with a leading map icon, set just above the title, clear of the top-left badge and top-right marker. Tradeoff: topic is visible on the poster itself, at the cost of one more element on the image.
The cover carries only the colored badge and marker; the topic sits in the metadata line beneath, with the title. Tradeoff: cleanest image, but the topic is no longer visible on the poster on its own.
Recommendation: C1 when topic must read at poster glance; C2 for a calmer cover. Either way topic stays neutral-gray, clearly distinct from the colored badge.
The filter row reads as a defined component: a light-gray container with a border and comfortable padding. It gains a topic filter alongside the management-question chips.
The active management-question chip uses the solid guiding-question color (here 4B); the topic dropdown lists the seven site topics with an "All topics" default.