# MIT

> `mit@1.0.0`

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology — the research university whose institutional identity rests on three core colours (MIT Red, Silver Gray, Bright Red) plus black and white. MIT's brand voice is direct, technical, and confident: rigorous typography, restrained colour, and a deliberate refusal of decorative treatment on the seal and wordmark. The expanded palette adds high-chroma pinks, purples, blues, greens, and a yellow that MIT pairs with the core for editorial and digital surfaces while keeping MIT Red as the institutional anchor.


**Tags:** `mit`, `university`, `education`, `research`, `conservative-institutional`, `light-first`

## Atoms

### Palette

**MIT** · `mit@1.0.0` · Proprietary — All Rights Reserved (MIT trademarks)

> The Massachusetts Institute of Technology brand palette as published in the MIT Brand Guide. The institutional voice rests on three core swatches — MIT Red (#750014), Silver Gray (#8B959E), and Bright Red (#FF1423) — set against white and black. An expanded palette adds saturated pinks, purples, blues, greens, and a yellow that MIT pairs with the core for editorial and digital surfaces, plus a four-stop neutral gray ramp from Dark Gray 2 to Light Gray 1. 

### Fonts

| Role | Font | License | Classification |
|------|------|---------|----------------|
| `heading` | **Inter** `(inter@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | sans-serif |
| `body` | **Inter** `(inter@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | sans-serif |
| `serif` | **Lora** `(lora@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | serif |
| `mono` | **JetBrainsMono Nerd Font** `(jetbrainsmono-nerdfont@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | monospace |

## Swatches

| ID | Name | Value |
|----|------|-------|
| `mit-red` | MIT Red | `#750014` |
| `bright-red` | Bright Red | `#FF1423` |
| `silver-gray` | Silver Gray | `#8B959E` |
| `black` | Black | `#000000` |
| `white` | White | `#FFFFFF` |
| `dark-gray-1` | Dark Gray 1 | `#40464C` |
| `dark-gray-2` | Dark Gray 2 | `#212326` |
| `dark-silver-gray` | Dark Silver Gray | `#626A73` |
| `light-silver-gray` | Light Silver Gray | `#B8C2CC` |
| `light-gray-1` | Light Gray 1 | `#F2F4F8` |
| `light-gray-2` | Light Gray 2 | `#DDE1E6` |
| `dark-pink` | Dark Pink | `#750062` |
| `pink` | Pink | `#FF14F0` |
| `light-pink` | Light Pink | `#FFB3FF` |
| `dark-purple` | Dark Purple | `#3E006B` |
| `purple` | Purple | `#9933FF` |
| `light-purple` | Light Purple | `#BFB3FF` |
| `dark-blue` | Dark Blue | `#002896` |
| `blue` | Blue | `#1966FF` |
| `light-blue` | Light Blue | `#99EBFF` |
| `dark-green` | Dark Green | `#004D1A` |
| `green` | Green | `#00AD00` |
| `light-green` | Light Green | `#AAFF33` |
| `yellow` | Yellow | `#FFEB00` |

## Mode role mappings

### Light mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `surface` | `light-gray-1` | `#F2F4F8` |
| `surface-elevated` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `text-primary` | `dark-gray-2` | `#212326` |
| `text-secondary` | `dark-gray-1` | `#40464C` |
| `text-tertiary` | `dark-silver-gray` | `#626A73` |
| `primary` | `mit-red` | `#750014` |
| `primary-hover` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `accent` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `accent-hover` | `mit-red` | `#750014` |
| `warning` | `yellow` | `#FFEB00` |
| `warning-hover` | `yellow` | `#FFEB00` |
| `error` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `success` | `green` | `#00AD00` |
| `border` | `light-gray-2` | `#DDE1E6` |

### Dark mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `dark-gray-2` | `#212326` |
| `surface` | `dark-gray-1` | `#40464C` |
| `surface-elevated` | `dark-silver-gray` | `#626A73` |
| `text-primary` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `text-secondary` | `light-silver-gray` | `#B8C2CC` |
| `text-tertiary` | `silver-gray` | `#8B959E` |
| `primary` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `primary-hover` | `mit-red` | `#750014` |
| `accent` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `accent-hover` | `mit-red` | `#750014` |
| `warning` | `yellow` | `#FFEB00` |
| `warning-hover` | `yellow` | `#FFEB00` |
| `error` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `success` | `light-green` | `#AAFF33` |
| `border` | `dark-silver-gray` | `#626A73` |

## Brand semantic roles

### Colors

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `identity` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `on-identity` | `dark-gray-2` | `#212326` |
| `primary` | `mit-red` | `#750014` |
| `primary-hover` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `accent` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `accent-hover` | `mit-red` | `#750014` |
| `mark` | `mit-red` | `#750014` |
| `success` | `green` | `#00AD00` |
| `warning` | `yellow` | `#FFEB00` |
| `error` | `bright-red` | `#FF1423` |
| `text-primary-light` | `dark-gray-2` | `#212326` |
| `text-primary-dark` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `background-light` | `white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `background-dark` | `dark-gray-2` | `#212326` |
| `surface-light` | `light-gray-1` | `#F2F4F8` |
| `surface-dark` | `dark-gray-1` | `#40464C` |
| `text-secondary-light` | `dark-gray-1` | `#40464C` |
| `text-tertiary-light` | `dark-silver-gray` | `#626A73` |
| `border-light` | `light-gray-2` | `#DDE1E6` |

### Typography

| Role | Font role key |
|------|---------------|
| `display` | `heading` |
| `prose` | `body` |
| `code` | `mono` |

## Rules

### 🛑 error (6)

#### `colorChoice` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **allowed:** mit-red, bright-red
- **forbidden:** pink, dark-pink, purple, blue, green, yellow

> MIT Red (#750014) is the institutional crimson and the only colour authorized to act as the primary brand mark fill. Bright Red (#FF1423) is permitted as a digital activation accent but the MIT Brand Guide is explicit that Bright Red "is not a replacement for MIT Red." The expanded-palette chromas are for editorial accent only and must not stand in for the primary institutional colour. 

#### `colorChoice` → `roles.colors.mark`

- **allowed:** mit-red, black
- **forbidden:** bright-red, silver-gray, pink, purple, blue, green, yellow

> The MIT wordmark and seal are reproduced in MIT Red on light surfaces or in black for single-colour and embossed use. Bright Red and the expanded palette chromas are reserved for editorial accents and digital states, not for the institutional mark itself. 

#### `contrastRatio` → `text-primary`

- **against:** `background`
- **minRatio:** `7`
- **standard:** `WCAG-AAA`

> Dark Gray 2 (#212326) on white gives ~17:1 — clears AAA. As a research university with extensive long-form scholarly content (theses, OCW, lab pages), MIT's surfaces target the enhanced 7:1 floor rather than the AA 4.5:1 minimum. 

#### `forbiddenTreatment` → `logo`

- **treatments:** stretched, rotated, recolored, drop-shadow, outlined, gradient-fill, on-busy-photo, tilted, cropped

> The MIT Brand Guide prohibits stretching, rotating, recolouring, outlining, applying drop-shadow or gradient fills, or placing the wordmark on busy photographic backgrounds. The mark renders only in approved colourways on uncluttered backgrounds with documented clear-space. 

#### `fontPairing` → `typography.display`

- **requires:** `prose`
- **minSizeRatio:** `1.5`

> MIT's typographic hierarchy pairs a large display sans with body sans at a minimum 1.5× ratio. Closing the gap below 1.5× destroys the scannability the brand guide assumes for hero modules and section openers. 

#### `contextRestriction` → `roles.colors.error`

- **forbiddenContexts:** confirmation, completion, data-viz-positive
- **allowedContexts:** error-state, destructive-action, validation-failure

> Bright Red (#FF1423) is MIT's digital activation / alert colour. Reusing it for confirmation or positive data-viz inverts the established meaning and conflicts with the digital colour's documented role. 

### ⚠️ warning (2)

#### `enumMembership` → `typography.heading.fontWeight`

- **allowed:** 400, 500, 600, 700

> MIT's editorial system on brand.mit.edu uses Regular (400), Medium (500), SemiBold (600), and Bold (700) for headings and body. Heavier display cuts (800/900) are not part of the documented institutional ramp. 

#### `accessibilityRequirement` → `*`

- **standard:** `WCAG-AAA`
- **criterion:** `1.4.6`

> WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.6 (Contrast Enhanced) — Level AAA. The institution's scholarly, long-form posture and obligations under Section 504 / ADA to its student and research community justify aiming above the AA floor where core text and background pairs allow it. 

### 💡 recommendation (1)

#### `compositionConstraint` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **pairsWith:** white, light-gray-1, black, silver-gray
- **doesNotPairWith:** pink, dark-pink, bright-red

> MIT Red reads cleanest on white, soft light gray, or black. Adjacent to Bright Red it loses chromatic separation; next to Pink or Dark Pink the warm reds compete for attention and obscure the institutional voice. 

## Provenance

- **Source:** <https://brand.mit.edu/color>
- **License:** `Proprietary — All Rights Reserved (MIT trademarks)`
- **Attribution:** Massachusetts Institute of Technology — visual identity captured from the MIT Brand Guide (brand.mit.edu). "MIT," the MIT name, the MIT seal, and the MIT wordmark are registered trademarks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
- **Imported:** `2026-05-19`
- **Notes:** MIT's institutional wordmark uses a proprietary face (the MIT Logo Letters); body and display type on brand.mit.edu pair a geometric sans with a serif. This atom references inter@1 as the open-source sans substitute, lora@1 as the serif substitute, and jetbrainsmono-nerdfont@1 for code. The proprietary faces are not publicly distributed and assets are kept empty per trademark policy. 

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*Generated by the brand-atoms converter. Source: `mit@1.0.0` from the encyclopedia.*