> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ryoku.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Branding
> The visual and verbal identity of Ryoku Arch, the Greek Noir palette, and the rules for using the 力 mark.
The visual and verbal identity of the Ryoku Arch project.
## Name
**Ryoku** comes from the Japanese kanji **力** (read *chikara* or *ryoku*),
meaning "power" or "strength". The project's tagline appears in both Japanese
and English:
> **力と美のために** : *For the sake of power and beauty.*
Use "Ryoku" in prose. Use the "Ryoku Arch" full name on first mention in
user-facing copy where context might be ambiguous (release pages, install
instructions, the README header).
**Do not call it a distribution.** Ryoku is an opinionated Arch Linux
environment on top of Arch, not its own distribution. Stick to "Ryoku Arch",
"the Ryoku environment", or "the Ryoku workstation".
For documentation, keep this lens:
* Ryoku is a premium workstation environment with a clear design and workflow
default.
* Workload bundles (developer, media, hardware, security-adjacent) are one lane
among many, not the entire identity.
* The expected tone is polished, direct, and usable for daily machine work. No
marketing fluff, no emoji.
## Website
`https://ryoku.dev` is the public site. Until docs.ryoku.dev is fully wired up,
the GitHub repo at
[`neur0map/ryoku-arch`](https://github.com/neur0map/ryoku-arch) is the
canonical pointer for source.
## Brand colors (Greek Noir palette)
The palette is named **Greek Noir** in the codebase. It is the Ryoku-branded
reference palette. Hex values:
| Role | Hex | Notes |
| ------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Accent / brand orange** | `#F25623` | Primary brand color. Used for the kanji mark, the `RYOKU` wordmark, Limine branding, status badges, and the terminal accent. The Quickshell theme exposes it as `Theme.brand`. |
| Bright orange | `#F56E0F` | Secondary accent, brighter variant of the brand. Used in `term_palette_bright` slot 5 and as the bright variant in some themes. |
| Background dark | `#171717` | Default dark surface. SVG logo background, terminal background, Plymouth window background, Limine `term_background`. |
| Foreground / subdued | `#aeab94` | Muted beige used for body text in dark contexts and the tagline. |
| Foreground bright | `#CCD0CF` | Standard terminal text. |
| Background bright | `#333333` | Lifted dark surface, subtle hover states. |
| Muted gray accent | `#4D4D4D` | Yellow slot replacement, dividers. |
| Muted green-gray | `#88A57D` | Blue slot replacement, callout / info. |
| Cyan replacement | `#8A8A8A` | Standard cyan slot, neutralized. |
| Light gray | `#bcbfbc` | White slot in normal palette. |
| Faded foreground | `#757d75` | White slot in bright palette, subtle hint text. |
### Limine boot menu palette (literal config)
Shipped in `system/boot/limine/limine.conf`:
```
term_background: 171717
backdrop: 171717
term_palette: 171717;aeab94;F25623;4D4D4D;88A57D;F56E0F;8A8A8A;bcbfbc
term_palette_bright: 333333;aeab94;F25623;4D4D4D;88A57D;F56E0F;8A8A8A;757d75
term_foreground: CCD0CF
term_foreground_bright: CCD0CF
term_background_bright: 333333
interface_branding: Ryoku Bootloader
interface_branding_color: F25623
interface_help_color: F25623
```
Limine 12+ expects `RRGGBB` hex directly for `interface_branding_color`, which
is the form the file uses.
### Plymouth window
`system/boot/plymouth/ryoku/ryoku.script` sets the decrypt-prompt window to a
flat dark surface:
```
Window.SetBackgroundTopColor(0.0902, 0.0902, 0.0902); # ~ #171717
Window.SetBackgroundBottomColor(0.0902, 0.0902, 0.0902); # ~ #171717
```
## Logos
### Source files (canonical)
All logo sources live under `ryoku/assets/brand/` so the repo root stays
focused on project metadata and entrypoint docs:
| File | Purpose | Format | Notes |
| ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/logo.svg` | Square logo with rounded background | SVG | 512x512, `#171717` rounded-square background, `#F25623` kanji `力` centered. Use on light surfaces and in places that want the full mark with its own backdrop (favicon, app icon). |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.svg` | Transparent-background kanji mark | SVG | 512x512 output with a padded viewBox, transparent background, `#F25623` kanji `力` centered. Use in the README header, on dark theme cards, anywhere that already provides its own background. |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/icon.png` | Rasterized square logo | PNG (512x512) | Same composition as `logo.svg`, exported. Used where SVG is not supported. |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.png` | Rasterized transparent mark | PNG (512x512) | Same composition as `logo-mark.svg`, exported. Used by the README header, the fastfetch kitty-direct logo, and notification surfaces. |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/light.png` | Mintlify light-mode header | PNG (600x160) | Docs site light-theme header logo. |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/dark.png` | Mintlify dark-mode header | PNG (600x160) | Docs site dark-theme header logo. |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/logo.txt` | ASCII `RYOKU` wordmark | UTF-8 box-drawing | Hand-drawn box-drawing wordmark. Reuse verbatim; do not regenerate. |
| `ryoku/assets/brand/icon.txt` | ASCII kanji block art | UTF-8 block characters | Hand-drawn `力` in `█` blocks, sized for terminal banners. |
The kanji `力` is rendered at weight 900 in **Noto Sans CJK JP** at the size
that fills the canvas with comfortable margin. The transparent mark keeps extra
viewBox padding so font renderer differences do not cut off the glyph in
compact surfaces such as the shell bar. Ryoku's base package set pulls
`noto-fonts-cjk` so the SVG renders consistently on any Ryoku install.
### Asset locations on the installed system
`installation/backend/lib/deploy.sh` copies the brand tree into the user's
home, so any Ryoku-aware app can read the assets by a stable path:
| Path | Purpose |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `~/.local/share/ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.png` | Brand mark for fastfetch, notifications, and any Ryoku-aware app. |
| `~/.local/share/ryoku/assets/brand/logo.txt` | ASCII wordmark for terminal banners. |
| `/usr/share/plymouth/themes/ryoku/logo.png` | Plymouth boot-splash branding. |
### How to regenerate the SVG mark
The square SVG is intentionally minimal so you can hand-edit it. Replace the
`text` element to change the glyph; keep the `fill` and `font-family`
consistent with the table above.
```xml theme={"dark"}
```
To rasterize after editing the SVG, Inkscape is the project's reference tool
because it renders Noto CJK correctly:
```bash theme={"dark"}
inkscape -w 512 -h 512 ryoku/assets/brand/logo.svg --export-filename=ryoku/assets/brand/icon.png
inkscape -w 512 -h 512 ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.svg --export-filename=ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.png
```
Or with `rsvg-convert` (smaller dependency, no GUI):
```bash theme={"dark"}
rsvg-convert -w 512 -h 512 ryoku/assets/brand/logo.svg -o ryoku/assets/brand/icon.png
rsvg-convert -w 512 -h 512 ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.svg -o ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.png
```
After regenerating, commit the source SVG and the matching PNG so README
rendering on GitHub keeps working without server-side SVG quirks.
### How to regenerate the ASCII wordmark
`ryoku/assets/brand/logo.txt` was hand-built in box-drawing characters. If the
wordmark needs to change (for example, version branding), build it from a
figlet-style font that uses Unicode box-drawing, then hand-tune for kerning.
Do **not** auto-generate it as ANSI escape sequences; the file is raw UTF-8 so
any terminal can render it.
```
# Reference: the current characters used by ryoku/assets/brand/logo.txt
# ╔ ╗ ╚ ╝ ║ ═ ╠ ╣ ╦ ╩ ╬ █
```
## Application areas (where the brand shows up)
| Surface | Source of brand | What renders |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| GitHub README | `ryoku/assets/brand/logo-mark.png` | Kanji mark and status badges in brand orange. |
| Limine boot menu | `system/boot/limine/limine.conf` | Orange branding text "Ryoku Bootloader", Greek Noir terminal palette. |
| Plymouth decrypt and boot splash | `system/boot/plymouth/ryoku/ryoku.script` plus the theme's PNG assets | Dark window, branded progress bar and lock icon. |
| SDDM greeter | `ryoku/lockscreen/sddm/` | Greek Noir greeter. |
| Hyprland session, Quickshell pill, sidebar, lockscreen, Hub | `Theme.brand = "#F25623"` (see `ryoku/shell/quickshell/pill/Singletons/Theme.qml`) | Brand orange accents across the shell. Wallust drives the rest of the palette from the wallpaper; the brand constant does not theme. |
| Themes (full-system rices) | `ryoku/hyprland/themes//` | Greek Noir is the brand-accurate theme; the others (catppuccin, tokyo-night, gruvbox, rose-pine, nord, and the rest) are user-selectable but not "the brand". |
| Terminal startup greeting | `ryoku/apps/fish/config.fish`, `ryoku/apps/kitty/`, `ryoku/apps/fastfetch/config.jsonc`, `ryoku/apps/fastfetch/ryoku-fastfetch` | Kitty starts fish; fish runs `ryoku-fastfetch` on interactive start; fastfetch renders `logo-mark.png` with Kitty graphics and brand-orange section keys. |
## Typography and cursor
* **Mono / UI default:** JetBrains Mono Nerd Font.
* **Fallback / CJK coverage:** Noto Sans (and `noto-fonts-cjk` for `力`).
* **Cursor theme:** Bibata.
These are fixed brand defaults. Wallust changes the surface palette, not the
mark, the typeface, or the cursor.
## What "on-brand" means
A surface is on-brand if:
1. **The accent color the eye lands on first is `#F25623`.** Status indicators,
branded headings, the kanji mark, the boot-menu title.
2. **Dark backgrounds default to `#171717`** with `#333333` as the lifted "card"
tone. No pure black.
3. **Body text on dark is `#CCD0CF` (bright) or `#aeab94` (subdued).** Subdued
is for taglines and annotations. Pure white is reserved for emphasis on
light surfaces.
4. **The kanji `力` is the primary mark, not the wordmark.** The wordmark
exists for places that already have spatial / typographic context (TTY
banners, ASCII headers). When in doubt, use the kanji square.
5. **No emoji as logo.** The mark is the kanji, the kanji is the mark.
User-selectable themes (Catppuccin, Tokyo Night, Gruvbox, Rose Pine, Nord, and
the rest) are first-class but they are user expression, not the brand. The
brand is Greek Noir plus the kanji mark.
## Don't-do list
* Don't recolor the kanji mark. The orange is the brand.
* Don't substitute a different kanji or character. `力` is the brand mark.
* Don't ship the wordmark without the kanji where space allows for both.
* Don't introduce a third accent color. If you need a second accent, use the
bright orange `#F56E0F` already in the palette.
* Don't add gradients to the kanji. Flat fill only.
* Don't use the brand orange for error states; the palette includes `#aeab94`
for muted callouts and the standard ANSI red is acceptable for errors.
## See also
* [Vision](/docs/vision) for the verbal frame around the brand.
* [Customize](/docs/customize) for switching themes without touching the brand.
* [Omarchy heritage](/docs/omarchy-heritage) for what Ryoku adapts and what is
Ryoku-owned.