Signals Colour, type and surface

Pure white or pure black ground

Category
Colour, type and surface
Direction
Pushes the score up
Weight
+4

What it is

The visual defaults, applied unedited. Looks are the weakest evidence in the whole set. Anyone can reach for a gradient on purpose, which is why craft damps this entire category.

How it is weighted

4 points is deliberately light. This one is a hint, and it is only interesting alongside others.

What to do about it

Give the neutrals a surface scale — page, raised, sunken — so elevation means something. Pure #fff or #000 with nothing behind it leaves nothing to sit above.

Where it fires

None of our worked examples trip this one, which is itself informative — it means the pattern is rarer than the tells that fire constantly, so when it does show up it is worth paying attention to.

Scan a page for this signal →