Colour that survives dark mode

Dark mode is not an inverted light mode, and treating it as one is why so many of them feel murky.

Semantic roles, not colours

When a component asks for “surface” rather than “white”, it keeps working in both schemes without a single conditional rule.

Accents need to move

A deep accent that reads beautifully on paper disappears on near-black. The dark palette lifts it; the role it plays stays identical.

Shadows change job

On a light ground a shadow is ink. On a dark one it is depth, and it has to be rebuilt rather than reused.