06

Mosaic pattern

Eight organic shapes, one per county, fitted together: Bandera, Kendall, Comal, Medina, Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson, Atascosa
The pattern begins as a map. Eight counties, drawn soft, fitted together, each its own color.

That's the origin story, and it's worth keeping: these are the places we serve. In use, the idea matters more than the geography. A community of distinct parts that only make sense together.

  1. Bandera
  2. Bexar
  3. Kendall
  4. Comal
  5. Guadalupe
  6. Medina
  7. Wilson
  8. Atascosa

The principle

The pattern is a diverse mosaic of communities that fit together. The guidelines below leave plenty of room to play.

  • Shapes are organic and soft. Rounded, hand-cut, a little irregular. No straight edges, perfect circles, or sharp corners.
  • Pieces touch. They abut or overlap like tiles. No gaps between them.
  • Color comes from the palette. Any step of any family, plus Limestone and Twilight. Mix a 900 with a 300. That contrast is the energy.
  • Choose the complexity. Two pieces or twelve. A quiet corner or a full bleed. Whatever the layout needs.
  • Choose the coverage. A frame, a band, a corner, or the whole ground. It never competes with the content it holds.
  • It needn't be the map. County shapes are welcome where the eight-county story is the point. Elsewhere, any cluster that follows these rules is fine.

How a crop is made

Pattern maker

Zoom into the map, take a square, and let its edges become a frame. Every cluster holds dozens of crops.

Cluster with a crop square, the resulting square, and a page framed by its edges

Take a square

Move a window across the cluster until three to five pieces meet. That's a tile: a social background, a divider, a cover.

A second crop from a different area of the cluster

Let it be simple

Two pieces meeting on a diagonal is enough. The quietest crops carry the most content. Most pages want one of these.

A third crop with a bold arch shape

Turn it into a frame

Push the crop to the edges and leave the middle Limestone. Pieces peek in from the corners. The page stays readable.

Four levels of color

Pattern maker

Four tiers, made for social, work everywhere.

1 · SolidOne color, Limestone type: Twilight or a 900. Quotes, announcements, anything read in two seconds.
2 · Two to three colorsA simple crop from one pair or set behind a headline. The everyday post.
3 · Four or moreThe full mosaic. Campaign moments, celebrations, event announcements.
4 · Color frameMosaic at the edges, Limestone in the middle. Room for a photo or a longer message.
Grid of social tiles showing the four tiers: solid, two to three colors, four or more, and color frame

Corner elements

Corner maker

Documents and slides carry the mosaic as a pair of corner wedges. The shape is fixed. Only color and coverage change.

LetterheadA quiet pair: one flat wedge top right, two tones bottom right.
One-pagerA small wedge can share the logo's corner if it stays clear.
Fee scheduleThe bottom wedge takes whichever corner the layout leaves free.
Donor reportDarker tone in the corner, lighter tone banding its outside.
  • A triangle, scooped. Legs flush to the page edges, long edge bowed slightly concave. Not a quarter-round, not a blob.
  • Two wedges a page. One flat color in a top corner, one two-tone in a bottom corner. Never four.
  • Darker tone takes the corner. The lighter tone sits behind it, slightly larger, as a band along the outside.
  • Never touching the logo. A small wedge can share the wordmark's corner with clear space between. A large one moves.
  • Stay in the margin. Wedges clear body copy, footers, and tables. They frame the page. They don't sit under it.
  • Coverage is the variable. Quiet on a letter, generous on a one-pager. The shape never changes.

Don't

Don't leave gapsPieces touch or overlap.
Don't square it offNo straight edges, sharp corners, or grids.
Don't outlinePieces are solid fills, never keylines.
Don't blendColors meet at an edge. No gradients between pieces.
Don't invent colorsEvery piece is a palette value.
We unite donors, nonprofits, scholars, and community leaders to expand opportunity across the region.
Don't set body text on itGive reading text a solid panel.
Don't shrink it to noiseSmall tiles get two or three big pieces, not the whole map.
Don't label it in the wildCounty names belong in the story, not on the pattern.

Files

Downloads

The mosaic kit is on the Downloads page. Crop from the large cluster, which is built at page size so every piece stays crisp.