A taxonomy wants a name for every pile. A tint wants you to recognize a nest without reading the label.
Petal, fog, lemon, sea. Four tints. That is enough for a house that still writes. If you need twelve, you need a librarian, not a color.
Color that does not shout
The tint lives on the card, not on the chrome. The blotter stays gray. The type stays ink. You should be able to print the page and still understand it.
When to refuse a tint
If the tint is doing the work of a status. Status belongs in a sentence. “Draft” is a word. It is not a shade of lemon.
