Vivid Quay Mint

From the Latin vividus, full of life — used as a color modifier since the late sixteenth century for hues that read as luminous and saturated. Vivid red, vivid blue: the implication is that the color appears almost lit from within, with the optical brightness of a high-chroma surface in good light. Sits at the bright-bucket center alongside bright and electric.

Old French quai, wharf. As a color modifier, quay implies a stone-built-harbor quality, the visual register of Cornish-and-Mediterranean stone-built fishing-harbor-and-trading-port quay-side stone-paved-and-iron-bollard surfaces in early-morning Mediterranean-and-Cornish-fishing-harbor light. Sits at the modifier-and-place end of the grid, parallel to wharf and jetty in usage.

The genus Mentha — peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, water mint — the cooling herb whose menthol gives it that quality at the molecular level. The color refers to fresh peppermint leaves before drying: a clean, slightly cool green with the matte finish of trichome-rich leaf surface. Lighter than basil, cooler than parsley, with the mojito-and-Pimm's association of a herb tied to summer drinks across two continents.