Severance is a science fiction psychological thriller series on Apple TV+. The show follows employees at Lumon Industries who undergo a procedure that separates their work and personal memories, leading to a profound exploration of identity and corporate ethics.
But today, we’re not here to discuss the plot. Instead, we’ll analyze Severance from a designer’s perspective, exploring the UI inspiration it offers and how we can translate its aesthetic into AI prompts for Trickle to generate web pages in the same style. This article contains almost no spoilers, so feel free to read on!
The Design Essence of Severance
Severance adopts a unique design style, blending elements from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to create an unsettling corporate environment. Production designer Jeremy Hindle drew inspiration from the works of modernist architect Eero Saarinen, particularly his designs for the John Deere World Headquarters and the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex—the latter of which served as the exterior and partial interior setting for Lumon Industries.
The show’s interior design is characterized by minimalism, featuring stark white walls, low ceilings, and maze-like hallways, creating a sense of disorientation. For example, the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) office is a large, open space with green carpeting and isolated desks, emphasizing the characters’ sense of isolation within Lumon’s corporate structure.
Color symbolism plays a crucial role in the series, with different shades representing various aspects of the characters’ lives. Blue symbolizes the work environment and loyalty to Lumon, red represents the outside world and personal life, and green is associated with Lumon’s underground operations and growth. Purple, a blend of blue and red, signifies the intersection of work and personal identity.
POV: The Names of the Four Main Characters in Severance (or more precisely, their Innie names).
Mark S., Helly R., Dylan G., and Irving B.—if you take the first letter of their last names, it spells sRGB (Standard Red Green Blue).
Additionally, the show employs anachronistic technology and props, creating a timeless and disorienting atmosphere. The production team rebuilt old computers, deliberately removing the “Escape” key as a metaphor for the employees’ lack of control. The choice of boxy cars from the 1980s and 1990s, all kept in pristine condition, further enhances the retro-futuristic aesthetic.
This meticulous fusion of architectural inspiration, minimalist design, color symbolism, and anachronistic elements gives the series its unique and unsettling visual identity, effectively reinforcing its themes of corporate control and fractured identity.
Why Severance’s Scenes Are Intriguing
Perhaps due to the deep symbolism of colors or meticulous aesthetic control, Severance employs an extremely restrained color palette in all its scenes. Most scenes feature only three colors, often presented in a 60:30:10 ratio, following the 60-30-10 color rule in design.
The 60-30-10 color rule is a design principle that creates visual harmony by dividing colors into a balanced ratio: 60% dominant color (main area), 30% secondary color (supporting elements), and 10% accent color (highlights). This rule works because it naturally establishes hierarchy and contrast, preventing visual clutter while ensuring a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing composition. It is widely used in interior design, graphic design, and branding to create balanced and engaging visuals.
This deliberate approach is why the color schemes in Severance feel so well-structured and captivating. Colors in the show do more than just fill the frame—they serve as a silent narrative device, subtly conveying meaning and emotion beyond dialogue.
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Designing UI with Severance-Inspired Color Psychology
The 60-30-10 rule in Severance is a masterclass in controlled color usage, where each scene is carefully composed with a dominant, secondary, and accent color. This principle, applied to UI design, can create structured, immersive, and psychologically engaging interfaces. Here’s how:
1. Establishing Hierarchy and Focus
In Severance, 60% of a scene is often neutral (whites and grays), 30% adds structure (green carpets, blue Lumon branding), and 10% provides emphasis (red warning lights, objects of importance). In UI, this translates to:
- 60% Background – Neutral colors (white, light gray, or dark mode-friendly shades)
- 30% Functional Elements – Menus, cards, or secondary actions (structured but not overwhelming)
- 10% Highlights – Call-to-action buttons, notifications, or essential interactive elements
2. Creating a Distinct Mood and Emotional Impact
The show’s color schemes evoke isolation and control in Lumon, using rigid, muted tones with occasional disruptive colors. UI design can leverage this by:
- Using monochromatic schemes for calm, structured experiences
- Adding a bold, contrasting color (like Severance’s red) for alerts or action-driven moments
3. Achieving Timeless and Minimalist Aesthetics
The show’s retro-futuristic design combines 60s–80s aesthetics with modern minimalism, making it feel both familiar and unsettling. A UI inspired by Severance can:
- Use grid-based layouts and clear type hierarchies
- Favor flat, high-contrast elements with subtle gradients (instead of overcomplicated visual clutter)
- Ensure consistency in color and typography to reinforce a brand’s identity
Many outstanding website designs naturally follow the 60-30-10 rule, whether designers realize it or not. This timeless principle brings a sense of balance and clarity, making digital experiences both visually appealing and highly functional. Its effectiveness spans across different design fields, proving that thoughtful color distribution plays a key role in great design.
Translating It into AI Prompt-Generated UI
Bringing the 60-30-10 rule into AI-generated UI design can ensure that the final output maintains a structured, aesthetically balanced, and intentional look. With Trickle, AI can generate designs that adhere to this principle by crafting prompts that guide the model toward the right color distribution, layout, and mood.
To achieve this, a well-structured prompt should clearly define the dominant, secondary, and accent colors, along with the overall aesthetic tone. For example:
Prompt Example:
“Create a minimalist, retro-futuristic UI with a 60-30-10 color balance. The dominant color should be neutral (white/gray), creating a clean and spacious background. The secondary color should be a muted corporate shade (green/blue), used for structural elements such as navigation bars, dividers, or content containers. The accent color should be a high-contrast highlight (red), applied sparingly to interactive elements like buttons, alerts, or key call-to-action points. Use clean lines, structured layouts, and subtle lighting effects to evoke a controlled yet immersive experience, similar to the restrained visual aesthetic of Severance.”
Key Aspects to Consider When Structuring AI Prompts:
- Defining the Color Hierarchy Clearly – Instead of vague instructions like “use blue,” specify the exact role of each color in the 60-30-10 distribution (background, functional elements, highlights).
- Incorporating Mood and Theme – Mentioning retro-futurism or corporate minimalism helps AI understand the intended aesthetic.
- Emphasizing Layout Structure – Including words like grid-based, clean lines, spacious design ensures AI-generated outputs feel organized and visually appealing.
- Specifying Lighting and Depth – Subtle lighting effects, such as soft shadows or gradients, can make the design feel more immersive and refined.
Expanding the Prompt for Variations:
- For a dark mode UI:
“Create a dark-themed UI using the 60-30-10 rule. The dominant color should be a deep, neutral gray or black, making the interface easy on the eyes. The secondary color should be a desaturated blue or green to define structure, while the accent should be a striking neon or bright red for emphasis. The design should feel sleek, modern, and slightly dystopian, with sharp contrasts and smooth gradients.”
- For a corporate dashboard UI:
“Generate a professional, data-driven UI using the 60-30-10 color rule. The dominant color should be a light gray or off-white background for readability. The secondary color should be a deep navy or dark green for navigation and content sections, ensuring clarity. The accent color should be a warm gold or bright blue to highlight key metrics, buttons, and important notifications. The layout should be grid-based with a strong focus on information hierarchy and usability.”
By carefully structuring AI prompts with the 60-30-10 principle, we can guide Trickle to generate visually coherent UI designs that not only look intentional but also evoke a distinct mood and hierarchy, just like the meticulously crafted visuals in Severance.
I’ve created a Lumon page using Trickle, inspired by Severance’s Lumon Senior Refiner Morning Checklist, while adhering to the 60-30-10 rule. Feel free to explore it here.
Final Thoughts
Severance masterfully applies the 60-30-10 color rule to create a visually cohesive and symbolic narrative. Its controlled use of color enhances storytelling, reinforcing themes of isolation and control. This principle also translates seamlessly into UI design, ensuring balance, hierarchy, and user engagement through structured color distribution.
