Press kit
Writing about Recto, with the right words and the right files
Journalists, researchers, local authorities, partners: here you will find a description to use as it stands, the logo and its rules, the colours, the typefaces and the way we talk about the project.
The kit contains the symbol, the logotype and the word “Recto” as PNG files, the favicon, the extension icons and the social media images.
Fact sheet
Recto in a few lines
- Name
- Recto
- Tagline
- The ID card for news media
- Motto
- Facts, never opinions.
- What it is
- A factual card for every news website, built only from public registers, and a network of local correspondents who spot sites imitating news media.
- Led by
- Malcolm Chevillot, Lucas Firmin, Sacha Lamour, Clément Pandreau
- Publisher
- AXO-LAB, Avermes (Allier, France)
- Timeline
- Final of the Disinformation hackathon at the Grand Palais, 2 to 4 December 2026. Pilot in the Allier department in the first half of 2027.
- Access
- Free, no account needed. Website, and extension for Chrome (Firefox and Edge coming soon).
- Website
- www.recto-medias.fr
Description to use
Three texts approved by the team, to quote without changes. Pick the length that suits your article or report.
Short version (French)
37 wordsRecto est la carte d’identité des médias. Pour chaque site d’information, il montre ce que disent les registres publics : qui l’édite, depuis quand, et s’il est reconnu comme service de presse. Des faits sourcés, jamais un avis.
Long version (French)
106 wordsRecto est la carte d’identité des médias. Pour chaque site d’information, il montre ce que disent les registres publics : qui l’édite, depuis quand, et s’il est reconnu comme service de presse. Recto repère aussi, dès leur création, les sites qui se font passer pour des médias. Une machine repère, des humains vérifient, l’État décide : des correspondants locaux examinent les alertes et les dossiers validés sont transmis aux autorités compétentes. Recto ne note pas les médias et ne juge pas les articles. Le projet est porté par Malcolm Chevillot, Lucas Firmin, Sacha Lamour et Clément Pandreau, et édité par AXO-LAB. Premier pilote : l’Allier, au premier semestre 2027.
In English
36 wordsRecto is an ID card for news media. For every news website, it shows what public registers say: who publishes it, since when, and whether it is recognised as a press service. Sourced facts, never opinions.
The logo
The symbol shows an R and its reflection, like the front and back of the same card. The burgundy rule underlines it, like a signature at the bottom of a document. Transparent background, from 256 to 1024 px. The name “Recto” is set in Newsreader SemiBold.
Symbol, colour
The reference version, on a light background.
Symbol, negative
On a navy background or on a dark, uncluttered photo.
Symbol, one colour
One-colour printing, stamps, engraving: navy, black or white.
Logotype
Symbol and name on the same baseline. For headers and banners.
Logotype with tagline
When readers do not know Recto yet: posters, first slide, article.
Badge
Below 24 px, the R alone on navy: favicon, app icon, extension.
Logo rules
4 × rule
Leave room
Around the symbol, keep a clear space equal to four times the thickness of the rule. No text and no page edge may enter it.
24 px and above · below 24 px
Switch versions when small
The reflection becomes unreadable at very small sizes. Below 24 px, use the badge, not the full symbol.
Do not alter
- Never in the colours of the French flag: Recto works with the State, it is not part of it.
- No shadow, no gradient, no effect.
- Do not distort or stretch.
- Do not reset the name in another typeface or in capitals.
Colours
An ink, a paper, an accent. No colour is used to judge a site: no “trustworthy” green, no “suspicious” red.
Navy
#1E2433 · RGB 30 36 51
The ink: text, symbol, card headers, dark backgrounds.
on paper: 14.1 to 1
Paper
#F7F4F1 · RGB 247 244 241
The background. A warm paper, never pure white: the page is a document.
under navy: 14.1 to 1
Burgundy
#7A2333 · RGB 122 35 51
The accent: logo rule, main button, focus. It signals an action, never a judgement.
on paper: 9.1 to 1
white text on it: 9.9 to 1
Pale burgundy
#E4C9CE · RGB 228 201 206
The reflection, the back of the R. Decorative only, never for text.
on paper: 1.4 to 1
Interface colours
- Night#151A25
- Surface#FFFFFF
- Recessed surface#EEEAE4
- Rule#D9D3CC
- Secondary text#565B66
- Pink#D69AA5
In dark mode
The colours swap places: paper becomes the ink, navy the background, and pink takes over as the accent.
Typefaces
Three open typefaces (SIL Open Font Licence), each with its role. The rule to remember: what is copied from a register is set in mono, what is written is not.
Newsreader SemiBold
Logo and headings. The tone of a document, serious without being bureaucratic.
Does this newspaper really exist?
IBM Plex Sans
Body text, buttons, forms. 17 px for body copy.
Paste the address of a news website. Recto shows you what official registers say about it: who publishes it, since when, and whether it is recognised as a news outlet.
IBM Plex Mono
Copied data, sources, dates, labels and the tagline.
lepetitcourrier-exempleville.fr
Afnic · 21/10/2026
ID card for news media
How we talk
Recto speaks like a court clerk who is also a good teacher: precise, calm, understandable by everyone. It states facts, it does not comment.
Facts, never opinions.
- 01
State, do not judge
We report what a register says. We never say a site is good, bad, trustworthy or suspicious.
- 02
Always cite a source
Every fact has a source and a date. A fact we cannot source, we do not write.
- 03
Write for everyone
Short sentences, plain words, acronyms spelt out. A reader in a hurry understands at first reading.
- 04
Stay calm
No alarm, no drama. Disinformation is a serious subject: the tone stays measured.
- 05
Do not sound like the State
Recto works with public services, it is not one of them. No official jargon, no orders.
Say this, avoid that
| Say | Avoid | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The site does not appear on the CPPAP list. | This is not a real news outlet. | The register records an absence; it says nothing about the quality of the site. |
| Not declared, inconsistent | Suspicious, dubious, shady | The states of a card are findings, not suspicions. |
| Recto shows what public registers say. | Recto certifies trustworthy media. | Recto issues no label, no score and no certificate. |
| A site imitating a news outlet | A fake site, fake news | We describe what we observe (a copied name, an invented title), not an intention. |
| Local correspondent, lead reviewer | Moderator, informer, agent | Local correspondents check facts locally; they neither monitor nor censor. |
| Recto forwards case files to the competent authorities. | Recto gets sites shut down. | The decision belongs to the State, never to Recto. |
| The ID card for news media | The fake news detector | The card is the heart of the product; detection is only part of it. |
Writing rules
- “Recto”, capitalised, without an article: “Recto shows”, not “the Recto”.
- The tagline is written “the ID card for news media”, in lower case within a sentence.
- In French texts: French quotation marks « », typographic apostrophe ’, non-breaking space before : ; ? !
- Spell out an acronym the first time: Commission paritaire des publications et agences de presse (CPPAP), the French joint committee for press publications.
- Every piece of data quoted carries its source and date: “Afnic · 21/10/2026”.
- Examples are fictional and say so. Never a real local site in a demonstration.
In English
British English, the same sober tone. The fixed terms:
- Carte d’identité des médias
- ID card for news media
- Carte
- Card
- Vérifié · Déclaré par le site · Non déclaré · Incohérent
- Verified · Declared by the site · Not declared · Inconsistent
- Correspondant local
- Local correspondent
- Référent
- Lead reviewer
- Registre
- Register
- Des faits, jamais des avis.
- Facts, never opinions.
Press contact
A question, an interview or a demonstration? Write to the team: all four members of the project can answer, in French or in English.
- Website
- www.recto-medias.fr
- The project in detail
- The project
- The team
- About us
Page published on , updated on .