Brand Identity · Visual system · Component
The specifications
Colour, type, spacing and construction in values that can be reproduced exactly — because the system will be applied by people who never spoke to anyone about it.
The deliverable
What it is
A specification described rather than valued drifts immediately. “Our blue” becomes three blues within a year, and none of them is wrong enough for anyone to object.
Media differ, and the same colour has different values in print, on screen and on fabric. Specifying one and letting the others be approximated is how brand colour actually degrades.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The colour
The palette, in exact values for every medium it is used in.
3 attributes: Colour · Role · Contrast
LearnThe typography
Typefaces, weights, sizes and spacing.
3 attributes: Typeface · Fallback · Licence
LearnThe construction
Sizes, clear space, proportions and how elements are placed relative to each other.
3 attributes: Value · Rule · Applies to
Learn
Specify the fallback typeface. Where the real face is unavailable, the fallback is your actual typography.
The other components in visual system
The distinctive assets
The elements that carry recognition, identified rather than assumed — because most of a visual system is styling and a small part of it is memory.
LearnThe application rules
How the system behaves in the difficult cases — small sizes, dark backgrounds, third-party templates — because the easy cases were never the problem.
Learn