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pbakaus_impeccable/skill/reference/brand.md
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Paul BakausandClaude Fable 5 af8b814c99 reference consolidation: single source of truth across core, new-work, brand, product, craft
Overlap audit after the new-work split. brand.md slims to family depth
that exists nowhere else (aesthetic-lane tests, named-reference
discipline, brand layout moves and permissions); everything it
duplicated against new-work.md and the core (font procedure, reject
list, color strategy, imagery, scale/leading) is deleted, killing the
two-copies-drift hazard. product.md keeps its Operate depth nearly
intact (it was not duplicated) and gains a scope note covering Read
surfaces. craft.md becomes pure orchestration: gates, foundation,
shape handoff, image-gen flow, engineering bar, iterate, present;
its duplicated design guidance (imagery rules, visual-craft bullets,
mandatory reference reads) is replaced by pointers to SKILL.md's
craft floor and new-work.md.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-11 17:30:30 -07:00

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3.7 KiB
Markdown

# Brand family depth (Persuade and Experience surfaces)
When design IS the product: brand sites, landing pages, campaign pages, portfolios, long-form content, about pages. The essentials live in SKILL.md (modes, craft floor) and, for new identity work, in [new-work.md](new-work.md); this file is extended depth for substantial brand work. Rules stated in those files are not repeated here.
The register spans every genre. A tech brand, a luxury hotel, a restaurant, a band's album page, an agency portfolio. They share a stance (*communicate, not transact*) and diverge wildly in aesthetic. Don't collapse them into one look.
## The aesthetic-lane test
Before committing to moves, name the lane. A type-foundry specimen page is one lane; minimal-cool tech is another; acid-maximalism is another. Don't drift into editorial-magazine aesthetics on a brief that isn't editorial; a hiking brand with italic drop caps has the wrong register within the register. <!-- rule:brand-typo-pairing-voice -->
Then the inverse test: in one sentence, describe what you're about to build the way a competitor would describe theirs. If that sentence fits the modal landing page in the category, restart.
### Reflex-reject aesthetic lanes
Currently saturated aesthetic families that have flooded brand surfaces. If a brief lands in one of these lanes without a register reason that *requires* it (a literal magazine, a literal terminal), it's the second-order training reflex: the trap one tier deeper than a reflex font pick. Look further. <!-- rule:brand-typo-reflex-reject-lanes -->
- **Editorial-typographic.** Display serif (often italic) + small mono labels + ruled separators + monochromatic restraint. The fingerprint: three rule-separated columns, an italic serif headline, lowercase track-spaced metadata, no imagery.
(Entries land and leave this list as families saturate and fade.)
The reflex-reject lists apply to **new design choices**. When the existing brand has already committed to a font or a lane as part of its identity, identity-preservation wins.
## Color
- Name a real reference before picking a strategy; unnamed ambition becomes beige. <!-- rule:brand-color-named-reference -->
- Palette IS voice. A calm brand and a restless brand should not share palette mechanics. <!-- rule:brand-color-palette-is-voice -->
- Don't converge across projects. Each brand surface differentiates from the last. <!-- rule:brand-color-no-converge -->
- When a cultural-symbol palette is the obvious pull, reach past it. Let the cultural reading come from typography, imagery, and copy, not the palette. <!-- rule:brand-color-no-cultural-symbol -->
## Layout
- Asymmetric compositions are one option. Break the grid intentionally for emphasis. <!-- rule:brand-layout-asymmetric -->
- Fluid spacing with `clamp()` that breathes on larger viewports. <!-- rule:brand-layout-fluid-spacing -->
- For image-led briefs (hotels, restaurants, magazines, photography), full-bleed hero imagery with overlaid menu and centered headline is a canonical move; let the photograph be the design. <!-- rule:brand-layout-image-led-hero -->
## Brand permissions
Brand can afford things product can't. Take them.
- Ambitious first-load motion. Reveals and typographic choreography that earn their place; one orchestrated page-load beats scattered micro-interactions, and some brands skip entrance motion entirely, which is also a voice. <!-- rule:brand-permission-first-load-motion -->
- Single-purpose viewports. One dominant idea per fold, long scroll, deliberate pacing. <!-- rule:brand-permission-single-purpose-viewports -->
- Art direction per section. Different sections can have different visual worlds if the narrative demands it. Consistency of voice beats consistency of treatment. <!-- rule:brand-permission-art-direction -->