Mark Spain Real Estate, documented as one brand system.
Mark Spain Real Estate requested a brand and design guidelines overhaul. As such, BrilliantUX outlined a new standard, including a thirty-four page guidelines document covering voice, logo system, color, type and imagery guidelines.
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Cover. The stacked logo at full size, on a crimson band.
The cover runs the primary stacked logo down a full bleed crimson band, with the document name, the year and the license terms held on the white side.
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Why we exist. The purpose statement, given a page of its own.
The purpose statement opens the document on the dark treatment, set at display size inside a single rounded container with nothing else on the page.
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Table of contents. Three sections written, two held open.
Contents are listed on a crimson panel that picks the corner radius up from the header rule, with three sections written and two slots held open for later.
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Section dividers. One format, carried across all four sections.
Section dividers were built to one format, a flat crimson field with the name in light weight at the foot left and the number at the foot right, and all four sections open this way.
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Our mission. Statement on dark, photograph carrying the logo.
The mission statement runs on the dark treatment, with a photograph anchored to the foot of the page and the compact horizontal lockup reversed out over it.
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Our vision. The same structure, run light instead of dark.
The vision page inverts to the light treatment and pairs a portrait crop with a wider exterior shot, which keeps the two statements distinct without changing the structure.
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Promise and positioning. Two panels, offset and interlocked.
Promise and market positioning share one page as two offset panels, crimson above and neutral black below, each interlocking with a photograph across the fold.
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Core values. Five cards, one sentence each.
Five core values are carried in a card grid, each with a line icon drawn in crimson, the value name, and a single sentence of definition under it.
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Voice pillars. A goal and a written example against each pillar.
Five voice pillars are set in a three column table, each with a messaging goal and a written example, and the example column is lifted onto crimson.
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Do's and don'ts. The same pillars, shown as copy.
The same pillars are repeated as written copy, said and not said, with the rejected column set on black so the two are separated by treatment as well as by label.
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Messaging guidelines. Primary lines, secondary lines, one elevator pitch.
Taglines are split into primary lines used verbatim on high visibility surfaces, four secondary lines for supporting copy, and one elevator pitch of two sentences.
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Primary logo. The default mark, default and inverse.
The primary stacked logo is documented in default and inverse styles, held to 160 px minimum digital width, with placement and the prohibited treatments in the left rail.
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Horizontal logo. The lockup for headers and mastheads.
The horizontal lockup handles website headers, email mastheads and narrow banners at 140 px minimum digital width, with the crimson fixed at #D11242.
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Color applications. Crimson with white, crimson with black.
The two color set pairs crimson with white and crimson with black, and covers every lockup on both the light and the dark ground for a two color press run.
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Clear space. One rule, measured off the S.
Clear space is defined as the width of the S in the primary logo, which holds at any reproduction size and is drawn against all three lockups.
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Minimum sizing. The floor for print and for digital.
Minimum height is set at .625 inches or 45 px for the primary logo, and .20 inches or 15 px for both secondary logos.
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Color palette. Crimson and dark grey, with their supporting steps.
The palette is anchored on crimson #D11242, Pantone 1935, and a dark grey #1B1A18, then extended into two deeper reds and four neutrals that run down to white.
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Primary typeface. Proxima Nova, six weights.
Proxima Nova is specified across six weights from light to extrabold, with the rail covering G Suite availability and how to install the files everywhere else.
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Secondary typeface. Adobe Garamond Pro, kept editorial.
Adobe Garamond Pro is held to four styles and scoped to long form reading, block quotes and the more editorial brand expressions.
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Iconography. Stroke weight tied to the size it is drawn at.
The icon set is specified rather than matched by eye: 2px stroke on a 24px base, 1.5px at 20px, 1px at 16px, round caps and joins, and filled shapes only at 16px and below.
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Lifestyle imagery. Candid moments, brand color as accent.
Lifestyle direction is set as candid moments in natural light, with crimson used as an accent in yard signs, notebooks and wardrobe rather than as a wash over the frame.
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Lifestyle do's and don'ts. The direction, judged against real frames.
Six frames sort the lifestyle direction into accepted and rejected, from the forced camera gaze to the editorial only stock asset with no commercial rights attached.
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Founder imagery. Candid angles, copy space held on one side.
Imagery of the founder is specified as a camera trailing at 30 to 40 degrees, on clean neutral backgrounds, with negative space held on one side for a headline.
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Headshot rules. Off axis, even light, copy kept legible.
Headshots are held to a 30 to 45 degree off axis pose in even light, with a #231F20 wash or a solid crimson banner wherever copy has to sit over the photograph.
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Property imagery. Four categories, each with its own brief.
Property direction is split into four categories, front elevation, outdoor living, listing signage and interiors, each with what to select and what to clear out of the frame.
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Property do's and don'ts. Honest scale over the flattering lens.
The property rejections are named specifically, since these are the frames a listing photographer supplies by default: garage dominant angles, competitor signage and ultra wide distortion.
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Digital media. Three ratios, each with a surface named.
Digital assets are built to three ratios, 16:9 for hero sections and video, 4:5 for feed posts and carousel tiles, and 9:16 for vertical, each paired with an approved headline and a direct call to action.