Brand field guide / 0.2 / Exploration
An independent illustrated world of extraordinary machines, human curiosity, and optimistic futures.
Scale comes from the world inside the illustration. Let one exceptional drawing occupy a whole spread.
Every switch changes something meaningful. Every label helps someone understand, compare, or choose.
Warm paper, quiet margins and a slow editorial rhythm. No decorative dashboards, invented telemetry or endless animation.
Monocle informs the ambition for observed editorial craft; teenage engineering informs clear tactile controls; Rams informs usefulness, honesty and restraint. Particle informs the warm canvas and vivid accent family. These are principles to translate, not identities to reproduce.
Two facing pages; the right page lifts toward what comes next. The mark connects a scientific field guide with the physical act of printmaking.
Pair it with the title-case Geist Serif wordmark. Keep the compact stacked lockup for the site header and colophon. Use the mark alone only where the name is already understood.
Clear space: at least ¼ of the mark width. Minimum mark: 24 px digital; below that use the simplified silhouette. Minimum stacked lockup: 150 px wide. One color only; never stretch, outline the letters, or fill the mark with a photograph. Proposed marks require distinctiveness review before adoption.
Download wordmark SVG ↗A is recommended: publishing-led and approachable. B is compact but more industrial. C speaks to exploration but is less ownable. These controls preview each symbol across the guide.
Use roughly 75% paper, 15% artwork and ink, 10% interface accent. A spread chooses one lead accent. Avoid displaying every brand color in every component.
Observed on Particle: paper #F7F5E4, ink #171715, yellow #FFD400, rose #EF81CA, blue #5BC3E4, green #006E16 and orange #EF6B00. The usage hierarchy, neutral divider and muted text token are our adaptation. Art palettes may be quieter than the interface.
Use ink on yellow, rose, blue and orange; paper on forest or ink. Never white type on yellow. Dividers are decorative, not control boundaries. Buttons and fields use ink outlines; selection always includes text or a shape, never color alone. Contrast results are recorded in contrast.json.
Print the Possible.
Editorial headlines, wordmark and occasional pull quotes. 48–112 px desktop; 40–64 px mobile. Tight, but never colliding.
Extraordinary machines.
The worlds they open.
Body 16–18 / 1.5. Product titles 22–28 / 1.15. Section introductions 24–32 / 1.3. Use weight 500 for controls.
SEA—001 / FIELD NOTES
Labels 11–12 / 1.45; technical captions at least 12 where reading is essential. Sentence case for instructions; uppercase only for short indexes.
Actual local Geist fonts are bundled. Geist Serif currently ships Regular; its future weight family and italics are not assumed. Use it as a display face, not small body copy. Font synthesis is disabled for the serif in the implementation notes. The SVG wordmark embeds the official font; a production master should additionally be exported with outlined lettering.
Write with concrete nouns and modest confidence: “A research vessel reading the water beneath it.” Avoid “revolutionary”, “world-class”, “planet-saving” and unsupported print-quality claims. Label imagined machines and technical interpretations clearly.

Fine ink contours, carefully chosen gouache masses, credible machinery and small traces of human activity. This moves the brand toward the craft of an illustrated guide and away from photoreal spectacle.
Quality gate: recognizable silhouette; coherent exterior equipment; observed terrain; deliberate light; controlled texture; believable human scale. Build final captions in real type. Generated studies establish direction; final editions need artist-led refinement and a physical proof.

Recommended signature. Humane, intelligent and rich in observation. Ink and gouache, low drama, high specificity.

Expressive campaign and selected editions. Restricted inks and layered silhouettes; keep grain subordinate to form.

Technical companions and machine-focused prints. Crisp shapes, fine engraved shading and restrained color.

Quiet landscape editions. Observational brushwork and nuanced materials. A test direction, not another mandatory launch range.
Keep subject categories separate from style and collection. A technical plate is a format, not an illustration style. Use the same master machine drawing for both sides of a pair. Do not invent internals or dimensions; retain “Concept study / Not to scale.”
Isolated exterior assemblies, aligned guides and an assembled inset. Fine ink, restricted fill, generous paper. Always label interpretive geometry.
Orthographic-style views, indexed sections, public specifications and revision metadata. Real typography and sourced tables; no fabricated facts or operating instructions.
Compare Starship and Dive-LD studies ↗
One yellow primary action per decision area. Quiet outlined secondary actions. 44 px minimum touch target. Disabled states explain availability in adjacent copy.
Landscape view selected. The website concept demonstrates the artwork change.
No hover-only explanation. No drag required. Both states remain discoverable on mobile.

Artwork, title, context, action. Paper effects belong to artwork presentation, not every container. Save is a local demonstration only.
Sea — ocean research and underwater exploration.
Named subjects remain readable. Collection links form a separate editorial index; never four empty shopping destinations.
| Plate | Title | Subject | Collection | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEA—001 | Fjord Survey | Sea | Atlas of the New Frontier | Concept |
| SEA—002 | Fjord Survey / Anatomy | Sea | Anatomy of Tomorrow | Concept study |
| SKY—001 | Reading the Atmosphere | Sky | Atlas of the New Frontier | Concept |
| SPACE—003 | A Station for Tomorrow | Space | The World Ahead | Speculative |
Use real headings and tabular numerals. Align numeric quantities right if introduced. On mobile, preserve essential columns; a scrollable detailed table is acceptable in a reference guide. Shop rows should reflow into labeled records.
Use 8 / 16 / 24 inside components; 48 / 64 / 96 between editorial sections. Desktop margins 48–80; mobile 20–24. Do not compress the art to preserve a decorative sidebar.
Paper: square corners. Controls: 3 px radius. Rules: 1 px. At most one subtle paper shadow per artwork. No fake screws, brushed-metal textures or ornamental gauges.
120 ms press feedback, 220 ms artwork crossfade. Respect reduced motion. Normal vertical scroll, native keyboard controls, no scroll hijacking, custom cursor or autoplay soundtrack.
Changes update this guide only and reset on reload. Arbitrary paper colors need a fresh contrast check. Export records your choices; it does not alter the website or production repository.
Original: the Open Folio identity proposal, edition-first website composition, component system and fresh editorial artwork. Existing style studies are carried forward for comparison.
Next decision: approve the lead illustration language, identity route and homepage rhythm. Then refine one coherent landscape / technical pair, validate mobile shopping, and prepare final artist-reviewed print masters.
Version 0.2 · 1 November 2026. Original images generated with built-in image_gen. Fonts from public Geist 1.9.0, OFL license included. No paid services, repository writes or deployment.