Brand Standards
Everything you need to represent Twincrest with confidence.
Precise but warm. Modern but grounded.
This isn't a rulebook. It's a toolkit. The guidelines here exist so every piece of work you put out — a deck, an email, a social post, a customer presentation — feels like it came from the same confident, recognizable brand. When we all show up consistently, Twincrest looks like a team that knows who it is.
We help teams move faster by making work feel less like work.
Precise but warm
We're careful with the words and the work — without ever feeling cold.
Modern but grounded
Contemporary, but never chasing trends. Confidence over novelty.
Smart without showing off
We explain clearly. The cleverness is in the clarity.
The logo. Use it right.
The Twincrest wordmark is our primary identifier. Use it — not the symbol alone — whenever you're introducing the brand to someone new.
Keep clear space equal to the height of the "T" in Twincrest on all four sides.
- On a white background using the light wordmark
- On a navy or dark background using the dark wordmark
- At its correct proportions (never stretched)
- At or above the minimum size
- With proper clear space on all sides
- Stretched, squished, or rotated — ever
- On a background that doesn't provide enough contrast
- With a drop shadow, outline, glow, or any filter
- In a color other than the approved versions
- On a busy photograph without a solid color overlay
- At a size so small it becomes unreadable
Four colors. One role each.
Our palette is built around four core colors. Each has a role — stick to it.
Navy
Main backgrounds (dark-mode sections), hero areas, primary CTAs, navigation, page footers.
Personality: Authority, depth, trust.
Avoid: Body text on white backgrounds (too dark/harsh), as a tint.
Purple
Section accents, hover states, secondary buttons, illustration fills, gradient midpoints.
Personality: Creative, distinctive, energetic.
Avoid: Body copy, large background fills (overwhelming at scale).
Mulberry
Key callouts, badge indicators, gradient end-points, active state markers. Use sparingly — max 10%.
Personality: Bold, expressive, memorable.
Avoid: Backgrounds, body text, or anything that needs to recede.
Cyan
Links, interactive indicators, progress bars, data viz highlights, icon accents on dark backgrounds.
Personality: Clear, actionable, modern.
Avoid: Primary text, large fills, anything non-interactive.
Accessibility: All body text must meet WCAG AA contrast ratio (4.5:1). Navy on white passes easily. Cyan on white does NOT pass for small text — use it only for larger decorative or interactive elements. When in doubt, use navy or dark text on light backgrounds.
One family. Two weights. Maximum clarity.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
- Set body copy at 16px minimum — never smaller on screens
- Maintain the scale hierarchy — don't skip levels
- Use sentence case for headings
- Left-align body text (never justify)
- Use Bold for emphasis — not italics, not underline
- Never use all-caps for more than four words in a row
- Never set body copy smaller than 14px
- Never underline text unless it's a link
- Never use decorative or display fonts — even for titles
Write like a person, not a press release.
Talk to people, not at them.
Write "you'll find this in your settings" — not "users can locate this in the settings panel."
Be direct.
Short sentences. One idea per sentence. If you can cut a word, cut it.
Stay warm, not gushing.
Friendly doesn't mean exclamation points everywhere.
Words we've retired
Before & after
"Brand assets should be utilized in accordance with established guidelines."
"Use these assets the way they're shown here."
"It is imperative that all team members familiarize themselves with our brand identity framework."
"Here's what you need to know about how we look and sound."
"This represents a suboptimal application of our visual identity system."
"This isn't quite right — here's why, and here's the fix."
"We want to leverage our brand equity to create a world-class employee experience."
"We want Twincrest to feel like Twincrest, everywhere employees show up."
The small calls that add up.
Grammar and style decisions we've made so you don't have to.
Contractions
✓Yes, always. "It's", "you're", "we've", "don't" — they sound like humans.
Oxford comma
,Always. "Navy, purple, and cyan" — the last comma saves misunderstandings.
Numbers
9Spell out one through nine. Use numerals for 10 and up.
Em dash
—Use for emphasis or a sharp pivot — like this. No spaces around it.
Exclamation points
!Sparingly in internal/casual comms. Avoid in formal documents entirely.
Sentence case
AaUse for all headings and UI labels. "Brand guidelines" not "Brand Guidelines."
Dates
📅Month DD, YYYY format. "June 3, 2025" — not "6/3/25" or "3 June 2025."
Time
⏱3:00 PM — not 3pm, 15:00, or 3 o'clock.
Acronyms
ERGSpell out on first use with acronym in parentheses. "Employee Resource Group (ERG)." Then use the acronym.
Job titles
AaLowercase when generic ("the chief marketing officer"); capitalize when used as a formal title before a name.
The short version.
- Logo
Use the light wordmark on white or very light backgrounds.
- Logo
Use the dark wordmark on navy, purple, or anything darker than 40% gray.
- Logo
Keep clear space equal to the height of the 'T' on all sides.
- Color
Pair navy with white text and cyan accents.
- Color
Use mulberry sparingly — max 10% of any composition.
- Color
Meet WCAG AA contrast (4.5:1) for all body text.
- Type
Set body copy at 16px minimum on screens.
- Type
Use sentence case for headings and UI labels.
- Type
Use Bold for emphasis — not italics or underline.
- Voice
Talk to people, not at them. Second person, always.
- Voice
Short sentences. One idea per sentence.
- Voice
Show the correct version first, then explain why it works.
- Logo
Don't stretch, squish, rotate, or recolor the logo.
- Logo
Don't add drop shadows, outlines, glows, or filters.
- Logo
Don't place the wordmark on a busy photo without an overlay.
- Color
Don't use cyan for small body text — it fails contrast.
- Color
Don't fill large backgrounds with purple or mulberry.
- Color
Don't use navy as a tint — full strength or not at all.
- Type
Don't use any weight other than Bold or Regular.
- Type
Don't set body copy smaller than 14px. Ever.
- Type
Don't underline anything that isn't a link.
- Voice
Don't use jargon like leverage, synergy, or deep dive.
- Voice
Don't pile on exclamation points to feel friendly.
- Voice
Don't shame in correction copy — show what's right.
Teach any AI to sound like Twincrest.
Copy a ready-made prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or your image model. It carries our voice, our retired words, and our visual rules with it.
You are writing on behalf of Twincrest. Follow this brand voice exactly.
PERSONALITY
- Precise but warm. Modern but grounded. Smart without showing off.
VOICE PRINCIPLES
1. Talk to people, not at them. Use second person ("you'll find this in your settings"), not third ("users can locate this in the settings panel").
2. Be direct. Short sentences. One idea per sentence. If you can cut a word, cut it.
3. Stay warm, not gushing. Friendly doesn't mean exclamation points everywhere.
NEVER USE THESE WORDS
leverage, synergize, synergy, circle back, robust, scalable, learnings, deep dive, bandwidth, utilize, onboard, ideate, ecosystem, best-in-class, cutting-edge, world-class, game-changer, seamless, holistic, impactful, going forward, at the end of the day, touch base.
WRITING MECHANICS
- Contractions: always (it's, you're, we've, don't).
- Oxford comma: always.
- Numbers: spell out one through nine; numerals for 10+.
- Em dash: no spaces around it.
- Sentence case for all headings and UI labels.
- Dates: "June 3, 2025". Time: "3:00 PM".
REWRITES (BEFORE -> AFTER)
- "Brand assets should be utilized in accordance with established guidelines." -> "Use these assets the way they're shown here."
- "We want to leverage our brand equity to create a world-class employee experience." -> "We want Twincrest to feel like Twincrest, everywhere employees show up."
VISUAL IDENTITY
- Colors: Navy #0d1035 (primary), Purple #81499C (accent), Mulberry #C24599 (callouts, max 10%), Cyan #00B6EF (links).
- Typography: Plus Jakarta Sans, Regular (400) and Bold (700/800) only. Body 16px minimum, left-aligned.
CORRECTION STYLE
When pointing out something off-brand, show the correct version first, then explain why it works. Never shame.ChatGPT
WritingSettings → Personalization → Custom Instructions (or a Project's instructions)
Claude
WritingProjects → Custom Instructions, or paste at the top of any chat
Gemini
WritingSaved info, or in a Gem's custom instructions
GitHub Copilot Chat
Writing.github/copilot-instructions.md in your repo
Midjourney / image models
ImageAppend to your prompt, or save as a style preset
