Broadnarrow LLP — Brand Guidelines: Masters

Document type: canonical specification · Governs: the .ai master artwork only Does not govern: exports, spacing in application, or any deliverable file — see BN-BRAND-EXPORTS.

How to use this document. Section 0 summarises the whole document. Section 1 maps common questions to the section that answers them. Section 2 lists every numeric constant in machine-readable form. Sections 3 onward are the full specification. Rules carry stable IDs (e.g. MU-03) so they can be cited and amended precisely.

0. Summary

The essentials of the Broadnarrow master artwork system:

1. Two colours only — pure black #000000 and pure white #FFFFFF. No accent colours.
2. One typeface — Oswald. “broad” in Medium, “narrow” in Light, ™/® glyphs in Regular.
3. Three assets — the Wordmark (“broadnarrow”), the Logo (a pair of square brackets), and the Lockup (both combined). The Lockup is the preferred signature.
4. One master unit c — the height of the outlined wordmark. Every identity ratio is expressed in c. The logo’s internal geometry uses p, linked by 0.80p = c.
5. Twelve master files, all .ai, all in 020 Logos & Wordmarks / 010 Masters. That folder is the only source of truth.
6. Trademark status: pending. Application filed in India only. Use the ™ variants now; the ® variants exist but must not be used until registration is granted.
7. Two size treatments — Size Standard for normal use, Size Responsive (enlarged symbol) at or below c ≈ 48 px / 15 mm.
8. Never distort. All scaling is aspect-ratio locked, without exception.
9. Masters are tight-cropped — artwork only, no padding. The bounding box is the measurement datum.
10. Change control is mandatory — new dated master, change-log entry, version bump.

1. Quick answers

2. Constants

Every hard value in this document, machine-readable. Prose elsewhere must agree with this block; if they ever conflict, this block and the section it derives from are to be reconciled via §8.2 Change control.

units:
  c: "height of the outlined 'broadnarrow' bounding box — the master unit"
  p: "logo base unit (side of the initial construction square, guide R1); finished logo bounding box not yet confirmed"
  D: "datum — top-right corner of the word 'narrow'"

relations:
  logo_scale_in_lockup: "0.80p = c"
  derived: "p = 1.25c"

colour:
  bn_black: { hex: "#000000", rgb: "0/0/0", cmyk: "0/0/0/100", pantone: "Process Black C" }
  bn_white: { hex: "#FFFFFF", rgb: "255/255/255", cmyk: "0/0/0/0" }
  rich_black_large_solids: "C60 M40 Y40 K100"
  marks_and_type: "100% K"

typography:
  family: Oswald
  licence: "SIL Open Font License 1.1"
  weight_broad: Medium
  weight_narrow: Light
  weight_symbol: Regular

symbol_height_s:
  tm_size_standard: "0.10c"
  tm_size_responsive: "0.20c"
  r_size_standard: "0.14c"
  r_size_responsive: "0.30c"

symbol_gap_g: "0.10c"
lockup_spacing_d: "0.25c"

minimum_size:
  wordmark: { measured: c, digital_px: 24, print_mm: 8 }
  logo:     { measured: p, digital_px: 16, print_mm: 5 }
  lockup:   { measured: "overall height", digital_px: 32, print_mm: 10 }

size_treatment_threshold:
  rule: "use Size Responsive when rendered s would fall below 6 px / 1.75 mm"
  equivalent: "c <= 48 px (digital) or 15 mm (print)"

contrast:
  minimum_ratio: "4.5:1"

logo_geometry:
  guide_R1: "p x p square"
  guide_R2: "0.80p high x 0.60p wide, centred in R1"
  guide_R3: "p high x 0.45p wide, centred then snapped left in R1"
  left_bracket_height: "p"
  right_bracket_height: "0.80p"   # step 5: duplicate, aspect-locked scale to 0.80p high
  # Detailed shape (stroke width, arm length, path) is defined by the pen-tool path in
  # step 4, not by separate ratios. Do not infer additional geometry values here —
  # measure the actual master (BN Logo.ai) if an exact figure is needed.
  bounding_box: "TODO: not yet confirmed — measure from BN Logo.ai"

trademark:
  status: pending
  jurisdiction: India
  jurisdiction_count: 1
  symbol_in_use: "TM"
  symbol_blocked: "R"

masters:
  count: 12
  format: ".ai"
  location: "Brand & Creative/020 Logos & Wordmarks/010 Masters"
  crop: "tight to artwork, no padding"

3. Foundations

Rules in this section apply to every asset. Asset specifications in §7 add only what is specific to each mark.

3.1 Colour

The brand is strictly two-colour. There are no accent or secondary brand colours.

3.2 Typography

3.3 Notation

Every construction value is a multiple of a named unit — never a bare number.

The system uses one primary unit. Symbol sizing, symbol placement, lockup scale, and lockup spacing are all expressed in c. Only the logo’s internal geometry uses p, and that is linked to c by a fixed relation.

Terminology. Broadnarrow calls c the wordmark’s cap height. Strictly, “broadnarrow” is lowercase with ascenders (b, d) and no descenders, so this box height is the ascender height. The firm’s usage is retained; what matters is that c is unambiguously the height of the outlined wordmark.

3.4 Aspect ratio

3.5 Minimum sizes

Below these sizes legibility is not guaranteed and the mark must not be used. Unlike every other value in this document, minimum sizes are absolute rather than ratios — legibility does not scale.

3.6 Backgrounds & contrast

3.7 Master-file handling

4. Prohibitions

These apply to every asset. Asset-specific prohibitions are listed in §7.

5. Usage

5.1 Asset hierarchy

5.2 Trademark symbol

Current status: trademark pending. Broadnarrow has filed an application; the mark is not yet registered.

™ → ® transition mechanism. The ® masters already exist and are held ready.

6. Master inventory

All twelve masters live in Brand & Creative / 020 Logos & Wordmarks / 010 Masters. Filenames omit the .ai extension for brevity.