type: reference status: active

Visual Style Guide

Brand Overview

Advisory OS — Capability deployment for established advisory practices.

Positioning: "Capability deployed. Not curriculum learned."

Core metaphor: Precision infrastructure — clean, engineered, high-end. Not tech-bro, not corporate. Sophisticated authority.

Voice: Direct, pattern-revealing, grounded. See voice.md.

Style Identity

Style: "Dark Authority" — A fusion of luxury editorial, high-end consulting, and sophisticated digital. Gold accents signal premium. Charcoal grounds everything. Serif headlines create editorial weight. Clean sans-serif body keeps it readable.

Color Palette

Primary Colors

DARK BACKGROUNDS
├── #1a1a1a  "Charcoal"          Primary background
├── #111111  "Deep Black"        Header/hero sections
└── #f5f4f0  "Cream"             Light section backgrounds

LIGHT TEXT
├── #ffffff  "White"             Primary text on dark
├── #f5f4f0  "Cream"             Body text on dark
├── #999999  "Mid Gray"          Secondary text, labels
└── #666666  "Muted"             Tertiary text

Accent Colors

GOLD (Primary Accent)
├── #b79d64  "Gold"              Primary accent — CTAs, highlights, dividers
├── #d4b87a  "Light Gold"        Hover states
└── #8a7548  "Dark Gold"         Pressed states, shadows

STATUS COLORS
├── #c45a4a  "Red"               Cut/invisible/warning indicators
├── #5a9a6a  "Green"             Keep/visible/success indicators
└── #c49a4a  "Amber"             Blind/uncertain indicators

Semantic Colors

PRIMARY CTA    #b79d64  Gold
SUCCESS        #5a9a6a  Green
WARNING        #c49a4a  Amber
ERROR          #c45a4a  Red
LINK           #b79d64  Gold
MUTED          #999999  Mid Gray

Typography

Font Stack

DISPLAY/HEADERS
├── Primary:    "Cormorant Garamond" (serif)
├── Weight:     600-700
└── Use:        Page titles, section headers, hero text

BODY TEXT
├── Primary:    "Inter" (sans-serif)
├── Weight:     400 (regular), 500 (medium)
└── Use:        Paragraphs, lists, descriptions, UI elements

MONOSPACE
├── Primary:    System monospace
└── Use:        Data points, statistics, technical references

Typography Rules

1. Cormorant Garamond for headlines only — creates editorial weight
2. Inter for everything else — clean, readable, professional
3. Never more than 2 fonts per page/slide
4. Gold (#b79d64) for accent text — sparingly, on key phrases
5. High contrast — cream/white on charcoal, dark on cream

Visual Elements

Interactive Components (Website)

• Flip cards — hover to reveal client feedback (Subtract/Add page)
• Calculators — live inputs with real-time output
• Diagnostics — progressive reveal, scored assessments
• Animated scroll reveals — content appears as user scrolls
• Fixed navigation — section tracking on long pages

Decorative Elements

• Gold horizontal rules — section dividers
• Subtle gold borders — card edges, callout boxes
• Minimal iconography — if used, line icons only, gold or white

Image Guidelines

AI Image Prompts

Style keywords:

• "charcoal background, luxury editorial"
• "gold accent lighting, warm metallic"
• "professional advisory, sophisticated"
• "minimal, clean composition"
• "high contrast, editorial photography"

Avoid:

• Bright/colorful backgrounds
• Stock photo corporate style
• Tech startup aesthetic
• Busy patterns or textures
• Casual or playful imagery

Photography Style

• Editorial, not stock
• Dark/moody lighting with warm accents
• Professional settings (offices, meeting rooms) if people present
• Abstract architectural or detail shots for variety
• Always high contrast

Layout Principles

1. Generous white space — let content breathe
2. Gold accents used sparingly — they lose impact if overused
3. Left-aligned body text — centered only for hero/headline
4. Card-based layouts for frameworks and comparisons
5. Dark sections for authority, cream sections for readability

Do's and Don'ts

Do

• Use charcoal backgrounds for primary content
• Apply gold accents to CTAs, dividers, key phrases
• Use Cormorant Garamond for editorial weight in headers
• Maintain generous spacing
• Keep interactive elements sophisticated (no gamification)

Don't

• Use bright colors or gradients
• Use casual or playful design elements
• Overuse gold (it signals premium only when rare)
• Use light backgrounds as primary (cream is secondary only)
• Use stock photography

Last updated: 2026-02-22