Brand guidelines

​

Brand voice

​

Core principles

• Anti-spin: No marketing hype or vendor claims
• Anti-transactional: Focus on value, not sales
• Pro-IT leader: Champion IT professionals and their challenges

​

Tone characteristics

• Professional but bold: Authoritative without being stuffy
• Witty and direct: Sharp insights, no fluff
• Honest and transparent: Tell it like it is
• Empowering: IT leaders are the heroes, not vendors

​

Target audience

• CIOs (Chief Information Officers)
• CTOs (Chief Technology Officers)
• IT Directors
• VPs of Technology
• Enterprise Architects

• 15+ years of experience
• Manage teams of 10-100+ people
• Budget authority (often over $1M)
• Responsible for critical infrastructure

• Vendor fatigue and distrust
• Tech debt accumulation
• Digital transformation pressure
• Team burnout and retention
• C-suite misunderstanding of IT value

​

Color palette

​

Primary colors (YBH gradient)

​

Secondary colors

​

Tertiary colors

​

App UI colors

​

Semantic colors

​

Typography

​

Display font: Fonseca

• Bold: Titles, major headings
• Regular: Subheadings, emphasis

• Hero: 3rem (48px)
• H1: 2rem (32px)
• H2: 1.5rem (24px)

​

Body font: Montserrat

• Light: Large body text, quotes
• Regular: Standard body text
• Medium: Emphasis, labels
• Semibold: Buttons, strong emphasis

• Body Large: 1.125rem (18px)
• Body: 1rem (16px)
• Body Small: 0.875rem (14px)
• Caption: 0.75rem (12px)

​

Typography scale

• Level 1 (Title): 32-48pt, Bold
• Level 2 (Section): 24-32pt, Semi-bold
• Level 3 (Subsection): 18-24pt, Medium
• Level 4 (Body): 14-16pt, Regular
• Level 5 (Labels): 10-12pt, Regular/Light

​

UI patterns

​

Buttons

• Background: Yellow #F7B500
• Text: Dark #1A1A2E
• Border radius: 0.5rem (8px)
• Padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem (12px 24px)
• Font: Montserrat Semibold
• Hover: Darken 10%

• Background: Transparent
• Border: 1px solid #F7B500
• Text: Yellow #F7B500
• Border radius: 0.5rem (8px)
• Padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem (12px 24px)
• Font: Montserrat Medium
• Hover: Background rgba(247, 181, 0, 0.1)

• Background: Red #EF4136
• Text: White #FFFFFF
• Border radius: 0.5rem (8px)
• Padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem (12px 24px)
• Font: Montserrat Semibold
• Hover: Darken 10%

​

Cards

• Background: #16213E
• Border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1)
• Border radius: 1rem (16px)
• Padding: 1.5rem (24px)
• Box shadow: 0 4px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1)

• Background: #0F3460
• Border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.15)
• Border radius: 1rem (16px)
• Padding: 1.5rem (24px)
• Box shadow: 0 8px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)

​

Progress bars

• Height: 8px
• Border radius: 4px
• Background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1)
• Fill: Gradient (Orange #F17529 to Yellow #F7B500)

​

Messaging

​

Headlines

• “Doing to IT what the iPhone did to the Blackberry”
• “We make vendors fund your success”
• “When IT leaders rise, so does everything else”

• “After interviewing 380 IT professionals, one pattern stands out…”
• “The challenge? Finding the one who sucks the least.”
• “Respect shouldn’t only show up when the system goes down.”

​

Value propositions

• Champion IT leaders, not vendors
• Expose vendor spin and marketing hype
• Share real-world IT leadership insights
• Build a community of IT professionals
• Make vendor selection transparent and fair

​

Design principles

​

Visual style: Refined brutalism

• Bold and direct: Strong typography, high contrast
• Dark and premium: Rich dark backgrounds, elevated surfaces
• Industrial aesthetic: Raw, honest, no unnecessary decoration
• Functional first: UI serves content, not the other way around

​

Spacing system

• Base unit: 8px
• Small: 8px
• Medium: 16px
• Large: 24px
• XL: 32px
• XXL: 48px

• Padding: Multiples of 8px (8, 16, 24, 32)
• Margins: Multiples of 8px (8, 16, 24, 32)
• Gaps: Multiples of 8px (8, 16, 24, 32)

​

Iconography

• Primary (60%): Isometric 3D icons for physical/tangible concepts
• Secondary (40%): Flat 2D icons for abstract concepts

• Consistent stroke width (2px for flat icons)
• Rounded corners (2px radius)
• YBH brand colors for primary elements
• Neutral grays for secondary elements
• No company logos or brand marks

​

Content guidelines

​

Infographic quality standards

• Title: Under 10 words
• Main message: Obvious within 5 seconds
• Tone: Professional, suitable for IT leaders
• Branding: YBH colors and episode number visible
• Guest credit: Guest name and credentials included
• No clutter: Generous whitespace, clear hierarchy

​

Social media standards

• Professional tone, industry insights
• 1-3 paragraphs (under 3000 characters)
• No hashtag spam (maximum 3 relevant hashtags)
• Tag guest and company when appropriate
• Include episode number and link

• Visual-first content
• Shorter captions (under 500 characters)
• 5-10 relevant hashtags
• Square or vertical format
• High contrast for mobile viewing

• 1-2 sentence quotes maximum
• Large, readable text (36pt+)
• Attribution with episode number
• High contrast (white text on dark background or vice versa)
• Cinematic aesthetic

​

Usage examples

​

Infographic title format

[Guest Name]'s [Concept/Framework Name]
Episode [Number]

• “Chris Pacifico’s Tech Debt Doom Loop - Episode 385”
• “Sarah Johnson’s Leadership Communication Framework - Episode 386”
• “Mike Chen’s Cloud Migration Strategy - Episode 387”

​

LinkedIn post format

[Hook or insight]

[2-3 paragraphs expanding on the insight]

[Call-to-action or question]

Listen to Episode [Number] with [Guest Name]: [Link]

​

Quote card format

"[Quote text]"

[Guest Name], Episode [Number]
You've Been Heard

​

Brand enforcement in AI

• Pinecone RAG: Brand manual embedded in knowledge base
• Prompt engineering: System prompts include brand voice guidelines
• Fact-checking: Verify all claims against transcript
• Variety tracking: Ensure visual diversity across episodes
• Approval workflow: Human review before publication