# Brandprint > Multi-brand branding enforcer for every client-facing or branded output — invoices, reports, proposals, documents, PDFs, dashboards, canvases, decks, emails, letterheads, web pages — even when the request never says the word "brand". Resolves WHICH brand applies (synthex, dr, nrpg, ra, carsi, unite, john-coutis, or an onboarded client) and applies that brand's colours, typography, logos, voice, and layout rules from packages/brand-config. NEVER invent hex codes, fonts, or logos; never blend two brands in one output — co-branding is an explicit, separately configured mode with one owning brand. - Skill: `cleanexpo/brandprint` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add cleanexpo/brandprint` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/cleanexpo/brandprint/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Design & Media - Author: cleanexpo (https://skillmd.com/u/cleanexpo) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/cleanexpo/brandprint --- # Brandprint ## Purpose Kill the generic-AI look (grey boxes, purple accents, stock fonts) on every output this repo produces. Any artefact a human will see — for Synthex itself, a portfolio brand, or a client — carries the correct brand automatically. The user should never have to say "make it branded". Unlike a single-brand brandprint, this skill holds **no brand data of its own**. The single source of truth is `packages/brand-config` (typed `.ts` + agent-readable `.design.md` per brand). This skill teaches you to resolve, read, and apply it. ## Step 1 — Resolve the brand Exactly one **owning** brand per output. Resolution order (first match wins): 1. **Explicit mention** — the request names a brand, client, or organisation. 2. **Organisation context** — org-scoped work (an org's report, invoice, deliverable) uses that organisation's brand. 3. **Project context** — work inside a portfolio project uses that project's brand (e.g. Disaster Recovery work → `dr`). 4. **Default** — `synthex`. Known slugs live in the `BrandSlug` union in `packages/brand-config/src/types.ts` and the registry in `packages/brand-config/src/brands/index.ts`. Current: `synthex`, `dr`, `nrpg`, `ra`, `carsi`, `unite`, `john-coutis`. **Unknown brand ⇒ STOP.** If the resolved brand has no brand-config entry, do not improvise a palette. Either ask which existing brand applies, or onboard the brand properly via [references/audit-recipe.md](references/audit-recipe.md) then [references/build-recipe.md](references/build-recipe.md). ### Co-brand mode — the only way two brands share an artefact Two brands in one output is a **separate mode, never a blend**. Enter it only when all three preconditions hold; if any is missing, ask. Never invent a hybrid to resolve ambiguity. 1. **An explicit request.** The user asks for a co-branded artefact and both brands are identifiable. An implied pairing — "put the client's logo on our report somewhere" — is not a request for co-branding. Ask. 2. **A resolved owner.** One brand is the **owner** and the other the **guest**. The owner is whichever brand Step 1's resolution order returns: a deliverable produced _for_ a client is owned by that client; Synthex's own collateral that credits a partner is owned by `synthex`. If the order returns both or neither cleanly, ownership is ambiguous ⇒ ask. 3. **Both brands in brand-config.** _Unknown brand ⇒ STOP_ applies to the guest as well. No brand-config entry, no guest slot — onboard it first. Once those hold, the split is fixed. It is not renegotiated per artefact: | Element | Comes from | | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | Palette — primary, secondary, accent, neutral ramp, semantics | **Owner only.** The guest contributes no colour. | | Typography — display, body, mono | **Owner only.** | | Layout, spacing, radii, components, motion | **Owner only.** | | Voice — tones, `forbiddenWords`, `requiredCadence` | **Owner only.** | | Logo | **Both**, and only inside the lock-up below. | | `doNot` lists | **Both** — the union binds, and the stricter rule wins. | The guest's entire presence is its logo plus its `doNot` list. Nothing else crosses the line: no guest accent colour "for balance", no guest display font on the headings, no guest tone of voice. **Lock-up rules** - **Order:** owner's mark first — left of the guest horizontally, above it vertically. Right-to-left locales mirror the axis, not the precedence. - **Separation:** a hairline divider or plain whitespace between the marks. Never overlap, interlock, or merge them, and never set them on a shared coloured plate belonging to neither brand. - **Clear space:** the **larger** of the two brands' `safeAreaPx`, applied both around the whole lock-up and between the two marks. When one brand's rules are stricter, they govern the lock-up. - **Variants:** choose primary vs inverted per brand against the actual background, following each brand's own logo rules. The two variants need not match. - **Scale:** optically match the marks' visual weight. Never stretch, crop, recolour, or regenerate either mark to make it fit — logos are files (see [Hard boundaries](#hard-boundaries)). - **Placement:** one lock-up per artefact, in the masthead or the footer. Not repeated per page, per slide, or per section. Anything the two brands' rules cannot settle between them is `[MISSING]` — ask, per the evidence discipline in Step 2. ## Step 2 — Read the brandprint Load both files for the resolved ``: | File | Gives you | | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `packages/brand-config/src/brands/.design.md` | Design tokens (colours, typography scale, spacing, radii), components, layout rules, do's and don'ts. Google DESIGN.md v1 format. | | `packages/brand-config/src/brands/.ts` | Voice (tone, forbidden words, cadence), logo paths + `safeAreaPx`, motion, audience, the binding `doNot` list. | When the brand is `synthex`, read `.claude/DESIGN.md` **as well** — it is a third source, not a substitute for either file above. Its own header states it is the agent-readable projection of `packages/brand-config/src/brands/synthex.ts` plus the founder's non-negotiable rules, and it records known divergences elsewhere in the repo. So Synthex takes three files; every other brand takes two. Cite whichever you actually read (see [Verification](#verification)). **Evidence discipline** (per `.claude/rules/fabel-evidence-standard.md`): values read from brand-config are `[VERIFIED]`. Anything you deduce beyond it (a tint, a pairing, a layout choice the spec doesn't cover) is `[INFERRED]` and must be flagged in your summary. A value the brand needs but the config lacks is `[MISSING]` — ask, never invent. No made-up hex codes, no substituted fonts, no "close enough" logos. ## Step 3 — Apply per surface | Surface | Application | | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Documents / PDFs / invoices / letterheads | Logo (primary or inverted per background) at stated `safeAreaPx` clear space; display font for headings, body font for text; `primary` for emphasis and totals, `neutral` ramp for structure; AUD currency, DD/MM/YYYY dates, Australian English. | | Dashboards / canvases / data viz | Brand canvas colour (`secondary`/surface per design.md); semantic colours (`success`/`warning`/`danger`) only for their meanings; mono font for literal values where the brand defines one. | | Decks / slides | Layout, spacing, and outer margins from design.md; one brand, one palette, no per-slide drift; component styles (`cta-primary`, `card`, etc.) where defined. | | Emails | Body font with web-safe fallback stack; logo from asset path; brand voice and forbidden-words list on copy. | | Web pages / app UI / components | Route through the **impeccable** skill (below). | Copy in any surface obeys the brand's `voice` block: tones, `forbiddenWords`, `requiredCadence`, and the `doNot` list. For strategic voice decisions defer to `brand-strategist`; mechanical gating is `brand-voice-enforce`. ### Web/UI surfaces — hand off to impeccable For web pages, app UI, and components, apply the brand **through** the `impeccable` skill (installed at `~/.claude/skills/impeccable/`). The brand's `.design.md` is already in the Google DESIGN.md format impeccable consumes — point it at that file (or `.claude/DESIGN.md` for Synthex) so it inherits the brand's tokens instead of inventing its own. Impeccable's absolute bans (gradient text, AI-beige, eyebrow kickers, identical card grids, side-stripe borders) are the anti-slop gate for branded UI. ## Hard boundaries - **Logos are files, never generated.** Use only repo asset paths: `public/logos//{primary,inverted,icon}.svg`, `public/synthex-logo.*`, or the paths in the brand's `logo` block. Generating, redrawing, or approximating a logo violates the Real Images Only rule (`.claude/rules/real-images-only.md`). `public/brands//` is a legacy scheme keyed by full brand name — read from it where existing code already does, never write new brand assets there (SYN-1133). - **No brand's declared logo files exist yet.** All 21 paths in the seven brands' `logo` blocks are absent from disk, tracked in `brand-logo-baseline.json` (SYN-1133); `public/logos/` holds neither scheme today. Nothing reads the field at runtime, which is why the gap never threw. So for any brand but `synthex` — whose marks are at `public/synthex-logo.*` — a logo is `[MISSING]`: say so and ask for the artwork. Do not substitute another brand's mark, a flat customer logo, or a generated one. - **All imagery defers to `grounded-visuals`** — owned reference library via `lib/services/ai/image-generation.ts`, no exceptions. - **One brand owns each output.** Never blend palettes, fonts, or logos across brands, including "Synthex plus client" hybrids. A genuine co-branded artefact is not a blend: it runs [Co-brand mode](#co-brand-mode--the-only-way-two-brands-share-an-artefact), where the owner supplies every token and the guest appears only in the lock-up. No explicit request, or no clear owner ⇒ ask. - **Australian English** in all product copy: colour, organise, recognise, licence (noun), authorise. ## Onboarding a new client brand Three steps, in order — skipping the audit is how brands come out "a little bit off": 1. **Audit** — [references/audit-recipe.md](references/audit-recipe.md): inventory the client's assets, extract the spec, tag every value `[VERIFIED]` / `[INFERRED]` / `[MISSING]`. 2. **Resolve flags** — the founder/client answers the audit's question list. Answering those questions is the whole game; do not build on unconfirmed values. 3. **Build** — [references/build-recipe.md](references/build-recipe.md): turn the corrected audit into a first-class brand-config entry, then verify with the real commands. ## Verification Before claiming a branded output done: - Name the resolved brand slug and **cite every file you actually read, by path** — not a count. That is `.design.md` + `.ts` for any brand, plus `.claude/DESIGN.md` when the brand is `synthex` (three files), plus the guest's two files in co-brand mode. A file you read and did not cite is an untraceable claim. - Confirm every colour/font/logo traces to brand-config (`[VERIFIED]`) or is flagged. - Never restate token values in this skill or any other document as though they were the source. Quote them from brand-config at the point of use, so a token correction lands in one place. - **Co-brand mode also requires:** naming which brand is the owner and which is the guest and why; confirming the guest appears only in the lock-up; stating the `safeAreaPx` used and which brand it came from; and listing the union of both `doNot` lists you checked against. - For HTML/CSS outputs, optionally run the deterministic slop gate — the detector bundled with the installed impeccable skill, over local files: ```bash node ~/.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/detect.mjs --json ``` **Never `npx impeccable`.** `impeccable` is not a dependency of this repo — it is absent from `package.json` and `node_modules/.bin` — so `npx` would resolve the bare name against the public registry and execute whatever it found there. The bundled detector is version-pinned by installation (v3.9.1, `pbakaus/impeccable` @ `f2049c2`, per the source line at the foot of `~/.claude/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md`), reads local files with no network, prints JSON, and exits `2` when it finds anything and `0` when clean. Its rules live in `~/.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/detector/registry/antipatterns.mjs`. - Banned: "should look right", "probably on brand". Show the values used.