# Signal Agency Brand Style Guide

Signal Agency brand guide for usable report and content production. This specimen is a show-and-tell system for assets, colour, typography, badges, notifications, evidence, recommendations, worker handoff, and export QA.

Signal Agency content should feel editorial, evidence-led, squared, and decisive. Use warm paper, black rules, mono provenance, and one terracotta signal accent. Never round the core report components.

### Signal Agency production manifest

- Brand: Signal Agency
- Content system: AI-search audits, client dossiers, evidence packs, roadmap handoffs
- Shape language: square cards, strong rules, no soft containers
- Colour rule: terracotta is the signal; black carries structure; semantic colours remain muted but visible
- Writing rule: lead with the decision, then show the evidence that supports it
- Export rule: public examples use placeholders only and suppress browser PDF chrome

## 1. Brand assets and colour roles

### 1.1 Primary wordmark on paper

Use on covers, title pages, and formal client handoffs. Keep the mark on warm paper with strong clearspace and one terracotta rule.

### 1.2 Reverse mark on ink

Use only for intentional chapter openers or high-contrast presentation frames. Do not mix with soft gradients.

### 1.3 Editorial seal

Use for proof points, source-led pages, and dossier dividers. It should feel like a stamp, not an app icon.

### 1.4 Client lockup zone

Use when pairing Signal Agency with a client or project name. Align on a rule; keep both marks squared and balanced.

### 1.5 Warm paper

Default page colour. It makes reports feel reviewed, printed, and evidence-led.

### 1.6 Ink black

Primary text, rules, card headers, and table dividers. It creates hierarchy without decoration.

### 1.7 Terracotta signal

Use for decisive moments: cover accent, critical decision, or “read this first” marker.

### 1.8 Verified state

Use for passed checks and protected patterns. Keep it subdued but legible.

### 1.9 Warning state

Use for partial evidence, stale facts, and dependencies. It must be visibly different from green and red.

### 1.10 Critical state

Use for blockers, missing citations, or privacy risk. Pair with a required action.

## 2. Typography and editorial formatting

### 2.1 Display title

Client AI-search dossier

Large Bricolage-style title. Use for covers and chapter openings.

### 2.2 Section heading

What answer engines can verify

Use for the question the section answers. Keep it concrete.

### 2.3 Body hierarchy

Use normal body text for evidence. Bold the conclusion. *Italic* marks caveats, assumptions, or interpretation.

### 2.4 Mono provenance

Use mono for source IDs, owners, dates, engine names, and verification commands. Provenance must be easy to scan.

Use quotes for client voice, source excerpts, or reviewer observations. The quote should support a finding, not replace the finding.

## 3. Information tagging badges

Badges are small provenance tags. They sit beside claims, sources, and table cells. They are not notifications and should not occupy a whole page alone.

Evidence: Evidence:Verified Evidence:Partial Evidence:Inferred Evidence:Missing

Priority: Critical High Medium Low

Badge | Purpose | Use example | Signal Agency rule
--- | --- | --- | ---
Evidence:Verified | Directly observed evidence | “AI Overview cites the comparison page” | Attach source ID
Evidence:Partial | Mixed or incomplete support | “Gemini sees pricing but misses warranty” | Explain the gap
Evidence:Inferred | Judgement from pattern | “Likely schema/entity mismatch” | Keep caveat visible
Evidence:Missing | No evidence captured | “No source card for claim” | Convert to an action

## 4. Message states and notifications

### 4.1 Critical dossier alert

Purpose: stop the reader and require action. Use for privacy exposure, missing source IDs, or evidence that invalidates the recommendation.

Example: “Raw prompt transcript appears in the public export. Replace with a redacted source summary.”

### 4.2 Warning dossier note

Purpose: highlight risk that affects confidence. Use for stale citations, partial retrieval, or owner ambiguity.

Example: “Two engines cite the old service name; update corroborating profiles before the next crawl.”

### 4.3 Method note

Purpose: explain how evidence was collected or scoped.

Example: “Prompts were run from a clean browser profile and compared against first-fetch HTML.”

### 4.4 Preserved pattern

Purpose: mark a verified pattern to keep.

Example: “Source IDs now appear beside every factual recommendation.”

## 5. Report component show-and-tell

3/5

Engines with at least partial visibility. Source: C001.

27

Evidence references captured. Source: ledger.

6

Roadmap items sized. Source: priorities.

0

Private URLs in public export. Source: privacy check.

AI Overviews 78%

Gemini 54%

ChatGPT 41%

AI Mode 38%

Perplexity 9%

Component | Purpose | Signal Agency treatment | Example content
--- | --- | --- | ---
Manifest | Scope and evidence rules | Square field block with ink rule | “Raw transcripts stored securely”
KPI card | Executive metric | Huge numeral, short source line | “3/5 engines visible”
Source ledger | Claim traceability | One width, dotted row rules | C001 — prompt capture batch
Brief card | Worker handoff | Light ruled panel, mono fields | Task / files / acceptance / verify

C001 — Prompt capture batch — High confidence; raw transcripts stored securely.

C002 — Rendered crawl — High confidence; confirms first-fetch visibility.

C003 — Analytics export — Medium confidence; prioritises commercial pages.

C004 — Parity review — Medium confidence; checks third-party fact drift.

## 6. Recommendation and handoff patterns

### 6.1 P0 retrieval blocker Evidence:Verified

Use when one finding needs executive visibility, owner, due date, source IDs, and verification.

Owner: Editorial. Due: 2026-W23. Verify: C001 and C002 show first-fetch retrieval.

### 6.2 P1 evidence proximity Evidence:Partial

Use when facts exist but are too far from the claim, table, or source card.

Owner: Content. Due: 2026-W25. Verify: source IDs appear beside each claim.

### 6.3 Resolved pattern Evidence:Verified

Use for shipped work that should be protected in the next iteration.

Owner: Engineering. Verified: C001. Preserve: no private URL appears in public PDFs.

### 6.4 Preserve

- Source IDs beside factual claims.
- Direct-answer opening in first-fetch HTML.
- Clear comparison criteria.

### 6.5 Fix

- Client-rendered critical facts.
- Unsupported superlatives.
- Raw evidence in public artefacts.

### 6.6 Worker-ready brief

Task: Move critical comparison facts into crawlable HTML and attach source IDs.

Files: comparison template, source-card component, pricing facts module.

Acceptance: direct answer, source IDs, updated date, and criteria table appear in first-fetch HTML.

Verification: rerun per-engine prompt set separately and compare citations.

Signal Agency light code panel
Text code

    Do: put source IDs beside factual claims.
    Do not: publish raw transcripts, local paths, or private URLs in public reports.

Public artifact rule

Signal Agency public examples must use placeholders only. Raw transcripts, screenshots, private URLs, client names, and local paths stay in approved secure storage.

Signal Agency brand style guide specimen · usable production guide · public-safe placeholder content