IBM-inspired brand guide for usable report and content production. This specimen is a practical show-and-tell library: brand assets, colour roles, typography, badges, message states, data components, recommendations, briefs, and export rules.
IBM-styled content should feel systematic, engineered, accessible, and explicit. Use the grid to make complex information understandable; use blue to mark interaction and verified structure; use red, amber, and green only when the status itself matters.
Show primary artwork on white or cool-grey backgrounds with generous clearspace. Use for: report covers, section openers, and client handoff PDFs.
Use reverse artwork only when the whole page or module is dark. *Do not mix light and dark logo treatments in the same component row.*
Use a compact mark for small metadata blocks, export thumbnails, or dashboard tiles. Keep the mark visually centred and never use it as a bullet.
Use a lockup area when the brand appears beside a product, client, or programme name. Keep equal optical weight and align baselines.
Use for links, active states, chart bars, focus indicators, and primary system emphasis. Pair with white or very light grey.
Use for headings, dense tables, labels, and decision statements. It carries authority without needing extra decoration.
Use for cards, tables, briefs, and source ledgers. It should separate information without creating unrelated widths.
Use only for blockers, risk, failed validation, or policy exceptions. Always pair it with a text label and recovery instruction.
Use for dependencies, partial evidence, or pending verification. It should be visible in print, not a faint tint.
Use for shipped controls, passed checks, and preserved patterns. Keep the label legible on the state colour.
Technical audit readiness report
Use for the single page purpose. Keep it direct; avoid marketing flourish.
Evidence and decision path
Use H2s for major production tasks: assets, colours, data, decisions, export.
Source ledger card
Use H3s inside reusable blocks. They should name the component, not repeat the section.
Normal body copy states the fact. Bold marks the decision or required field. *Italic* marks caveat, interpretation, or non-blocking nuance.
Use quotation styling for source excerpts and reviewer notes. A quote is not a notification; it is a cited voice that supports or challenges the report claim.
Badges are metadata tags, not notifications. Use them inline beside claims, table cells, or source IDs to classify evidence without taking over the page.
Evidence: Evidence:Verified Evidence:Partial Evidence:Inferred Evidence:Missing
Priority: Critical High Medium Low
| Badge | Purpose | Use example | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence:Verified | Confirmed evidence | “Pricing table present in first-fetch HTML” | Using it for assumptions |
| Evidence:Partial | Some support, not enough | “Two engines cite the page; one cites stale copy” | Hiding uncertainty |
| Evidence:Inferred | Modelled judgement | “Likely entity mismatch from source drift” | Presenting as fact |
| Evidence:Missing | No evidence found | “No source card for the claim” | Using as blame language |
Notifications are interruption patterns. They need colour, shape, label, purpose, and action. They are not badge rows.
Purpose: stop delivery until fixed. Use when evidence is inaccessible, a required source is missing, or a public artefact risks disclosure.
Example: “Source B004 is absent from the export ledger. Add it before approval.”
Purpose: expose risk without blocking every reader. Use for partial evidence, ownership gaps, or pending validation.
Example: “Table fit passes A4 but needs slide review before client deck export.”
Purpose: explain method or scope. Use for assumptions, sampling windows, and environment details.
Example: “Crawler evidence was captured from a logged-out first fetch.”
Purpose: mark a stable pattern to preserve. Use when a check passed and should not regress.
Example: “All priority cards now include owner, source, and verification fields.”
12
Component families covered. Source: B001.
4
State colours with visible contrast. Source: B002.
100%
Recommendation cards include owner and verification. Source: B003.
0
Private artefacts in public output. Source: B004.
| Component | Purpose | IBM treatment | Example content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manifest | Scope and production rules | Field grid with firm labels | “Export rule: placeholder evidence only” |
| KPI card | Executive metric | Large value, short source line | “12 component families covered” |
| Facts table | Dense comparison | Aligned headers, stable columns | Component / purpose / treatment / example |
| Source ledger | Claim provenance | One width, row dividers, source IDs | B001 — Component inventory |
| Brief card | Delivery handoff | Light command panel, blue left rule | Task / files / acceptance / verification |
B001 — Component inventory — High confidence; checks rendered block families.
B002 — Severity review — High confidence; validates visible critical, warning, information, and verified states.
B003 — Recommendation audit — Medium confidence; verifies owner, due date, source, and acceptance fields.
B004 — Redaction audit — High confidence; confirms public-safe export.
Use when a missing component, evidence field, or verification step blocks approval.
Owner: Governance. Due: current release. Verify: source ledger contains B001 and B004.
Use when a recommendation depends on another system, owner, or evidence source.
Owner: Delivery. Due: next sprint. Verify: dependency has an assigned owner.
Use when the report is correct but can improve scanability, table density, or export fidelity.
Owner: Design systems. Due: backlog. Verify: A4 and slide output remain aligned.
Use for implemented safeguards and stable patterns.
Owner: QA. Verified: B004. Preserve: state label remains high contrast.
Task: Apply IBM-styled report components to a technical audit.
Files: report Markdown, renderer CSS, evidence ledger, PDF exports.
Acceptance: every finding maps to source IDs, confidence, owner, and verification.
Verification: render HTML, A4, US Letter, and slides; inspect badges, notifications, charts, tables, and code panels.
Do: classify evidence, assign owner, include verification.
Do not: use a notification when a small metadata badge is enough.Use source cards as governance records: source ID, type, observed date, claim supported, confidence, sensitivity, and storage location.
Public artifact rule
IBM-styled public examples must not include private client names, URLs, local paths, screenshots, raw exports, or uncontrolled evidence excerpts.
IBM brand style guide specimen · usable production guide · public-safe placeholder content