logo-and-visual-system-direction

Logo & Visual System Direction

This is where strategy becomes a visual system — by directing the generators, curating ruthlessly with a human, and specifying the logo/color/type system. This plugin is thin: it authors the brief and sets the indemnity flag; generative-web-media runs generation and picks the provider per-asset; web-design builds the tokens. The value here is direction + curation, not raw pixels.

Two hard gates live in this skill. (1) strategy-before-visuals — refuse if no brand-strategy-brief.md exists. (2) documented-human-authorship — a human must select and log a substantial modification before a concept becomes a deliverable. The curated vector is the deliverable and is NEVER regenerated in Firefly. Every font-license/IP claim routes to security-reviewer. Prices [unverified].

Workflow

1. Gate: strategy exists. No brand-strategy-brief.md → stop, route to brand-strategist.
2. Author the generation brief (the seam). Fill ../../templates/creative-brief-for-generative-media.md — one brief per request_kind. Set indemnity_required: true for client-facing/resold assets. Do not name a provider — media's license gate chooses per-asset.
3. Generate breadth (or fall back). Hand the brief to generative-web-media. If it is not installed, emit the brief as a copy-paste prompt-pack (below) so the engagement is never blocked.
4. Gate: human curation + authorship. A human selects; log the selection and a substantial human modification/arrangement in ../../templates/curation-and-authorship-log.md.
5. Spec the logo suite, color system, type system (below), validating WCAG pairs with the runnable checker.
6. Hand off to brand-book-assembly (compile) and, for tokens, to web-design:design-tokens-scaffolding.

Anti-slop brief authoring

The model defaults to a "legible middle" that reads as slop. Escape it with specific constraints:

• Positive constraints: "identifiable in one flat color", "reads at 16px favicon size", "geometric sans wordmark", "the mark works without the wordmark".
• Negative constraints: "no gradient mesh", "no generic swoosh/globe", "avoid the #-blue SaaS palette", "not a literal picture of the product".
• Reference-anchored intent: "like Stripe's restraint but warmer" beats "modern and clean".
• Bulk count: generate many; the human curates. Exploration is cheap; refinement is human.

Prompt-pack fallback (when generative-web-media is absent)

If generative-web-media is not installed, render the brief's intent + constraints + negative_constraints as a numbered prompt list the operator pastes into a vector-capable generator (Recraft/Ideogram class for logos/wordmarks). Carry the indemnity note forward ("client-facing/resold — use an IP-indemnified provider for imagery; keep the curated vector as the deliverable"), and record provider + license_class manually in the authorship log. Never substitute a Firefly regen for the curated vector.

Logo suite spec (the gold deliverable)

Variant	Requirement
Primary lockup	The default mark + wordmark relationship
Secondary / stacked	For constrained widths
Mark alone	Works without the wordmark (app icon, favicon)
Wordmark alone	Typographic, no mark
Clear-space	Defined in terms of a mark-derived unit (e.g. cap-height)
Min-size	Smallest legible size, per medium (px for web, mm for print)
Mono / one-color	A single flat color version
Reversed / B&W	Legible knocked-out on dark and in pure B&W
Do / don't gallery	The specific misuses to forbid (stretch, recolor, re-spacing, drop-shadow)

True vector (SVG) is the format; the mark must be identifiable in B&W (the acid test of a real mark vs a gradient-dependent picture).

Color system spec

• Roles, not just swatches: primary / secondary / accent / neutrals (a full neutral ramp).
• Per color: HEX + RGB + OKLCH (and CMYK if print is in scope).
• WCAG pairs — validated, not asserted. Run ../../scripts/check-brand-a11y.py on the text/background + accent + UI/focus pairs. AA floor: 4.5:1 normal text, 3:1 large text, 3:1 UI/focus. A primary text pair under 4.5:1 fails the handoff — fix the palette, don't ship the debt.
• Hand the role/value decisions to web-design:design-tokens-scaffolding; do not build the token pipeline here.

Type system spec

• Families (display / text / mono) + a modular scale + pairing rules + weights actually loaded.
• Explicit web-license class per family in ../../templates/font-license-tracker.md. OFL/Apache self-host is preferred. A non-self-hostable font (Adobe Fonts embed-only, Monotype pageview-metered) is blocked from the token export — see brand-legal-and-licensing.

Anti-patterns

• Generating visuals before the strategy brief exists.
• A "modern/clean/professional" brief (the slop prompt) instead of specific + negative constraints.
• Treating a Firefly regeneration as the "final" logo — it discards the human curation the value rests on.
• A logo that dies in one color or B&W (gradient-dependent = not a mark).
• Shipping a palette whose contrast was eyeballed, not validated.
• Recording a font family with no web-license class.

See also

• Template (the seam): ../../templates/creative-brief-for-generative-media.md
• Template: ../../templates/curation-and-authorship-log.md
• Script: ../../scripts/check-brand-a11y.py
• Best-practices: ../../best-practices/curate-the-vector-dont-regenerate-it.md, ../../best-practices/color-systems-need-wcag-pairs-not-just-hex.md
• Skill: ../brand-legal-and-licensing/SKILL.md