# BitConcepts Brand Guidelines

**This repository is the single source of truth for BitConcepts brand assets.**
Every BitConcepts property — bitconcepts.tech, the research pages, project
repositories, documents, and social profiles — takes its logo, palette, and
brand rules from here. Assets are never forked, redrawn, or "improved"
locally: if an asset needs to change, it changes here, by pull request, and
consumers re-pull. When consuming an asset, cite the git tag and the sha256
from [`assets-manifest.json`](assets-manifest.json) so any rendered copy can
be verified against this source.

---

## 1. The mark

The BitConcepts mark is a **blue circuit-style capital B**: a bold letter B
filled with a blue gradient, fed by printed-circuit-board traces that
terminate in ring-and-core node dots. Three traces enter the spine from the
left (top, middle, bottom — the middle trace carries a via dot), and one
trace exits the lower bowl to a node on the right. The mark says what the
company does: circuits, systems, and evidence you can trace end to end.

| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Master file | [`logo/bitconcepts-mark.svg`](logo/bitconcepts-mark.svg) — hand-authored vector; all other variants are generated from it by `scripts/build_variants.py` |
| Canvas | 256 × 256 viewBox |
| B construction | Stroke-built letter, stroke width 30, round caps and joins; spine at x=104, upper bowl radius 33, lower bowl radius 45 |
| Gradient | Linear, bottom-left → top-right: `#03A1D0` → `#38C2EC`, applied to the B only |
| Traces | Stroke `#03A1D0`, width 7, 45° bends, round caps |
| Nodes | Ring (stroke `#38C2EC`, width 4, r=8) with a filled core (r=3) |

### Variants

| File | Use |
|---|---|
| `logo/bitconcepts-mark.svg` | Primary mark, transparent background — for use on charcoal/dark surfaces |
| `logo/bitconcepts-mark-on-charcoal.svg` | Mark on its charcoal field — headers, tiles, anywhere the field must travel with the mark |
| `logo/bitconcepts-logo-horizontal.svg` | Full lockup (mark + wordmark) — for dark surfaces |
| `logo/bitconcepts-mark-mono-white.svg` | Single-colour white — dark surfaces, watermarks, embossing |
| `logo/bitconcepts-mark-mono-black.svg` | Single-colour black — light surfaces, print, fax-era paperwork |
| `logo/png/*` | Raster renders of the mark and lockup at standard sizes |
| `favicon/*` | Browser and touch icons |
| `social/og-card.png` | 1200 × 630 social/OpenGraph card |

## 2. Clear space and minimum size

- **Clear space:** on all sides, keep a margin of at least the height of one
  node ring (16 units on the 256 canvas — roughly the width of the B's
  spine stroke ÷ 2) free of type, rules, and other graphics.
- **Minimum size:** the mark may not be reproduced smaller than **24 px**
  (24 pt print) wide. Below that, use the favicon tile, whose geometry is
  the same mark scaled onto its rounded charcoal field.
- The horizontal lockup may not be reproduced smaller than **96 px** wide;
  below that, use the mark alone.

## 3. Colour

| Swatch | Name | Hex | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⬛ | Charcoal Field | `#1A1D21` | Primary background — the mark's home |
| ⬛ | Charcoal Card | `#22262B` | Raised surfaces on charcoal |
| 🔵 | Circuit Blue | `#03A1D0` | Primary brand blue — traces, links, gradient start |
| 🔵 | Circuit Bright | `#38C2EC` | Highlight — node dots, gradient end, hover/focus |

Machine-readable copies: [`color/palette.json`](color/palette.json) and
[`color/palette.css`](color/palette.css). These four colours are the entire
canonical palette; extended UI colours on a given property are implementation
details of that property, not brand colours.

## 4. Background rules

- The colour mark **lives on charcoal** (`#1A1D21`) or comparably dark,
  quiet backgrounds. On dark photography or busy surfaces, use the
  on-charcoal variant so the field travels with the mark.
- On light backgrounds, use the **mono black** mark. Do not place the
  gradient mark directly on white or light grey — the bright end of the
  gradient loses contrast.
- Never place the mark on a blue background, a gradient background other
  than its own, or a background whose luminance sits between the two
  gradient stops.

## 5. Typography

BitConcepts uses a **system font stack** — `'Segoe UI', 'Helvetica Neue',
Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif` — matching bitconcepts.tech. Headlines and the
wordmark are set in the bold weight with minimal letter spacing (+0.5 units
in the lockup). No font files are distributed with this repository and no
licensed font is bundled or implied.

## 6. Misuse — don'ts

- Don't redraw, re-space, or re-proportion the B, the traces, or the nodes.
- Don't change the gradient, its direction, or substitute other blues.
- Don't outline, shadow, bevel, glow, or animate the mark.
- Don't rotate, stretch, crop, or set the mark at an angle.
- Don't separate the traces from the B or use the nodes as a standalone motif.
- Don't place the colour mark on light or blue backgrounds (see §4).
- Don't re-typeset the wordmark in another font or change its capitalisation
  (**BitConcepts** — capital B, capital C, no space).
- Don't create local variants. Need a new format or size? Open a PR here.

## 7. Versioning

Assets are versioned with git tags (`vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH`). A change to the
mark's geometry is a MAJOR change; new variants or sizes are MINOR; metadata
and documentation fixes are PATCH. Every distributed file's sha256 is
recorded in [`assets-manifest.json`](assets-manifest.json), regenerated by
`scripts/build_manifest.py` at each release.

## 8. Rights

All brand assets in this repository are **© BitConcepts, all rights
reserved** — see [`LICENSE`](LICENSE). Public visibility is for convenient
consumption by BitConcepts properties and partners, not a licence to reuse
the BitConcepts identity. Build scripts in `scripts/` are MIT-licensed (see
the header in each file).