Brand Guidelines · ShadowBiz

01 · Brand Essence

We don’t sell software.
We solve real problems.

Empathy first

We listen. We sit with businesses. We understand the pain before we touch the keyboard.

Custom always

No off-the-shelf compromises. Every solution is shaped for one specific business and the humans inside it.

Brand-worthy

Some solutions become full product brands. Crestly is the first. More are coming.

02 · Logo System

The mark

A forest-green shield housing a stylised “S” with a lime accent. The shield evokes protection and trust; the lightning-cut S signals speed and decisive action. The wordmark pairs “Shadow” (the quiet, careful work) with “biz” in lime (the visible business outcome).

Primary lockup

Variants

shadowbiz-light.png · use on cream / white

shadowbiz-dark.png · use on dark teal / black

shadowbiz-mono-black.png · single-colour print, light bg

shadowbiz-mono-white.png · single-colour, dark bg

Mark only (shield)

mark-light

mark-dark

on lime accent

on ink

Do

Use approved colour variants for each background
Maintain at least the shield’s width as clear space
Use SVG / high-res PNG for crisp display
Minimum size: 24px wide on web, 8mm in print

Don’t

Stretch, skew, or rotate the logo
Add shadows, glows, or 3D effects
Place on busy photo backgrounds without a solid plate
Recolour the lime accent or shield independently

03 · Color Palette

A focused palette

Two anchors — forest ink and lime accent. One paper system in cream. Everything else flows from these.

Primary

Ink

#1d3a2e

Lime Accent

#84cc16

Cream

#f5f1e8

Dark Teal

#0a2828

Ink Scale (text hierarchy)

Ink

#1d3a2e

Ink 80

#2e4a3e

Ink 60

#5a6b5e

Ink 40

#8a9a8e

Ink 20

#bcc7c0

Accent (lime)

Deep

#65a30d

Lime

#84cc16

Soft

#a3e635

Tint

#e8f5d0

Surfaces (paper system)

Cream

#f5f1e8

Cream Soft

#faf6ed

Cream Deep

#ebe4d4

Rule: One lime accent per frame. Use it for the most important CTA, brand chip, or focal point — never sprinkle multiple lime elements across a single composition. Restraint is the point.

04 · Typography

Two typefaces. No more.

Inter for everything UI and editorial. JetBrains Mono for meta — eyebrows, numbers, code, monospaced labels. That’s the whole system.

Inter

Aa

Display, headlines, body, UI. Weights 400 / 500 / 600 / 700 / 800.

font-family: 'Inter', system-ui, sans-serif;

JetBrains Mono

Aa

Eyebrows, numbers, code, tags. Weights 400 / 500 / 600.

font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace;

Type scale

Display · 72pxHeadline

H1 · 48pxHeadline

H2 · 36pxHeadline

H3 · 24pxSubhead

Body · 16pxBody copy reads here at a comfortable rhythm.

Meta · 13pxSupporting captions and helper text.

Eyebrow · 11pxSection label · monospace

05 · Voice & Tone

Calm. Specific. Honest.

We write like a careful advisor, not a hyped-up agency. Problems are named clearly. Outcomes are stated plainly. No revolution, no synergy, no rocket emojis.

Principle 01

Problem first, solution second

Headlines name the pain before the pitch. Readers feel seen before they’re sold.

Principle 02

Specifics over superlatives

“12 months of school research” beats “extensive research.” Numbers and names build trust.

Principle 03

No exclamation marks

We are calm. The problem creates the emphasis — we don’t need punctuation to shout it.

Yes

“We sat in 14 schools for 12 months before writing a single line of code.”
“Fee tracking on paper, marksheets in Word, attendance on WhatsApp — Crestly fixes that.”
“Built with school leaders. Not built for them.”

No