# Actions Brand Guidelines > Synthesized from **Actions Brand Book v1 (2025)**. Web edition, 2026-10-19. Internal and confidential. > Items marked **(proposed)** extend the brand book and need sign-off. --- ## Brand Essence ### Purpose We're here to be first-check and mission-aligned partners to founders who are building consequential companies. We're here because we love helping to create things from scratch. We're here to match our founders' intensity by working just as hard as they do. We're here to see the idea all the way to successful company reality. ### Northstar Our Northstar is best asked as a question: > Is everything we're doing helping to further our founders and support the actions they take so their company can make the maximum impact? ### Vision To build the strongest first-check VC platform for founders solving global problems in critical industries. ### Ways of Working - We go through everything with founders, so we know the challenges of building a company from scratch. - When a founder runs into something, good or bad, they call us: day or night. - We work with them as it happens, so they can make the most informed long-term decisions. ### Core Actions It takes more than "beliefs" or "values" to make real impact. So these are the actions we take. - **All In, No Doubt.** We show higher conviction by outworking other VCs; founders empathize with this, and LPs respect it. We're always hungry and don't take the summers off. We make 2–3 investments per partner, so it's a partner-led collective effort that taps our broader network of LPs, founders, and venture partners. - **Empathy as a Superpower.** We provide the support we wish we had as founders. We've been there; we know the highs and lows. Every situation is unique, so we work with founders to make empowered decisions. - **Beyond Cheerleading.** We advise on what's best for founders to do as a company, not what founders want to hear or what's best for the fund. In the long term these are the same. We don't sugar-coat things. - **Nothing's Too Early or Weird.** When something looks complicated or will require major effort, the classic VC response is "It's a little too early." Pre-seed is all we do, so we know how to wrap our minds around the complications. - **Group Dynamics are Key.** Building a company takes a village. We're building the roads and rails for a strong support system, and a shorter learning curve, for our founders. ### Tagline **Actions create consequential companies.** - It distills the essence of the brand. Use it sparingly, like a main headline, as it is on the website. - Don't lock it up with the logo: the double mention of "actions" sounds repetitive. --- ## Logo ### Elements - **Brandmark:** three planes, each three quarters the size of the plane behind it, stepping up and to the right. - **Logotype:** "actions" in lowercase. Always use the artwork; never retype it. - **Logo:** the brandmark and logotype together. ### Lockups 1. **Lockup 1:** brandmark over the logotype. 2. **Lockup 2:** brandmark above, set to the right. 3. **Lockup 3:** large brandmark with the logotype over its base. The brandmark may be used on its own. The logotype is never shown without the brandmark. ### Shading - **Subtle shade (preferred):** each plane has a slightly different tone. - **Solid:** one tone for all planes. Works well at small sizes. ### Colourways | Colourway | Use | Planes, back to front | Logotype | |---|---|---|---| | Not White | On dark backgrounds | #F2F1EB, #F7F5F0, #FFFEFC (solid: #F7F5F0) | #F0EDE9 | | Not Black | On light backgrounds | #1A1A19, #262625, #333332 (solid: #262625) | #2C2C2C | | Violet | For companies, concepts, approaches, and things | #290C1E, #451534, #621D49 (solid: #451534) | #290C1E | ### Clear space - **Lockups 1 and 2:** at least the height of the "i" on every side; ideally twice that. - **Lockup 3:** at least twice the height of the "i". - **Brandmark alone:** at least the height of its smallest plane. - On colour or imagery, apply colourways consistently and keep the brand legible. ### Minimum size (proposed) Brandmark 16px tall on screen, and solid below 32px. Lockups 80px wide. ### File formats SVG for web and print. Transparent PNG (1200px tall) for documents and Google Slides. ### Lined brandmark Marked "Needs decision" in Brand Book v1. Don't use it until it is approved. --- ## Colour ### Primary and accent | Name | Hex | Role | |---|---|---| | Not White | #FCFBF7 | The dominant theme: off-whites so close they're hard to tell apart. About 70% of everything. | | Not Black | #2C2C2C | Copy only. | | Violet | #B03F89 | The dominant accent colour. | | Acid | #B7FF00 | Actions only: CTAs and rollovers in digital. Used sparingly. | ### Scales - **Not White:** 50 #FFFEFC · 100 #FCFBF7 · 150 #F7F5F0 · 200 #F2F1EB · 250 #F0EDE9 · 300 #E5E3DF - **Not Black:** 700 #525252 · 800 #3B3B3B · 850 #333332 · 900 #262625 · 950 #1A1A19 · 990 #0D0D0D - **Violet** (mostly 500–950): 100 #F2C4E1 · 200 #E5A1CE · 300 #E577BF · 400 #CF57A3 · 500 #B03F89 · 600 #8D2A6A · 700 #7E275F · 800 #621D49 · 900 #451534 · 950 #290C1E - **Acid** (mostly 400–800): 100 #ECFFBD · 200 #DFFF8F · 300 #D2FF61 · 400 #C5FF33 · 500 #B7FF00 · 600 #9AD600 · 700 #79A800 · 800 #587A00 · 900 #374D00 · 950 #161F00 ### Distribution Roughly 70% Not White, 17.5% Not Black, 12.5% Violet, 5% Acid. A guide rather than a formula. ### Legible pairings (WCAG 2) | Text on background | Ratio | Use | |---|---|---| | Not Black on Not White | 13.5:1 | Body copy | | Violet 600 on Not White | 7.6:1 | Headlines | | Violet 500 on Not White | 5.2:1 | Accents, larger text | | Not White on Violet 800 | 11.3:1 | Copy on violet panels | | Violet 200 on Violet 800 | 5.8:1 | Small text on violet | | Violet 400 on Violet 800 | 3.1:1 | Large headlines on violet only | | Not Black on Acid | 11.5:1 | CTA labels | | Acid on Not Black 950 | 14.4:1 | Headlines over dark imagery | | Violet 400 on Not Black 950 | 4.6:1 | Headlines over dark imagery | | Acid on Not White | 1.2:1 | Never for text | --- ## Typography ### Geist Geist is our primary and only font. It's a geometric sans with a clean, modern aesthetic, built on simplicity, minimalism, and speed, with roots in the Swiss design movement. It's a Google font, so it works across Google Docs and Slides: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Geist. In Next.js, load it with `next/font/google`. - **Light (300):** headlines. We don't shout, so never use Bold for headlines. - **Regular (400):** body copy and secondary headlines. - **Semi-Bold (600):** highlights inside body copy only. ### Hierarchy Brand-book sizes are the desktop maximum. On the web, each style scales down to a mobile minimum. | Style | Size (min on web) | Weight | Line height | Letter spacing | Token | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Impact headline | 112pt (56px) | Light | 97% | −4% | `text-impact` | | Primary headline | 64pt (40px) | Light | 105% | −2% | `text-primary` | | Secondary headline | 32pt (24px) | Regular | 105% | −2% | `text-secondary` | | Paragraph | 18pt (16px) | Regular | 130% | 0% | `text-paragraph` | | Small (proposed) | 14px | Regular | 140% | 0% | `text-small` | | Caption (proposed) | 12px | Regular | 140% | 0% | `text-caption` | ### Line height rules Headlines work best below 100% line height, which gives them a compact feeling. Longer headlines need more room so characters don't run into each other. - Impact headline: 85% for short copy, 100% for longer copy. - Primary headline: 90% for short copy, 100% for longer copy. - Paragraph: always 130%. ### Measure Keep paragraph lines to 50–75 characters, about 11 words. ### Text lockups 1. Impact headline, primary headline, paragraph. 2. Impact headline with adjusted line height, paragraph. 3. Secondary headline, paragraph. 4. Impact headline, secondary headline. ### Colour application Primary headlines in Geist Light, Violet 600. Secondary headlines in Geist Regular, Not Black 800. Paragraphs in Geist Regular, Not Black 800, with lead-ins in Violet 600. Acid for rollovers. --- ## Shape, Spacing, and Grid - **Planes:** the brandmark's planes slope 15.4° from left to right, and each is three quarters the size of the one behind it. Layer them on violet panels in Violet 700–950. - **Square corners:** every panel, swatch, and photograph in the brand book is square-cornered. Radius is 0. - **Spacing (proposed):** a 4px scale: 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128. - **Grid (proposed):** 12 columns, 24px gutters (16px on mobile), 1280px maximum. The brand book's signature layout pairs a violet panel (4 columns) with content (8 columns). --- ## Key Visuals Key visuals interpret our dominant themes: daring to go where others won't, taking a leap, working as a team, with high conviction and hands on. Irrepressible kinetic energy, visualised actions. Shot in black and white. Minimal, strong. - Black and white only. - People in motion: leaping, running, moving together. - Hard light and strong diagonals. - Minimal frames with one idea per image. - Headlines over imagery use Acid and Violet 400, for example "Actions create / consequential companies." or "High-conviction, / Hands-on." - Confirm usage rights for the four brand-book images before using them outside Actions. --- ## Voice and Tone - **Words Can Fail: Actions Prevail.** Because actions are louder than words, we do more than say. - **In Founders We Trust.** Our writing shows we understand what founders are facing, solving, and accomplishing. - **Emphatic Empathy.** We've been doing this for 18 years and have been beside founders when things get rough. Our tone helps founders plow through the problem and come out stronger. - **Bravery in Clarity.** Founders take risks, so we owe it to them to tell things straight. - **Human = Humor.** Being human in this industry means laughing once in a while. A bit of irreverence shows we've been through it all. - **Unwavering vs "Weathervaning".** We have a particular view of the world and how to invest in it. We don't shift with trends or gimmicks. ### Voice in use - "It's better to show than tell. To do than say." - "Words can be strong. Actions are stronger." - "High-conviction, hands-on." - "Prepared to build consequential companies." ### Applying the voice (proposed) | Context | Register | In practice | |---|---|---| | Founders | Emphatic, straight, a little irreverent | Name the hard thing first, then what to do about it. | | LPs and investors | Conviction without hype | Show the work: what we did and what happened, not what we believe. | | Product UI | Less is better | Lead with the verb and say what happened: "2 intro paths found." "Export shortlist." | --- ## Channels ### Re: Actions (content series) Each decision a founder makes has lasting consequences. Our content illustrates the actions founders took at key points so other founders can benefit. - **Less is better.** Shorter is sweeter. Do less content and do it really well. - **Resharing is caring.** Only share what really makes an impact for founders. - **Is it creating value?** If not, we don't do it. - **The spotlight's not on us.** The VC is to the founders as the gallery is to the artist. - Formats: behind-the-scenes tours of select portfolio companies, non-obvious scenarios and strategies, founders' "actions" highlights. ### Inter: Actions (event series) Where we gather to celebrate the founders whose actions speak louder than words. - **Focus on the founders.** Events are not self-promotion. - **Don't be so serious.** Humility and humanity are the true ways in to real connection. - **Go deep, not wide.** Give founders actionable information to walk away with. - **Experience over education.** Shared experiences and breaking bread; never talking at people. --- ## Product UI Components use semantic tokens, never raw palette values: component → semantic token → palette colour. | Token | Maps to | Use | |---|---|---| | `--color-page` | Not White 100 | Page background | | `--color-raised` | Not White 50 | Cards and panels | | `--color-brand` | Violet 800 | Violet panels | | `--color-ink` | Not Black | Primary copy | | `--color-ink-muted` | Not Black at 70% (#6A6A69) | Captions; the lightest AA grey | | `--color-heading` | Violet 600 | Headlines on light | | `--color-action` | Acid 500 | CTAs and rollovers | | `--color-on-action` | Not Black | Text on Acid | | `--color-focus` | Violet 500 | Focus ring on light | - **Status (proposed):** positive #08805E, caution #C27C0E, critical #A3241C, neutral #525252, each with a darker text tone and a light wash. Always pair with an icon and a label. - **Relationship strength (proposed):** none #E5E3DF, weak #E577BF, medium #B03F89, strong #621D49. - **Interaction:** Acid marks anything you can act on (hover Acid 400, pressed Acid 600). Violet marks focus and selection on light surfaces. --- ## Do and Don't **Do** - Keep compositions mostly Not White. - Use Not Black only for copy. - Make Violet the dominant accent. - Save Acid for actions: CTAs and rollovers. - Set headlines in Geist Light; use Semi-Bold only to highlight body copy. - Keep paragraphs at 130% line height and 50–75 characters per line. - Shoot key visuals in black and white. - Use the solid brandmark at small sizes. - Make sure the brand is always legible. **Don't** - Show the logotype without the brandmark. - Lock up the tagline with the logo. - Use Bold for headlines. - Set text in Acid on light backgrounds. - Recolour the logo outside its three colourways, or stretch, rotate, or retype it. - Overuse the tagline. - Use colour photography for key visuals. - Round the corners of panels, cards, or images. - Use the lined brandmark before it is approved. --- ## Open Decisions 1. **Lined brandmark:** marked "Needs decision". Working choice: excluded. 2. **Headline font name:** the line-height rules cite Favorit Semi-Bold and Medium, but Geist is "our primary and only font". Working choice: Geist Light. 3. **Headline line heights:** specimen 97% / 105% versus rules 85–100% / 90–100%. Working choice: specimen by default, rules for short and long copy. 4. **Not Black swatch:** #2C2C2C isn't a step on the Not Black scale. Working choice: kept as the base copy colour. 5. **Solid brandmark tone:** one page uses Not Black 950, the colourway page uses 900. Working choice: the colourway page. 6. **Colourways:** the text mentions four; three are shown. Working choice: three. 7. **Not yet defined:** iconography, status colours, spacing, grid, minimum logo sizes, motion. --- ## Assets and Tokens - Brand page: `brand/index.html` - Logos: `brand/assets/logo/svg` and `brand/assets/logo/png`, or `Actions-Brand-Logos.zip` - Key visuals: `brand/assets/key-visuals`, or `Actions-Key-Visuals.zip` - Tokens: `brand/tokens/actions.tokens.json` (source), built to CSS, Tailwind v4, and TypeScript with `node brand/tokens/build.mts`