Guidelines for a quiet brand.
VAEV is a system of restraint. Every mark, letter, and margin exists to protect one feeling: composure. These pages define how the brand is drawn, spoken, and spaced.
Logo
Typography
Tone
Colour
Spacing
Icons
The logo is a word, set with air around it.
x = cap-height of V. Keep one x of clear space on every side of the wordmark.
Digital minimum
48px wide · use for web, apps, and social avatars
Print minimum
12mm wide · use for stationery, labels, and packaging
DoCentre on a quiet surface with full clear space.
Don'tChange the weight or tracking of the wordmark.
Don'tLock the wordmark up with extra text or taglines inside the clear space.
Don'tPlace over busy patterns without a solid scrim.
- DoSet in Inter Light (300) at uppercase, tracked to 0.4em.
- DoMaintain clear space equal to the cap-height of "V" on all sides.
- DoMinimum size: 48px on screen, 12mm in print.
- DoUse only Ink, Paper, or Grey 3 for the wordmark.
- Don'tStretch, outline, italicise, or add drop shadows.
- Don'tPlace over busy imagery without a scrim or crop.
- Don'tLock the wordmark up with arbitrary taglines or symbols.
- Don'tRecolour outside the approved palette.
One family, held at Light. Weight is expressed through space, not stroke.
Inter
Sans-serif geometric-humanist family. Used for every heading, body line, and label.
Allowed weights
Light 300 · Regular 400
Render settings
Anti-aliased · -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased
Founding 500 · MMXXVI
10px / 400 / uppercase / 0.22em tracking
Used for stage markers, kickers, section numbers, and meta.
A daily scent, worn as ritual.
H1 / Display: 48–72px, Light 300, leading 1.05, tracking -0.01em.
Five hundred numbered units. Held on your name. No restocks, no shortcuts. This is how VAEV introduces itself: quietly, completely, once.
Body: 15–16px, Light 300, leading 1.7.
- DoSet body at 15–16px with 1.7 line-height for editorial rhythm.
- DoPrefer sentence case. Uppercase is reserved for micro-labels.
- DoUse weight or spacing to create hierarchy, not extra typefaces.
- Don'tUse Bold or Black weights. Never introduce a second sans-serif.
- Don'tJustify text or set italics for emphasis — use space instead.
Speak plainly. The product is the persuasion.
One sentence that lands is better than five that explain. Cut adjectives. Let the fact of 500 numbered units carry the weight.
Say 'matte black basalt disc' instead of 'luxury object'. Say 'aluminium-free base' instead of 'clean formula'. Precision builds trust.
Write as if the reader is already wearing it. 'Hold the first drop on your name.' Not 'Unlock exclusive access.'
Reach for these when describing the product, the experience, or the promise.
These words inflate, generalise, or sound like every other brand. Let them go.
This premium fragrance is a game-changer for your daily routine.
A daily scent, worn as ritual.
Unlock exclusive access to our curated luxury drop.
Hold the first drop on your name.
Join our community of discerning fragrance lovers.
Five hundred units. Held on your name.
- DoWrite in Australian English: colour, centre, behaviour, aluminium, travelling.
- DoPrefer short, concrete sentences. One idea per line.
- DoLet numbers, materials, and facts do the persuading.
- Don'tUse hype words, superlatives, or urgency tricks.
- Don'tWrite in the third person or refer to VAEV as "we" in product moments.
A palette of six. No accents, no gradients.
Ink
--foregroundPrimary type, iconography, hairlines on light surfaces.
Paper
--backgroundBase canvas, reversed contexts, generous negative space.
Grey 1
--vaev-grey-1Recessed surfaces, cards, subtle depth.
Grey 2
--vaev-grey-2Dividers on dark, tertiary UI, disabled states.
Grey 3
--vaev-grey-3Secondary copy, micro-labels, meta.
Hairline
--vaev-hairline1px dividers, section boundaries, form borders.
Primary surface
Paper #020202
Default page and section canvas.
Recessed surface
Grey 1 #0D0D0D
Cards, panels, and call-out containers.
Tertiary surface
Grey 2 #2E2E2E
Disabled states, placeholder zones, and divider bands.
Reversed surface
Ink #F2F2F2
Light-mode reversal, high-contrast CTAs, and print canvas.
- DoAnchor every layout in Ink or Paper. Grey is a whisper, not a voice.
- DoMaintain a minimum contrast of 4.5:1 for body copy.
- Don'tIntroduce colour accents, brand gradients, or seasonal palettes.
- Don'tTint imagery with hue overlays — desaturation only.
A four-based grid. Air is the loudest material.
4px
All vertical rhythm scales in multiples of four. Sections breathe in increments of 8, 16, 24, 64, 96, 160, and 224.
12-column base with 16–32px gutters. Editorial layouts favour asymmetric spans (5/7, 4/8).
Photography carries the mood. Skin, stone, mist, glass.
Frosted glass, brushed steel, weathered stone, raw linen. Objects at rest.
North-facing, single-source, no fill. Shadows are welcome and long.
Skin, hands, napes, wrists. Never eye-contact. The subject is unaware.
Rules of the frame
Every frame is built on the same quiet grid. Subject small, space large, horizon low.
Grade toward cool neutral.
Desaturate to roughly 60%. Lift shadows a hair, hold highlights. Skin stays warm; the room goes cool.
- · Saturation −40%
- · Temperature −300K (cool)
- · Contrast −10, blacks +5
- · Grain 8–12 (film emulation)
- DoShoot on medium-format when possible; grain is preferable to noise.
- DoCompose with generous negative space — subject occupies ≤ 40% of frame.
- DoGrade toward cool neutral; retain natural skin tone.
- Don'tUse stock photography, lifestyle clichés, or overt smiles.
- Don'tApply filters, vignettes, or heavy colour grading.
- Don'tOverlay type on faces. Type belongs on stone, sky, or margin.
Line, not colour. Diagram, not decoration.
0.5–1px hairlines in Paper on Ink. No brushwork, no texture, no shading.
Geometric primitives — circle, line, arc. Molecular diagrams and cross-sections.
Technical, clinical, patient. Illustration explains; it never performs.
- DoDraw in Paper (#f2f2f2) on Ink (#020202), or the inverse. No third colour.
- DoKeep stroke weights consistent within a set — 0.5, 0.75, or 1px.
- DoLabel with Micro caps. Numerals allowed; sentences discouraged.
- Don'tUse gradients, drop shadows, or 3D perspective.
- Don'tIntroduce mascot, character, or hand-drawn illustration styles.
- Don'tCombine illustration with photography in the same frame.
Line, not glyph. One weight across the set.
1px hairline on 24px canvas. All icons share the same stroke weight. No fills, no gradients, no shadows.
Draw on a 24×24 keyline with 2px padding. Optical correction is allowed; mathematically perfect centre is not.
Interactive icons sit inside a 44×44dp target. Decorative icons may be smaller, but never below 16px.
16px
Minimum inline icon. Meta rows, inline labels.
20px
Default UI icon. Buttons, inputs, navigation.
24px
Large icon. Toolbars, feature blocks, empty states.
24px canvas with 2px keyline padding. Icon body sits on the inner grid.
Common UI marks. Every stroke is 1.5px, corners are rounded, and icons are optically balanced, not centred by math.
DoKeep line weight uniform across the set.
Don'tUse filled glyphs or solid shapes.
Don'tMix stroke weights within one icon.
Don'tCrowd the canvas with ornamental detail.
- DoUse 1.5px stroke for the entire icon set at every size.
- DoScale down by stroke width, never by scaling the whole SVG path.
- DoKeep icons in Ink on Paper, or Paper on Ink for reversal.
- DoProvide a 44×44dp touch target for any interactive icon.
- Don'tUse coloured, filled, or gradient icons.
- Don'tMix outlined and filled styles in the same interface.
- Don'tAdd drop shadows, outlines, or decorative flourishes.