Intelligence runs deeper.
BRAND FOUNDATION · VERSION 1.0 · 19 OCTOBER 2026
The idea
Intelligence runs deeper.
Undergrove is a private AI product in development. The identity pairs a branching root emblem with open landscapes and a restrained green palette. It should feel clear, welcoming, and dependable.
The source references are the supplied identity board (2026-10-19 07.52.09.jpg) and the crisp root emblem and wordmark (2026-10-19 07.52.25.jpg). This kit keeps the root silhouette, widely spaced wordmark, natural colours, and forest imagery from those references. It adds consistent spacing, readable colours, and files sized for practical use. The editable emblem is a careful geometric reconstruction; it is not the original vector source.
Positioning
- Category: Private AI, in development.
- Audience: People who want more control over the AI tools they use.
- Brand promise: A personal space to work with AI.
- Character: Grounded, open, thoughtful, independent, capable.
- Values: People. Ideas. Models. Agents. Freedom.
- Design principles: Readable type; clear choices; simple layouts; useful detail; plain language.
Show what Undergrove offers in its own words. Keep the visual identity consistent, make product choices easy to understand, and avoid copying a competitor’s interface or claims.
Signature system
Use lockup-forest.svg on light surfaces and lockup-ivory.svg on forest or other dark surfaces. Use the stacked signature for covers and large compositions. The root emblem can stand alone in an app icon, avatar, favicon, or a space where the name is already established.
The wordmark is purpose-built vector lettering reconstructed from the reference. It is not live text and should never be retyped with arbitrary tracking. Inter is the product and document typeface. The website and edition 02 social campaign use the existing Fraunces editorial family for headlines.
Clear space: Keep at least one fifth of the emblem’s height free on all sides of a standalone mark. For signatures, keep a gap equal to the wordmark’s capital height around the entire lockup. More space is welcome.
Recommended minimums: Emblem 28 px high in interfaces, 8 mm in print. Horizontal signature 172 px wide in interfaces, 42 mm in print. Stacked signature 240 px wide. Use the dedicated favicon at 16–32 px; inspect at actual display size.
Preserve: Original proportions, stroke character, separate twigs, central axis, and prescribed spacing. The master is stroke-based so it stays editable. Expand strokes in a vector editor if a print vendor requires filled outlines.
Avoid: Stretching, arbitrary rotation, extra roots, glows, drop shadows, gradients inside the mark, textured fills, placing the mark over busy photography, or using leaf/sage for small text. Keep the mark clearly visible against its background.
Palette
| Token | Hex | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Ivory | #F8FAF7 | Main canvas, light text on forest |
| Stone | #E7E9E4 | Quiet alternate surfaces and app tile |
| Sage | #C8D4C7 | Decorative fields, gentle dividers |
| Leaf | #8FAE93 | Supporting illustrations and accents |
| Forest | #2F5E46 | Primary actions, logo, strong accents |
| Root | #7A6A4B | Warm supporting accent |
| Ink | #152D23 | Primary text, navigation, editorial headlines |
As a starting point, use roughly 65% ivory and stone, 20% photography, 10% forest and ink, and 5% supporting colours. Adjust these proportions to suit the layout.
Measured WCAG contrast on Ivory: Ink 13.98:1, Forest 7.12:1, Root 5.01:1, Leaf 2.31:1, Sage 1.46:1. Ink, Forest, and Root can carry normal-sized text on Ivory. Leaf and Sage are decorative fills, not body-copy colours. Recheck all combinations when opacity, photography, or other backgrounds are involved. Do not communicate state through colour alone.
Typography
Edition 02 campaign system: Fraunces Regular at optical size 72 for social headlines; Inter for short supporting text and asset labels. The included editorial font files and licenses support this extension. The original foundation PDFs retain the edition 01 type treatment; the current channel guide is authoritative for the new social files.
Inter is the working typeface. Font files and SIL Open Font License are included. Use weights 400–500 for most UI and editorial content, with 600 reserved for essential emphasis. Use title/sentence case for readable headlines and body text. The uppercase tracked wordmark is a brand signature, not a style to apply to whole paragraphs.
| Role | Desktop | Compact layouts | Leading | Tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hero | 72–104 px | 42–58 px | 0.98–1.08 | −0.05 to −0.03 em |
| Section heading | 40–56 px | 30–38 px | 1.1–1.2 | −0.04 to −0.02 em |
| Body | 16–18 px | 16 px | 1.5–1.7 | Normal |
| Interface | 13–15 px | 13–15 px | 1.4–1.5 | Normal |
| Eyebrow | 10–12 px | 10–12 px | 1.5 | 0.14–0.2 em |
Keep prose lines around 50–75 characters. Avoid thin body text, over-tracked sentences, and pale supporting copy. The reference wordmark has a custom geometric treatment; use its SVG master.
Photography and material
Use misty forests, visible roots, soft morning light, and close views of leaf veins. Keep the colours natural and slightly muted. Generated scenes are suitable for brand imagery, but should never be presented as photographs of a real place.
Place type over clear areas of the image. Add an overlay when needed for contrast, and keep small text away from detailed foliage. Give one strong image enough space. Avoid neon, cyberpunk scenes, robots, artificial brains, glowing circuitry, generic lock symbols as the central visual, and synthetic-looking glossy 3D objects.
forest-hero.png and leaf-detail.png are AI-generated supporting artwork produced for this kit from the supplied art direction. They are not photographs of a named place. The original references remain separate and unmodified.
Voice and copy
Write the way a knowledgeable person would explain the product: directly, warmly, and without exaggeration. Say what a feature does and why someone might use it. Keep sentences short enough to follow on the first read.
Primary line: Intelligence runs deeper.
Campaign line: Grow privately. Think further.
Product line: Your intelligence. Your environment.
Supporting line: A more open intelligence future.
Useful vocabulary: think, explore, choose, create, grow, your space, your models, your choices.
Avoid: revolutionary, limitless, guaranteed privacy, completely anonymous, military-grade, unhackable, and unsupported claims of superiority.
Privacy statements must match the product as built. Before launch, describe data handling, retention, model providers, encryption, and account controls precisely, and have those statements reviewed. Do not claim zero retention, no training, local-only inference, certification, open-source status, model availability, performance, or live pricing without verification. Clearly label prototypes and planned features. Do not imply that a local preview is a working private LLM service.
Interface language
Use ivory as the main canvas, stone for subtle structure, and forest for the primary action. Give cards 16–24 px corner radii, fields 14–20 px, and pills fully rounded corners. Prefer fine borders over heavy shadows. Use an underlying 4 px spacing scale; prefer 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, and 96 px increments.
Each view should make its purpose visible, offer one main next action, and explain its current state. Forms need visible labels, specific error messages, keyboard access, and a clear success state. Primary touch targets should be at least 44 px. Focus outlines must remain visible. Never silently simulate sending a message, creating an account, or submitting an email.
Motion
Use 160–260 ms transitions for controls and 400–600 ms for section entrances. Prefer fades and 8–14 px of vertical movement. Avoid bouncing, distracting typing effects, and decorative loops. The living forest background is a deliberate exception: provide play/pause controls and show its poster when reduced motion is requested. Animate only where it helps.
Channel assets
Use the edition 02 files in 03-social/channels/ for X, Telegram, buybot media, and DEX Screener. The channel guide identifies each upload, its dimensions, and crop/profile-photo clearance. PNGs are ready to upload; SVGs are editable masters. The buybot includes silent MP4 and two GIF sizes, based on the existing natural forest film. Keep transaction values in the bot caption. The DEX Screener artwork contains the brand identity only. No token symbol, contract, network, or token claims have been supplied.
Delivery and production
SVGs are editable vector masters. PNGs are practical distribution exports. The logo wordmark is vector geometry and has no font dependency. Social SVG supporting text remains editable and uses an Inter/Arial fallback stack. Use the HTML gallery for Inter-rendered previews and the PNG exports for fixed delivery.
Digital output is sRGB. Print suppliers should perform CMYK conversion for their own profile and paper; there is no universal CMYK equivalent. Inspect a physical proof before committing to print. Use the overview PDF for a quick visual reference and this guide for production details.
All social templates contain finished brand copy, not live product offers or unsupported capability claims. Replace the message within the stated safe areas while preserving logo proportions, contrast, and margins. Export at the listed native dimensions.