Visual Identity
Foundation, mark, color, typography, and usage principles for the Lintel identity system.
Lintel is a design studio that builds software for companies navigating complex industries. The name is structural: a lintel is the horizontal beam that spans an opening in a wall, carrying load so passage is possible. That's the studio's function — design that carries intelligence so people can move through it.
Considered to the last detail.
An inverted U. No container. The horizontal beam spans two vertical supports — the lintel itself, abstracted into geometry. Structural without being pictorial. It scales cleanly from favicon to display size and carries no borrowed form.
Minimum clearspace on all sides equals the height of the mark. This is the "x" unit for all spacing rules.
The palette is built on pure grey neutrals — no warmth or coolness baked into the base. Slate carries the studio's character. Copper is a secondary accent, retained for warmth in specific contexts.
R=G=B throughout. No tint. This gives product UIs built on the system maximum flexibility — dark mode and light mode both read clean.
The mark has no fill. The new mark is a pure outline form — it carries no background. On dark surfaces, the stroke is cream (#F5F0E8). On light surfaces, the stroke is charcoal (#0C0C0C). The mark inherits context rather than imposing color.
Slate is primary. It carries primary interactive elements and key UI signal. Copper is secondary — it brings warmth to specific surfaces and moments but does not define the identity. Cream is the light surface. Use sparingly in digital — white (#FFFFFF) is preferred for pure UI contexts.
Design that carries intelligence.
Primary body copy on charcoal. Clean separation at all sizes.
Design that carries intelligence.
Primary body copy on cream. Warm and readable.
Two typefaces. Arno Pro is the display voice — editorial, considered, humanist. DM Sans is the functional layer — clear, neutral, modern. They don't compete. Each has a role.
carries intelligence.
Arno Pro is named after the Arno River in Florence — a choice that speaks to the humanist tradition of Italian Renaissance letterforms. It has the warmth and optical precision of a true text face, but scales up beautifully for display use.
DM Sans was designed by Colophon Foundry for Deepmind — a typeface built for readability at small sizes in complex interfaces. It carries a geometric clarity without feeling cold.
Case study
Designing for the advisor who's seen everything.
Financial advisors carry 20 years of pattern recognition in their heads. The product had to respect that intelligence while making the work faster — not by simplifying it, but by removing friction from what they already knew.
The brand operates primarily on dark surfaces — charcoal is the default canvas. Light surfaces are used for documents, proposals, and contexts that require print-legibility or formal register.
Dark-first
Charcoal (#0C0C0C) is the primary canvas. Website, presentations, decks, and digital product contexts default to dark. Light is a deliberate choice, not the fallback.
Slate as signal
Slate (#6895B4) marks interactive elements, links, tags, and key callouts in the UI. It is not a background color in most contexts. Use it to direct attention, not to decorate.
Copper as warmth
Copper (#C9885A) is a secondary accent. Use it for warmth, not structure — pull quotes, illustrative elements, specific brand moments. Never as a primary action color.
Typography hierarchy
Arno Pro for headlines and brand voice moments. DM Sans for everything functional. Never mix them within the same text block — their roles are separate.
Intelligence in context
Not every product the studio ships contains AI. The brand does not stamp "intelligence" as a feature. It describes a philosophy about how design and intelligence relate.
Considered to the last detail
Every brand application reflects this value. Inconsistent spacing, wrong weights, or shortcut decisions undermine the message before a word is read.
Studio
Design that carries intelligence.
We design products people reach for.
Proposal
Design that carries intelligence.
We design products people reach for.