Brand guidelines

The AI Activation company.

We turn data into decisions, decisions into action, and AI into outcomes you can trust. This hub is the guide to how we say it, show it, and prove it.

How we say it Our story

Clarity. Speed. Systems that work. One brand.

Use this hub as a guide.

This hub exists to help you understand the Archetype story, the value we deliver, and how we portray our brand, so every deck, page, and post feels like it came from the same company.

Consistency compounds.

The more consistently we tell our story, the more recognizable and trusted Archetype becomes with clients, partners, and the market. When in doubt, come back here, or ask the marketing team.

Our story

Everyone has AI now. Almost no one is getting value they can trust.

88%

of organizations now use AI

95%

of companies aren't capturing substantial value from AI

78%

of executives can't confidently pass an AI governance audit

Sources: McKinsey State of AI · BCG AI Radar 2026 · Grant Thornton 2026 AI Impact Survey

Almost everyone has adopted AI. Almost none are capturing real value, and most can't yet prove it's governed and trustworthy. Closing that gap, from having AI to getting value you can trust, is the opportunity, and it is the business Archetype is in.

What we mean by AI activation

Having AI is easy. Activating it is the work.

Find the lanes

The places AI genuinely moves your business are specific. We find those, and skip the ones where it just adds cost.

Build on trust

Bring AI to your governed data, not your data to the model. Keep access auditable and stand behind every output.

Capture the value

Turn the time AI frees up into real gains in revenue, margin, or risk, measured like any capital decision, with a named owner.

That is the difference between having AI and activating it.

Who we are

Practical advisors. Hands-on builders.

In business since 2006, we work at the intersection of data, AI, and finance, designing, building, and running the systems that turn enterprise data into trusted decisions and activated AI. We build with you, not at you, and create value with our clients, not just for them.

2,900+

consulting engagements delivered

150+

staff across three continents

88%

client repeat rate

20+ years · 40+ industries · Snowflake Elite · OneStream Diamond

These are the official numbers. Retire the 82% and the website's 94%; the 88% repeat-rate definition lives in the intro deck's notes and stays internal. 2,900+ and 150+ headcount pending final confirmation.

Brand personality

Fluent Direct Proven Invested

Fluent: we speak finance and IT, business and build. Direct: we say the quiet part out loud. Proven: numbers before adjectives. Invested: we create value with our clients, not just for them. Confirm or refine with the leadership team.

Next: Language →

Language

One positioning line, one definition of activation, and a voice that says the quiet part out loud.

The messaging spine

Positioning: Archetype is the AI Activation company. This is the first line of who we are, everywhere: decks, website, bios, proposals.

Promise: We turn data into decisions, decisions into action, and AI into outcomes you can trust. The promise chains three turns; keep all three, in that order. "Turn data into decisions that work." remains the short-form tagline where one line must stand alone.

The definition: Having AI is easy. Activating it is the work. Activation is three moves: find the lanes, build on trust, capture the value. Every campaign, proposal, and case study should ladder to one or more of these moves.

The value pattern: activation language always answers three questions, in order: what you can now do, what it is worth against where you started, and what becomes possible next, framed as "if you now do XYZ, the projected value is ABC," delivered as service, never as a pitch.

Finding our voice

Five moves define how Archetype sounds. They come straight from the material that has worked, in the room and on the page.

Say it straight

"Almost everyone has adopted AI. Almost none are capturing real value."

Name the uncomfortable truth, even when the reader is living it. Candor is our fastest route to trust; a boutique can say what the big firms won't.

Short lines, one idea

"Practical advisors. Hands-on builders."

Pairs and triads of short declarative statements. Cut every clause that is not carrying weight. If a sentence needs a comma, consider making it two.

Numbers are headlines

"2,900+ engagements. 150+ staff. 88% repeat rate."

Lead with the number, follow with the meaning, cite the source. A defensible figure beats an adjective every time; if we cannot defend it, we do not use it.

Before and after

"From having AI to getting value you can trust."

Contrast is our engine: having versus activating, wrangling versus steering, pilots versus production. Make the delta visible in one line.

Speak to their scoreboard

"Measured like any capital decision, with a named owner."

Every audience has its own win condition: the CFO, the IT leader, the partner rep, the champion. Frame value in the reader's currency, not ours.

Lead with the outcome. "We turn data into decisions, decisions into action, and AI into outcomes you can trust."

Build with, not at. "We build with you, not at you, and create value with our clients, not just for them." Partnership language over vendor language, always.

End statements with a period. Positioning lines, sayings, and headlines carry a sense of finality.

Don't

Don't hide behind jargon. No "synergize," no "best-of-breed paradigms," no internal acronyms in client-facing work.

Don't oversell AI. We are the company that tells you where AI does not pay. That restraint is the brand.

Don't bury the point. If the value is in sentence three, rewrite the paragraph.

Sayings

One-liners in active use. Like the positioning line, sayings end with a period.

Having AI is easy. Activating it is the work.

From having AI to getting value you can trust.

Practical advisors. Hands-on builders.

We build with you, not at you.

We deliver the architecture. The customer stays. One deal becomes many.

A finance tool gets fitted in later. An architecture gets designed in now.

From data janitor to strategic partner.

What you can now do, and what's possible next.

Internal framings that guide how we work but stay off client materials: "Marketing is not promotion, it creates pre-engagement confidence." "We enter through experience, not pitch decks or RFPs." "Two mandates, one brand."

Next: Logo →

Logo

The interlocking geometric A: systems assembled from clean, connected lines.

Brandmark

Our identity system contains a brandmark with two parts: the Symbol (the geometric A) and the Wordmark. Use the full brandmark wherever we introduce the brand. Horizontal is the default; the stacked version exists for square placements. Use the symbol alone only where Archetype is already established in context, such as social avatars, favicons, and slide footers.

Official assets from the brand asset pack (Archetype Logo png files): horizontal and stacked lockups in color/black text, color/white text, all black, and all white, plus the icon in color, black, and white. The website header uses the color symbol with white text on black; that is the default treatment on dark.

Download assets

Every approved brand asset, ready to use: logos, fonts, and post graphics. Right person, right file, no asking marketing for the PNG again.

The asset library is public. Anyone, including vendors and partners outside Archetype, can browse and download from brand.archetypeconsulting.com/assets without signing in; the guidelines themselves stay behind Okta.

Download all logos (.zip)Browse the asset library

Logos are high-resolution PNG with transparency. Fonts are the official Google Fonts families with their open-source licenses included. Vector formats (SVG/EPS) and partner badge files get added as they land in the asset folder.

On color

On dark backgrounds, use the color symbol with white text, or all white. On light backgrounds, use the color symbol with black text, or all black. Never place the color symbol on a background that fights its palette; when in doubt, use the single-color version.

Partner marks

Partner logos follow a two-tier treatment, exactly as the website's partner strip does it. Strategic partners (Snowflake, OneStream, and Anthropic when confirmed) appear in full color, prominent. Ecosystem partners (Tableau, Power BI, Sigma, Omni, Fivetran, dbt, and the rest) appear in greyscale, smaller. Strategic partners lead every solution; the ecosystem extends what we deliver.

Partner names get the same respect as partner marks: OneStream is one word with a capital O and S, SensibleAI uses OneStream's casing, and Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, and Anthropic are written as their owners write them. Follow each partner's brand guidelines; never restyle their marks or names.

Snowflake · full color OneStream · full color Tableau · greyscale Sigma · greyscale dbt · greyscale

Clear space & scaling

Maintain clear space around the logo equal to at least half the height of the symbol on all sides. Nothing competes inside that zone: no copy, photography, or other marks.

There is no maximum size. At small sizes, legibility is the test: recommended minimum is 120 pixels wide on screen and 1 inch in print for the full brandmark.

Don'ts

Don't

Don't stretch, rotate, or skew the logo.

Don't recolor the logo outside the approved versions.

Don't apply shadows, outlines, gradients, or effects.

Don't

Don't place the logo over busy photography without a solid or scrimmed field.

Don't lock the logo up with the positioning line or other text.

Don't redraw or approximate the symbol.

Next: Color →

Color

Charcoal and white space first, with five brand colors that each carry a job.

Primary palette

80%

60%

40%

20%

Orange

Hex

RGB241 / 93 / 41

UseWarm emphasis, icons, energy

80%

60%

40%

20%

Blue

Hex

RGB61 / 181 / 232

UseLinks, buttons, data

80%

60%

40%

20%

Purple

Hex

RGB118 / 32 / 108

UseBrand moments, feature fields

80%

60%

40%

20%

Light Blue

Hex

RGB115 / 210 / 222

UseSupporting accent, data layers

80%

60%

40%

20%

Green

Hex

RGB40 / 131 / 127

UseOutcomes, confirmation

80%

60%

40%

20%

Charcoal

Hex

RGB25 / 25 / 25

UseDark fields, header, hero, footer

Transparency levels, shown over white: use each color at 80 / 60 / 40 / 20% opacity (rgba) for fills, section tints, tags, chart layers, and hover states. Full strength is reserved for icons, buttons, rules, and color fields; never set text in a transparent tint.

Secondary palette

White

Hex

RGB255 / 255 / 255

UseLight field & titles on dark

Black

Hex

RGB0 / 0 / 0

UseTitles on light

Gray 1

Hex

RGB240 / 240 / 240

UseLight panels & fills

Gray 2

Hex

RGB217 / 217 / 217

UseBorders, dividers

Gray 3

Hex

RGB153 / 153 / 153

UseParagraph text on dark

Gray 4

Hex

RGB102 / 102 / 102

UseMuted labels, captions

Gray 5

Hex

RGB65 / 65 / 65

UseDark panels, hover fields

Text colors

Titles are #000000 on light backgrounds and #FFFFFF on dark. Paragraph text is #747474 on light and #999999 on dark; it never sits at full black or full white. Links and interactive text are Blue #3DB5E8.

Palette per the official Archetype Web Style Guide (Motion Tactic, July 2026), verified against the logo files: the color brandmark is built from #F15D29, #3DB5E8, and #76206C, so print, web, and decks now share one set of values. The corporate deck theme (#711F70, #DD742F, #60B3ED, #3F9188, #B8CC12), the Industry Day #E97132, and the old palette-board lime are drift; retire them as templates get touched.

The brand gradients

Five approved gradients, one per brand color, all built the same way: Charcoal sweeping into the color, darkening toward the base. Use them to code content exactly as you would the flat accents, one gradient per piece, matched to the accent that owns the topic. Charcoal to Purple is the default for brand moments. Type on a gradient is always white. Each is a CSS recipe, not an image, so it reproduces identically anywhere.