Working repository for the YBMA LTD brand development project.
Start here:
YBMA_BRAND_STATE.mdIt is the single source of truth — current stage, confirmed decisions, rejected directions, open questions and the session log. Read it before doing any branding work in a new session.
| Stage | Stage 9 — identity locked · production-ready · next: website |
| Strategy | Settled. YBMA = The Operator |
| Visual identity | LOCKED (Session 27). Wordmark · U3 · Söhne · Indigo + Ink + Chalk all confirmed. Brand guideline v1.0 and the master artwork package in identity/ |
| Confirmed brand-content decisions | None. Nothing is approved |
Next action: the YBMA parent website — an implementation of identity/brand/ (tokens,
components, web foundation), not an extension of the identity. In parallel, the operational tasks:
Söhne licences · physical proof and Pantone sign-off · templates · photo shoot · verbal identity.
Identity exploration is closed. Guideline v1.0: identity/guidelines/YBMA_BRAND_GUIDELINE_v1.0.md
(visual: https://claude.ai/code/artifact/382cf677-7758-42fb-a0e0-cbe56b8d75ea).
Confirmed (14 Sep 2026): the wordmark · U3 · Söhne · Indigo #1F2C6B + Ink #151412 + Chalk #F5F4F0, no accent · logo family of five · clear space and minimum sizes · the avatar is not a letter · wordmark alone by default · emphasis by scale, field, curve, weight and photography.
Out: One V (Session 19) — withdrawn as clever rather than distinctive. Unclosed (Session 18) — disqualified on production; simulated ink gain closes its gaps.
Process rule, binding from Session 20:
IDEA → FORM → TASTE → DISTINCTIVENESS → SHORTLIST → PRODUCTION TEST.
A mediocre logo that survives embroidery is still a mediocre logo.
YBMA_BRAND_STATE.md— the state file. Everything else is supporting material.
identity/logo/master/ybma-logo.js— the locked geometry, source of truth;export.jsregenerates the packageidentity/logo/{wordmark,symbol,lockups,reversed}/— 60 exports: SVG · PDF · PNG × ink · indigo · whiteidentity/brand/—colour/tokens.css|json,typography/,icons/,web/ybma.css+components.html+WEB_FOUNDATION.mdidentity/guidelines/— guideline v1.0 (MD + HTML),PRODUCTION.md,stress-test.html·identity/templates/— the set to buildidentity/archive/— superseded construction files (Sessions 23–24)
YBMA_SME_INTERVIEWS_ROUND_01.md— 5 respondents, KadunaYBMA_SME_INTERVIEWS_ROUND_02.md— the same 5, re-interviewed with a behavioural guide
YBMA_ROUND2_FIELD_GUIDE.md— interview guide, printableYBMA_COMMERCIAL_VALIDATION_KIT.md— screening sheet, sales script, proposal template, score sheet
| File | Session |
|---|---|
YBMA_STRATEGIC_FOUNDATION.md |
01 — discovery and first strategic foundation |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_02.md |
02 — positioning refinement |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_03.md |
03 — adversarial stress test |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_04.md |
04 — customer evidence analysis, round 1 |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_05.md |
05 — round 2 research design |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_06.md |
06 — synthesis of both rounds |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_07.md |
07 — commercial validation design |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_08.md |
08 — commercial decision and brand strategy gate |
| File | Session |
|---|---|
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_09.md |
09 — creative territories |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_10.md |
10 — three logo routes |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_11.md |
11 — identity refinement |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_12.md |
12 — Y–M geometry review |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_13.md |
13 — first complete reset |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_14.md |
14 — displacement mechanisms |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_15.md |
15 — T4 refinement |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_16.md |
16 — the block, tweaked |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_17.md |
17 — second complete reset, seven territories |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_18.md |
18 — Unclosed, developed |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_19.md |
19 — third complete reset · nine territories, ten candidates, mechanical testing introduced |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_20.md |
20 — expert reset · form first · seven directions, a drawn mark recommended |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_21.md |
21 — Cut refinement · avatar and tail-endpoint studies, motion test |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_22.md |
22 — symbol study · two stones, one joint · Y avatar retired |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_23.md |
23 — final refinement of Cut + U3 · lockup, motion, endorsement · recommended for lock |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_24.md |
24 — Turned + U3 · wordmark replaced at founder decision · ready with two conditions |
YBMA_STUDY_MIRROR.md |
side study — four letters from one arch · branch A approved as the logo, Session 25 |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_25.md |
25 — logo approved · identity system · brand guideline v0.1 |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_26.md |
26 — refinement pass · Indigo + Ink + Chalk · Söhne · guideline v0.2 |
YBMA_STRATEGY_ITERATION_27.md |
27 — production readiness · identity locked · master artwork · guideline v1.0 |
identity/guidelines/YBMA_BRAND_GUIDELINE_v1.0.md |
the brand guideline (v1.0) — twenty sections, locked list, production files, next phase |
Status tags are written inline so they survive copy-paste into other tools:
[CONFIRMED] founder-agreed · [PROPOSED] awaiting verdict · [HYPOTHESIS] untested ·
[INFERENCE] reasoned guess · [REJECTED] ruled out · [NEEDS VALIDATION] requires evidence ·
[DECISION NEEDED] founders only
Nothing is marked CONFIRMED without explicit founder agreement.
Carried across sessions and recorded in the state file:
- Strategy before visuals. No visual work until the strategy is agreed.
- Every deliverable ships as a Markdown file in this repository.
- No further founder questionnaires, SME surveys or manufactured validation data.
- Generated visuals are exploration, never production artwork.
- A commercial win does not become the master brand.
- Marks are judged on form, not on strategic justification.
- Do not force a winner.
- Rejected directions stay rejected — the state file records why.
- Form is judged before logic (Session 20, binding).
IDEA → FORM → TASTE → DISTINCTIVENESS → SHORTLIST → PRODUCTION TEST. Production robustness is a constraint, not the creative objective. - Mechanical testing is kept — at the end (Session 19, repositioned Session 20). Build candidates as geometry on one grid, then apply identical size, reverse and ink-gain conditions. It disqualified Unclosed without an opinion being expressed; it cannot tell you whether a mark is any good.
- The exclusion register is a set of lessons, not a prison (Session 20). It records what failed and why. It must not narrow the space until only what offends nothing survives.
This repository contains real customer interview transcripts including business details and financial figures, along with commercial pricing and unpublished strategy. Keep it private.