The Awake brand system.

This is the operating system for the Awake brand. It exists so that every asset, conversation and campaign reads as one confident, evidence-led voice. When there is ambiguity about language, colour or layout, this document decides.

New language or new visual treatments require sign-off. If it is not in this guide, it does not ship.

Awake operates in the category of Human Performance. Everything below reinforces that placement and protects it from drift into wellbeing, coaching or personal development.

The strategic hierarchy — locked

Truths we stand for

• Human performance is a capability, not a personality trait.
• Sustainable performance is a commercial issue, not a soft issue.
• Seniority increases exposure, not protection.
• The strongest people in the room are often the ones running the lowest.
• Growth should not cost people their health, their relationships, or themselves.

Capability development is built on four capacities. These drive greater human capacity, which drives sustainable performance and the success-code outcomes.

Direct, grounded, commercial, simple. We speak plainly, like a real person — evidence-led and confident. No jargon, no hype, no spiritual drift.

Quick test before publishing: can you cut words and keep the meaning? If yes, cut them. Does it sound like a real person talking? If not, rewrite it.

The master outcome language. Every offer, keynote and proposal connects to these three words. We do not substitute them for softer synonyms.

Proof language (centred, confident, connected) is distinct from the success code. It is drawn from the evidence base and used where measurement is referenced — it sits alongside energy, motivation and connection, never in place of them.

The sanctioned lines for decks, proposals, website, content and sales. Use them consistently.

• The Human Advantage.
• Awake builds human performance capability.
• Performance without burnout.
• Most organisations do not have a strategy problem. They have a human capacity problem.
• The constraint on your strategy is the capacity of your people.
• Human performance is the commercial edge.
• Measurable shifts in centred, confident, connected — across 1,500+ responses.

Language we avoid

If a piece of copy could sit comfortably on a generic wellbeing provider's website, it is wrong for Awake. Rule for proof: use the number, then the three words, in that order.

The AWAKE wordmark ascends upward — progress and growth. In the performance system we use the primary wordmark only, in a single flat colour, at maximum contrast. No tagline lock-up.

Primary wordmark

White — on dark

Ink — on light

Clear space & minimum size

Clear space = cap-height of the “A”

Keep clear space on all sides equal to the cap-height of the “A”. Minimum digital width 90px; minimum print width 24mm. When in doubt, give it more room.

Misuse — never do this

✕ Stretch or distort

✕ Squash proportions

✕ Rotate or tilt

✕ Recolour the mark

✕ Add shadows or effects

✕ Low-contrast / busy field

A dark, engineered palette. Ember is the single, rare signal. Copper is the structural secondary accent. Everything else is dark neutral and warm bone. Backgrounds are solid — never gradients (the photographic key-light is the only exception). Click any swatch to copy its hex.

Core palette

The ratio — 60 / 30 / 10

Ember is earned — it appears only on CTAs, rising data, the trace and dot, and as the photographic key-light. Never ember for body text or large fills. Copper carries structure: section & index numbers and the “before” state in data. On light surfaces copper is unreadable — use deep-copper #9E4E12 instead.

Accessibility — contrast (WCAG 2.2)

Three typefaces carry the system: Ryker for display, Inter for body, IBM Plex Mono for every number, label and data annotation.

Type scale & hierarchy

Let one Ryker headline dominate; pair it with calm Inter body and mono labels. Web fallbacks: Archivo Expanded for display, system UI sans for body.

The one ownable device: a line that rises left → right, tipped with the ember dot. It is Awake's real before → after data (pooled 61 → 91) rendered as identity.

Rules: the trace rises and is drawn in ember only. It stroke-draws left → right on scroll (~1.1s), then the dot lands — disciplined, never bouncy. Respect reduced-motion (render the final state). Scales from full-bleed hero line → divider → micro-trace behind a number → the standalone locator dot.

A duotone treatment unifies a mixed library into one engineered system: cool ink monochrome, a single rare ember key-light, and a legibility scrim. Every long dark stretch is broken by a real human face — the human counterweight.

Stage · lighter treatment

Founders · duotone

Participants · duotone

Legacy imagery is treated to bridge into the system; an executive-context reshoot is the recommended fast-follow.

Dark-first, generous negative space, solid fields, and a fine hairline grid. Ryker headlines lead; mono labels and numbers anchor the evidence. One architecture across every surface.

The system in use

Accessible by default. The system is built to meet WCAG 2.2 AA so the brand is legible and usable for everyone.

Awake is measured, not claimed. Proof is specific and always framed the same way: use the number, then the three words, in that order.

Before → after (pooled, seven cohorts): centred 61 → 91, confident 69 → 91, connected 73 → 91. Source: The Performance Paradox, Awake research white paper, 2026. Outcomes are tracked, not claimed.

This guide is the north star. New language or visual treatments require sign-off before they ship. Keep it current — it evolves with the brand.

Downloads

Inter and IBM Plex Mono are free (Google Fonts). Photography lives in the shared drive media library. For questions, contact the Awake brand team.