This document defines the identity standards for Field Scout across editorial, interface, social, and supporting brand surfaces.

It is source-of-truth documentation. Specifications in this document should match the master artwork, design tokens, and implementation patterns.

Field Scout is the editorial surface of the system.

Its role is to select, frame, and publish subjects across cycling: objects, places, people, decisions, and events.

The identity should not rely on cycling tropes to be legible. If category references are removed, the system should still feel clear, intentional, and distinct.

the manual is the explanatory surface of the system.

Field Scout points.
the manual explains.

Field Scout should feel:

• editorial
• controlled
• selective
• contemporary
• warm through material and photography
• confident without being loud

Field Scout should not feel:

• sporty
• macho
• startup-derived
• luxury-polished
• outdoor-brand coded
• generic content-platform design

4.1 Primary Mark

The primary mark is a stepped-bar monogram: FS above-left, CC below-right, joined by two horizontal bars. The bars extend past the letterforms. They are structural, not decorative.

SVG Structure

4.2 Overlap Geometry

The mark, horizon bars, and shelf bars all use one fixed overlap system. In the current master artwork:

• top bar spans 0–60%
• bottom bar spans 40–100%
• overlap zone spans 40–60%

Do not introduce alternate ratios in downstream applications. If the overlap ratio changes, update the master mark, horizon bars, shelf bars, and all formula examples together.

4.3 Mark Variants

Header Lockup

The header lockup pairs the compact bars (20×10px) with the FIELD SCOUT wordmark at 0.72rem, Inter 700, uppercase, 0.04em tracking. The compact bars use the same overlapping geometry as the full mark: top bar at 60% width from left, bottom bar at 60% width from right.

4.4 Naming

"the manual" remains lowercase in all contexts.

Profile Mark

The profile variant is the Figma export for social platforms. It renders the full FSCC letterforms as outlined paths on an ink background, optically centered with a translate(0, -22) offset. This vertical shift compensates for the visual weight of the descending CC, pulling the perceived center upward. Preserve this transform in all exports.

Clear Space

Minimum padding equal to the bar height on all sides. For the full mark, this is 6px (the bar thickness at default viewBox scale). For the compact bars, minimum 1.5px clear on all sides.

Minimum Size

40px width for the full mark. 14px width for the compact bars. Below these thresholds, the overlapping geometry loses legibility.

Usage Rules

Never redraw, stretch, rotate, skew, or add effects (shadows, glows, gradients) to the mark. The mark is used exactly as specified. The bars must always overlap. The bar weights must remain consistent. The letterforms must always be Inter 800.

5.1 Horizon Bars

Horizon bars are the primary section divider. They use the same overlap geometry as the master mark and signal major transitions across the page.

Use horizon bars for: section changes, major content handoffs, module framing where a full structural break is required.

5.2 Shelf Bars

Shelf bars are the entry-level structural divider. They open individual content modules and establish the typographic transition into display content.

5.3 Closers

Closers are single hairlines used to end entries. They are not part of the overlap system and should not be treated as mini shelf bars.

5.4 Serif Rule

DM Serif Display is reserved for display moments opened by a shelf bar. Without a shelf bar, titles should default to Inter. This keeps serif usage limited, legible, and structurally motivated.

Entry Rhythm — Image Entry

Entry Rhythm — Compact Entry

6.1 Typeface Roles

DM Serif Display

Display titles and pull quotes. Only appears below a shelf bar.

Inter

Body copy, interface copy, compact titles, navigation.

IBM Plex Mono

Labels, metadata, utility text, keys, timestamps.

6.2 Usage Rules

• Use DM Serif Display only for editorial display moments.
• Use Inter for all primary reading tasks and interface functions.
• Use IBM Plex Mono for metadata and system language only.
• Do not use mono as body copy.
• Do not use serif in navigation, utility copy, or compact interface titles.

6.3 Readability Standard

Utility text must remain usable as documentation, not just visual texture. Apply the following minimums:

• no essential operational text below 0.625rem
• no small informational text below AA contrast
• captions, table text, and spec labels must prioritize legibility over stylization

Avoid the 0.4rem–0.58rem range for text users must read, compare, or reference.

6.4 Core Scale

7.1 Palette Logic

The palette is monochromatic and material-led. Color is used structurally, not decoratively. The system consists of: Field for page ground, Ink for primary content, titanium tones for metadata, secondary text, and structural support.

7.2 Base Colors

7.3 Titanium Tones

Use titanium tones to separate primary reading from contextual information.

7.4 Accessibility

All essential text must meet WCAG AA against the field background. Do not use low-contrast tones for small informational text.

In practice:

• captions should not use a decorative-only tone
• table text should not depend on faint contrast
• labels may be quieter than body text, but still need to be readable

8.1 Direction

Photography should feel: warm, observational, natural-light led, atmospheric without stylization, editorial rather than commercial.

Avoid: studio polish as a default, stock photography, aggressive filtering, action-sports clichés, cycling imagery used as identity shorthand.

8.2 Ratios

8.3 Captions

Captions sit below images, not on top of them. They are informational only and should identify, locate, or specify. Caption styling must remain readable. Do not set small informational captions in decorative-only color.

9.1 Composition Principle

Spacing is part of the identity. Density should not be increased simply to fit more material onscreen.

9.2 Column Logic

Desktop text should sit in a centered reading column. Visual elements may remain wider than text, but the distinction between text channel and image/structure channel must stay clear.

Recommended constraints:

• article body: max-width: 54ch
• blurbs: max-width: 44ch
• guidelines text: max-width: 58ch

9.3 Spacing Discipline

Maintain a consistent scale for: page padding, horizon bar margins, shelf bar gaps, footer spacing, component padding, inter-entry rhythm. If spacing is reduced, it should be a deliberate system adjustment, not a local optimization.

CSS formulas below use FSCC template conventions: --p for page padding (20px mobile, 40px desktop), .hdr for the header, .ftr for the footer. These are the class names used in production templates.

11.1 Primary Rule

Use the mark only where platform context does not already supply brand presence.

11.2 Application

11.3 Social Color Rules

Social templates should remain within the core system: field, ink, photography, scrim where required. Do not introduce additional palette effects for social convenience.

Field Scout and the manual should feel related at the system level and distinct at the application level.

When the manual appears inside Field Scout, its identity should remain intact.

This document is only effective if it stays exact.

Maintain the following discipline:

• master artwork, formulas, and implementation must match
• token names must be consistent across documentation and code
• component descriptions must reflect the actual rendered behavior
• accessibility rules must match component examples
• if a foundational rule changes, update all derived specs together