# Kadence Brand Kit: instructions for AI tools

Kadence is the growth system for life insurance teams (CRM + Voice AI, an AEO website, and done-for-you content). This file is the contract an AI tool (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) should follow when it generates anything Kadence-branded from this kit.

## Read these first

1. `DESIGN.md`: the full design spec and source of truth (color, type, layout, components, the Frame and Node grammar, voice).
2. `brand-spec.json`: the same design tokens in machine-readable form. Parse this for exact hex values, font names, type scale, and asset paths.

If `DESIGN.md` and anything below ever disagree, `DESIGN.md` wins.

## The one rule that matters most

The product is spelled **Kadence**, with a capital K. Never "Cadence", "kadence", or "KADENCE" in body copy. The domain is **startkadence.com**.

## What is in this kit

- `DESIGN.md`: full design spec / source of truth.
- `brand-spec.json`: machine-readable design tokens.
- `README.md`: plain-language orientation for humans.
- `logos/`: the lockup, reverse lockup, wordmark, and monogram, each as `.svg` and `.png`.
- `marks/`: the Frame, the Node, and the combined Frame-Node mark, each as `.svg` and `.png`.
- `icons/`: favicon (`.svg`, `.ico`), apple-touch-icon, and the 192 / 512 / maskable-512 PWA icons.

File names are self-describing: `kadence-lockup`, `kadence-lockup-reverse`, `kadence-wordmark`, `kadence-monogram`, `frame`, `node`, `frame-node`. Prefer `.svg` for anything that scales; use `.png` only where SVG is not supported.

## Color

Monochromatic: near-black on a warm snow canvas, with a single rust accent doing all the signalling. No second hue, no gradients, no rainbow palettes.

- Background (Snow): `#FDFAF7`
- Foreground (Black): `#1D1C1B`
- Accent (Saddle Brown rust): `#80382E`, use sparingly, one rust CTA per view. Rust marks intent, it is never a background fill.
- Accent bright (hover): `#9B4438`
- Accent deep (pressed / active): `#5E2820`
- Surface (Lavender, the brand "blue"): `#E2E8E9`, alternate Snow and Lavender sections for rhythm.
- Border / hairline: `#E4DED9`
- Supporting text: `#666666`; placeholders / disabled: `#999999`

Stay light. Avoid dark backgrounds for body content, glossy consumer-SaaS shadows, stock-photo heroes, and emoji.

## Type

- **Geist** (Geist Variable) is the entire interface: headlines, body, buttons, cards, forms. Headlines at 600-700; body at 400 with 1.6 line-height.
- **Geist Mono** is the technical voice: eyebrows, field labels, stat labels, the wordmark tag. Uppercase, tracked about 0.1em.
- Headlines are always sentence case, never ALL CAPS.

## The Frame and the Node (visual grammar)

The signature device. Two geometric primitives that together say "focus within structure", the core idea of Kadence.

- **Frame**: a stroked square, no fill. A container that echoes architectural structure and the rectangle of a policy document. Wrap imagery and callouts in it. Never fill it; its power is the negative space inside.
- **Node**: a small filled square. A point of focus, precision, measurement. Marks bullets, timeline points, metric callouts, and sits beside the wordmark. Always small, never larger than ~10px in context. Restraint is the point.
- **Frame + Node**: the Frame holding a small rust Node. The Frame holds context; the rust Node marks the moment that matters. Use as section markers and feature accents.

## Voice

Editorial authority: precise, structural, confident, disciplined and clear, never hype-driven. "Architecture for growth." One discipline carries everywhere, the same way one rust accent does.

House style: **no em dashes anywhere** in copy. Use commas, colons, or separate sentences instead.

## Contact

Brand questions or need a format that is not in this kit: email **hi@startkadence.com**.

## How to use this kit with an AI tool

1. Read `DESIGN.md` and `brand-spec.json` before generating anything.
2. Pull exact values (hex, fonts, type scale, asset paths) from `brand-spec.json`, do not eyeball or invent them.
3. Apply the rules above: spell it Kadence, one rust accent, light canvas, Geist + Geist Mono, sentence-case headlines, the Frame and Node used with restraint, and no em dashes.
4. Reference assets from `logos/`, `marks/`, and `icons/`, preferring `.svg`.