Skip to content

brando:VisualIdentity

Reusable configuration of the brand’s visual system: logo, colour, typography, imagery, and motion.

rdfs:comment
Reusable configuration of the brand's visual system: logo, colour, typography, imagery, and motion.


Term definition

  • IRI: Brando:VisualIdentity
  • Type: owl:Class
  • Superclasses:
    • brando:BrandExpression
    • schema:Intangible
  • Defined in: brando: (Brando Schema Vocabulary v1.3)

A Brando:VisualIdentity is a reusable visual expression preset. It describes how the brand looks in a way that can be consumed by:

  • design systems,
  • UI theming,
  • multimodal / image generation systems,
  • and Brand OS orchestration.

Typical things captured in a Visual:

  • logos and logotypes,
  • colour system,
  • typography,
  • imagery style,
  • motion / animation principles,
  • links to detailed guidelines and design systems.

You normally do not target a Visual directly at runtime. Instead, you attach it to:

  • brando:Brand, and/or
  • brando:Context,

via brando:usesVisual, then let your Brand OS or AI middleware read the token and map it into:

  • design tokens,
  • theme variables,
  • or multimodal prompt hints.

Relationships

Inbound: where Visuals are used

Visuals are attached from brands and contexts via:

  • brando:usesVisual
  • Type: owl:ObjectProperty
  • Domain: brando:Brand, brando:Context
  • Range: Brando:VisualIdentity
  • Comment (summary): Attaches a visual expression token defining how the brand looks in this scope.

Brand-level attachment (default visual system):

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar",
  "@type": "brando:Brand",
  "schema:name": "Northstar Bank",
  "brando:usesVisual": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master"
  }
}

Context-level override or specialisation:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/context/mobile-app",
  "@type": "brando:Context",
  "brando:usesVisual": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/mobile-app"
  }
}

Pattern (non-normative):

  • Brand-level Visual → “master” visual system.
  • Context-level Visual → channel-specific or campaign-specific adjustments (e.g. dark mode app visuals, performance marketing adaptations).

Key properties (domain includes Brando:VisualIdentity)

The following properties have Brando:VisualIdentity in their rdfs:domain.

1. Identity in visual form

Property IRI Range Type Comment (from vocab)
brando:brandName xsd:string owl:DatatypeProperty Display name of the brand as it should appear in visual treatments.
brando:logo xsd:anyURI owl:DatatypeProperty Canonical reference URL to the primary logo asset or logo set.
Brando:VisualIdentityReferenceLink xsd:anyURI owl:DatatypeProperty URL pointing to full visual identity guidelines or design system documentation.

Usage notes (non-normative):

  • brando:brandName here is how the name should visually appear, not the legal entity name:

    • casing (“northstar” vs “Northstar”),
    • punctuation,
    • spacing.
  • brando:logo should point at a stable asset location (e.g. Brand OS / DAM URL, CDN URL).

  • Brando:VisualIdentityReferenceLink is ideal for:

    • Figma libraries,
    • design system docs,
    • brand portals.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master",
  "@type": "Brando:VisualIdentity",
  "brando:brandName": "Northstar",
  "brando:logo": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/brand/logo.svg",
  "Brando:VisualIdentityReferenceLink": "https://design.example.com/northstar"
}

2. Colour, typography, and core design tokens

Property IRI Range Type Comment (from vocab)
brando:colourPalette xsd:string owl:DatatypeProperty Structured description of the brand's colour system, including roles and values.
brando:typography xsd:string owl:DatatypeProperty Typographic system including font families, weights, sizes, and hierarchy.
Brando:VisualIdentity xsd:string owl:DatatypeProperty Core design tokens such as spacing, radius, and elevation.

Usage notes (non-normative):

  • All three are modelled as xsd:string so you can:

    • store lightweight human-oriented summaries, or
    • embed structured JSON as a string if you want machine-readability.

Examples:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master",
  "@type": "Brando:VisualIdentity",
  "brando:colourPalette": {
    "primary": "#4B3CFA",
    "secondary": "#11A39D",
    "neutral-100": "#FFFFFF",
    "neutral-900": "#0A0A0A"
  },
  "brando:typography": {
    "heading": "Inter",
    "body": "Inter",
    "mono": "Roboto Mono"
  },
  "Brando:VisualIdentity": {
    "radius-sm": "4px",
    "radius-lg": "12px",
    "spacing-sm": "8px",
    "spacing-lg": "24px",
    "elevation-1": "shadow-xs"
  }
}

In many implementations, your Brand OS will:

  1. Parse these JSON strings into internal token objects.
  2. Map them into design-system token formats (e.g. style dictionaries, Figma tokens, CSS variables).

3. Imagery and motion

Property IRI Range Type Comment (from vocab)
brando:imageryStyles xsd:string owl:DatatypeProperty Guidance on photography, illustration, and composition style.
brando:motionRules xsd:string owl:DatatypeProperty Principles for animation, transitions, and micro-interactions.
Brando:VisualIdentityUsageGuidelines xsd:string owl:DatatypeProperty Do's and don'ts for applying logos, colours, typography, and imagery.

Usage notes (non-normative):

  • These fields are a good place to put concise, AI-usable rules, not entire PDFs.
  • imageryStyles and motionRules can be:

    • free-text,
    • lists expressed as JSON-as-string,
    • or bullet-style sentences in plain text.
  • visualUsageGuidelines is often where you capture hard rules like:

    • “Never place the logo on busy imagery.”
    • “Maintain minimum clear space around the logomark.”

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master",
  "@type": "Brando:VisualIdentity",
  "brando:imageryStyles": "Natural light, real people, candid moments. Avoid stock-like poses and generic business imagery.",
  "brando:motionRules": "Subtle, purposeful motion. Ease-in-out curves; avoid bouncy or playful animations.",
  "Brando:VisualIdentityUsageGuidelines": [
    "Never distort or recolour the primary logo.",
    "Maintain at least 24px clear space around the logo on digital surfaces.",
    "Use the primary brand colour only for key actions and highlights."
  ]
}

4. Files and supporting assets

These are shared properties used across several Brando types, and are particularly useful for Visuals to point at canonical asset sets.

Property IRI Range Type Comment (from vocab, summarised)
brando:downloadableFile schema:MediaObject owl:ObjectProperty Links a brand, token, context, campaign, or policy node to the most up-to-date creative files exposed by the Brand OS or DAM.
brando:supportingFile schema:MediaObject owl:ObjectProperty Links a brand, token, context, campaign, or policy node to additional files helpful for production but not the primary source-of-truth asset.

Usage notes (non-normative):

  • For Visuals:

  • downloadableFile is typically:

    • logo packs (SVG/PNG bundles),
    • full visual identity PDFs,
    • token exports for design systems.
    • supportingFile might be:

    • mood boards,

    • example layouts,
    • campaign-specific visual packs.

Both properties use schema:MediaObject, so you can add metadata such as:

  • schema:name,
  • schema:contentUrl,
  • schema:encodingFormat,
  • schema:fileSize.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master",
  "@type": "Brando:VisualIdentity",
  "brando:downloadableFile": {
    "@id": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/visuals/northstar-visual-identity-kit.zip",
    "@type": "schema:MediaObject",
    "schema:name": "Northstar Visual Identity Kit (ZIP)",
    "schema:contentUrl": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/visuals/northstar-visual-identity-kit.zip",
    "schema:encodingFormat": "application/zip"
  },
  "brando:supportingFile": {
    "@id": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/visuals/inspiration-board.pdf",
    "@type": "schema:MediaObject",
    "schema:name": "Northstar Visual Inspiration Board"
  }
}

Example: Brand + Context + Visuals

A small JSON-LD example showing how Brando:VisualIdentity fits into a Brand Knowledge Graph:

{
  "@context": {
    "schema": "https://schema.org/",
    "brando": "https://brandoschema.com/"
  },
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar",
      "@type": "brando:Brand",
      "schema:name": "Northstar Bank",
      "brando:usesVisual": {
        "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master"
      },
      "brando:hasContext": {
        "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/context/mobile-app"
      }
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/context/mobile-app",
      "@type": "brando:Context",
      "brando:audienceSegment": "Existing mobile app customers",
      "brando:domainContext": {
        "channel": "mobile-app",
        "surface": "native",
        "platforms": [
          "iOS",
          "Android"
        ]
      },
      "brando:usesVisual": {
        "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/mobile-app"
      }
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master",
      "@type": "Brando:VisualIdentity",
      "brando:brandName": "Northstar",
      "brando:logo": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/brand/logo.svg",
      "brando:colourPalette": {
        "primary": "#4B3CFA",
        "secondary": "#11A39D",
        "neutral-100": "#FFFFFF",
        "neutral-900": "#0A0A0A"
      },
      "brando:typography": {
        "heading": "Inter",
        "body": "Inter",
        "mono": "Roboto Mono"
      },
      "Brando:VisualIdentityUsageGuidelines": [
        "Use primary colour for main CTAs only.",
        "Maintain 4px base spacing scale."
      ]
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/mobile-app",
      "@type": "Brando:VisualIdentity",
      "brando:brandName": "Northstar",
      "brando:logo": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/app/logo-app.svg",
      "brando:colourPalette": {
        "primary": "#4B3CFA",
        "secondary": "#11A39D",
        "surface": "#050814"
      },
      "brando:motionRules": "App interactions should feel responsive and smooth with subtle easing; avoid distracting animations."
    }
  ]
}

Runtime pattern (non-normative):

  1. Resolve brando:Brand and relevant brando:Context.
  2. Load Visuals from:

    • Brand-level (/tokens/visual/master),
    • Context-level (/tokens/visual/mobile-app).
  3. Merge fields based on your precedence rules:

    • e.g. context-specific logo or colourPalette can override brand defaults.
  4. Map token fields into:

    • design-system tokens,
    • CSS variables / theming,
    • multimodal prompts for image generation.