# Chronotrains brand kit

Version 3.0 · 4 November 2026

The identity combines a railway ticket, a bowed carriage window, low countryside hills and the lowercase **Jost Medium 500** wordmark used by the app. Website and press branding is monochrome; social profiles use the three coloured hills. Backgrounds and sky are pure white or black. No ivory or off-white surfaces.

## Start here

- Logo and press downloads: `/en/press` (`src/app/[lang]/(content)/press/page.tsx`).
- Complete package: [`public/brand/chronotrains-press-kit.zip`](../chronotrains-press-kit.zip).
- Visual overview: [`public/brand/brand-overview.png`](../brand-overview.png).
- File inventory: [`public/brand/asset-manifest.json`](../asset-manifest.json).
- Social copy: [`social-copy.json`](../social/profile-copy.json).
- Press facts: [`press-notes.md`](press-notes.md).

`/brand`, `/brand/` and `/brand/index.html` redirect to the Next.js press page using relative URLs, preserving the visitor's origin. The asset build removes the retired static HTML gallery.

## Logo use

Use `logos/logo-horizontal-mono-ink.svg` for the site header and press. The `mono-ink` set is pure black; `mono-white` is pure white with transparent cutouts. Stacked and symbol-only versions are supplied. All SVG lettering is outlined, so fonts do not need to be installed. PNG logos have transparent backgrounds.

Use `logos/logo-horizontal-color.svg` or `logo-stacked-color.svg` for social and promotional placements. The reverse horizontal export has a white ticket and wordmark, black window sky and coloured hills. The primary font remains Jost in every version.

Do not stretch, rotate, add shadows or a road, or change the window and hill contours. Leave at least one frame thickness around the mark and half a wordmark cap-height around a lockup. At browser-tab sizes, use the dedicated monochrome window favicon instead of shrinking the full wordmark.

The landscape is abstract artwork, not a particular place or measured travel-time surface. Product maps retain their own time-colour assignments.

## Palette and typography

| Colour | Hex | Use |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Black | `#000000` | Website logo, lettering and dark backgrounds |
| White | `#ffffff` | Light backgrounds, window sky and reversed artwork |
| Teal | `#028379` | Distant hill |
| Green | `#16a34a` | Middle hill |
| Lime | `#b4f73d` | Foreground hill and restrained accents |

Jost Medium 500 is the primary logo and asset typeface. Its font file and SIL Open Font Licence are included in the kit. Fraunces remains in the source archive for existing editorial posts; it is not part of the current logo kit. Use black or white for body copy; coloured hills are illustration accents.

## Website and social formats

- Header: monochrome horizontal SVG.
- Favicon: monochrome window, SVG/ICO and 16/32/48/64/256px PNGs.
- Touch/install icons: monochrome ticket on white, including a maskable export.
- Open Graph: monochrome Jost card, 1200 × 630 JPG/PNG/SVG. The app retains `/opengraph-image.jpg`.
- Social square: 1200 × 1200.
- Profile pictures: 1080 × 1080, coloured hills and Jost wordmark. White is the upload default; black and monochrome alternatives are included. The whole lockup fits inside a circular crop.
- Upload files: `social/instagram-profile-1080.png` and `social/facebook-profile-1080.png`.
- Facebook cover: 1702 × 630 and 1640 × 624, black with subtle isochrone paint washes and a white Jost lockup. Essential copy stays near the centre, clear of the lower-left profile overlay. Check the final platform crop.
- General banner: 2400 × 800.
- Feed introduction: 1080 × 1350.
- Story/Reel: 1080 × 1920, lime background, one headline, no URL or extra CTA.
- Highlight covers: map, night trains, trips and mentions.

Instagram has no Facebook-style profile banner. The Story/Reel and feed files are supplied for their corresponding placements. Custom highlight uploads may require the mobile app.

## Voice and copy

The core line is **Where will the rails take you next?** The shorter invitation is **Explore Europe by train.** Profile copy and English/French boilerplate retain their existing wording. The build checks the 150-character Instagram bio limit.

## Source and rebuilding

`brand/source/ticket-window-symbol.svg` is the editable master. `brand/source/isochrone-wash.svg` supplies the cover background. Tokens are in `brand/source/tokens.json`. Explorations and the previous map identity remain archived in the repository.

```sh
npm run brand:build
python3 tools/brand/press_sheet.py
pdftoppm -scale-to 1400 -singlefile -png public/brand/press/chronotrains-press-sheet.pdf public/brand/press/chronotrains-press-sheet
npm run brand:build
```

The first command refreshes art and app copies. The PDF uses ReportLab; render it for visual review, then run the build again to include the refreshed PDF and preview in the ZIP. The build uses local fonts and Sharp, with no image API or remote font dependency. Edit sources rather than generated exports.

The site header consumes the monochrome logo. `src/app/favicon.ico`, `icon.svg`, `apple-icon.png` and `opengraph-image.jpg` are generated copies. Social changes are applied separately through the account editors and recorded under `docs/social-profile-setup-*`.

## Press use

The kit includes vector and transparent PNG logos, social assets, a one-page press sheet, usage notes, English/French boilerplate and Jost's font licence. Contact `ben@chronotrains.com` for interviews, partnerships or altered artwork. Third-party photos and geographic map data retain their own rights and attribution requirements.