AssemblyBrand guidelinesv1.4
Contributor payouts with a paper trail
- Version
- 1.4 · Jan 2026
- Discipline
- Automation & operations
- Sector
- Distributed organisations
- Prepared by
- Berke Tok
Foundations
Operations software for a distributed organisation paying 214 contributors across nine countries without a payroll department.
1.1Purpose
Three dots, two pills, one bar. Read upwards it is many contributions gathered into a single payout run; read down, it is the people inside that run.
1.2Audience
Who it is for
Operations leads paying contributors across countries, and the contributors checking what they were paid.
Positioning
For organisations that pay people, not employees. Unlike spreadsheets passed between signers, Assembly ties every payout to the role that approved it.
1.3Principles
- P1
Approved by a role, not a friend
Every submission is approved against a role with the trail stored beside the payout, so an approval survives the approver leaving.
- P2
One run, one batch
Approved work becomes a single payout batch with duplicate detection, so the same hours cannot be paid twice.
- P3
Cost per workstream, visible
Spend rolls up by workstream and month, which gave the organisation its first honest budget conversation.
Voice
How Assembly sounds in product, support and marketing. One voice; the tone moves with the moment, not the channel.
2.1Traits
Collective
We write from the organisation’s side: “the run”, “your contributors”, never “my money”.
Traceable
Each statement can be followed back to an approval, a role and a date.
Even
No exclamation marks around money. A payout is good news delivered in a level voice.
2.2Say this, not that
- Say
Run 14 is ready: 38 payouts, approved by Treasury.
NotYour payments are good to go!
- Say
Ana’s payout is held until her tax form is on file.
NotThere was an issue with one payment.
- Say
Design workstream: USD 18,400 this cycle.
NotSpend is trending up across teams.
2.3House style
- 01Currency code before amount: USD 1,200
- 02Runs numbered, not named
- 03Roles capitalised: Treasury, Steward
Logo
One mark, one wordmark, one horizontal lockup. The mark is drawn on a 48-unit grid and is never redrawn, only scaled.
3.1Lockups
3.2Construction
Construction circles and the 4-unit grid the mark is drawn on.
- Grid
- 48 units, 4-unit subdivisions
- Construction
- 3 circles, radii 5 / 5 / 5
- Lockup
- Mark 126.72 : word 627 units wide
- Gap
- 46 units between mark and word
3.3Clear space and size
Shown at true size. Below these the mark fills in and the word loses its counters.
3.4Misuse
Do not stretch or squash
Do not rotate
Do not recolour
Do not outline
Do not add effects
Do not set on low contrast
Colour
Four colours with fixed roles. Values are the source of truth for screen; print is proofed against the CMYK starting points below.
4.1Palette
- PrimaryAssembly Indigo
- HEX
- #5B5BF0
- RGB
- 91 91 240
- HSL
- 240 83% 65%
- OKLCH
- 56.1% 0.218 277
- CMYK
- 62 62 0 6
- On it
- Paper
- GroundNight
- HEX
- #16163A
- RGB
- 22 22 58
- HSL
- 240 45% 16%
- OKLCH
- 22.4% 0.068 279
- CMYK
- 62 62 0 77
- On it
- Paper
- TintLilac
- HEX
- #DCDCFC
- RGB
- 220 220 252
- HSL
- 240 84% 93%
- OKLCH
- 90.4% 0.044 285
- CMYK
- 13 13 0 1
- On it
- Night
- PaperPaper
- HEX
- #F5F5F7
- RGB
- 245 245 247
- HSL
- 240 11% 96%
- OKLCH
- 97.1% 0.003 286
- CMYK
- 1 1 0 3
- On it
- Night
4.2Proportion
Share of a typical surface. Primary is an accent even where it leads.
4.3Tonal scale
Derived from Assembly Indigo in linear light, for charts, states and illustration. Never for the mark.
- 50F1F1FD
- 100E6E6FC
- 200CFCFF9
- 300B3B3F6
- 4009090F3
- 5005B5BF0
- 6005353DC
- 7004949C5
- 8003E3EAA
- 900303089
4.4Contrast
WCAG 2.2 ratios. AA needs 4.5:1 for text, 3:1 for large text and icons.
- Aa15.94:1AAA
- Aa12.96:1AAA
- Aa3.47:1AA Large
- Aa1.23:1Fail
- Aa4.59:1AA
- Aa15.94:1AAA
- Aa4.59:1AA
- Aa3.74:1AA Large
- Aa3.47:1AA Large
Typography
Schibsted Grotesk for everything, from display to captions. One family keeps the product and the marketing in the same voice.
5.1Typeface
Schibsted Grotesk
Semibold 620 · Regular 400
5.2Scale
Base 16 px, ratio 1.2. Line height tightens as size grows.
- Display40 / 1.08 / -3%Contributor payouts with a paper trail
- Heading 133 / 1.2 / -1.5%Contributor payouts with a paper trail
- Heading 228 / 1.2 / -1.5%Contributor payouts with a paper trail
- Heading 323 / 1.5 / 0%Contributor payouts with a paper trail
- Lead19 / 1.5 / 0%Contributor payouts with a paper trail
- Body16 / 1.5 / 0%Operations software for a distributed organisation paying 214 contributors across nine countries without a payroll department.
- Caption13 / 1.5 / 0%Operations software for a distributed organisation paying 214 contributors across nine countries without a payroll department.
5.3Setting
Sentence case
Headings, buttons and labels. Title case only for product names.
Tabular figures
Every amount, time and count, so columns line up and values do not jump.
60–75 characters
Running text measure. Short labels may run to the edge of their container.
Layout
Two grids and one spacing scale cover every screen. Print uses the same 12 columns on the A-series.
6.1Grid
6.2Spacing
A 4 px base. Components step on 4 and 8; sections on 48 and up.
- space-14 px
- space-28 px
- space-312 px
- space-416 px
- space-524 px
- space-632 px
- space-748 px
- space-864 px
- space-996 px
Interface
The identity carried into the product: tokens first, then the handful of components every screen is made from.
7.1Tokens
- radius.sm
- 4 px
- radius.md
- 8 px
- radius.lg
- 12 px
- focus
- 2 px #5B5BF0 · 2 px offset
- elevation.1
- 0 1 2 / 8%
- elevation.2
- 0 12 32 / 14%
- motion.fast
- 160 ms · ease-out
- motion.base
- 240 ms · ease-out
- hit target
- 44 × 44 px
7.2Components
Live components, set in the brand typeface with the tokens above.
7.3In product
Applications
Where the rules meet the world. When something here is not covered, follow the checklist and keep the lockup clear.
8.1In context
8.2Checklist
Before anything ships.
- The lockup is at least 18 px tall on screen and 8 mm in print.
- Clear space around the lockup is at least half the mark’s height on every side.
- Body text is Night on Paper: 15.9:1, AAA.
- Assembly Indigo can carry text on Paper (4.6:1).
- Headings use Schibsted Grotesk; amounts use tabular figures.
- Copy follows the house style in 2.3, starting with “Currency code before amount: USD 1,200”.