Brand Guidelines

Type Rules

• • Title fonts: selected in accordance with the design language of each respective title.
• • Readability: prioritise dark overlays or gradients behind text.
• • Avoid strokes and drop shadows — unless the creative is a meme. This is a rule for editorial and title type. Subtitles are the exception — they carry a specified stroke and shadow, see 04.
• • Never right-align. Type is left-aligned (preferred for type-driven layouts) or centre-aligned where the layout suits it.

Typesetting Specs

Ember Modern Display is designed around these values. Set them once and leave them alone — they are the default in every Adobe app.

Accessibility: 1.5 line spacing is recommended for body copy. Margins should feel comfortable — never tight to the edge, never so wide the layout floats.

Logo Colour Usage

Prime Blue

On light backgrounds · all thumbnails (statics)

Download PNG →

White

YT Shorts & YT Long Format — editorial and asset

Download PNG →

White on Prime Blue

Anywhere the logo sits on a Prime Blue fill — end cards, blue panels

Download PNG →

Black

Exception only — requires approval

Download PNG →

Clear Space

The logo needs room to breathe. Measure it in x, where x = the height of the ‘n’ letterform in the lockup.

• • Keep at least x clear on every side, and 1.5x beneath.
• • That's the minimum, for the smallest and tightest placements — not a target.
• • Clear space scales with the lockup: bigger logo, bigger gap.

The Settings

One spec for every 9:16 cut — Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts use the same values. Load the preset rather than typing these in.

Building a static? The panel and 16:9 settings are different — they're on the statics page.

Subtitle Writing Rules

Line Breaks & Punctuation

• • Prefer One Line: Keep a subtitle on a single line wherever it fits. Two lines are the rare exception — only when the speaker is going fast enough that one line can't keep up.
• • Break Points: When you do break, break before prepositions (of, on, for), articles (a, an, the) and short words.
• • After Commas: Always break after a comma — and after mid-sentence punctuation generally — never before.
• • No Hyphens: Break before a long word rather than hyphenating across lines.

These examples show where to break once a line is too long — not a preference for two lines over one.

Formatting & Style

• • Casing: Use lowercase by default. ("hello world") Video subtitles only — statics run sentence case, see Statics 03.
• • Exceptions: Capitalize only Proper Nouns (People, Characters, Places) and the letter "I".
• • No Widows: Never leave a single word alone on a line. Balance it out.
• • Names Together: Keep names intact (e.g., "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" on one line).
• • Symbols: Use full-scale symbols (50%), DO NOT use superscript (^50%) and never mix glyphs from another typeface.

The Subtitling Bible

Twelve rules for what the subtitle actually says — the settings above only cover how it looks.

Safe Zones — Avoid the Interface

Ensure subtitles and logos strictly adhere to the blue safe zones to avoid being covered by UI elements.

Download Safe Zone PNG

Reels and Shorts share one safe zone — the same SafeZone.psd covers both, so a 9:16 cut is safe on either platform without reworking it.

Attribution sits top-left, the logo bug top-right, both inside the live area. Template: SafeZone.psd.

Don't Move It

The unit's position is already set — the ‘Attri Corner’ layer inside the Attri group drives the exact corner. Don't nudge it by eye. Reels sit 40px in from the corner, long-format 70px.

Everything else about the unit — type, tracking, the blue pipe, layer order — is baked into the PSD and shouldn't be rebuilt. The full build spec lives on the statics page if you ever need it.

Working with the Gradient

The gradient sits behind the title to hold it legible over footage. It is not a fixed element — adjust it on every asset.

• • Length: Resize the gradient to match the width of your title text. It shouldn't run well past the text, or stop short of it — retitle a shorter or longer name and the gradient needs resizing with it.
• • Opacity: Anywhere between 20% and 80% — set it by what's behind it. Bright or busy footage needs more; darker, cleaner shots need less. Use the lightest setting that still keeps the text readable. The shipped PSDs open around 30%, which is a starting point, not a default.

The gradient layer selected — its bounding box tracks the width of the title. Opacity is set at the top of the Layers panel.

End Slates (IG, FB & X)

Rare in practice. Don't add one by default — the team will tell you when an asset needs it.

When you are asked for one, these are the cases it covers:

• • Watch Now and Trending assets — whether or not the video has a direct callout.
• • Dated end slates on pre-launch assets.
• • Where a video has no direct callout at the end and would otherwise feel out of context.

Worked example: a cut of Tammannah getting flowers wasn't obviously connected to Odella, so it carried the end slate to give it context.

Shared 4:5 Attribution

One file across Instagram, Facebook and X — don't rebuild it per platform.

End slates on FB & X follow the same rules as Instagram — see End Slates ↑

Which Guide to Follow

Neither platform has its own attribution, subtitling or sizing rules — every video format borrows from Instagram or YouTube. Find your ratio and follow that guide.

Static posts for both platforms — sizing, attribution and subtitles — are on the statics page.

Subtitles

Shorts use the same subtitle settings as Instagram Reels — same font, size, stroke, shadow and gradient. Nothing changes between the two, so load the same preset and carry on.

Safe zone is shared too — the same SafeZone.psd as Reels: 220px top · 720px live width · 200px subs band · 300px bottom.