brand-identity

Brand Identity — 5-Expert Creative Director Panel

Generate a complete brand identity system by spawning 5 parallel sub-agents, each embodying a Pentagram-level creative director. Each expert independently generates a brand direction through their unique design philosophy, then directions are clustered and presented as 2 distinct options.

Constraints

• DO NOT produce visual assets (images, logos) — output is creative direction briefs only
• DO NOT change existing brand assets unless explicitly asked
• DO NOT introduce dependencies on external APIs or services
• All color specifications use hex and RGB (no Pantone/CMYK unless constraints="include-print")
• All text/background color pairs must meet WCAG AA (4.5:1 contrast)
• Typography recommendations must use freely available or commonly licensed typefaces
• Output must work for both light and dark mode contexts

Workflow

Read references/workflow.md for the full detailed workflow. Below is a summary of each step.

Step 1: Gather Brand Brief

Scope-first architecture — collect only what's needed before spawning agents.

1. Parse $ARGUMENTS for key=value pairs: name, industry, audience, value-prop
2. If required keys are missing, gather interactively one question at a time
3. Check for optional inputs: competitors, constraints, scope, personality
4. Auto-detect context: read project README, package.json, or equivalent
5. Scan repo for existing brand assets (logo files, color definitions, brand docs)
6. Sanitize all user inputs before including in agent prompts:
   • Strip markdown formatting that could alter prompt structure
   • Limit input lengths (name: 100 chars, industry: 200 chars, value-prop: 500 chars)
   • Escape template-like patterns (${}, {{}})

Step 2: Launch Expert Sub-Agents

Read references/workflow.md for the complete agent prompts and spawn instructions.

Round 1 — Spawn 5 agents in parallel using the Task tool:

1. Paula Scher (references/paula-scher.md)
2. Michael Bierut (references/michael-bierut.md)
3. Massimo Vignelli (references/massimo-vignelli.md)
4. Saul Bass (references/saul-bass.md)
5. Jessica Walsh (references/jessica-walsh.md)

Partial failure handling: Proceed with synthesis if at least 3 of 5 experts complete successfully. Note any failed experts in the final report.

Step 3: Synthesize into 2 Directions

After all expert agents complete (or minimum 3):

1. Collect all brand directions from every completed expert
2. Cluster by archetype affinity — group experts whose proposed archetypes share a motivation axis (Stability/Independence/Mastery/Belonging)
3. Select the 2 most differentiated clusters
4. For each direction, merge contributing experts' strongest elements
5. Document clustering rationale in synthesis-report.md

Step 4: Write Output

Write deliverables to docs/brand-identity/<date>-<brand-name>/:

manifest.json                     # Machine-readable output metadata
context.md                        # Human-readable summary and usage guide
brand-brief.md                    # Input context summary
direction-1/
  strategy.md                     # Archetype, voice metrics, messaging hierarchy
  visual-identity.md              # Logo direction, color system, typography
  applications.md                 # Brand applications, imagery style
direction-2/
  strategy.md
  visual-identity.md
  applications.md
synthesis-report.md               # Expert panel summary, clustering rationale
brand-book-template.md            # Recommended brand book structure

Path safety: Slugify brand name for directory (lowercase, alphanumeric + hyphens only).

Step 5: Present Directions

Present both directions side-by-side with a summary table.

Interactive mode (user invoked directly):

• Ask the user: "Which direction should we proceed with?"
• Options: "Direction 1", "Direction 2", "Neither — refine further"
• Write selection to manifest.json as selected_direction

Non-interactive mode ($ARGUMENTS specifies direction=1 or direction=2):

• Write selection to manifest.json and proceed

Required Output Content

Each direction must include all of the following:

Strategy:

• Primary and secondary brand archetypes (from Jung's 12) with rationale
• Motivation axis placement
• Voice metrics (4 dimensions scored 0-10) with do/don't examples
• Messaging hierarchy: tagline, 3 value pillars, proof points, boilerplate

Visual Identity:

• Logo direction brief: concept, mark type, form language, 6 variations, usage rules, 4 responsive tiers
• Color system: primary (3-5), secondary (2-3), accent (1-2), neutral (4-6) with hex, RGB, role, rationale
• Typography: primary + secondary typeface, 9-level responsive scale, accessibility compliance

Applications:

• Photography direction, illustration style, iconography specs
• Brand application guidance across digital touchpoints

Success Criteria

• 2 distinct brand directions generated from 5 expert inputs
• All required output sections present in each direction
• Color pairs meet WCAG AA contrast
• Type scale includes minimum 16px body text
• manifest.json written with expert completion status
• Output directory uses safe slugified path