# ProphetX — AI Brand Context · Corporate
**Version 2.1 · August 2026** · Supersedes v2.0 (2026-08-11).
Machine-readable brand context for AI / MCP consumers producing **editorial / corporate collateral**: reports, quarterly briefs, investor decks, board decks, memos, thought-leadership blog posts, editorial press, executive summaries, dashboards for internal audiences.
> **Scope.** Editorial and internal surfaces are this file's primary job. Corporate should **almost never** be used for consumer-facing work — ads, OOH, social, campaign creative, landing pages — where the [Marketing file](./prophetx-ai-context-marketing.md) applies. If a user explicitly asks for Corporate on a consumer surface, name the mismatch and the Marketing default, then proceed on their confirmation. **Do not refuse.** For messaging-only work with no visual output, use [`prophetx-ai-context-messaging.md`](./prophetx-ai-context-messaging.md).
>
> **Sync note:** The messaging block below is byte-identical to `prophetx-ai-context-messaging.md`. Never edit inside the `MESSAGING BLOCK` markers by hand — the source is the messaging file, and `scripts/rebuild-ai-contexts.mjs` re-injects it here on every rebuild.
---
## What this file is
Instructions for AI models and MCP servers generating on-brand ProphetX **corporate / editorial collateral** — reports, quarterly briefs, investor and board decks, executive summaries, thought-leadership, internal dashboards. Everything here loads before any generative work.
The file has two parts:
1. **Messaging block** — voice, hierarchy (pillars, audiences), approved lines, vocab bans, content rules, features, competitor angles, craft standard. Identical across all ProphetX AI context files.
2. **Corporate visual system** — the visual rules specific to editorial surfaces: Fraunces type, Corporate color palette (including cream), extended palette permission for data viz, logo integrity, craft standard.
---
## How to apply these rules (default behavior)
These rules **shape every ProphetX generation by default**. When a user asks for on-brand ProphetX copy — script, ad line, deck narrative, PR — follow the guidance below without prompting. Correct vocabulary, approved lines only, vocab bans applied silently.
## Elastic override with affirmation
The rules are the default, not an absolute cage. If a user explicitly asks for something outside brand — a test variant, an internal experiment, a satirical / creative exploration, or a specific line the user knows is off-brand — an AI assistant may proceed, but only after this two-step:
1. **Warn.** Name the specific rule the request violates and describe the on-brand default. Example: *"Your requested headline uses 'Bet Big Now,' which conflicts with the 'trade is the default' rule (no A/B carve-out in v2.0). The on-brand alternative would be 'Trade Now.' Do you still want the off-brand version?"*
2. **Wait for explicit affirmation.** Do not generate the off-brand output until the user confirms (a clear yes, "proceed anyway," "I know it's off-brand, do it," etc.). Silence, ambiguity, or a follow-up unrelated question is NOT confirmation.
Once affirmed, generate the off-brand output but **label it clearly as off-brand** (e.g., preface with `⚠ OFF-BRAND — user override`), and never present it as sanctioned brand copy. If the request also wants the on-brand version, produce both, clearly separated.
**What this override is NOT:**
- Not a workaround for regulatory / legal rules. The following stay non-negotiable regardless of user affirmation:
- Logo integrity (never redraw / regenerate the wordmark from scratch — always place the approved SVG).
- CFTC-required paid-marketing disclaimer on paid ads.
- "All 50 states" claim (never — states drop offline during litigation).
- Guaranteed-return language ("risk-free," "guaranteed," "sure thing," "lock").
- Not automatic. Every off-brand request needs its own warn + affirm cycle. A prior affirmation does not carry into a new request.
- Not a default. If the user hasn't asked for off-brand output, don't ask if they want it — just generate on-brand.
The point of the override is creative elasticity, not brand erosion. When in doubt, warn and default to on-brand.
---
## A. Brand fundamentals
### WHO
Sports fans who take the game seriously — at any level. Product designed around disciplined traders (sharps). Most marketing aims at enthusiasts (~90% of campaigns) — strategy-driven fans who shop the line and consider themselves sharp-adjacent. Casual fans are welcome and convert well on big moments; not the design target.
### WHAT
A federally regulated exchange where sports fans trade against each other. **Not** a sportsbook, casino, or general-purpose prediction market. Users take positions on sports event contracts; the other side of every trade is another person.
### WHY
A sportsbook's margin is baked into the line. That isn't a fee users can opt out of — it's the business model, and the model needs users to lose. ProphetX is consumer-first literally: when users win, the product is working as designed.
### WHEN
Prediction markets crossed from novelty to regulated infrastructure. Sports became the biggest thing traded on them. Whoever got there first built for elections / crypto and bolted sports on late. In-game trading is fluid: prices move on injuries, mid-drive, after the whistle — positions aren't frozen after entry.
### WHERE
Federally regulated, legal, live nationwide. iOS, Android, web — full trading on all three. Most of the audience doesn't know a product like this is legal where they live, or that it exists at all.
### HOW
Take a price or set your own. Post the price you want and wait for someone to take the other side. No trading desk, no house position, no line shaded against the user.
### Restraint
Precise, confident, never hyped. F1-level quality bar for tone, restraint, and production value. F1 is a reference for tone and craft, not a costume — racing imagery, checkered-flag / pit-lane motifs turn a tone reference into on-the-nose theming and dilute the point. A considered mention of F1 in editorial, partner content, or brand storytelling — where the comparison is real (production standard, technical audience, seriousness the sport is treated with) — is fine. In consumer-facing hero copy it's usually the wrong lens: the audience is a sports fan first, and F1 in the hero displaces the sport they came for.
---
## A2. Message hierarchy — pillars and audiences
Every ProphetX asset ladders to exactly one of three pillars. Pillars are the arguments; approved lines (section B) are the fixed phrasings. Work from the pillar's *argument* and *tone*, then reach for the right line from B.
### The two audiences (identity vs. acquisition)
There's an identity audience and an acquisition audience, and they aren't the same people. The product is shaped around **sharps** — disciplined, high-volume traders who find ProphetX through reputation and trade channels rather than mass-market advertising. Roughly **90% of campaigns should aim at enthusiasts** — strategy-driven fans who shop the line, run a system, and consider themselves sharp-adjacent. Sharps understand creative built for enthusiasts; the reverse is not true.
| Tier | Who | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| **T1** | **Sharps** — high-volume traders. Don't explain the concept; show depth. | Identity audience |
| **T2** | **Enthusiasts** — shop the line, have a system, sharp-adjacent. | ~90% of campaigns |
| **T3** | **Recreational fans** and existing prediction-market users. | Secondary |
| **T4** | **Casual fans**, big-event traders. | Broad reach |
### P1 · Payout Advantage — the Value Gap
**Argument** — Same game, same trade, more money back. A sportsbook's cut is inside the line, so it applies whether you win or lose and compounds across legs. Remove the house and that value returns to the trader.
**Audience** — T2 primary · T1 primary
**Against** — Sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM)
**Tone** — Factual with weight. A structural revelation, not a promo. Let the number close the argument.
### P2 · Sports Depth — the Product Gap
**Argument** — ProphetX is sports-native and the alternatives aren't. Generalist regulated markets were built for elections and crypto, then added sports — so the markets are thin, the pricing display is unfamiliar, and the language assumes you've never watched a game. ProphetX was built for people who already know sports and expect the product to know it too.
**Audience** — T3 primary · T1 primary
**Against** — Generalist prediction markets (Kalshi, Polymarket)
**Tone** — Credibility, not claim. Warm but authoritative.
### P3 · Regulated Access — the Awareness Gap
**Argument** — Federally regulated, legal, live nationwide. The obstacle here isn't a competitor, it's unfamiliarity — most of the audience doesn't know this product is legal, legitimate, or open to them.
**Audience** — T2 · T3 · T4 all primary
**Against** — Unawareness, the state-by-state sportsbook patchwork, offshore alternatives
**Tone** — Calm authority. Factual, never boastful. Reassurance the audience didn't know it needed.
### How to use pillars in generation
- Every asset ladders to **one** pillar. If the brief doesn't name one, infer from the argument being made. Trust: fold into P3.
- **Do not treat pillar argument text as copy** — it's strategy for humans, not headlines. Approved lines (section B) are the only sanctioned phrasings.
- Some content sits outside the three-pillar system: **Culture** work (reactions, bad beats, memes, game noise) earns attention rather than making an argument. Culture is a Content tag in section D, not a pillar. It ladders to no P.
---
## B. Approved lines (verbatim)
Every ProphetX line, organised by job. Do NOT invent taglines, hero lines, or brand lines. Do NOT present generated alternatives as approved.
| Slot | Line | Where |
|---|---|---|
| **Hero** | **Same Moment. Bigger Payout.** | All paid / organic / brand. Leads everything. |
| **Identity — formal** | **America's First Sports-Native Prediction Market** | Press, boilerplate, partner decks, app store, regulatory, category-explaining awareness. |
| **Identity — category-fluent** | **The Order Book of Sports.** | Traders / high-end enthusiasts, trade media, sharp collabs, market-literate placements. |
| **Credibility anchor** | **Federally regulated. Live nationwide.** | Pillar-agnostic. Any asset, any campaign, wherever there's room. |
| **CTA — branded** | **Own your edge on ProphetX.** | Final voiceover, end card, script sign-off. |
| **CTA — functional** | **Trade Now.** | Buttons, end cards, app CTAs, performance retargeting. Never a headline. |
### What this restricts
Section B governs the fixed brand slots — hero, identity, credibility anchor, and the two CTAs. It applies to slogans, taglines, and any line occupying one of those slots on static creative, end frames or campaign assets. **Do not invent a line that replaces or imitates a slot in the table above.**
### What this does not restrict
Scripts, voice-over, hooks, narrative copy, dialogue, supporting body copy and captions are written to brief. The approved lines inform their tone and argument; they do not limit them. Vocabulary rules, hard bans and pillar tone still apply to every word.
### Flexibility on approved lines
Approved lines may be trimmed or extended to suit a surface — **"Own your edge."** and **"Own your edge on ProphetX."** are interchangeable. The line's substance is fixed; its exact length is not.
### Retired for customer-facing use — internal reference only
- **"We know sports."** — internal shorthand for the P2 Sports argument (what the brand is *about*, not what it *says*). Fine in internal briefs, sharp-community context, or in messaging documentation as a way to name the pillar. **Never** as a customer-facing line — no ads, no hero copy, no partner-facing creative, no end frames.
### Active offer (DATED — verify before use)
- **Trade $10, Get $20.** — Once a promo expires, do NOT surface it.
- **Verification pointer.** Before rendering any offer line in AI-generated work, check the current Marketing Lines section of the brand book at `https://homebase.prophetx.info/docs/brand-book.html#msg-lines` (or the deployed equivalent). If the offer above does not appear there, or the version reads differently, **omit the offer entirely** and note the omission in delivery. Never invent or extrapolate offer values.
### CFTC disclaimer — required text (paid marketing)
Paid marketing surfaces (paid social, CTV, digital display, OOH with a call to action, sponsored partnerships, performance retargeting) MUST carry the CFTC-required risk disclaimer. Use this text verbatim:
> Trading sports event contracts involves substantial risk of loss and is not appropriate for all investors. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. You should consider whether trading is appropriate for you in light of your financial circumstances. ProphetX is a CFTC-regulated designated contract market. Full risk disclosure available at prophetx.co/risk.
**Placement:** Directly on the surface — end frame for video, footer for static, dedicated slate for CTV, footer line for OOH with CTA. Never a separate document.
**Small-format carve-out.** Standard surfaces where the full text fits (720p+ video, ≥300×250 static, ≥970×90 leaderboard) must use the verbatim text above. **On small-format placements where the full text is physically impossible to render legibly** (small display units like 728×90, 320×50, 300×50; short-form audio spots under 15 seconds; text-only SMS/MMS), use the short form:
> Trading involves risk of loss. Sports event contracts on a CFTC-regulated exchange. Full risk disclosure at prophetx.co/risk.
The full text is the default. Reach for the short form only when the constraint is real, not for convenience.
**Never omit the disclaimer** and never leave a placeholder like `[disclaimer]` or `[CFTC]` in delivered work. A missing disclaimer reads as finished work and is worse than a visibly missing element like an unrendered logo.
---
## C. Voice & vocabulary
### Voice
Precise and data-driven. Confident without swagger — the product does the talking. Written from the trader's point of view, not the platform's. Sports-obsessed. Celebratory when someone wins — the win should feel earned. Elevated but not alienating. Decisive on CTAs.
### Never sound like
Hyped, loud, or desperate. Gambling-coded. Corporate or over-lawyered. Busy — negative space is doing work. Corny or juvenile. Weak on CTAs — never "Learn More," never "Click Here."
### Word swaps
| Instead of | Say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bet, wager | **Trade** | What actually happens on an exchange |
| The team someone bet on | **Position** | What a trader holds |
| American odds (+200 / -150 / -110) | **Percentages** (implied probability) | The exchange price format. Sportsbook shorthand not welcome; percentages are what the product shows. |
### Hard bans
| Category | Never use |
|---|---|
| Gambling-coded | Lucky, jackpot, gamble, win big |
| **Vig / no-vig — HARD BAN** | Vig, no-vig, no vig. Gives brand awareness to a direct competitor (Novig). Say "keep more," "better prices," or "no house cut." |
| **American odds — HARD BAN** | +200 / -150 / -110 format. Too sportsbook-adjacent, and the product is percentages-only per CFTC guidelines. Use percentages / implied probability. Decimal and fractional odds are also out. See § below. |
| Verbs | Wager, wagering, play / playing as a verb |
| Absolutes | Guaranteed, risk-free, lock, sure thing |
| Contextual | Sportsbook (in hero copy) |
| Commercial | Any specific fee or commission percentage |
### Approved vocabulary
Trade · trading · position · price · **percentages** · **implied probability** · odds (as a general word) · house cut · prediction market · event contract · lay · fade · edge · market · straights · moneylines · spreads · parlays.
### Bet, wager, gambling — full ban
"Bet," "wager," and gambling-coded language are banned in every channel without exception. No A/B carve-out, no paid-social carve-out. The default and only word is **trade**. This applies to product UI, PR, decks, regulatory copy, partner and influencer creative, paid social, CTV, and every downstream surface an AI system might generate for ProphetX.
### Cash Out — product-UI naming exception
The product UI reads **Cash Out** because that's the phrase users search for. Everywhere else — brand copy, marketing creative, decks, PR — say **trade out of your position**. A sportsbook's cash-out is the house quoting a buyback with margin inside the offer; ours is trading out at the market's price. Using their word for our better mechanism concedes the argument. This is a per-feature exception, not a general allowance for gambling-adjacent product terms.
### American odds — hard ban
The +200 / -150 / -110 format has no place in ProphetX text, content, or creative. Two reasons:
1. **Sportsbook-adjacent.** American odds are sportsbook shorthand. Using them concedes the category we're arguing against.
2. **The product is percentages-only per CFTC guidelines.** Prices on the exchange are expressed as implied probabilities. Brand and marketing copy match the product.
If a piece needs to describe a price, use the percentage. *"Player X at 62% to score"* — not *"Player X at -164."* Decimal odds (1.61) and fractional odds (5/8) are similarly out for the same reasons. If a piece would read more naturally with a comparison to a sportsbook price, convert the sportsbook line to its implied percentage too — never lay the two side-by-side in the +/- format. This applies to every surface: paid, organic, PR, decks, partner creative, script sign-offs, product marketing, everything.
### Availability
Default to **nationwide** in brand copy. Listing specific states is fine when the work is targeted at those states (paid geos, state-launch creative, local partnerships). Hard ban: **never say "all 50 states."** Some states drop offline due to prediction-market litigation; the claim ages badly the moment a state goes dark.
---
## D. Content — tag every asset
Four tags. Tag by tag, not by format.
| Tag | Covers | Against |
|---|---|---|
| **Payout** | You make more here | Sportsbooks |
| **Sports** | Built for sports fans | Generalist prediction markets |
| **Trust** | Legal, regulated, nationwide | Not knowing we exist |
| **Culture** | Reactions, bad beats, memes, game noise | Nobody |
### Campaigns (internal names)
| Tag | Campaigns |
|---|---|
| Payout | Same Moment. Bigger Payout. · Sportsbooks Are Criminals · Price Check · Payout Math |
| Sports | First Sports-Native Prediction Market · Edge & Education · Market Depth |
| Trust | *[placeholder]* · Nationwide |
| Culture | Trading Culture · Sports Fandom · Bad Beats & Win Moments |
### The only language rules that matter (creator page)
| Say | Never |
|---|---|
| **Trade** — not bet or wager | Bet · wager · play |
| **Position** — the side you hold | Vig · no-vig |
| **Price** — the exchange word | Lucky · jackpot · gamble · win big |
| **Percentages** — the format for our prices | American odds (+200 / -150) · decimal · fractional |
| **House cut** — never vig | Lock · guaranteed · sure thing |
| **Edge** · market · event contract | Any specific fee or commission |
Parlays are fine to say (with straights, moneylines, spreads). *Moneylines* is the market type; the odds format for it is percentages, never American odds.
When a piece needs a trust line, use **Federally regulated. Live nationwide.**
---
## E. Features — current promotable set (August 2026)
Dated by design. Features graduate to evergreen value props when they're simply how the product works.
### Parlay Builder — *new*
Combines several predictions into a single trade. Pull picks from different games / sports on one screen. Pillar: Payout, with Sports behind it.
### Cash Out — *coming soon*
Will close a position (or part) before the event finishes. Selling to another trader at the market's price, not accepting a house buyback. Pillar: Payout, with Sports behind it. **Naming rule:** product says "Cash Out"; brand / marketing copy says "trade out of your position." **Not yet live** — don't imply it's shippable today.
### Order Book — *new*
Shows every price other traders are willing to accept and how much they want at each one. Pillar: Payout + Sports equally.
### Futures — *restored*
Season-long positions on team or player performance, tradeable in and out across the whole season. Pillar: Sports, with Payout behind it.
### Payment Methods — *coming soon*
Aera Pay live now; the expanded PayNearMe set (debit / credit / bank / Apple Pay / Google Pay / PayPal / Venmo / Cash App / retail cash) is roadmap, not shipped. **Never** promote the expanded set as available. Say "Aera Pay today, wider set on the way" or omit specifics entirely. When methods start rolling out, name only what's live at the time of writing. Pillar: Trust.
---
## G. Competitor angles
Competitors are named here and NOWHERE else in output. Everywhere else say "sportsbooks" or "generalist prediction markets."
Lead angle vs. sportsbooks: **You vs. The House.** A sportsbook profits when the user loses; ProphetX has no house position.
| Competitor | Their weakness | Our angle | Pillar |
|---|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | House cut on every win; model needs users to lose | You vs. the house. Imply in paid, name in organic. Show the math. | P1 |
| FanDuel | Same model, unfavorable long-run pricing | You vs. the house, plus side-by-side payout comparison. | P1 |
| BetMGM | Vegas DNA, house-always-wins already baked in | Built for the house. We're built for you. | P1 |
| Novig | Similar claims, thinner product | **Never** use "vig" or "no vig" in any context. Lead on depth, community, product quality. | P1 · P2 |
| Kalshi | Generalist, not sports-first | Built for elections. We're built for sports. Match their regulated-trust framing rather than ceding it. | P2 · P3 |
| Polymarket | Crypto-adjacent, not sports-focused | Sharp, sports-first, for fans. US-regulated is the tiebreaker. | P2 · P3 |
**Guidance:** Competitor names aren't the heart of the message — the category term ("sportsbooks," "generalist prediction markets") is the default, and it keeps the argument about us rather than about them. Name a specific competitor when the direct comparison is the point: a payout gap you can show, a rule or move that's the news, a claim with receipts. When you do name one, name it once and let the number or the moment do the work. Never in hero copy; sparingly elsewhere. Organic social is where naming is most natural; paid usually reads stronger with implication.
---
## H. Craft standard
Whatever the medium — video, static, voice-over, editorial, live event — the work has to clear this bar. Framing the standard as *what the work looks like*, not *how it was made*.
### Lean into
Cinematic scale · visual precision · environments impossible or unaffordable to shoot. Stadium sequences that couldn't exist · abstract visualisations of market movement · hyper-stylised win moments.
### Avoid
Generic stock sports imagery · lo-fi filler that reads as churn · anything that undercuts the production standard.
### Never
- Approximate the logo — always place the approved file.
- Default to gambling-coded language — sweep every output for it.
### Avoid (but not absolute)
- **Motorsport as a visual motif in consumer creative** — racing cars, checkered flags, pit lane, cockpit shots. F1 is a tone reference, not a costume; leaning on the visual language turns it into on-the-nose theming.
- **F1 leading consumer-facing hero copy.** Considered mentions in editorial, partner content, or brand storytelling are fine when the comparison is real (production standard, technical audience, seriousness the sport is treated with).
### Pre-deployment checklist
- [ ] Does it ladder to one of the three pillars?
- [ ] Does every brand line come from section B, with nothing invented?
- [ ] Does it use approved vocabulary — trade, not bet or wager?
- [ ] Free of vig · fee · commission language?
- [ ] Availability defaults to nationwide (state lists OK for state-targeted work); no "all 50 states"?
- [ ] Does it carry the credibility anchor where there's room?
- [ ] Is the approved logo placed rather than generated?
- [ ] Is the tone precise and confident rather than hyped?
- [ ] Would a sharp trader find it credible?
---
## I. What changed from v1.2
- **Pillars:** 4 → 3 (Availability folded into P3 · Regulated Access).
- **Lines:** Consolidated to an approved-lines table. **Every** approved line lives in section B.
- **Hooks removed:** Per-pillar sample copy in v1.2 was mistaken as sanctioned. Every approved line now lives in section B only.
- **Voice:** Explicit vig hard ban. Cash Out product-UI naming exception (see § C). "Bet / wager / gambling" full ban across every channel — no A/B carve-out. States rule softened to allow targeted state lists; hard ban stays on "all 50 states."
- **Content:** 6 pillars → 4 tags. 46 nested format slots → 27.
- **Features:** New section. Dated set with defined path into evergreen props.
- **Competitors:** Named in section G only.
- **AI contexts:** Split into three files — this messaging-only file plus scoped `-marketing.md` and `-corporate.md` files. Freelancers pick the one that matches their surface. The messaging block is byte-identical across all three.
---
## J. Cross-references
- Human-facing full messaging: [`prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md`](./prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md)
- Brand book UI: `/prototype/docs/brand-book.html` — messaging sections `sec-msg-overview` through `sec-msg-content`.
- Design tokens: `/prototype/tokens/tokens.css`.
- Scoped AI contexts: `prophetx-ai-context-marketing.md`, `prophetx-ai-context-corporate.md`.
- Superseded: v1.2 (Q2 2026) messaging — kept in git history but no longer authoritative.
---
## K. Corporate visual system
**Scope.** Primary job: editorial and internal surfaces — reports, quarterly briefs, investor decks, board decks, memos, thought-leadership, editorial press, executive summaries, dashboards for internal audiences. Corporate should **almost never** be used for consumer-facing work (ads, OOH, social, campaign creative, landing pages) — that's the [Marketing file's](./prophetx-ai-context-marketing.md) job. If a user explicitly requests Corporate on a consumer surface, name the mismatch and the Marketing default, then proceed on their confirmation. **Do not refuse.**
**Divergence note — hero gradient.** Corporate hero headlines are **always ink** — no gradient, no brand colour, no tint (§K.4). Marketing keeps a hero-gradient exception on its consumer surfaces. When producing cross-system work, do not assume the two files match on this specific rule — they diverge deliberately.
### K.1 · Type — Corporate
**Display face:** Fraunces (variable, weights 100–900, with italics and soft/opsz axes).
**Body face:** Outfit (variable, weights 100–900, italics available).
Both SIL Open Font Licence — agency- and AI-tool-safe.
**Weights actually used:**
| Face | Weight | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fraunces | **700 (Bold)** | Big hero titles — report covers, campaign headlines, editorial heroes. |
| Fraunces | 500 (Medium) | Standard headlines. |
| Fraunces | 400 (Regular) | Section headers, sub-sections. |
| Fraunces italic | 400–500 | Editorial emphasis. Best at 20–40px sizes where the soft axis reads editorial rather than novelty. |
| Outfit | 600 (SemiBold) | Eyebrows (ALL CAPS), table headers, metadata labels, badge text. |
| Outfit | 500 (Medium) | Callouts, emphasis, UI labels in collateral. |
| Outfit | 400 (Regular) | Paragraphs, descriptions, table content, captions. |
**Type tokens:**
| Token | Face + weight | Use |
|---|---|---|
| `--font-headline` | Fraunces 500 (Bold 700 for report covers + editorial heroes) | Section titles, chapter openers, report covers |
| `--font-subhead` | Fraunces 400 | Sub-sections, card headers, chapter marks |
| `--font-stat` | Fraunces 700 | KPI values, stat callouts, large numerals |
| `--font-body` | Outfit 400 | Paragraphs, descriptions |
| `--font-body-med` | Outfit 500 | Callouts, emphasis, UI labels |
| `--font-body-semi` | Outfit 600 | Eyebrows (ALL CAPS), table headers, metadata |
| `--font-ui-small` | Outfit 400 small | Timestamps, footnotes, fine print |
**Type hard rules (Corporate):**
1. Fraunces is **not an ad face.** Never use it in ads, OOH, matchup graphics, or campaign creative. It belongs in editorial and reporting surfaces.
2. **Never mix in Big Shoulders.** Big Shoulders is the Marketing face. Corporate editorial surfaces stay Fraunces top to bottom. Exception: if a report includes a marketing sizzle page, that page follows Marketing type rules top to bottom.
3. **Italics allowed and encouraged.** Fraunces italic for editorial emphasis in long-form. Outfit italic for body-copy emphasis. Use sparingly — italics are punctuation, not decoration.
4. **Never italicize** tabular data, odds, prices, buttons, nav, or metadata labels.
5. **Fraunces reads best in sentence case.** All-caps Fraunces reads heavy and less editorial. Reserve for the rare eyebrow (and prefer Outfit SemiBold for those).
6. **ALL CAPS** — for eyebrows, column headers, tag labels: `text-transform: uppercase` + `letter-spacing: .14em`. Best in Outfit SemiBold 600.
7. **Title Case** — chapter titles, CTA buttons, section titles.
8. **Sentence case** — body copy, tooltips, legal, editorial prose, most Fraunces headlines.
**Minimum sizes:**
- Print body: 9pt minimum.
- Digital body: 12px minimum.
- Fraunces italics — best at 20–40px, where the soft axis holds its editorial character.
### K.2 · Colors — Corporate
Editorial work uses the same primary + secondary as Marketing, plus Corporate-only paper (cream), a data-only extended palette, a delta pair for reporting, and a warm neutral ramp for structural greys.
**Default ground: CREAM.** The tokens below assume Corporate's cream-first default (`--cream` ground, `--ink` type, warm-tinted neutral ramp). Every rule in §K assumes this unless the brief explicitly asks for the dark-mode variant (see §K.2a).
**Core palette:**
| Token | Hex | Use |
|---|---|---|
| `--green` | `#0BA249` | Primary — CTAs, brand highlights, hero accents. |
| `--sec` (indigo) | `#667EEA` | Secondary — accent moments, editorial pull-quotes. **Not a series colour.** |
| `--cream` | `#F8F5EF` | **Corporate-only paper — the default ground.** Editorial paper for reports, decks, memos. Do not use on consumer surfaces. |
| `--ink` | `#0D0D0F` | Ink — default type on cream. Hero headlines set here per §K.4. |
| `--bg-default` | `#020408` | Dark-mode ground — investor decks with dark aesthetic (see §K.2a). |
| `--fg-default` | `#F5F5F5` | Paper foreground for the dark-mode variant only. |
| `--fg-muted` | `#97979B` | Muted foreground — for dark-mode variant. |
| `--red` | `#E93A3A` | Negative / errors / losses ONLY. Never as accent. |
| `--delta-pos` | `#22C368` | **Favorable change values only** — see delta rules below. |
| `--delta-neg` | `#F5706E` | **Unfavorable change values only** — see delta rules below. |
**Delta color rules — reserved for change values.**
The delta pair (`--delta-pos` `#22C368` and `--delta-neg` `#F5706E`) is used **only on a change value** — a percentage movement, a plus or minus figure, an up or down indicator. Never a series colour, callout accent, label colour, border, panel or type colour. If a colour is not reporting a change, it does not come from this pair.
**Colour follows favorability, not arithmetic sign.** A falling CPA is a good outcome and reads `--delta-pos` despite the negative number. A falling deposit count reads `--delta-neg`. Decide by whether the movement is good for the business.
`--red` `#E93A3A` stays reserved for errors, losses and restricted states — distinct from the delta scale. `--delta-pos` `#22C368` is also an approved gradient stop in §K.4; the gradient stops themselves are unaffected by the delta rule. A flat `#22C368` fill on a chart line or callout accent that isn't reporting a change is out — audit templates for that misuse.
**Neutral ramp (Corporate).** Structural greys for rules, borders, table fills, gridlines and secondary text. Warm-tinted to sit with cream.
| Token | Hex | Use |
|---|---|---|
| `--paper-2` | `#F2EEE5` | Inset panels, table header fill, footer bands |
| `--rule` | `#DFD9CD` | Table borders, section rules, panel outlines |
| `--rule-soft` | `#ECE7DD` | Row dividers, chart gridlines |
| `--fg-body` | `#3C464F` | Body copy on cream |
| `--fg-label` | `#6C7681` | Table headers, eyebrows, captions |
Do not introduce neutrals outside this ramp. If a warmer inset or a cooler border is needed for a specific one-off, treat it as an override and comment the deviation — do not silently invent a new value that then propagates.
### K.2a · Dark-mode variant (when the brief calls for it)
Corporate defaults to cream. When a brief explicitly asks for the dark-mode variant — investor decks with a dark aesthetic, executive-summary title screens meant to project on a dim room, dashboards handed to an internal audience that prefers dark — flip the ground-dependent tokens as follows. **Unless the brief names dark-mode, use the cream default.**
| What flips | Cream ground (default) | Dark ground (variant) |
|---|---|---|
| Ground | `--cream` `#F8F5EF` | `--bg-default` `#020408` |
| Body type | `--fg-body` `#3C464F` (or `--ink`) | `--fg-default` `#F5F5F5` |
| Hero headline (§K.4 hero-ink rule) | `--ink` on cream | `--fg-default` on dark — still no gradient, no colour, no tint |
| Label / eyebrow type | `--fg-label` `#6C7681` | `--fg-muted` `#97979B` |
| Neutral ramp (`--paper-2`, `--rule`, `--rule-soft`) | Warm-tinted for cream (§K.2 ramp above) | **Do NOT use — the warm greys read wrong on dark.** Restrict panels and rules to solid brand colours (§K.4 panels-and-dividers) plus `--fg-muted` at partial opacity for hairlines. If the deck genuinely needs a structural grey ramp on dark, treat it as an override and codify the values in delivery notes. |
| Wordmark to place | `onLight_wordmark_prophetx_v2.svg` (Ink + Green X) — §K.5a first block | `onDark_wordmark_prophetx_v2.svg` (White + Green X) — §K.5a second block |
| Standalone X — everyday | Filled Green or Filled Dark (ink) — Stroke 8 for luxury hero moments | Filled Green or Filled White (paper) — Stroke 8 for luxury hero moments |
| Solid-brand-colour panels (§K.4) | Green solid + cream type · Ink solid + cream type · cream-tint washes | Green solid + `--fg-default` type · `--fg-default` type on ground · tinted `--green` washes at low alpha |
**What does NOT flip:**
- `--green`, `--sec` (indigo), `--red`, `--delta-pos`, `--delta-neg` — same hex values on both grounds.
- The extended-palette hexes (§K.3). Only the assignment logic is unchanged; ensure chart-series contrast holds against the darker ground before publishing.
- The X colorway rules (§K.4). The X icon family is ground-agnostic — pick the Green / Dark / White fill that contrasts with the ground you're on.
- Delta rules, sourcing format, logo integrity r2–r11, `--font-stat`, `--font-headline` weights.
**Hero-ink rule reminder.** The largest headline stays type-only in both variants — `--ink` on cream, `--fg-default` on dark. No gradient, no brand colour, no tint, on either ground. This diverges from Marketing regardless of the ground you're on.
### K.3 · Extended palette — data only
**These colors are NOT part of the public brand system**, but they ARE available to Corporate collateral **on data work only** — never as design elements.
**Palette:**
| Token | Hex |
|---|---|
| `--blue-500` | `#44ADDE` |
| `--teal-500` | `#38B2AC` |
| `--purple-500` | `#9F7AEA` |
| `--orange-500` | `#ED8936` |
| `--amber-500` | `#F5B800` |
| `--pink-500` | `#ED64A6` |
**Permitted:**
- Categorical chart series (bar, line, pie slices, sparklines).
- Data-table keys and series legends.
- Titles or labels **tied directly to a coded series** (e.g., a finding about the affiliate channel inherits the series colour assigned to affiliate).
**Not permitted:**
- Any design element — panels, backgrounds, accents, borders, callout rules, decorative type, chip fills that aren't reporting data.
- Series colour on a stat value that isn't part of a chart.
- Second brand accent. Indigo is the secondary brand accent; making purple or teal read as a peer to indigo blurs "secondary accent" and "category three."
A designer may override for a specific design element, but that is an explicit decision, never a default.
**Assignment is free.** No fixed colour belongs to any given variable and no order is prescribed. Draw from the palette as the data requires, keep assignment consistent within a document and across recurring editions of the same report, and do not invent hues outside the list. If a chart needs a seventh category, cycle or use a green/indigo shade — do not extrapolate a new hue.
**Indigo is the secondary brand accent, not a series colour.** Do not mix indigo into a categorical scale.
### K.4 · Gradient rules — Corporate
**Corporate is fully flat.** As of v2.1 there are no gradient exceptions on Corporate surfaces at all — the X icon family has no gradient variant, and hero headlines stay ink. Solid brand colours do every job.
**Hero headlines stay ink.** The largest headline in any Corporate composition — report cover, chapter opener, deck title — is set in `--ink` on cream or `--fg-default` on dark. **No gradient, no brand colour, no tint** on the hero. Colour on type is permitted only below hero scale: KPI values, stat callouts, finding labels and inline emphasis may carry `--green` or `--sec`. This diverges from Marketing deliberately — see the divergence note at the top of §K.
**The X mark is flat.** Pick a colorway from the X icon family (§K.5a) — Filled (primary) or Stroke 8 (secondary luxury), in Green / Dark / White — that contrasts with the ground. Never construct a gradient version.
**Panels & section dividers.** Reports, decks, and editorial layouts may use **solid** brand colours as background panels, section dividers, chapter openers, and numeric callouts. Green solid ground with cream type reads editorial-hero. Ink solid ground with cream type reads clean-editorial. Cream tint washes are quiet callouts. Never bake a directional shading gradient into the panel itself — the panel is a colour field, not a gradient wash.
**Where NEVER allowed on Corporate surfaces:**
- **The hero headline.** Ink, always. No gradient, no colour, no tint.
- **The X mark.** No gradient variant exists in v2.1 — the v2.0 Signature Gradient X was retired.
- Body copy — no gradients on text at any tier.
- Product mockups within a report — the mock stays flat per Product UI rules.
- Directional shading gradients on panels or backgrounds — panels are solid colour fields.
**Rule of thumb:** solid ProphetX green, indigo, ink, or cream. When unsure, stay solid — that's the only rule on Corporate now.
### K.5 · Logo integrity — hard rules
Rules match Marketing §K.4 (with r10 and r11 identical). AI tools MUST enforce all of these:
1. **Never recreate the wordmark.** Always place the approved SVG. Do not redraw, retrace, or generate it from scratch (including with AI image tools). Approved files live under `prototype/logos/v2/` — for Corporate surfaces the two primary wordmarks are `001 Primary Wordmark - White + Green X/onDark_wordmark_prophetx_v2.svg` (dark grounds) and `002 Primary Wordmark - Ink + Green X/onLight_wordmark_prophetx_v2.svg` (light grounds; the default for cream editorial). Keep the `prototype/logos/v2/` file paths for design tools that link files. **For any surface rendering to HTML, SVG, or a generated artifact, use the inline SVG markup in §K.5a — a file path is not reachable from a rendered document.** If neither the file nor the inline markup is available, leave a labelled empty slot in the correct position and flag it in delivery notes. **Never draw, typeset, trace or approximate the mark to fill the gap.**
2. **Don't distort** — never stretch or compress in any axis.
3. **Don't rotate** — always horizontal.
4. **Don't add effects** — no drop shadows, glows, bevels, embosses, outlines, or filters.
5. **Don't recolor** — wordmark stays white on dark or ink on light. X carries approved green or approved gradient. No other colors.
6. **Don't use at low opacity** — full opacity always.
7. **Don't crowd — clear space is 1× the X cap-height on all four sides, at every size.** Concrete numbers: for the wordmark, allocate the "PROPHET" cap-height as the buffer on every side (40 px cap-height → 40 px per side; 80 px → 80 px per side). For the icon mark alone, use the X's own height (48 px X → 48 px per side; 128 px → 128 px per side). **The SVG files don't bake this in** — they contain the mark only; clear space is protected by the layout around the mark. Give the mark more canvas; never crop the visible glyph to make room.
8. **Don't use below minimum** — wordmark: 80px wide (digital) / 24mm (print). X mark: 16px minimum.
9. **Choose the X colorway to fit the ground** — over photos or busy backgrounds, use Filled White (paper) on dark and Filled Dark (ink) on light. Stroke variants read best on clean grounds; strokes can vanish on busy imagery.
10. **Placement is fixed, not compositional.** The X mark sits in the **top-right corner** of every page, slide or frame, at the same coordinates throughout a document. Interior pages of a report or deck carry the mark; it is not a cover-only element. Do not move the mark to suit a layout.
11. **No improvised lockups.** Never place the standalone X mark beside the typed business name. If the word "ProphetX" needs to appear adjacent to a mark, use the approved full wordmark lockup. The X mark is standalone by definition. Department names, document titles, and org descriptors (e.g. "Performance Marketing," "Product") sit in a separate layout region with clear space intact — never inline with the X to form an improvised lockup.
### K.5a · Inline SVG markup — copy-pasteable
For any surface rendering to HTML, SVG, or a generated artifact where a file path is unreachable, embed these SVG blocks directly. Gradient IDs are uniquely suffixed so multiple instances on one page don't collide.
**Primary Wordmark — on light ground (Ink + Green X)** — the default for cream editorial:
```svg
```
**Primary Wordmark — on dark ground (White + Green X)** — for dark-mode investor decks:
```svg
```
**Standalone X — two tiers, three families, three colorways.** The X icon family shipped in v2.1 replaced the earlier gradient X. All variants share the same 230×140 viewBox and swap only the `fill` value. **There is no gradient X variant.**
**Primary tier — the workhorse:**
- **Filled** — solid X. Report covers, chapter openers, deck watermarks, section marks. This is what "the ProphetX X" means when no direction is given.
**Secondary tier — NOT interchangeable with primary. Use only when the brief calls for it:**
- **Stroke 8** — heavy outlined X, luxury weight. Investor-facing hero moments where a hollow mark still needs presence.
**Never swap Stroke 8 in as a substitute for Filled.** If the brief doesn't explicitly name Stroke 8, the answer is Filled.
Three fills per family: `#0BA249` (Green — default), `#0D0D0F` (Dark ink — for cream default ground), `#F5F5F5` (White paper — for dark-mode variant).
**X · Filled — Green** (swap `fill` for `#0D0D0F` on cream/light or `#F5F5F5` on dark):
```svg
```
**X · Stroke 8 — Green** (swap `fill` for the other two colorways):
```svg
```
**Usage rules for the inline markup:**
- **Never modify the paths.** These are the approved marks, byte-for-byte from the source SVGs. Do not simplify, round, or "clean up" the path data.
- **Swap only the `fill` value** to move between colorways. The three approved fills are `#0BA249` (Green), `#0D0D0F` (Dark), `#F5F5F5` (White). No other colours on the X.
- **Aspect ratio is locked by the `viewBox`** (230×140). Set `width` and `height` proportionally, or use CSS `width` alone with `height: auto`. Do not override the `viewBox`.
- **No gradient variant.** The v2.0 Signature Gradient X was retired in v2.1. Do not construct a gradient version from these paths.
- **Aspect ratio is locked by the `viewBox`.** Set `width` and `height` proportionally, or use CSS `width` alone with `height: auto`. Don't override the `viewBox`.
- **Clear space still applies (§K.5 r7).** Inline markup doesn't waive the clear-space rule; enforce it in the layout that surrounds the SVG.
### K.6 · Craft standard — Corporate surfaces
Whatever the medium — report, deck, memo, editorial, dashboard — Corporate collateral has to clear this bar. The standard is *what the work looks like*, not *how it was made*.
Lean into:
- **Editorial precision.** Considered layout, generous negative space, hierarchy that reads at a glance.
- **Real data.** Charts and callouts driven by numbers the reader can trust. No mocked-up trends. Cite sources.
- **Fraunces italics as pacing.** Emphasis inside long-form. Not decoration — punctuation.
- **Categorical data viz.** Extended palette earning its keep on multi-series charts and tag systems.
Avoid:
- Consumer-ad aesthetic. If it would work as a paid social ad, it doesn't belong in a board deck.
- Marketing-face type (Big Shoulders). Fraunces carries editorial.
- Extended palette as accent or hero. Utility only.
Never:
- Approximate the logo. Always place the approved SVG.
Avoid on Corporate collateral (guidance, not absolute):
- **Motorsports as a visual motif** — racing cars, checkered flags, pit lane. F1 is a tone reference, not a costume; leaning on the visual language turns a considered comparison into on-the-nose theming.
- Corporate work is the surface where a *considered mention* of F1 makes the most sense — investor decks and editorial can honestly reference production standards or technical-audience seriousness. Name F1 once, tie it to a real point, and move on.
**Sourcing format.** Every figure carries its source at the point of use — **inline after the claim** for prose and findings, **in the panel footer** for charts and tables, and **in a data-notes block** for document-level method. Name the system **and the query basis**, not just the system: `AppsFlyer SSOT, 7-day cumulative` rather than `AppsFlyer`. A source in a bibliography at the end of a deck does not count as sourced.
**Corporate pre-deployment checklist:**
- [ ] Fraunces for hero and section headers, not Big Shoulders?
- [ ] **The largest headline is set in ink, not colour or gradient (§K.4)?**
- [ ] KPI values and stat callouts use `--font-stat` (Fraunces 700), not headline weight (§K.1)?
- [ ] Body in Outfit at 400 with italics only for emphasis?
- [ ] Cream ground used where appropriate (report paper); consumer-neutral palette elsewhere?
- [ ] Neutrals from the ramp (§K.2) — no invented greys?
- [ ] Extended palette limited to categorical chart series, table keys, or labels tied to a coded series — never on panels, accents, borders, or type outside a data role?
- [ ] Indigo used as secondary accent, never as a chart series colour?
- [ ] Delta values coloured by favorability, never by arithmetic sign?
- [ ] Gradient limited to the X mark only (no hero-headline gradient — that's Marketing)?
- [ ] Logo integrity intact — approved SVG placed or inline markup embedded (§K.5 r1 + §K.5a), never redrawn?
- [ ] X mark in the top-right corner of every page/slide/frame (§K.5 r10)?
- [ ] No X placed beside typed "ProphetX" as an improvised lockup (§K.5 r11)?
- [ ] Every data claim sourced at the point of use (not in a bibliography)?
- [ ] Motorsports not used as a visual motif? (Considered mentions of F1 in supporting text where the comparison is real are fine.)
---
## L. Cross-references
- Messaging source of truth: [`prophetx-ai-context-messaging.md`](./prophetx-ai-context-messaging.md)
- Human-facing full messaging: [`prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md`](./prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md)
- Marketing scoped visuals: [`prophetx-ai-context-marketing.md`](./prophetx-ai-context-marketing.md)
- Brand book UI: `/prototype/docs/brand-book.html`
- Design tokens: `/prototype/tokens/tokens.css`
---
*ProphetX AI Context · Corporate · v2.1 · August 2026 · jeff.donaldson@prophetexchange.com*