# CompetitorTool — Brand identity system

Proposed direction · Version 1.0 · September 2026

> Know the field. Find your move.

## 01 · The strategic idea

### Clarity that leads somewhere.

**Purpose.** Help teams understand the competitive landscape and choose a practical next move.

**Positioning.** For founders and lean marketing teams who need a clearer competitive picture, CompetitorTool is an AI competitive analysis tool that turns competitor research into a structured dossier, SWOT analysis, and prioritized actions to close gaps or explore market opportunities.

**Brand promise.** Understand where you stand. Decide what to do next.

**Primary audience.** Primary: founders and small business owners. Secondary: marketing teams and agencies. The primary audience was confirmed by the founder; the secondary audience is a suggested expansion.

**Brand character.** Perceptive: notices meaningful differences. Grounded: separates evidence from interpretation. Decisive: gives a clear next step. Approachable: makes strategy understandable.

**Strategic territory.** Own the connection between competitive understanding and practical action. Treat this as a positioning hypothesis to validate, rather than a claim that no competitor offers it.

## 02 · Words that carry the brand

### Know the field. Find your move.

**Primary tagline.** Know the field. Find your move.

**Short descriptor.** AI competitive analysis, built for action.

**One sentence.** Turn competitor research into a clear dossier, a focused SWOT analysis, and practical next steps for your business.

**Homepage headline.** See where you stand. Know what to do next.

**Homepage supporting copy.** Understand your competitors, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and turn market gaps into a practical plan.

**Calls to action.** Primary: Analyze competitors. Secondary: View a sample dossier. Use the sample CTA only once a real sample is available.

**Three message pillars.** See the field: organize competitor information into a useful dossier. Find the gaps: connect strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Make your move: translate insights into specific actions.

**Short brand story.** Competitive research should help you make a decision. CompetitorTool brings the landscape into focus, organizes what matters, and helps you choose your next move. From the first dossier to the next action, the aim is clarity you can use.

## 03 · Voice and editorial rules

### A sharp analyst. An approachable guide.

**How we sound.** Plainspoken, specific, measured, and constructive. Address the user as “you.” Use short sentences and concrete verbs. Explain why an insight matters before recommending action.

**Recommended insight pattern.** Observation → implication → suggested action. Example: “The reviewed pricing pages do not mention onboarding support. A guided start may help first-time buyers. Interview five prospects before building the offer.” This is illustrative copy, not research.

**Calibrate certainty.** Say “The reviewed pages suggest…” when evidence is incomplete. Say “We could not verify…” when information is missing. Do not turn missing evidence into a claim that a competitor lacks a feature.

**Use / avoid.** Use: evidence, competitor, opportunity, next step, tradeoff, test. Avoid: dominate, crush the competition, guaranteed growth, revolutionary AI, secret intelligence.

**UI microcopy.** Loading: “Building your competitive picture…” Empty state: “Add your first competitor to start your analysis.” Error: “We couldn’t read this website. Check the URL and try again.” Completion: “Your analysis is ready. Review the findings and choose your next step.”

**AI disclosure.** Describe AI as the method, not the authority. Proposed report note: “AI-assisted analysis. Review the sources and assumptions before making decisions.” Only promise citations or verification when the product actually supplies them.

## 04 · Logo system

### An opening. A next move.

**Symbol concept.** An angular C creates an open frame; a short arrow moves through the opening. The frame represents the competitive field and the arrow represents the user’s next action. This is an original proposed concept, not a trademark clearance.

**Wordmark.** Use CompetitorTool as one word with capital C and T. Set the wordmark in Manrope Bold with slightly tight spacing. Never break the name across lines.

**Versions.** Use the ink mark on paper, white, or lime. Use the light mark on ink. Use the lime tile with ink mark for a favicon or app icon. Keep the wordmark in one color.

**Clear space and size.** Keep clear space equal to one quarter of the symbol height on every side. Minimum mark size: 24 px on screen or 6 mm in print. Minimum lockup width: 180 px; below that use the mark alone.

**Asset notes.** The symbol SVGs are vector paths and need no font. The lockup SVG contains editable text: install Manrope and convert the wordmark to outlines before final production export. Review the favicon at 16 px and use a simplified mark if necessary.

**Avoid.** Do not rotate, stretch, add shadows, add gradients, change the arrow direction, or put the mark on busy photographs. Do not use lime on white for fine lines or text.

## 05 · Color system

### Grounded in ink. Activated by lime.

**Core palette.** Ink #172B2A anchors the identity. Paper #F5F3EA softens large reading surfaces. Signal Lime #D7F76B highlights the next meaningful action. White #FFFFFF supports clean report surfaces.

**Supporting colors.** Muted #526461 for secondary copy; Border #CAD2C9 for decorative separators. Success #28634B, Warning #865414, Error #A53838, Info #285B85 for labeled states on white.

**Proportion.** Aim for 65% paper and white, 25% ink, and 10% lime across marketing layouts. In the product, reserve lime for the primary action or a selected opportunity, so it retains meaning.

**Accessible usage.** Use ink text on lime, paper, and white. Use paper or white text on ink. Use muted text on white or paper. Lime must not be used as text on white. Decorative borders are subtle; use muted borders for input boundaries and an ink focus ring with a contrasting gap.

**Meaning.** Lime means emphasis, not success. Pair all state colors with text labels or icons. SWOT quadrants use headings and letter markers so they remain understandable without color.

## 06 · Typography and layout

### Readable enough for real research.

**Typeface pairing.** Manrope for headings, body text, and controls. IBM Plex Mono for report IDs, dates, table labels, and compact metadata. Use monospace sparingly, not for paragraphs.

**Type scale.** Desktop: hero 72/76 px, H1 48/53, H2 32/38, H3 24/31, body 16/26, small 14/21, label 12/18. Use weights 400, 500, 600, and 700. Mobile hero: 40/44 px; H1: 36/40 px. Body remains at least 16 px.

**Text setting.** Headlines use sentence case and −0.04em tracking; body uses normal tracking. Keep prose to 60–75 characters per line. Use tabular numerals in comparisons. Avoid long stretches of uppercase text.

**Grid and spacing.** Use a 1200 px maximum content width, a 12-column desktop grid with 24 px gutters, and a 4-column mobile grid with 16 px gutters. Spacing scale: 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96 px.

**Shape and depth.** 8 px corners for controls, 12 px for cards, 4 px for tags. Use thin borders and surface contrast for depth. Save soft shadows for menus and dialogs.

**Motion and interaction.** Use 160 ms ease-out transitions for focus, selection, and disclosure. Respect reduced-motion preferences. Provide visible keyboard focus and at least 44 × 44 px touch targets.

## 07 · Visual language

### Make the reasoning visible.

**Signature graphic.** Use open rectangular frames, comparison columns, and one highlighted route through a grid. The open frame echoes the logo; the highlighted route echoes the next action. Keep decorative diagrams distinct from real data.

**Iconography.** Use consistent 2 px outline icons on a 24 px grid. Prefer simple symbols for sources, comparisons, gaps, and actions. Add text labels to unfamiliar icons.

**Photography and illustration.** Lead with product screens, dossier excerpts, and restrained diagrams. If photography is needed, show people making decisions in credible working environments. Avoid robots, neon brains, chess pieces, spy imagery, and generic handshake stock.

**Charts.** Directly label series. Include units, source, and date where available. Use pattern, line style, or labels alongside color. Never imply precision by presenting invented scores as measured results.

**Trust presentation.** Recommended future report convention: distinguish observed facts, inferred implications, and proposed actions. Show source links and review dates when available. This is a design recommendation, not a claim about current functionality.

## 08 · Product expression

### From dossier to decision.

**Information hierarchy.** Proposed navigation: Overview → Competitor dossier → SWOT → Action plan. Keep a persistent business or project name visible. Use plain labels before introducing branded feature names.

**Dossier component.** Start with a short summary, then relevant comparisons and supporting evidence. Place source references beside the observation they support. Show an explicit “Not verified” state for uncertain data.

**SWOT component.** Use a four-quadrant layout on desktop and stacked sections on mobile. Strengths and weaknesses describe internal factors; opportunities and threats describe external factors. Keep the business being assessed visible.

**Action card.** Recommended fields: action title, rationale, supporting finding, suggested first step, and priority. If effort or impact is estimated, label it as an estimate. Avoid fake precision.

**Controls.** Primary: ink text on lime; hover: paper text on ink. Secondary: ink text with a muted outline. Disabled: neutral fill and explicit disabled semantics. Focus: a 3 px ink outline with a 3 px white gap. Do not rely on hover to reveal essential actions.

**Report cover.** Use the ink background, light wordmark, large paper headline, a small lime date or category tab, and one open-frame diagram. Interior pages use white backgrounds for reading and printing.

## 09 · Brand in the world

### One identity, across the journey.

**Website.** Start with the action-oriented headline, one concise product explanation, one primary CTA, and a real report preview. Follow with the dossier → SWOT → action plan workflow. Use substantiated proof when it exists; do not invent testimonials or performance claims.

**Social template.** Use a paper background, a large ink observation, a small lime highlight, and the mark in a consistent corner. Educational series idea: “Your next move” — one evidence-backed competitive lesson per post.

**Email and onboarding.** Subject idea: “Your next move starts here.” Welcome copy: “Add your business and a competitor to begin. We’ll help you organize the landscape and identify practical next steps.” Adapt the workflow copy to the actual product.

**Brand governance.** Use the same name, tagline, palette, and component rules everywhere. Before shipping, check the exact public spelling, readable contrast, meaningful state labels, real supporting evidence, and consistent logo spacing.

**Working assumptions.** This system was created from your description. competitortool.com could not be accessed through the research tool. The founder confirmed CompetitorTool, competitortool.com, and the primary audience of founders and small business owners. No claim is made that these visuals reflect the existing site.

**Typeface references.** Manrope: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Manrope · IBM Plex Mono: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/IBM+Plex+Mono. The visual guide loads these web fonts when online and uses local fallbacks when offline.