DOMAIN:CREATIVE — BRAND_COMPLIANCE_AND_GOVERNANCE¶

OWNER: leah ALSO_USED_BY: margot (design production), boris (visual production), benjamin (UX writing), joost (technical writing), faye (team alfa PM), sytske (team bravo PM) UPDATED: 2026-03-28 SCOPE: systematic brand compliance checking, scoring, governance, and enforcement across all GE client deliverables

PURPOSE¶

Brand compliance is not subjective. A brand has rules. Those rules are documented. Creative output either follows the rules or it does not.

Leah's role: verify that every deliverable complies with the client's brand guidelines. Not "feels on-brand" — PROVABLY on-brand, rule by rule, element by element.

This page covers: what to check, how to score it, how enterprises manage it at scale, and the most common violations Leah will catch.

BRAND COMPLIANCE ANATOMY¶

A complete brand has rules across these dimensions:

VISUAL IDENTITY¶

Element	What the Guidelines Define	What Leah Checks
Logo	Primary, secondary, icon variants; minimum size; clear space; forbidden modifications	Correct variant used; clear space maintained; no stretching/recoloring
Color palette	Primary, secondary, accent, neutral colors with exact values (HEX, RGB, CMYK, Pantone)	Every color in deliverable matches palette; no unauthorized colors
Typography	Font families, weights, sizes, hierarchy, pairing rules	Correct fonts used; hierarchy respected; no unauthorized fonts
Imagery	Photography style, illustration style, iconography style, approved stock libraries	Image style matches guidelines; no off-brand imagery
Layout	Grid system, spacing system, composition principles	Grid followed; spacing tokens used correctly
Iconography	Icon set, style (outline/filled/duo-tone), size rules	Correct icon set; consistent style; correct sizes
Motion	Animation principles, timing, easing curves	Animations follow prescribed patterns (if applicable)

VERBAL IDENTITY¶

Element	What the Guidelines Define	What Leah Checks
Tone of voice	Brand personality traits, communication style	Copy matches prescribed tone (formal/informal, playful/serious)
Vocabulary	Preferred terms, forbidden terms, jargon policy	No forbidden terms used; preferred terms used consistently
Grammar	Style guide rules (Oxford comma, date format, number style)	Copy follows style guide rules
Naming	Product naming conventions, feature naming	Names follow conventions
Taglines/slogans	Approved taglines, usage rules	Only approved taglines used; no modifications

BEHAVIORAL IDENTITY¶

Element	What the Guidelines Define	What Leah Checks
Interaction patterns	How the brand behaves in UI (micro-interactions, feedback)	Interactions match prescribed patterns
Error messaging	Tone and structure of error messages	Error messages follow brand voice
Onboarding	First-experience design principles	Onboarding follows brand experience guidelines

THE 10 MOST COMMON BRAND VIOLATIONS¶

Ranked by frequency across the creative industry. Leah should check for ALL of these on every deliverable.

1. WRONG COLOR (Severity: HIGH)¶

What happens: Designer uses #1A73E8 instead of brand primary #1976D2. Why it happens: Eyedropping from compressed images, not using design tokens, color space mismatch. How to catch: Programmatic hex extraction and comparison against palette.

2. WRONG FONT (Severity: HIGH)¶

What happens: System font used instead of brand font (Arial instead of Inter). Why it happens: Font not installed, fallback rendering, designer preference override. How to catch: Extract font-family from deliverable metadata/CSS, compare against spec.

3. LOGO MISUSE (Severity: CRITICAL)¶

What happens: Logo stretched, placed on busy background, clear space violated, wrong variant used. Why it happens: Designers resize logo without constraining proportions; clear space rules forgotten. How to catch: Overlay comparison; aspect ratio check; background contrast check.

4. TONE MISMATCH (Severity: HIGH)¶

What happens: Corporate brand uses casual slang; friendly brand uses formal language. Why it happens: Copywriter didn't read tone-of-voice document; copy not reviewed against brand voice. How to catch: Manual review against tone-of-voice descriptors. Flag specific words/phrases that violate tone.

5. INCONSISTENT STYLING ACROSS PAGES/SCREENS (Severity: MEDIUM)¶

What happens: Homepage uses one button style, inner pages use another. Why it happens: Multiple designers working without shared component library; design system drift. How to catch: Cross-page/screen comparison of recurring elements.

6. ACCESSIBILITY VIOLATION (Severity: HIGH)¶

What happens: Text fails contrast ratio; interactive elements lack focus states; no alt text. Why it happens: Accessibility treated as afterthought; brand colors inherently low-contrast. How to catch: WCAG automated checks (see design-qa.md for contrast calculation).

7. UNAUTHORIZED IMAGERY (Severity: MEDIUM)¶

What happens: Stock photos that don't match brand photography style; wrong demographic; wrong mood. Why it happens: Image sourcing done without consulting brand photo guidelines. How to catch: Manual review against photography style guide.

8. SPACING/GRID VIOLATIONS (Severity: MEDIUM)¶

What happens: Elements don't align to grid; inconsistent margins; arbitrary padding values. Why it happens: Designer used custom values instead of design tokens. How to catch: Measure spacing against token system; check grid alignment.

9. WRONG ICON STYLE (Severity: LOW-MEDIUM)¶

What happens: Mixing outline and filled icons; using icons from different sets; inconsistent stroke widths. Why it happens: Grabbing icons from different sources; not using the canonical icon set. How to catch: Visual comparison against icon library; stroke width measurement.

10. CONTENT HIERARCHY VIOLATION (Severity: MEDIUM)¶

What happens: Secondary information more prominent than primary; CTA buried below fold. Why it happens: Design decisions made for aesthetics over information architecture. How to catch: Compare visual hierarchy against brief's priority order.

BRAND COMPLIANCE SCORING¶

QUANTITATIVE SCORING MODEL¶

Score each deliverable on a 0-100 scale across dimensions:

Dimension	Weight	Criteria	Scoring
Color compliance	20%	All colors match brand palette	-5 per wrong color, -10 per primary color violation
Typography compliance	15%	All fonts match spec	-5 per wrong font, -10 per heading font violation
Logo compliance	15%	Logo used correctly everywhere	-15 per logo misuse (critical element)
Layout compliance	10%	Grid and spacing followed	-2 per spacing violation, -5 per grid break
Accessibility	15%	WCAG AA met	-5 per contrast failure, -3 per missing state
Tone of voice	10%	Copy matches brand voice	-3 per tone violation
Imagery	10%	Photos/illustrations match style	-5 per off-brand image
Consistency	5%	Cross-deliverable uniformity	-2 per inconsistency across deliverables

SCORING THRESHOLDS¶

Score	Rating	Action
95-100	EXCELLENT	Approved for delivery
85-94	GOOD	Approved with minor notes for next iteration
70-84	NEEDS_WORK	Return for corrections before delivery
50-69	POOR	Return with detailed violation report
<50	FAIL	Escalate to PM — fundamental brand misalignment

REPORTING FORMAT¶

BRAND_COMPLIANCE_REPORT
=======================
Project: [project name]
Deliverable: [deliverable name]
Date: [date]
Reviewer: leah

OVERALL_SCORE: [X]/100 — [RATING]

DIMENSION_SCORES:
  Color:         [X]/20
  Typography:    [X]/15
  Logo:          [X]/15
  Layout:        [X]/10
  Accessibility: [X]/15
  Tone:          [X]/10
  Imagery:       [X]/10
  Consistency:   [X]/5

VIOLATIONS:
  [SEVERITY] [VIO-001] [description] — ref: [guideline section]
  [SEVERITY] [VIO-002] [description] — ref: [guideline section]
  ...

RECOMMENDATION: [APPROVE / RETURN / ESCALATE]

ENTERPRISE BRAND GOVERNANCE AT SCALE¶

How large organizations manage brand compliance — relevant because GE builds for clients who may have enterprise-grade brand requirements.

BRAND MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS¶

Platform	Key Feature	Relevance to GE
Frontify (CH)	Brand verification with automated scoring	Reference for compliance scoring methodology
Bynder (NL)	AI-powered brand governance, DAM integration	EU-based, could be recommended to clients
Brandworkz (UK)	Workflow automation + compliance auditing	Reference for QA workflow design
Papirfly (NO)	AI metadata tagging, brand adoption analytics	Reference for measuring brand consistency
Wedia (FR)	Multimodal AI for content scoring, smart templates	EU-based, lockable templates concept

NOTE: Per GE EU service provider policy, only recommend EU-based platforms to clients. Bynder (NL), Papirfly (NO), Wedia (FR), and Frontify (CH/EU) are all acceptable.

DAM (Digital Asset Management) PRINCIPLES¶

Enterprise DAM ensures brand compliance through: 1. Single source of truth: All approved assets live in one place 2. Version control: Outdated assets are archived, not deleted 3. Access control: Only approved assets are accessible to downstream users 4. Metadata enforcement: Assets tagged with usage rules, expiry dates, rights info 5. Usage analytics: Track which assets are used where, identify unauthorized usage

GE_APPLICATION: For each client project, Leah should verify that deliverables use assets from the client's approved asset library (if one exists). Using unauthorized versions of logos, photos, or icons is a compliance failure.

TEMPLATE-BASED GOVERNANCE¶

Enterprise brands use lockable templates to prevent violations: - Designers can change content within designated zones - Colors, fonts, logo placement are locked - Approved variations are pre-built (don't customize, choose a variant)

GE_APPLICATION: When building design systems for clients, recommend lockable templates for elements that must never deviate (logo, primary colors, core typography).

ISO STANDARDS RELEVANT TO BRAND/QUALITY¶

ISO 20671 — BRAND EVALUATION¶

The international standard for brand evaluation. Defines principles and fundamentals for measuring brand value, including: - Brand strength indicators (awareness, perception, loyalty) - Brand performance metrics (market share, revenue attribution) - Framework for annual brand evaluation

RELEVANCE_TO_LEAH: ISO 20671 provides the conceptual framework for WHY brand compliance matters — a brand's value depends on consistent execution. Leah's QA directly protects brand value.

ISO 10668 — BRAND VALUATION¶

Monetary brand valuation standard. Focuses on financial aspects of brand value. RELEVANCE: Demonstrates that brand consistency has measurable financial impact — brand compliance failures have real cost.

ISO 9001 — QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS¶

The general quality management standard. Relevant principles: - Process approach: define QA process, follow it consistently - Evidence-based decision making: base QA decisions on data, not opinion - Continuous improvement: track violation trends, improve prevention

ISO 9241 — ERGONOMICS OF HUMAN-SYSTEM INTERACTION¶

Relevant to UI/UX design quality. Part 210 covers human-centred design processes. Provides objective criteria for evaluating design usability.

BRAND COMPLIANCE CHECKLIST¶

Run for EVERY client deliverable. Adapt based on client's specific brand guidelines.

VISUAL IDENTITY COMPLIANCE¶

[ ] All colors verified against brand palette (exact hex match)
[ ] Primary brand color used correctly (not for decorative elements unless specified)
[ ] Secondary/accent colors used per hierarchy rules
[ ] No unauthorized colors present
[ ] Logo: correct variant for context (primary/secondary/icon)
[ ] Logo: clear space rules followed
[ ] Logo: minimum size requirements met
[ ] Logo: no unauthorized modifications (no recoloring, stretching, rotating)
[ ] Logo: sufficient contrast against background
[ ] Typography: correct font families used
[ ] Typography: correct weights used per hierarchy
[ ] Typography: sizes match spec at all breakpoints
[ ] Typography: line-height and letter-spacing match spec
[ ] Imagery: matches brand photography/illustration style
[ ] Imagery: represents correct demographic per brand guidelines
[ ] Iconography: correct icon set used, consistent style
[ ] Grid: layout follows prescribed grid system
[ ] Spacing: design tokens used (no arbitrary values)

VERBAL IDENTITY COMPLIANCE¶

[ ] Tone of voice matches brand personality
[ ] No forbidden terms or phrases used
[ ] Preferred terminology used consistently
[ ] Grammar follows brand style guide (Oxford comma, date format, etc.)
[ ] CTAs use approved action verbs
[ ] Error messages follow brand voice guidelines

ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE¶

[ ] All text meets WCAG AA contrast ratio (4.5:1 normal, 3:1 large)
[ ] Interactive elements have visible focus states
[ ] Color is not the only means of conveying information
[ ] Touch targets meet minimum size (44x44px iOS, 48x48dp Android)
[ ] Content readable at 200% zoom without horizontal scrolling
[ ] Alternative text provided for meaningful images
[ ] Dynamic Type / font scaling supported (iOS deliverables)

CROSS-PLATFORM COMPLIANCE (If multi-platform project)¶

[ ] Brand elements consistent across web and native platforms
[ ] Platform-specific adaptations follow brand adaptation rules
[ ] Design tokens shared (values consistent even if implementation differs)
[ ] No platform-specific deviations without documented justification

ANTI-PATTERNS¶

Anti-Pattern	Why It's Wrong	What to Do Instead
"Close enough" color acceptance	Brand colors are exact specifications, not approximations	Verify exact hex values, no tolerance on primary colors
Checking brand compliance from memory	Guidelines evolve; memory drifts	Always open the brand guidelines document and compare
Scoring without documentation	"It's 85/100" means nothing without justification	Every score must list specific violations with references
Ignoring verbal identity	Tone is as much "brand" as color	Check copy against tone-of-voice document every time
Platform-specific exceptions without documentation	"It's different on mobile" — why?	All platform deviations must reference brand adaptation rules
One-time compliance check	Brand compliance can degrade over iterations	Check at every milestone, not just final delivery
Treating accessibility as separate from brand	Accessibility IS brand compliance — an inaccessible brand fails	Include WCAG checks in every brand compliance review
Skipping client's existing DAM	Using unofficial assets when approved ones exist	Always verify asset source against client's approved library