Earthy
Soil, clay, sand, canopy. The palette is dirt and fired earth. White and navy are off-brand.
Brand design system · v1.0
Groundwork.
Security & Compliance
Earthwork, not cyber. A visual system for laying the foundation — then keeping it standing.
00 — Using this book
Three ways out of this file.
This is the canonical identity for Groundwork Security & Compliance. It matches the marketing site. Use it as a printed PDF, as vectors in Google Drive, or as the design system Claude Design extracts from.
- Cover 01
- How to use 02
- Brand idea 03
- The mark 04
- Lockups 05
- Clear space 06
- Color 07
- Pairings 08
- Typography 09
- Voice 10
- Components 11
- Applications 12
- Claude Design & Drive 13
- File index 14
Save these three
PDF — Use Download PDF in the toolbar. That file is the 14-page guide. Drop it into Google Drive as-is (Drive previews it). Same file for Claude Design.
Vectors — SVG mark, lockups, palette, and hill pattern in the kit. Drive previews SVG; Figma and Illustrator edit it.
Tokens — DESIGN.md + tokens.json so Claude does not invent a blue cybersecurity theme.
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01 — Idea
Lay the groundwork.
Groundwork is the missing layer for companies that need enterprise-grade proof without enterprise-grade headcount. The brand should feel like a foundation that is already load-bearing: warm, exact, Midwestern-honest. Not a SOC-in-a-box vendor. Not a hooded-hacker firm.
Editorial
Fraunces headlines, short lines, kickers with a Clay rule. It should read like a well-set journal, not a SaaS dashboard.
Built
Stepped terraces. Courses of a foundation. We install programs that stay standing — the mark is that idea, compressed.
We are
Fractional CISO. Cloud groundwork. Certification path. Operator who still ships.
We are not
A lock icon. A fear pitch. “AI-powered” as a personality. Generic fintech blue.
Groundwork brand
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02 — Mark
A foundation in 64 points.
The mark is a Soil tile with three stepped courses and a Sand twin-peak mountain. It is an earthwork — not a shield and not a house. Do not redraw it.
- 01Tile Soil #1C2E26, 12px corners on a 64×64 square. This radius does not change.
- 02Clay course the ground line — #C4785A. Widest terrace, at the base.
- 03Sage course #A8B5A0. Steps in 4 units each side.
- 04Terrace course #5C7A62. The only place this green is required.
- 05Summit Sand #F4EFE6. Twin peaks on the same 20–44 base as the terrace course: main peak at 28,14, saddle at 32,20, secondary peak at 36,16. Straight segments only — keep all three points sharp; do not round them or level the saddle.
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03 — Lockups
Name sits beside the work.
Primary lockup is horizontal: mark, then Fraunces “Groundwork,” then Outfit small-caps “Security & Compliance.” Stacked lockup is for avatars, title pages, and square tiles. Never rearrange the two lines or set the name in Outfit.
Groundwork
Security & Compliance
Groundwork
Security & Compliance
Groundwork
Security & Compliance
Groundwork
Security & Compliance
Groundwork brand
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04 — Space & misuse
Give the courses room.
Clear space on every side is 25% of the mark’s width (16 units around a 64-unit tile). Minimum size: 24px on screen, 0.35 in in print. Below that, use the full-color tile only — drop the wordmark.
Do not
- Recolor the terraces or swap Clay to the summit
- Round the summit points or level the saddle
- Drop a lock, shield, check, or cloud on the mark
- Stretch, rotate, outline, or add a drop shadow
- Place the open (tile-less) mark on photography
- Set “Groundwork” in a second typeface
- Use the Clay mono tile as the default avatar
Do
- Use full-color on Paper, Sand, or white
- Use full-color or Sand-mono on Soil
- Keep the tile when the mark sits on a photo
- Prefer the horizontal lockup in documents and decks
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05 — Color
Named after ground.
Identity is Soil. Action is Clay. Canvas is Paper — never pure white, never navy. Clay is not a surface; it is a tool.
Soil#1C2E26
Identity / dark fieldCanopy#24382F
Dark raised cardMoss#4F6D58
Kicker / successTerrace#5C7A62
Logo middle courseSage#A8B5A0
On-dark secondaryClay#C4785A
Primary actionClay Deep#9E5438
Hover / emphasisSand#F4EFE6
Warm bandPaper#FBF8F2
Page canvasInk#171C19
Text on lightMuted#5A635D
Secondary textLinergba(28,46,38,.12)
Hairline onlyGroundwork brand
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06 — Pairings
What sits on what.
In bounds
Ink on PaperBody, headlines
Ink on SandSection bands
Sand on SoilDark sections
White on ClayButtons only
Sage on SoilMeta on dark
Moss on PaperKickers
Out of bounds
Role, not just hex
Claude Design will see Clay and try to paint with it. Stop it. Clay is one accent per composition. Soil is identity, not a paragraph color on Paper (too close, too heavy). Sage is not body text on Paper — contrast fails. No second accent. No blue, no gold, no neon.
| Token | Hex | Role |
|---|---|---|
| primary | #1C2E26 | Soil — identity |
| secondary | #4F6D58 | Moss — kicker |
| tertiary | #C4785A | Clay — action |
| neutral | #FBF8F2 | Paper — canvas |
Groundwork brand
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07 — Type
Fraunces for the roof. Outfit for the rooms.
Lay the groundwork.
A first 90 days that leave something standing.
Cloud infrastructure that is already audit-shaped
Modern security and compliance for companies without a full-time CISO.
Most growing companies hit the same wall: a customer sends a questionnaire — and there is nobody on staff whose job is to own it.
For companies without a security team
| Role | Family | Size / tracking | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | Fraunces opsz 9–144 | clamp 2.7–5.2rem / −0.035em | ~11 characters on desktop |
| Body | Outfit | 17px / −0.011em / 1.65 | Muted for supporting copy |
| Button | Outfit 600 | inherit / pill | Never Fraunces on buttons |
| Fallback | Iowan / Georgia · Avenir Next | — | Not Inter, not Roboto, not Geist |
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08 — Voice
Straight answers. Built things.
Write like Jonathan talks: an auditor who still ships, and who owns a restaurant, so he feels every dollar a program costs. Short sentences. Concrete nouns. No theater.
Say
“Lay the groundwork. Get certified. Keep shipping.”
“A first 90 days that leave something standing.”
“Tell us what your buyers are asking for.”
“FedRAMP is a program, not a weekend.”
Don’t say
“Next-gen AI-powered cybersecurity platform.”
“We leverage synergies to delight stakeholders.”
“In today’s ever-evolving threat landscape…”
“Hackers are at the gate.”
Construction
install, baseline, path, standing, groundwork, course, handoff. Use them when they are true, not as decoration.
Honesty
Scope what you would buy for yourself. If they are not ready, say so. Prefer a scoped proposal to a generic deck.
Proof
Framework names are chips, not poetry: SOC 2, HITRUST, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, HIPAA. Credentials sit next to the work, not above it.
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09 — Components
The site is the UI kit.
Do not invent a second component language for decks and one-pagers. Borrow these shapes.
Light card
White, Line border, 18px radius, 24px padding. Body in Muted. Numerals in Clay Fraunces.
Line A
Dark card
Canopy on Soil. Sand heading. Body #C8D0C6. Faint Sand border at 8%.
Hero panel
Soil fill, 28px radius, raised shadow. List rows divided at 12% Sand.
| Token | Value | Where |
|---|---|---|
| radius.sm / md / lg / full | 12 / 18 / 28 / 999 | inputs, cards, panels, pills |
| space.section | 84px vertical | every marketing section |
| size.wrap | 1180px | max content width |
| shadow.raised | 0 24px 60px rgba(28,46,38,.12) | hero panel, portrait — not flat cards |
| nav | 74px, Paper 86% | sticky, hairline, blur 16px |
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10 — In use
Same system, other surfaces.
Business card
Groundwork
Security & Compliance
Jonathan Welzbacher
Founder · CISSP, CISA, CPA
jon@groundworksec.com
618-520-8293 · St. Louis metro
618-520-8293 · St. Louis metro
Title slide
Email signature
Jonathan Welzbacher · Founder
Groundwork Security & Compliance
jon@groundworksec.com · groundworksec.com
Groundwork Security & Compliance
jon@groundworksec.com · groundworksec.com
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11 — Claude Design & Google Drive
One kit, two destinations.
Claude Design
At claude.com/product/design, create or remix the org design system. Upload this PDF, DESIGN.md, tokens.json, and mark.svg. Optionally paste the prompt in CLAUDE-DESIGN.md.
After extraction, generate a test landing page and an 8-slide deck. Reject output that is blue, uses Inter, or paints Clay as a full-bleed background.
Google Drive
Create a shared folder Groundwork Brand. Put the PDF at the root for anyone who needs to make a file. Put logos/svg in a Logos subfolder — Drive previews SVG; download for Figma/Illustrator/Canva.
New one-pagers and decks: start in Claude Design or Google Slides using Paper background, Fraunces titles, Clay buttons, then export PDF back into the same Drive folder.
| Upload | Tool | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Groundwork-Brand-Guide.pdf | Claude Design, Drive | Visual source of truth |
| DESIGN.md | Claude, Cursor, Gemini | Token + rationale file |
| tokens/tokens.json | Claude Design, Figma Tokens | DTCG values |
| logos/svg/*.svg | Drive, Figma, print | Vectors |
| palette/groundwork-palette.svg | Drive, decks | Named swatches |
This website is also a source: point Claude at the GitHub repo or groundworksec.com so it can read real layout, not only a palette.
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12 — Files
What ships in the kit.
Vectors
logos/svg/mark.svglogos/svg/mark-open.svglogos/svg/mark-mono-soil.svglogos/svg/mark-mono-sand.svglogos/svg/mark-mono-clay.svglogos/svg/lockup-horizontal-on-paper.svglogos/svg/lockup-horizontal-on-soil.svglogos/svg/lockup-stacked-on-paper.svglogos/svg/lockup-stacked-on-soil.svglogos/svg/wordmark-on-paper.svglogos/svg/wordmark-on-soil.svg
System
DESIGN.md — agent-readable identitytokens/tokens.json — DTCGtokens/tokens.css — CSS variablesCLAUDE-DESIGN.md — upload checklistpalette/groundwork-palette.svgpattern/hills.svg and hills-on-soil.svgGroundwork-Brand-Guide.pdfGroundwork-Brand-Kit.zip
Contact
Jonathan Welzbacher · jon@groundworksec.com
groundworksec.com · St. Louis metro
Version 1.0 · August 2026
Drawn from the live marketing site. If the site and this book disagree later, update both. Do not fork a second palette.
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