Soot
#211A17The quiet foundation. Navigation, backgrounds, breathing room.
THE STORYMANTLE BRAND BOOK · 01 / SEPTEMBER 2026
A little warmth.
A world of possibility.
A private library at night. A spark that stays alive.
A beautifully restrained home for a wonderfully untidy mind.
StorymantleSTORIES BELONG HERE
01 / OUR WORLD
Make room for the story.
Storymantle helps writers gather the pieces, remember the details, and find their way back in.
The environment is old and warm. The interface is clear and modern. We borrow the stillness of a library, the warmth of a hearth, and the generosity of a room where every kind of writer belongs.
Keep the atmosphere in the color, light, and type. Give the working surface to the writer.
02 / THE SIGNATURE
A home. A spark.
StorymantlePRIMARY / PAPER + EMBER ON SOOT
StorymantleREVERSE / SOOT + EMBER ON PAPER
APP ICON / ONE CLEAR FOCAL POINT
The dome suggests shelter. The mantel gives it structure. A single ember brings it to life. Pair the mark with the wordmark when introducing the brand; use the mark alone when the name is already clear.
- Keep clear space equal to one flame’s width around the mark.
- Minimum mark size: 24 px on screen, 8 mm in print.
- Keep the original proportions and path shapes.
- Use flat color. Keep effects and busy imagery away from the mark.
03 / COLOR AS ATMOSPHERE
Ember is the light source.
Walnut
#493128Depth and structure. Panels, boundaries, the room around the words.
Leather
#704531A little warmth. Selected surfaces and secondary detail.
Old Paper
#D8C5A8The words come first. Text, the mark, and reading surfaces.
Ivy
#29332AQuiet organization. Supporting surfaces and grouped information.
Ember
#C75C27The light source. A small signal for focus, action, or a new idea.
Let dark neutrals do most of the work. Paper carries the words. Ember is a small punctuation mark. For small text and controls, use the tested accessible interface pairings below.
Paper on SootPrimary text and navigation
Paper on IvyQuiet panels and labels
Soot on PaperReading and writing surfaces
04 / TYPOGRAPHY
Literary warmth. Everyday clarity.
CORMORANT GARAMOND / DISPLAY
Wild ideas.
A place to belong.
Regular 400, medium 500, semibold 600.
Wordmark, page headings, and a few moments of invitation.
DM SANS / INTERFACE
The green sofa.
The blue Volvo.
The thing you almost forgot.
Regular through semibold.
Navigation, forms, buttons, and useful detail.
Use real text in the interface. Keep body copy comfortable to read. Reserve widely spaced capitals for short, secondary labels. Both families are available under the SIL Open Font License.
05 / THE LANGUAGE OF STORYMANTLE
Familiar words. A little world.
Ember
The ideaA raw possibility. A thought worth keeping.
Kindling
The notesSnippets, research, voice notes, and loose pieces.
Hearth
The project homeA place to return to, with a clear next step.
Mantle
The structureCharacters, places, relationships, and story beats.
Draft
The manuscriptThe story becoming real. Google Docs is the writing source in the first release.
Use plain labels where people take action: New note, Characters, Import manuscript, Save to my story. Let the vocabulary invite people in; help text makes the meaning clear.
06 / VOICE & INTERFACE
Calm, capable, on your side.
Speak like a thoughtful writing companion.
Warm, specific, and unhurried. Acknowledge the effort of returning to a story. Use short sentences and useful next steps. The writer owns the words and makes the decisions.
“Leave yourself a way back.”
“Catch a spark.”
“Your words. Your decisions.”
Make the next action easy to find.
Compact layouts. A persistent left rail in three sizes. A clear current project. Breadcrumbs at the bottom. Visible saving and error states. Genuine empty spaces, with examples clearly labeled.
Keep the public site focused on why, what, how, and cost. Keep the app focused on the work in front of the writer.
Stories belong here.
A writing space for wild ideas, messy drafts,
and everything in between.