Show the
proof
Our pictures work like our words: answer-first, evidence-led, one hot accent. This is how to make any chart, photo, icon, or background look unmistakably Intent Pop — and the prompts to generate them.
Every visual
earns its
place.
We don't decorate — we show evidence. A chart that proves a lift beats a stock photo every time. When a graphic can't carry a fact, it doesn't ship.
Data is the hero
Charts and numbers are our primary imagery. Photography is the support act, never the headline.
One hot accent
Poppy is a scalpel. One highlighted series, one focal mark — the rest stays calm ink & cream.
Editorial, not stock
Warm, real, a little imperfect. We'd rather a grainy real screenshot than a glossy 3D render.
How we
show things
Five rules behind every graphic. Each has a test you can apply at a glance.
Evidence over decoration.
If an image isn't carrying information, it's carrying weight. The test: remove it — did the page lose a fact? If not, it was decoration.
One poppy per view.
Colour is meaning, not mood. Poppy marks the one thing that matters; everything else is ink, pine, or warm grey. The test: can you point to the single poppy element in a second?
Strip the chartjunk.
No boxes, no gradients, no 3D, no drop-shadows, no legends a label could replace. The test: every pixel either is data or guides the eye to it.
Real over rendered.
Prefer real product shots, real dashboards, real desks. Warm, documentary, honestly lit. The test: would a buyer believe this actually happened?
Geometry is the brand.
The burst — an irregular, hand-thrown ten-spike star — is our visual DNA. Icons, backgrounds, and motion all echo it. The test: does it rhyme with the mark?
Anatomy of
an Intent Pop
chart
Revenue is the only vanity metric — so our charts have to be honest, scannable, and impossible to misread.
One poppy series.
Colour only the bar, line, or wedge the story is about. Context stays warm grey (#B7AE9A) or ink.
Hairline gridlines.
1px rule (#D8D1C0), horizontal only. Never box the plot. No background fill behind the bars.
Mono everything.
Axes, labels, and units in JetBrains Mono. They scan like data and quote cleanly into a deck.
Flat ink baseline.
A single 1.5px ink line anchors the zero. The y-axis line itself is optional — drop it if labels suffice.
The number, on the chart.
Put the headline figure in display type, right on the hero mark. Don't make the reader do the math.
Compounding line
system vs. campaign
● System ╌ Campaign
Proportion ring
share of pipeline
One pricing-page rewrite. Numerals in display type, source in mono underneath.
n=14,200 · 95% confidencethe win / you
primary context
secondary series
tertiary, sparing
remainder / muted
Never a rainbow. If a chart needs more than four colours, it's two charts. Categorical data that isn't the story gets warm grey, full stop.
Make the
number
the image
A single big figure, set in display type, is often our strongest graphic. Treat stats like headlines.
Numerals, always
Write 31%, $2.4M, 90 days — never "thirty-one percent". They scan and machines quote them.
Display for the figure
The number in Bricolage 800; the label and source in mono beneath. Hierarchy makes the proof obvious.
Always attribute
Pair every stat with sample size, window, or source in mono: n=14,200 · 95% CI. Citable = credible.
Warm,
real,
working
When we do use photography, it's documentary and human — operators mid-work, not staged "business people."
hero crop
quote / section
natural, no tint
over any render
✓ Shoot & choose
- Operators reading a real analytics dashboard
- A genuine product screenshot, lightly graded
- Close crops: hands, screens, sticky notes
- Warm window light and honest grain
✗ Never
- Stock handshakes, headset call-centres, suits pointing at charts
- Glossy 3D renders, floating glass UI, neon gradients
- Cool blue "corporate tech" grading
- Two accent colours fighting in one frame
One geometry,
everywhere
Icons are drawn from the same DNA as the burst: sharp radiating points and clean strokes. Vector only — SVG, never raster.
Grid & geometry.
Build from sharp, radiating points — the burst's logic — on a 24-unit grid (proportional to the burst's 100). No freehand curves.
Stroke, not fill.
Line icons, 2-unit stroke on the 24-grid (≈8 on the 100-grid). Round caps and joins. Open forms, generous counters.
One colour at a time.
Ink on cream, or poppy for the active state. Two-tone only when poppy marks the meaningful part.
Optical, not mathematical.
Centre by eye, keep even breathing room — match the clearspace logic of the mark itself.
Quiet by
default
Backgrounds hold the type — they never compete with it. Four sanctioned devices, all derived from paper and the burst.
Use sparingly
One texture per surface, low contrast. The grain lives on cream at ~3–5% opacity. The burst-art only appears on deep pine or ink heroes, in poppy.
Never
Photographic backgrounds behind body copy, blurred gradient meshes, animated particles, or stacking two devices on one surface.
If the background is the first thing you notice, it's already too loud.
Prompts that
stay on-brand
Copy-paste starting points for image and SVG generators. Edit the subject; keep the house-style spine intact.
warm editorial style. PALETTE — strict: cream canvas #F7F1E4, ink #1A140E for type & shadows, exactly ONE poppy-red accent #FF4A1C, optional deep pine #123A33, ochre #E9A53C used sparingly, warm grey #B7AE9A for neutrals. Natural directional window light, honest film grain, flat and screen-print-like, documentary not staged, generous negative space, magazine-confident — no glossy 3D, no blue/teal corporate tech, no neon gradients, no stock-photo gloss, never a second bright accent.
Whatever the tool, the test from §02 still rules: if the result needs a second accent colour or a drop-shadow to look finished, the idea isn't finished. Regenerate, don't decorate.
Ship it
light and
sharp
On-brand isn't enough if it loads slow or reads as a broken image. Right format, right size, real alt text — every time.
SVG
Logos, the burst, icons, and charts. Vector, crisp at any size, tiny. Our default for anything geometric.
AVIF → WebP
Photography and duotone crops. AVIF first, WebP fallback. 60–80% lighter than JPEG at the same quality.
PNG
Only when transparency is needed and SVG won't do. Never for photos — it bloats. Never for flat colour — use SVG.
Chart as code
Generate charts as inline SVG or canvas, not screenshots. They stay sharp, theme-able, and accessible.
srcset at 1×/2× and a few widths. Never serve a 2400px hero to a phone.loading="eager" for the hero, lazy for everything below the fold. Always set width & height to reserve space.✓ Good alt
- "Bar chart: demo bookings up 31% over five quarters"
- "Operator reading an analytics dashboard"
- Decorative texture → empty
alt=""
✗ Bad alt
- "chart.png" / "image" / "graphic"
- "" on a chart that carries a fact
- Keyword-stuffed alt for SEO
A 4MB hero is an off-brand hero — speed is part of the look.
The slop
list
The fastest way to look like every other agency. Avoid on sight.