How we look,
sound and play.
Brand idea
Board-Stars makes tactical board games out of the sports people love. Every game works on the table and on a screen, with the same rules and the same Stars.
Purpose
Bring people round the table, and round the screen, through the sports they already love.
Promise
Learn in minutes, master for years, play anywhere.
Big idea
Chess brain, sports heart. Every player moves like their position, and scoring works like checkmate.
Personality
Big match
Floodlights, noise, drama. We bring match day energy to every surface.
Clever, not complicated
Deep enough for chess players, clear enough for a six year old.
Competitive and kind
We love a rivalry and we always shake hands after.
Family first
Built for kitchen tables, car journeys and grandparents who want a rematch.
Logo
The lockup pairs the Board-Stars star with a heavy italic wordmark. The two orange tiles inside the star are board squares: a board game hidden in a sports star.
Primary: reversed on Stadium Navy
Positive: navy on Floodlight Cream
On orange: navy with orange chequesStar mark: app icons, avatars, favicons, stampsClear space and size
Clear space around the lockup is at least the height of one orange tile on every side. Nothing else sits inside it.
Smallest lockup: 24px tall on screen, 12mm tall in print. Below that, use the star mark on its own.
Smallest star mark: 16px on screen, 6mm in print.
xxxxPlease don't
Stretch or squash itRotate itPut white on orangeRecolour the tilesAdd outlines or effectsPlace it on busy artworkFade or tint itColour
Floodlit navy, a hot orange and a warm cream. Navy carries the brand, orange calls the action, cream gives it room to breathe.
#021F49RGB 2 31 73#FF6602RGB 255 102 2#FEF9F0RGB 254 249 240Support colours
#021323#071C31#FFD23F#B03F00Game colours
Each sport owns one accent. Use it for tags, stripes and highlights on that game only, never instead of navy and orange.
#2F9E2A#3FA9F5#F28C28#C8102E#1F5FD6Accessible pairings
| Pairing | Contrast | Body text | Large text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cream on Navy | 15.5 : 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Gold on Navy | 11.2 : 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Navy on Orange | 5.5 : 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Orange on Navy | 5.5 : 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Deep Orange on Cream | 5.6 : 1 | Yes | Yes |
| White on Orange | 2.9 : 1 | No | No |
| Orange on Cream | 2.8 : 1 | No | Icons only |
Print: match these to Pantone references at the first printer's proof and record them here.
Typography
Two members of one family. Archivo Black shouts the headline, Archivo explains the play. Both are free, open licence fonts, so every partner can use them.
Headlines, game names, numbers on shirts. Always uppercase, tight leading.
Body copy, rules, interface. Regular 400, Medium 500, Bold 700, Extra Bold 800.
The slant
Key phrases lean forward 9 degrees, like a player in full stride: Your move! Use it once per headline, on the payoff words.
The orange full stop
The last punctuation mark of a headline turns Star Orange. It is our signature, so it appears once per headline and never in body copy.
Game wordmarks
Every game is named after its sport in one punchy word, set in slanted capitals with an orange exclamation mark.
Naming
One word from the sport's own language, in capitals, with an orange !. In running text write it in title case with the mark: Goal!, Face-Off!, Touchdown!.
Strapline
Always the same pattern: The Tactical [Sport] Game from Board-Stars. It sits under the wordmark on covers, boxes and store listings.
Cover composition
- Two hero Stars face off in the centre, one from each team, on their bases.
- A floodlit stadium behind them, with the ball, puck or goal between them.
- Wordmark and strapline top centre. Board-Stars lockup bottom centre.
- Squads fade into the background on both sides, so the eye goes to the duel.
The Stars
Our players are big headed figures on round team bases. They are the heroes of every cover, box and screen.
- Proportions. The head is about 40 percent of the figure's height. Big enough to be friendly, never so big it looks like a toy for toddlers.
- The base. Round, in the team colour, with a darker rim. It is also the playing piece, so it must sit inside one board square.
- Faces. Determined and happy. Eyebrows do the acting.
- Kits. Always our own designs. Never real club or national crests, sponsor marks or kit maker logos, unless a licence says otherwise.
- Numbers. Shirt numbers follow the position, so players learn the formation from the figures.
Packaging
One box system for every sport, so the range lines up on a shelf like a team sheet.
Lid
Full bleed cover art with a thin cream keyline set in from the edge.
Long sides
Navy, with the game wordmark and strapline on the left and the Board-Stars lockup on the right.
Short sides
The star mark, then player count, age and play time, separated by orange tiles.
The base band
Every box ends in a Star Orange band with a thin stripe of the game's own colour above it. On the shelf the orange runs unbroken from box to box, and the stripe tells you the sport at a glance.
On every box: age mark (6+), player count, play time, small parts warning where needed, barcode and company address on the base.
Voice
We sound like a great match commentator who also happens to love chess: quick, warm, and always about the play.
Short and punchy
Say it in as few words as the sport would. Headlines under eight words.
Talk like a fan
Use the sport's own words: dunk, sack, crease, the ten yards.
Explain like a coach
When we teach, we give the reason, not just the rule.
Everyone plays
No jargon walls. A six year old and their grandad should both get it.
| We say | We don't say |
|---|---|
Sport's biggest moments. Your move! | The ultimate next generation hybrid gaming experience |
Trap the keeper in his box to score. | Victory conditions are achieved when the goalkeeper unit is immobilised |
That did not send. Check your connection and try again. | Error 500: request failed |
House style
- British English: colour, defence, favourite.
- No en or em dashes, anywhere. Use commas, colons and full stops instead.
- The exclamation mark belongs to our game names. Use it sparingly everywhere else.
- Numbers as numerals when they are stats: 5 sports, 22 Stars, 15 minutes.
- Board-Stars always has its hyphen and two capitals.
Digital UI
Dark stadium screens with orange calls to action. The same parts run the website and the games.
Buttons
Primary buttons are Star Orange with navy text, fully rounded. One primary per view. Minimum touch size 44px.
Chips and tags
Choice chips turn orange when picked. Sport tags use the game colour.
Motion
Quick and physical: things rise into place, cards lift on hover, the ball never floats. Everything respects the reduced motion setting.
Radius and depth
Cards 18 to 26px radius, buttons fully round, soft deep shadows under anything you can pick up.
Downloads
Master files for partners and press. Right click and save, or tap and hold on a phone.
Logo, white (PNG)
Logo, navy (PNG)
Star mark, white (PNG)
Star mark, navy (PNG)
App icon (PNG 512)
Box range render
Unboxed render
Hero render
Fonts: Archivo and Archivo Black, SIL Open Font Licence. Questions about the brand: use the ideas form on the home page.