Ngā Wai e Rua · Two Waters
The Black Sheep AI mark is two currents drawn as circuit traces. The dark line is the machine: it enters high and settles low. The red line is the wairua, the animating current: it enters low, crosses over the machine, and leaves carrying the signal. The red always passes over, never under. Wairua reads as wai + rua, two waters; the mark is that word made visible, and the exchange the products perform.
Variants
Colour
| Noir | #131314 | the machine line, dark grounds |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | #faf9f0 | the machine line on dark grounds, light grounds |
| Red | #b91c1c | the wairua line, always; the brand red square |
The red line never changes colour. On any ground, in any variant except the one-colour marks, the crossing line is #b91c1c.
Clearspace and minimum size
Clearspace on all sides = the stroke width of the mark (the thickness of one trace). Nothing enters that zone, including the wordmark in non-lockup compositions.
| Digital minimum | 20px height for the mark; 16px only as the favicon badge (noir ground) |
|---|---|
| Print minimum | 6mm height |
| Favicon | favicon.svg · favicon-32.png · favicon-16.png · apple-touch-icon.png |
Do not
- Recolour the red line, or let the crossing line be anything but red.
- Flip or rotate the mark; the red current always exits top-right.
- Close the crossing gap; the break in the dark line is the mark.
- Add gradients, shadows, outlines, or rounded corners.
- Redraw the wordmark in another face; the lockup is Instrument Sans 700 with the red square full stop.
Story, in one sentence
Two waters: your knowledge and the machine meet, exchange, and part, and the red current, the wairua, carries the signal out. If anyone on the team has whakapapa Māori, name that connection when telling the story; before trademark filing, review the naming with a Māori designer or mana whenua adviser.