Brand guidelines
How Import South African Cars looks and sounds. A sister brand to My Car Import: the same family traits, with a South African character of its own.
01
Logo
A globe, like My Car Import's, turned to face Africa. The name runs together as one word, the way MyCarImport does, with the middle in our accent colour.
Import South African Cars by My Car Import Import South African Cars by My Car Import - The ring. The perforated edge of a South African licence disc, the round tax disc every car there carries on its windscreen.
- The globe. The family likeness: My Car Import's mark is a globe too. Ours is turned to Africa, with the real coastlines.
- South Africa, picked out in protea, the national flower.
- The route. The way a car actually comes: from Cape Town up the west coast of Africa, across the Bay of Biscay to Southampton.
The wordmark
One word, three parts: Import, SouthAfrican, Cars. The middle part is always the accent. Underneath, wherever there is room, sits "by My Car Import". It is the reason to trust us, so it is part of the logo, not a footnote.
In running text, write the name with spaces: Import South African Cars. The joined-up form belongs to the logo only.
Space around it
Leave clear space on every side at least half the height of the mark. Nothing else goes in it.
Smallest sizes
Down to 40px, use the full mark. Below that, the simpler favicon version: no route and no grid, which only turn to noise that small.
Please do not
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Stretch or squash it.
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Change its colours.
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Set the name in another font or without the accent.
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Put it on a busy photo or a colour it cannot be read on.
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Tilt the mark. On the site it turns a little on hover, and only there.
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Use the old ZA disc. It has been retired.
02
Colour
Fynbos green for structure, a pale mist for the page, and one accent: protea, the deep coral pink of the national flower. Nothing else is coloured.
- Fynbos
#1C4434Structure: the footer, the globe, discs and panels that need weight.
- Protea
#B42F48The one accent. Get a quote, links, disc rings, the middle of the wordmark.
- Protea on fynbos
#FF8597The accent on green or in dark mode, where protea itself is too dark to read.
- Mist
#EEF1ECThe page. A pale green grey, never pure white.
- Ink
#12201AText. A green black, never pure black.
Supporting shades
- Fynbos 2
#255A45
Raised areas on green. - Surface
#F8FAF6
Cards and inputs on the page. - Ink 2
#3A4A42
Secondary text. - Ink 3
#58675F
Captions and notes. - Line
#CDD6CD
Dividers. - On fynbos
#EEF4EE
Text on green. - On fynbos 2
#B9CDBF
Quieter text on green. - Protea soft
#F6DFE2
Tinted panels and highlights.
Pairings that work
Every one passes WCAG AA for text (4.5:1 or more). If a pairing is not here, check it before using it.
- Get a quote
- Get a quote
- Get a quote
- Get a quote
- Get a quote
- Get a quote
Dark mode swaps mist and ink for a deep green black and pale text, and protea for its lighter partner. The site follows the visitor's setting, and both modes meet the same standard.
03
Type
Two typefaces, both free and open source, both served from our own site.
Bricolage Grotesque
Import your car from South Africa
Headings, the wordmark and the big figures on fact cards. Bold (700, 800 for the wordmark) and set a touch narrow, at 96% width, with letter spacing just under normal.
Instrument Sans
We collect it, ship it, clear customs, then test and register it. One team, one quote.
Everything else: body text, buttons, forms and tables, with figures that line up in columns.
- Step 5, page titles
- Step 4, big statements
- Step 3, section headings
- Step 2, sub-headings
- Step 1, lead paragraphs
- Step 0, body text
04
Shapes and motifs
One rule for corners, used everywhere, and two ideas only this route has.
Buttons are pills. One call to action, always worded "Get a quote", in protea.
Cards and panels have 14px corners. Inputs have 10px.
Fact cards. One hard fact each, with a protea rule along the top. The only circle on the site is the mark.
The passage. The process is drawn by latitude, from Cape Town at 34°S to our site at 52°N, so each step sits where the car physically is.
Photography
Real photographs of real cars and our own site at Castle Donington: the test lane, the yard, the transporters. No stock pictures of handshakes or keys, and no generated images.
05
Voice
Calm, specific and British. We sound like a specialist explaining their own workshop: more interested in showing how the job is done than in selling it.
We say
"We collect it, ship it, clear customs, then test and register it."
"Duty is normally 10% of the price plus shipping."
"Typical ranges, not promises. Your quote gives dates for your car."
We do not say
"Seamless, end-to-end automotive logistics solutions."
"Unlock hassle-free savings today!"
"Guaranteed in six weeks."
House rules
- Facts we can stand behind. Every figure is checked. An estimate says it is an estimate.
- One call to action, always "Get a quote".
- The IVA lane is "the first privately owned IVA testing centre for passenger vehicles in the UK". Never claim more than that.
- No long dashes. Use a comma, a colon or a full stop instead.
- British English: organised, colour, tyre, licence.
- Plain words over clever ones, and short paragraphs with one point each.
- One exclamation mark at most, and only if it is earned.
06
Files
The logo, ready to use. For anything else, or a format that is not here, ask us.
- Logo for light backgrounds PNG, 2000 by 520
- Logo for dark backgrounds PNG, 2000 by 520
- Square logo, for profile pictures PNG, 1200 by 1200
- The mark on its own SVG, any size from 40px
- The mark for tiny sizes SVG, 16 to 32px
- App icon PNG, 512 by 512
Import South African Cars is a My Car Import website. For My Car Import's own brand, ask them directly.