BrandBoss Standards · Edition 1.0
Key City Theatre
Where the East Kootenay Comes Together
2026 · The single source of truth for the Key City Theatre identity.
01 — THE BRAND
Mission
House lights dim, a red glow off the proscenium, the whole town in the seats. Bold poster-wall energy outside, warm shared-moment intimacy inside. The site should feel like a marquee: confident, graphic, unmissable.
02 — COLOUR
Full Colour System
#CE0E2D · 206 14 45
primary
Key City red. Primary CTA fill, hover fills, logo bar, focus ring, active tabs.
#A30B24 · 163 11 36
primary
Red hover/pressed state.
#101114 · 16 17 20
neutral
Theatre dark. Headings, dark sections (visit strip, footer, event cards), hero base.
#1A1B1F · 26 27 31
neutral
Raised dark surface (cards on dark).
#F3EDE2 · 243 237 226
neutral
Warm light section background (newsletter), light hover fill
#D8D3C8 · 216 211 200
neutral
Borders on light (tabs, inputs)
#6B6B6B · 107 107 107
neutral
Muted body text on light
#FFFFFF · 255 255 255
neutral
Page background, text on dark/red
#2E7D4F · 46 125 79
neutral
Confirmation
#D9832E · 217 131 46
neutral
Attention
#A30B24 · 163 11 36
neutral
Errors, destructive
#1F4E8C · 31 78 140
neutral
Neutral notices
Ratios & accessibility — approved text pairings
| Pairing | Ratio | AA text | AAA text | UI 3:1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aa Primary on Ink | 3.35:1 | Large only | — | Pass |
| Aa Ink on Primary | 3.35:1 | Large only | — | Pass |
| Aa Success on Ink | 3.74:1 | Large only | — | Pass |
| Aa Warning on Ink | 6.51:1 | Pass | — | Pass |
03 — TYPOGRAPHY
The Type System
Aa
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
Weights: 700 · Source: system · Fallback: 'HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold', 'Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold', 'Arial Narrow', sans-serifAa
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
Weights: 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 · Source: google · Fallback: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serifHierarchy & usage — base 16px · ratio 1.25
h1 · 48.8px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
h2 · 39.1px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
h3 · 31.3px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
h4 · 25px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
h6 · 20px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
h5 · 20px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
body · 16px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
caption · 12.8px
The quiet authority of a well-set page
Body max 44ch in cards, 65ch in prose.
04 — LAYOUT
Spacing, Grid & Layout
The grid
- 12 columns · 24px gutters
- Page margins: clamp(24px, 5vw, 96px)
- Max content width: 1360px
The spacing scale — base 4px
space-1
4px
space-2
8px
space-3
12px
space-4
16px
space-5
24px
space-6
32px
space-7
40px
space-8
48px
space-9
64px
space-10
80px
space-11
96px
space-12
128px
8-point grid.
Composition rules
- Body max 44ch in cards, 65ch in prose.
- committed — near-black ink sections carry the theatre-dark drama; signature red is the single loud accent (CTAs, hovers, logo bar); cream warms the in-between strips. Posters supply the colour variety, the chrome stays disciplined.
Crop ratios
05 — IMAGERY
Photography & Imagery
Treatment: Text over photos sits on an overlay at >=4.5:1. Feature cards may tint the overlay with the feature accent colour.
Shoot for
- Official show posters at native aspect, uncropped focal art
- The venue: marquee, lobby, auditorium, gallery wall
- Audiences reacting (releases for identifiable faces)
- Performers on the Key City stage (with artist approval)
- Community festivals: kids' festival, Ed Fest street scenes
Avoid
- AI-generated performers/audiences presented as real
- Generic red-curtain clip-art theatre stock
- Cold grading, heavy HDR, watermarks, comps
- Cropping a poster so its title/art is unreadable
- Stretched or upscaled low-res posters
06 — VOICE
Voice & Tone
bold · welcoming · community-proud · theatrical
Confident marquee voice: short declarative lines, warm community pride, zero corporate filler.
| Say | Not |
|---|---|
| “Lead with the show and the date” | “Arts-speak jargon (transformative experiences)” |
| “Speak as 'your theatre'” | “Vague hype without a date and a ticket link” |
| “Name the region: Cranbrook, East Kootenay, Ktunaxa territory acknowledgement” | “No em dashes” |