Style & brand guidelines
How Hidden Hustle
looks and sounds
One identity, used the same way everywhere — on a garment label, a shopfront, a share card or an email footer. Follow these rules and the brand stays recognisable at 12mm and at 12 metres.
01
The brand
Hidden Hustle is built on determination times boldness — the multiplication matters. Determination without boldness stays invisible; boldness without determination burns out. The peaks are two climbs that overlap, and the X where they cross is the multiplier.
Promise
Worn by the unseen. Made for the work nobody claps for.
Audience
Unisex, global, 18–45. Training, adventure, travel, street.
Feeling
Earned, quiet, tough. Never loud, never precious.
02
The mark
Two solid peaks with the overlap knocked out. The primary lockup sets HIDDEN HUSTLE across the full base width. Minimum size: 16px tall on screen, 12mm in print.
Do
- Keep clear space around the mark equal to half its height on every side.
- Let the knock-out X in the centre of the peaks stay open — it is the mark.
- Set headlines in Oswald, uppercase, tight tracking.
- Use Ember once or twice per screen so it stays loud.
- Photograph real effort: pre-dawn, sweat, weather, no posing.
- Write in Australian English, short sentences, plain words.
Don't
- Never stretch, rotate, outline or add effects, shadows or gradients to the mark.
- Never fill the knock-out X or place the mark on a busy area of an image.
- Never recolour the mark outside Ember, Paper and Ink.
- Never set body copy in the display face or in all caps.
- Never use stock-looking, over-lit, smiling gym photography.
- Never shout with hype words, exclamation marks or hollow motivation.
03
Colour
Ink and Paper carry the identity; Ember is the punctuation. Aim for roughly 70% Ink, 25% Paper, 5% Ember. All type meets WCAG AA against its background.
Ember
#DF5200
Accent only. Calls to action, the mark, one highlight per screen.
Ink
#141414
Primary background. The brand lives in the dark.
Paper
#F5F2EC
Type and surfaces on dark. Warm, not clinical white.
Slate
#6E7076
Secondary type, captions, rules and metadata.
04
Typography
Oswald for headlines — condensed, heavy, uppercase. Barlow for everything else. Two faces, no exceptions.
- Display / H1Oswald 600 · 48–96px · uppercase · -1% tracking
- Section / H2Oswald 600 · 28–40px · uppercase · -1% tracking
- Subhead / H3Oswald 500 · 18–22px · uppercase
- BodyBarlow 400 · 15–18px · 1.6 line height · sentence case
- Eyebrow / labelBarlow 600 · 11px · uppercase · 0.34em tracking
Body copy sits in Barlow at a comfortable 1.6 line height. Keep measures under 70 characters and let whitespace do the work.
05
Voice
If it sounds like a supplement ad, rewrite it. Australian English throughout.
Earned, not loud
We describe the work, not the win. Confidence comes from specificity — the 5am alarm, the extra set, the quiet week nobody clapped for.
Direct
Short sentences. Active voice. Cut adjectives before you cut facts. If a line could sit on a poster, it is close to right.
Inclusive
Hidden Hustle is unisex and global. No gendered assumptions, no elite-athlete gatekeeping. The hustle counts at every level.
Never hype
No exclamation marks, no 'crush it', no fake urgency. Respect the reader's effort and they will respect the brand.
Say
“Nobody saw the work. That was the point.”
Avoid
“Crush your goals — no excuses!!”
06
Photography
Dark, textured, high contrast. Weather over studio. Effort over outcome.
- Shoot in low light: pre-dawn, dusk, overcast, indoor shadow.
- Grain and imperfection are welcome; heavy retouching is not.
- Faces half-turned or out of frame — the work is the subject.
- Desaturated base with one warm light source echoing Ember.
- Real terrain: gravel, concrete, salt, steel, alpine rock.
- Every published image carries descriptive alt text.
07
Applications
Where the identity shows up, and how it behaves there.
Apparel
Woven neck label in Ember on Ink. Embroidered mark at left chest, 40mm wide. Large back prints use the stacked lockup, one colour only.
Packaging
Ink mailers, Paper tissue, one Ember sticker seal. Stacked lockup centred, nothing else on the face.
Social
Ember-on-charcoal avatar. Posts are photo-led with a single line of copy; the mark sits small in a corner, never watermarked across the frame.
Web & email
Dark background as default. Horizontal lockup in headers, mark alone in favicons and signatures.
Files & questions
Every logo file lives on the brand kit page. For approvals, partnerships or anything not covered here, email hiddenhustle@skyhive.com.au.