Contours

Brand Guide 0.9

Golfers putting on a green at Royal Queensland in the 1930s, an ocean liner berthed in the Brisbane River behind them and a flying boat overhead

Section 1.0

Architecture

1.1 An endorsed sub-brand, not a spin-off

The Knot has its own name, mark and palette, and it never stands entirely alone. Royal Queensland is the reason it is trusted before anyone has played it.

Master · Royal Queensland Golf Club

The parent. Founded 1920, an Olympic venue, and the authority every other tier borrows from. Master brand refresh under way.

Championship · The Championship Course

The main eighteen. Carries the master brand directly, with no separate identity of its own.

Short course · The Knot · Golf & Social

Endorsed sub-brand. Its own name, mark and palette, always shown beneath Royal Queensland. This guide.

Event space · to be named

Independent sub-brand. Operates on its own across corporate, entertainment and community, because much of its audience will never play golf.

The endorsement

An endorsed sub-brand is free to have a personality but never free to imply it is a separate business. Royal Queensland appears on every surface The Knot meets a stranger on, at the edge of the surface and never inside the lockup. The rules follow on the next page.

Four tiers, one authority. The Knot borrows trust from the master brand and pays it back with a warmer welcome.

1.2 The endorsement

An endorsed sub-brand is free to have a personality but never free to imply it is a separate business. Royal Queensland appears on every surface The Knot meets a stranger on.

The rules

  • Royal Queensland sits at the edge of the surface, not inside The Knot lockup. The two marks are never combined into a single device.
  • The endorsement is set in DM Mono, uppercase, at label scale. It supports; it does not compete.
  • On anything a non-member sees first (signage, the website, event collateral, advertising) the endorsement is required, not optional.
  • On items already inside the club and already understood, such as a ball marker or a coaster, the knot may stand alone.
  • Never place The Knot above or level with Royal Queensland in a hierarchy. It sits beneath it.

1.3 Writing the name

The full name is The Knot · Golf & Social. Golf & Social is the verbal anchor and does the heavy lifting wherever the name is meeting someone for the first time.

Correct

  • The Knot · Golf & Social. The full lockup. First mention anywhere, all signage, anything public-facing or search-facing.
  • The Knot. Second mention onward, and inside the club where the name is already understood.
  • The Knot at Royal Queensland. Where the endorsement has to be carried in the sentence rather than in the layout.

Never

  • Knot Golf & Social. The article is load-bearing. Without it the name reads as a product, not a place.
  • THE KNOT. Never set the name in all caps. The wordmark is mixed case and the artwork is the only correct rendering at size.
  • the knot. Both words take a capital in running text.
  • Royal Queensland Knot. The two brands are never merged into one name.

1.4 The endorsing mark

Royal Queensland Golf Club

The crest that endorses everything The Knot does. Final artwork, reproduced from the master brand kit and never redrawn. It sits at the edge of the surface, in Ink or Cream, at label scale.

Where it appears

Signage, the website, event collateral, advertising, and anything a non-member sees first. Inside the club, where the name is understood, the knot may stand alone.

Section 2.0

The idea

A figure-eight knot, for a figure-eight course. Two loops that meet at the crossover and hold.

2.1 Two loops, one crossover

The short course runs as a figure eight. Ten holes that fold back on themselves and meet once, at the crossover. Walk it and you cross your own path exactly halfway through the round.

That shape is already a knot. The figure eight is the knot a climber ties when the rope has to hold under load, and the one a sailor ties so a line cannot run out through a block. It is the knot you use when it matters.

So the mark is not a picture of the course, and it is not decoration. It is the course's own geometry doing a second job.

The routing

Two loops meeting once at the crossover. The plan of the course, drawn in rope.

The knot

A figure eight. Tied to hold under load and to not run out. The one you use when it matters.

The tie

Grandparent and grandchild round the same ten. A short course exists to hold generations together.

Section 3.0

The mark

3.1 The mark, and how it holds together

Primary lockup

The default. Mark above wordmark, with the descriptor set beneath. Use this wherever there is room to give the mark air.

Wordmark

Type alone, for contexts where the mark already appears nearby or the space is too narrow to carry it. Never redraw or re-set the letterforms.

The knot

The mark on its own. Social avatars, ball markers, embroidery, pin flags, anywhere the name is already understood.

Badge lockup

The contained form. Apparel, signage roundels, scorecards and anywhere the mark needs its own boundary against a busy ground.

Primary lockup
Wordmark
The knot
Badge lockup

3.2 Colourways

One artwork, six approved grounds. The mark is always a single colour on a single ground. Ink on Paper unless there is a reason not to. Gold is reserved for the master brand.

Ink on paper The default. Use unless there is a reason not to.
Cream on black The primary reverse.
Cream on petrol
Cream on red
Ink on sage
Ink on funnel

3.3 Clearspace, size and misuse

Clearspace

Clearspace equal to the height of the knot itself, on all four sides. Nothing enters that field, including type, rules, image edges and the endorsement. On the badge lockup, measure from the outer boundary of the badge rather than from the artwork inside it.

Minimum size

14 mm wide in print, 96 px on screen. Below these sizes the knot's interior crossings begin to fill in. Where a smaller mark is unavoidable, use the wordmark alone rather than a shrunken lockup.

Never

  • Re-set the wordmark in another typeface.
  • Change the relationship, spacing or scale between the knot and the wordmark.
  • Apply colours outside the approved palette to any part of the mark.
  • Use two colours within a single instance of the mark.
  • Outline, emboss, or apply a drop shadow.
  • Rotate, slant or italicise any form of the mark.
  • Distort or stretch the proportions.
  • Place the mark on a photograph without sufficient tonal separation.
  • Enclose the primary lockup in a shape. Use the badge lockup instead.
  • Reproduce the mark below the minimum sizes.

Section 4.0

Colour

4.1 Nine colours, four jobs

Two grounds, two inks, five accents drawn from the river, the turf and the light. Hex and RGB for screen; CMYK and Pantone for print.

Ink #0C3347
RGB
12 51 71
CMYK
83 28 0 72
Pantone
302 C
Role
Primary · text and mark

The mark and body text on light grounds. A deep navy rather than a black, and the same navy the Royal Queensland crest is drawn in. Never pure black anywhere in the system.

Paper #F7F2F0
RGB
247 242 240
CMYK
0 2 3 3
Pantone
No match · CMYK on uncoated stock
Role
Primary · ground

The default page. Scorecard stock, menus, the guide you are reading. Everything starts here.

Black #1B1D1C
RGB
27 29 28
CMYK
7 0 3 89
Pantone
Neutral Black C
Role
Ground · reverse

The dark ground. Signage, apparel, the reverse of print, and the cover of anything that wants weight.

Cream #E7DFC8
RGB
231 223 200
CMYK
0 3 13 9
Pantone
7506 C
Role
Primary · reverse ink

The mark and text on dark grounds. A ground for small panels only, never a field for body copy.

Petrol #2E4B59
RGB
46 75 89
CMYK
48 16 0 65
Pantone
7546 C
Role
Accent · the river

The deepest accent and the one carrying the Brisbane River. Use where the course meets the water.

Sage #B5CCB0
RGB
181 204 176
CMYK
11 0 14 20
Pantone
7485 C
Role
Accent · the turf

Course-facing work. Hole diagrams, yardage, scorecards, anything about the ground underfoot.

Funnel #F4C23B
RGB
244 194 59
CMYK
0 20 76 4
Pantone
122 C
Role
Accent · the stacks

Pulled from the funnels of the liners that berthed alongside the course. The social and wayfinding accent, and the only colour loud enough to be found from a distance.

Gold #C29053
RGB
194 144 83
CMYK
0 26 57 24
Pantone
7407 C
Role
Accent · premium

Milestones, member gifts, a substitute for foil. Use sparingly or it stops reading as premium.

Signal Red #A13B2C
RGB
161 59 44
CMYK
0 63 73 37
Pantone
7599 C
Role
Accent · alert

Competition boards, alert states, emphasis and correction marks at small size. Never as a field for body copy.

CMYK values are derived from the hex and are a starting point for press. Pantone references are the closest coated match and must be proofed against a current swatch book before any run.

4.2 Tints, shades and opacities

Each colour opened out into the steps it may be used at. Six tints toward white, the base, three shades toward black, and five opacities over Paper. Use a step, not a colour picked by eye.

Ink#0C3347

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Paper#F7F2F0

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Black#1B1D1C

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Cream#E7DFC8

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Petrol#2E4B59

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Sage#B5CCB0

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Funnel#F4C23B

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Gold#C29053

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Signal Red#A13B2C

100 200 300 400 500 600 Base 800 850 900
8% 16% 32% 56% 80%

Steps are named the way a developer will call them, 100 to 950. The base is outlined. Opacities are for washes and rules over Paper only.

4.3 Every approved pairing

The combinations that may carry text, with the contrast measured. AA and above may hold body copy. Display only means the mark or large type, never a paragraph.

Aa Ink on Paper Body copy and the mark on the default page.

12.0 : 1 AAA

Aa Paper on Ink Table headers

12.0 : 1 AAA

Aa Cream on Black The primary reverse. Signage and apparel.

12.7 : 1 AAA

Aa Ink on Cream Small warm panels inside a dark layout.

10.0 : 1 AAA

Aa Cream on Petrol River-facing wayfinding and hole signage.

7.0 : 1 AA

Aa Cream on Red Competition boards and alert states.

5.0 : 1 AA

Aa Ink on Sage Scorecard panels

7.7 : 1 AAA

Aa Ink on Funnel Wayfinding

8.0 : 1 AAA

Aa Petrol on Paper Headings and rules on the default page.

8.3 : 1 AAA

Aa Red on Paper Emphasis and correction marks at small size.

6.0 : 1 AA

Contrast is measured to WCAG 2.1.

Section 5.0

Applications

5.1 The brand doing its job

Drawn from the ephemera the palette came out of: bus and admission tickets, theatre stubs, luggage tags. Punch grids, serial numbers, perforations and sideways type. Everything here is live, set from the same tokens as the rest of the guide. Click any piece to see it at full size.

The brand doing its job.

Royal Queensland · Brisbane · Ten holes

No 04271

1 118 PAR 3
2 92 PAR 3
3 141 PAR 3
4 132 PAR 3
5 78 PAR 3
6 156 PAR 3
7 104 PAR 3
8 121 PAR 3
9 88 PAR 3
10 134 PAR 3
OUT 1164 PAR 30
Player Date

Not transferable · Retain until the crossover

Scorecard as transit ticket · punch grid, serial, clipped corners

Guest pass

  • Name
  • Member
  • Date

Tear below · retain stub

12·4

Guest pass as luggage tag · eyelet, ruled fields, tear-below

Crossover

Two loops meet here · Give way to players on the inward loop

Course signage · cream on petrol

Ten rounds · Season pass

A. Mitchell

No 00318

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Valid to 31 March · Not transferable · Present at the pro shop

Season pass · ten rounds, punched down as they are used

5.2 Menu, coaster and merchandise

The brand doing its job.

After the turn

To start

  • Moreton Bay bug roll brown butter 24
  • Kingfish crudo green mango 26
  • Grilled flatbread smoked butter 14

The middle

  • Half chicken charred lemon 38
  • Dry-aged sirloin bone marrow butter 52
  • Whole snapper to share 46

Alongside

  • Leaves and herbs 12
  • Duck fat potatoes 14

ADMIT ONE · 8891

Menu as admission stub · perforated head, tan rules

The Knot

Golf & Social

Coaster · knot in red on board, the social half of the name
Ball marker
Cap patch
Avatar
Merchandise and digital · ball marker, cap patch, avatar

Section 6.0

Typography

6.1 Three faces, one job each

Mackinac carries every headline and every line of body copy. DM Mono does labels, numerals and instructions, and nothing else. Chippewa Falls says one informal thing per surface, and never the main one.

Display and body

P22 Mackinac Pro

The logotype, every headline and every line of body copy. A humanist serif with enough weight in the stem to hold up at signage scale and enough grace to read at nine point on a menu. Book, Medium and Bold with italics.

Served · Adobe Fonts

Aa

Two loops, one crossover.

Labels and data

DM Mono

Labels, eyebrows, tee markers, scorecard figures and any small all-caps setting. Always uppercase, always tracked out. Open licence, so it travels to any supplier without a fee.

Served · Google Fonts

Aa

TEE 4 · 132M · PAR 3

Hand-drawn accent

Chippewa Falls

The hand-lettered voice. A single-case face: the lowercase keys draw the same capitals smaller. One line per surface, never a headline, never a number, never longer than about four words.

Served · Adobe Fonts

Aa

See you at the crossover

6.2 Hierarchy · display and headings

Seven levels from the display size down to the structural label, each set live at its real size. One D1 per surface. Skip no more than one level between a heading and the next.

D1Display

A better round, not a longer one.

P22 Mackinac Pro 500 · 4.5rem / 1.02 One per surface, and only where it can be the whole thing. Covers, the top of a page, a signage face. Never twice on the same screen.

H1Page title

Ten holes, one river, no hurry.

P22 Mackinac Pro 500 · 2.75rem / 1.1 The title of a page or section. One per page. Always the highest level present unless a D1 is doing the job instead.

H2Section head

Golf and social, in that order.

P22 Mackinac Pro 500 · 2rem / 1.14 The major divisions inside a page. Menus, the top of a card, a chapter of a longer document.

H3Subhead

After the turn

P22 Mackinac Pro 500 · 1.5rem / 1.2 Groups inside a section. Menu courses, the heading on a rule block, a named field on a card.

H4Minor head

Guest passes and green fees

P22 Mackinac Pro 500 · 1.2rem / 1.3 The smallest serif heading. Sidebars, list headings, the top of a short block of body copy.

H5Lead-in

Members and their guests, every day but Tuesday.

P22 Mackinac Pro 400 italic · 1.05rem / 1.4 Italic lead-in above or below a heading. Standfirsts, captions with substance, a note that is still prose.

H6Structural label

Section 04

DM Mono 400 · 0.7rem / 1.4 Where the hierarchy needs one more step down and a serif would be too soft. This is the only heading level set in mono.

6.3 Hierarchy · body, labels and script

Running text, the two label sizes and the one hand-lettered level. Body measure is capped at roughly 68 characters.

B1Body

The short course sits on the bend of the Brisbane River, ten holes that fold back on themselves in a figure eight and meet once at the crossover.

P22 Mackinac Pro 400 · 1.05rem / 1.6 Default running text. Anything longer than a sentence. Measure capped at roughly 68 characters.

B2Body small

Ten holes from four o'clock, with dinner on the terrace after.

P22 Mackinac Pro 400 · 0.92rem / 1.55 Secondary prose. Menu descriptions, notes under a heading, the second column of a card.

L1Label

Tee 4 · 132m · Par 3

DM Mono 400 · 0.68rem / 1.4 Data and wayfinding. Yardages, tee markers, serial numbers, prices on a punched card.

L2Caption

Members and guests

DM Mono 400 · 0.6rem / 1.5 Under an image, beside a swatch, along the margin of a ticket. Never a full sentence.

S1Script accent

See you at the crossover

Chippewa Falls 500 · 2.1rem / 1.1 One hand-lettered line per surface, and never the main message. A chalkboard, a sign-off, an annotation on a hole diagram.

6.4 The faces together

Four combinations that cover almost everything the brand will ask for, set at the real sizes and the real relationships.

The short course

Two loops, one crossover.

Ten holes that fold back on themselves and meet once. Walk it and you cross your own path halfway through the round.

L1 label · H2 heading · B1 body

Standard block The default for any page, card or panel. Mono overline, serif heading, serif body.

Crossover

Two loops meet here · Give way on the inward loop

Signage Wayfinding and course markers. Serif set large, mono carrying the detail beneath a rule.

From the pro shop

Bring someone who has never played.

The ten is built for exactly that. Clubs are on the house for a first-timer, any day but Tuesday.

Liam

Signed note Member letters, welcome cards, anything with a human at the end of it. The lettering signs off; it never carries the message.

Ten holes, one river, no hurry.

see you at the crossover

Social Image overlays and posts. Serif and lettering only, no mono, because a caption is not data.

6.5 Quotes

Three settings, in descending order of loudness. A pull quote interrupts, a blockquote supports, a hand-lettered line closes.

A short course is not a small golf course. It is a different argument about what an afternoon is for.

Brand positioning, Phase 02

Pull quote

We wanted somewhere a member could bring a grandchild and a client in the same week, and have both of them want to come back.

Sean Dobson · General Manager

Blockquote

Bring someone who has never played.

Liam

Signed line

6.6 Which level, where

The lookup. If a surface is not on this list, take the nearest row and hold the same relationship between the three faces.

Signage and wayfinding

D1 or H1 for the name, L1 for the instruction. No body copy on a sign.

Scorecard

H3 for the course name at the head. Every figure is L1, mono and tabular. Nothing else is serif.

Menu

H2 for the head, H3 for courses, B2 for descriptions, L1 for prices. Prices are mono so they align down the right without a leader rule.

Member letter

H4 heading, B1 body, L2 for the date and reference. The sign-off is hand-lettered, and nothing else on the page uses it.

Website and email

The full ramp, H1 to H4 with B1 and B2 and both labels. Skip no more than one level between a heading and the next.

Apparel and merchandise

The wordmark artwork only. Type is the mark here, not a setting. Never re-set the name for embroidery.

Social

H1 or H2 with B2. No mono, because a caption bar cheapens an image overlay. Serif and lettering only.

Four rules

  • Mackinac for anything read. If a person is reading a sentence, it is set in Mackinac.
  • DM Mono for anything scanned. Labels, yardages, serials, instructions. Uppercase, tracked out.
  • Never the reverse. Mono headlines read as a tech brand; serif labels read as a wedding invitation.
  • One accent, sparingly. Gold on an eyebrow or a serial is the only place colour enters the type.

6.7 The third face, and its leash

Chippewa Falls is the hand-lettered voice. It exists so the brand can say one informal thing without breaking the serif, and it stops working the moment it is asked to do more.

Allowed

  • A chalkboard or blackboard special, where the medium is already hand-lettering.
  • A hand-lettered name at the foot of a member letter or a welcome card.
  • One annotation on a hole diagram or a course map, pointing at something.
  • A single short line over an image, where the serif would feel stiff.

Never

  • Never for a headline. Mackinac carries headlines, always.
  • Never for body copy, a menu item, a price or any number a person has to read accurately.
  • Never longer than about four words. One case and no lowercase means anything longer becomes a wall of capitals.
  • Never larger than the Mackinac heading beside it.
  • Never more than one line of it on a single surface.

Section 7.0

Supporting elements

7.1 The cast around the mark

The archival photograph is not a nice piece of history, it is the brief. A liner alongside the 4th and a flying boat overhead, in the same frame as a putt. The elements come from it.

Supporting elements

The cast around the mark.

The archival photograph is not a nice piece of history, it is the brief. A liner alongside the 4th and a flying boat overhead, in the same frame as a putt. Two illustrated elements carry that into the brand. They are drawn in the palette and liveried to The Knot, and neither of them is the logo.

A 1930s flying boat illustrated in Cream and Ink, carrying the registration RQ-GC on the tail and the knot mark with The Knot wordmark along the fuselage

The flying boat

Empire flying boats · Brisbane River, 1938

The travelling element. Use it where something is arriving or going out into the world. Invitations, event announcements, welcome collateral, the top of an email. It flies left to right and it is never cropped by the edge of a page.

A vintage two-funnel ocean liner illustrated with a navy hull, cream superstructure and two yellow black-capped funnels

The steamship

Interstate liners · Hamilton wharves

The anchored element. Use it where something is settled and social. The bar, menus, the pavilion, membership pieces. Its funnels are where the Funnel accent comes from, so it should never be recoloured away from them.

7.2 The routing, drawn in rope

Not yet drawn. Shown here as direction only. A loose course map of the ten as one continuous rope in the figure eight of the routing, with each hole falling where it does on the ground.

Supporting elements

The cast around the mark.

The archival photograph is not a nice piece of history, it is the brief. A liner alongside the 4th and a flying boat overhead, in the same frame as a putt. Two illustrated elements carry that into the brand. They are drawn in the palette and liveried to The Knot, and neither of them is the logo.

A vintage engraved diagram of a figure-eight knot, labelled standing part and end, with numbered arrows following the rope through the tie Pending

The routing, drawn in rope

Figure-eight, plate reference

A loose course map of the ten, drawn as one continuous rope in the figure eight of the routing, with each hole falling where it does on the ground. The plate above is the drawing style, not the artwork.

Not yet drawn. Shown here as direction only. Needs the surveyed routing from OCM before it can be set, and it is the one element that has to be accurate rather than evocative.

7.3 How they behave

The rules

  • None of these is the logo. They never replace the mark, and they never sit inside the lockup.
  • One element per surface. The plane and the ship never appear together outside the archival photograph.
  • They are drawn in palette colours only. No gradients, no drop shadows, no photographic treatment.
  • Give them the same clearspace as the mark. They are large, quiet and uncrowded, or they are not used.
  • They are supporting elements, so they never carry the message alone. There is always a mark or a name on the same surface.

Still to draw

The routing, drawn in rope. A loose course map of the ten as one continuous rope in the figure eight of the routing, with each hole falling where it does on the ground. It needs the surveyed routing from OCM before it can be set.

Section 8.0

In the world

8.1 The pieces, photographed

Everything before this is drawn live from the tokens. This is the other test, the brand on real objects in real light.

In the world

The pieces, photographed.

Everything before this is drawn live from the tokens, which is how a system should be shown. This is the other half of the job: real objects, shot on the course, with nothing to read.

A weathered corten steel sign on a sandstone wall with The Knot cut through the plate, the course behind it at sunrise
The figure-eight knot embroidered in red thread on cream cotton twill, shown close
A cold beer in a branded glass on the course at dusk, carrying the full primary lockup in Ink

Indicative. Product, thread colours and finishes to be confirmed with suppliers.

8.2 The pieces, photographed

In the world

The pieces, photographed.

Everything before this is drawn live from the tokens, which is how a system should be shown. This is the other half of the job: real objects, shot on the course, with nothing to read.

A golfer wearing a cream cap with The Knot embroidered across the front in rust-red thread
A cream cotton cap with the figure-eight knot embroidered in deep petrol thread
A golf ball on a mown green at dusk carrying the figure-eight knot in Ink
A navy polo shirt with the rope-framed badge lockup embroidered on the chest in cream

Indicative. Product, thread colours and finishes to be confirmed with suppliers.

9.0 Files

The complete brand kit

Every Knot mark and colour variant in SVG, EPS and PNG, alongside the Royal Queensland master marks, with the palette and type specification. One ZIP.

Download the kit · ZIP This guide · PDF

Primary lockup

SVGEPSPNGCream · SVGEPSPNG

Wordmark

SVGEPSPNGCream · SVGEPSPNG

The knot

SVGEPSPNGCream · SVGEPSPNG

Badge lockup

SVGEPSPNGCream · SVGEPSPNG

Every link is a direct download. Ink for light grounds, Cream for dark. One colour on a ground, never two; the approved grounds are on the colourways page.

Golf and social, in that order.

Contours · delivery.contours.agency

The Knot · Golf & Social · Royal Queensland Golf Club

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