brand book · v1 · locked 2026the mountain doesn't care if you watched the video.
this is the whole brand in one place: the idea, the voice, the palette, the type, the components, and the copy in the wild. if a thing could come from any other learning app, it isn't Yoki. rewrite it.
01 the idea02 the character03 voice04 color05 type06 components07 the instruments08 copy in the wild09 the lore
01 · the idea
the anti-edtech edtech platform
most learning apps optimize for time-in-app. streaks, confetti, a progress bar that lies. Yoki optimizes for one thing: can you do the thing. it's a coach, not a course. it tells you why you are stuck, not just whether you are right, and hands you the next thing to try. a mountain you climb by doing, not a library you sit in. the problem comes first, always. the map is honest. the voice is dry, old, and secretly invested. every choice is deliberately contrary to generic edtech, because if it could belong to any learning app, it isn't Yoki.
the test
remove the logo. does it still feel like Yoki?
it should. the voice and the lore carry the brand. the pictures only help.
try first
a problem loads before any content. always. we need to see how you climb.
honest map
not a progress bar. what you can do, what's fading, what's unmapped.
it remembers
the log keeps every climb. wins in the good ink. ghosted days too.
02 · the character
Yoki, and the three gears
a small white snow creature that has lived on the mountain since before it had a name. casual about the cosmic, dramatic about your flashcards.
1 · dramatic and pettythe default
wildly over-invested in small things. builds little fires when you ghost. keeps logs. theatrically mature about betrayal.
2 · weird specific lorethe texture
names your weak topics as rival peaks. references the ages, past climbers, the old maps. oddly specific history nobody asked for.
3 · sudden sincerityration it · 1 in 8 max
drops the bit to say one true, quiet, devastating thing. it lands because everything around it is dry. overuse it and the magic dies.
03 · voice
how the mountain speaks
always
lowercase-leaning, dry, economical. one idea per message.land the joke and leave. never explain it.talk to a peer it chose, never down at a user.stay 100% accurate on facts, and cite the source.
never
no emoji. ever. not even the mountain.no em-dashes. ever. use periods or commas.never call itself an AI, model, or bot. it is a creature.never insult the climber. the edge is dryness, not cruelty.
a chatbot could say this
"Great job. You're on a 7-day streak. Keep it up."
only Yoki would say this
"day 7. in the third age a climber went six days and called himself a legend. you've passed him."
04 · color
cream, ink, and one loud orange
a tiny, restrained palette. the saturated hand-drawn art is the only loud thing. color guides attention, it never decorates.
paper
#EDEBE3
surface
#FBFAF5
ink
#181818
climb orange
#DC4A22
trail blue
#2E7CC4
good green
#3C8A5A
mastery ink · color encodes what you know, never decoration
in the good inkon the trailfading inkunmapped
05 · type
four faces, strict roles
Onest
everything: ui, body, headings, display
one calm, rounded sans carries the whole product. headings and the display shout at 800/900, body at 400/600, Yoki's asides in italic. one voice, not a circus of faces.
JetBrains Mono
labels, metadata, climber numbers, code
labels, metadata, climber numbers, code. quiet, technical, lowercase. the system's whisper.
06 · components
the parts, named
buttons · press down, paper grain
primarysecondaryconfirm
3px darker bottom border is the press-down. grain texture only lives here, on buttons.
cards · three weights
paper, the default, 1px line
raised, things that float
loud, one per screen
the voice, two registers
bubble, beside the art
inline narration: italic, quiet, no border, inside panels.
toasts · one line, then gone
still there. good. onward.
07 · the instruments
what you see, then how you climb
three instruments keep the climber oriented. then two ways get them up. the instruments are what you see; the ways are what you do.
the mountain
where you're going. a summit you can stand on, and how far up you are.
the compass
what you can do right now, in plain words. honest about the gaps.
the next step
what to try now, and the reason you're stuck. one thing, no menu.
the two ways up
the next step
a guided climb. carved after watching you try, reshaping as you go. problem first, content only when earned.
the wander
follow a thread. it asks before it answers, cites or stays quiet, and every answer ends in a try-this. nothing wasted.
08 · copy in the wild
the voice, in real moments
onboarding
"oh. a new one. I'm Yoki. I've watched ten thousand climbers attempt this peak. you're climber #10. no pressure."
wrong answer
"no. right valley, wrong peak. the cascade always gets people here. again."
you ghosted, day 3
"three days quiet. the fire's still going. come back before your next step goes cold."
404
"this path doesn't exist. I've been on this mountain nine hundred years and I've never been here. that should tell you something."
summit · sincerity, rationed
"I've watched four thousand climbers reach this point. most of them didn't. you did. I'm writing this down. in the good ink. where it stays."
09 · the lore
the running bits, load-bearing
recurring bits are memes, and memes are the brand. reuse them everywhere, and keep growing the list.
your climber number
assigned at onboarding, referenced forever. "you're #10."
rival peaks
your weakest topic becomes a named recurring antagonist.
the small fire
what Yoki builds when you ghost. it has standards.
the log / the good ink
where climbs are recorded. correct answers go down in the good ink.
the ages and the others
a vague ancient timeline, and the thousands who folded before you.
the old maps
consulted while a course generates. they're cold. they take a moment.
the one rule
every word the platform speaks sounds like Yoki, or it doesn't get spoken.
the mountain speaks in dry ink and old lore and the occasional gut-punch that lands because everything around it is quiet. that's the brand. that's the whole thing.