Plant-based home care in amber glass you refill, with every ingredient named and a scent from a July meadow.
Vision
The bottle people refill for twenty years.
MeadowIntroductionPage 6
Introduction
How to use this brandbook
This book is the single source of truth for Meadow. It is a living document, not a PDF: it is versioned, and the version you are reading is stated on the cover.
Read the strategy before the visual rules — almost every rule here follows from something decided in it.
Anything not covered: ask before inventing. A gap is a question, never a licence.
02
Brand foundation
MeadowBrand foundationPage 8
Brand essence
The house smells like outside.
Purpose
The brand in as few words as possible — what every decision is checked against.
Usage
Inside the company: briefs, reviews, onboarding. Not printed as a line.
MeadowBrand foundationPage 9
Brand foundation
Belief
The dull parts of the day deserve the same care as the good ones.
Mission
Make the everyday chores the calmest part of the home.
MeadowBrand foundationPage 10
Brand foundation
Positioning & USP
Plant-based home care worth keeping in sight.
Brand promise
Formulas you can read, in bottles you keep.
MeadowBrand foundationPage 11
Reasons to believe
01
Plant-derived surfactants, every ingredient named on the label
02
Refills in olive paper, never plastic
03
Amber glass made to be kept
04
Scents from a Swedish meadow, distilled not synthesised
05
Made in Sweden in small batches
MeadowBrand foundationPage 12
Tagline
Clean, slowly.
Purpose
The promise, said in one breath to the outside world.
Usage
End of films and campaigns, packaging, the website hero, beside the logo in a lockup.
MeadowBrand foundationPage 13
Brand foundation
Category point of view
Eco cleaning looks like a health warning; luxury soap stops at the bathroom. The kitchen and the laundry have been left out.
Frame of reference
The same people who already buy Aesop, Le Labo and Frama — read for their apothecary calm and long labels, not copied for their look.
Differentiation
Apothecary calm taken out of the bathroom and into the kitchen and the laundry, with the full formula printed on the label.
MeadowBrand foundationPage 14
Brand values
01
Calm
02
Honesty
03
Craft
03
Audience
MeadowAudiencePage 16
Audience
Core consumer group
The considered home — already buys Aesop for the bathroom and is annoyed that the dish soap is the ugliest thing in the kitchen.
Target audience
Considered homes and hospitality.
Functional & emotional benefits
Cleaning products you leave out on the counter instead of hiding under the sink.
MeadowAudiencePage 17
Personas
01The considered home30–55, already buys Aesop for the bathroom, cooks with good oil, and is annoyed that the dish soap is the ugliest thing in the kitchen.
02Hotels and restaurantsWant what guests see at the sink to match the rest of the room.
04
Brand strategy
MeadowBrand strategyPage 19
Brand strategy
Brand architecture
Branded house. Meadow is the brand; products are named for the job they do and never sub-branded.
Product philosophy
Formulate with plant-derived surfactants and say so by name. Fill amber glass once and paper after that. Scent from distillation, never from a synthetic accord. If the label is too long, make the type smaller, not the list shorter.
Naming & nomenclature
The brand is meadow in lower case on product and Meadow at the start of a sentence. Products: hand wash, dish, laundry, surface. Scents are named for the month they were picked. Never Meadow® Home Care, never MEADOW.
MeadowBrand strategyPage 20
Brand strategy
20-year roadmap
2026 — four products, refills in paper, the first twenty stores.
2028 — refill stations in travertine and oak, and a scent for each month of summer.
2033 — a returnable glass system, so the bottle outlives the brand's first decade.
05
Communication platform
MeadowCommunication platformPage 22
Core message
Plant-based home care worth keeping in sight.
Purpose
The one thing every message has to leave behind.
Usage
The website's opening line, pitch decks, press releases, the first sentence of sales copy.
MeadowCommunication platformPage 23
Messaging pillars
01
The meadow — scents distilled from a real field, not composed in a lab. For the person who buys on smell.
02
The label — every ingredient named, in full sentences. For the sceptic.
03
The refill — paper, not plastic, and cheaper than the first bottle. For the household that repeats.
MeadowCommunication platformPage 24
Communication platform
Product messaging framework
Every product is described in the same order: what it cleans · what it is made of, named in full · how it smells and why · how the refill works · what it costs. Never say eco, green or natural.
MeadowCommunication platformPage 25
Communication platform
Language system
Products are named for the job, in lower case: hand wash, dish, laundry, surface. Scents are named for the month they were picked.
MeadowCommunication platformPage 26
Communication platform
Message translation
The considered home — lead with the scent and the object on the counter.
The sceptic — lead with the ingredient list and the refill maths.
Hotel or restaurant — lead with what the guest sees at the sink and the refill logistics.
MeadowCommunication platformPage 27
Communication platform
Brand manifesto
Name every ingredient. Keep the bottle. Do the chore slowly.
06
Tone & impact
MeadowTone & impactPage 29
Tone & impact
Tone of voice
Clean, slowly.
Quiet, literate, a little dry.
Tone principles
Quiet, literate, a little dry. Explains the ingredients like a good pharmacist.
Tone spectrum
From a pharmacist explaining a formula to a note left on the kitchen table. Never a health warning.
MeadowTone & impactPage 30
Headline examples
01
Clean, slowly.
02
The house smells like outside.
03
Every ingredient, named on the label.
04
Keep the bottle. Buy the refill.
05
Plant-based home care worth keeping in sight.
06
July, distilled.
MeadowTone & impactPage 31
Tone & impact
What this enables
Refill stations in travertine and oak, a label long enough to read while you wait, and a subscription that sends paper, not plastic.
MeadowTone & impactPage 32
Tone & impact
Brand narrative
Eco cleaning looks like a health warning and luxury soap stops at the bathroom sink. Meanwhile the kitchen and the laundry — the rooms where most of the day actually happens — are full of bright plastic nobody wants to look at. Meadow is named after the unmown field behind the founder's summer house; the smell of it after rain is the brief for every scent, and the label tells you exactly what is in the bottle.
MeadowTone & impactPage 33
Tone & impact
Strategic do's and don'ts
Do write full sentences on the label. Do name every ingredient. Don't say eco, green or natural.
07
Logotype
MeadowLogotypePage 35
The mark
Clear space — The cap height of the wordmark on every side.
Clear space — A quarter of the symbol's width on every side.
MeadowLogotypePage 36
On backgrounds
MeadowLogotypePage 37
Never do
No green leaves on white
No 'eco' badges
No bright plastic
MeadowLogotypePage 38
Primary logo
Clear space — The cap height of the wordmark on every side.
MeadowLogotypePage 39
Secondary logo
Clear space — A quarter of the symbol's width on every side.
MeadowLogotypePage 40
Responsive / optimised versions
Large — 120 px and up
Medium — 48 to 120 px
Small — below 48 px
MeadowLogotypePage 41
Clear space diagram
XX
The cap height of the wordmark on every side. No other element may enter the dashed area — not type, not an image edge, not a partner mark.
MeadowLogotypePage 42
Placement principles
Top left — default
Centred — covers and signage
Bottom right — endorsement
The dashed line is the margin from the layout system. The mark never crosses it, and never sits closer to another element than its own clear space.
MeadowLogotypePage 43
Incorrect usage
Never stretch or condense.
Never rotate.
Never recolour the mark.
Never add effects.
Never reduce the opacity.
Never alter the proportions.
MeadowLogotypePage 44
Co-branding lockups
Partner mark
Side by side — equal partners
Partner mark
Stacked — endorsement
The divider is one grid unit; the partner mark is scaled to match the optical height of ours, never the literal height. Neither mark may sit inside the other's clear space. Where a partner's own guidelines conflict with these, theirs govern their mark and ours governs ours.
Derived from the core colours — never hand-picked.
Amber
Clay
Olive
MeadowColourPage 48
Accessibility
Every ratio below is computed, not claimed.
AaSoil
Soil on Parchment12.09:1 · AAA
AaParchment
Parchment on Amber5.98:1 · AA
AaClay
Clay on Soil4.26:1 · AA large
AaOlive
Olive on Parchment3.50:1 · AA large
AaOlive
Olive on Soil3.45:1 · AA large
AaClay
Clay on Parchment2.84:1 · not for text
AaClay
Clay on Amber2.11:1 · not for text
AaSoil
Soil on Amber2.02:1 · not for text
AaOlive
Olive on Amber1.71:1 · not for text
AaOlive
Olive on Clay1.23:1 · not for text
MeadowColourPage 49
Accessibility · the rules
Text of any size4.5:1 or more
Parchment on Soil 12.1:1
Soil on Parchment 12.1:1
Amber on Parchment 6.0:1
Parchment on Amber 6.0:1
Large text only3:1 — 24 px, or 18.7 px bold
Soil on Clay 4.3:1
Clay on Soil 4.3:1
Parchment on Olive 3.5:1
Olive on Parchment 3.5:1
Soil on Olive 3.5:1
Olive on Soil 3.5:1
Never for textUnder 3:1 — lines, fills, decoration
Parchment on Clay 2.8:1
Clay on Parchment 2.8:1
Amber on Clay 2.1:1
Clay on Amber 2.1:1
Amber on Soil 2.0:1
Soil on Amber 2.0:1
Amber on Olive 1.7:1
Olive on Amber 1.7:1
Clay on Olive 1.2:1
Olive on Clay 1.2:1
Motion. With reduced motion switched on, nothing moves: no slides, no 18 px entrances. Fades up to 150 ms stay, everything else is still.
Text size. Body text no smaller than 16 px on screen and 9 pt in print. Captions 13 px at the least.
Images. Every image that carries meaning has alt text that says what it shows and why it is there. Decorative images have empty alt text.
Colour alone. Colour never carries meaning on its own — a status, an error, a link also has a word, an icon or an underline.
MeadowColourPage 50
Colour usage examples
Amber10%
Parchment60%
Soil25%
Clay2%
Olive3%
Surface carries the page, ink carries the words, and the accent is spent once. A layout where the accent competes with the surface is the most common way this system goes wrong.
Google FontsFree for web and printWeights: 400, 500, 700
MeadowTypographyPage 55
Type scale
Style
Size
Line height
Tracking
Sample
Display
76 px
0.95
-0.03em
Meadow
H1
54 px
1.0
-0.02em
Meadow
H2
38 px
1.1
-0.02em
Meadow
H3
27 px
1.2
-0.01em
Meadow
Body
17 px
1.6
0
Meadow
Caption
13 px
1.5
0.02em
Meadow
MeadowTypographyPage 56
Hierarchy in use
Meadow
The same page, set to the scale in this book
Display carries the argument; the text face carries the evidence. Nothing in a layout should need a third size that is not on the scale — if it does, the hierarchy is the problem, not the type.
A calm 12-column grid, label-like: small type in columns, large images alone.
MeadowGrid & spacingPage 76
Layout system
Token
Value
Corner radius
0
Base unit
8px
Columns
12
Margin
80px
Max width
1440px
MeadowGrid & spacingPage 77
Grid diagram
Corner radius0
Base unit8px
Columns12
Margin80px
Max width1440px
MeadowGrid & spacingPage 78
Layout examples
Editorial — 8 of 12
Split — 6 and 6
Full bleed
14
Motion
MeadowMotionPage 80
Motion
Principles
Slow dissolves, long holds, no movement you notice.
MeadowMotionPage 81
Storyboard
0 ms — the surface alone.
160 ms — the mark rises on the curve.
400 ms — in place. Nothing overshoots.
Clean, slowly.
650 ms — the line follows.
MeadowMotionPage 82
Easing & timing
Calm — cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1)Nothing hurries, nothing bounces. Long curves, short distances.
Fast · 150 msHover, buttons, toggles
Standard · 250 msCards, panels, fields opening
Slow · 400 msPage changes, full screen, reveals
The mark enters: 18 px, 400 ms, the signature curve
Transform and opacity only. Every motion has a still equivalent: with reduced motion switched on, nothing on this page moves.
15
Packaging
MeadowPackagingPage 84
Packaging
Direction
Amber glass with an uncoated parchment label, black type, refill pouches in olive paper.
Substrate & print
Amber glass, recycled where possible, with an uncoated parchment label printed in one colour, soil brown. Refill pouches in olive kraft paper with a cotton tie. No shrink sleeves, no gloss.
MeadowPackagingPage 85
Box
MeadowPackagingPage 86
Label
Meadow
Meadow
Meadow
MeadowPackagingPage 87
Tag & wrapping
MeadowPackagingPage 88
Unboxing
16
Brand in use
MeadowBrand in usePage 90
Website
Products · About · Contact
Clean, slowly.
See the range
Long scroll, stone backgrounds, one bottle per screen, ingredients as copy.
MeadowBrand in usePage 91
Brand in use
Digital
Long scroll on stone backgrounds, one bottle per screen, the ingredients as the copy. Refills are the first thing you can buy.
MeadowBrand in usePage 92
Social post formats
Clean, slowly.
Plant-based home care worth keeping in sight.
Formulas you can read, in bottles you keep.
The house smells like outside.
Every ingredient, named on the label.
Keep the bottle.
Still lifes and ingredients, low sun on plaster. Never before-and-after, never a sparkling surface.
MeadowBrand in usePage 93
Campaign
Clean, slowly.
Out of home · 3×6 m
Clean, slowly: stone basins, amber glass, dried grasses, low sun.
MeadowBrand in usePage 94
Print & stationery
Meadow
Uncoated parchment labels, black type, the wordmark small. Refill pouches in olive paper, printed one colour.
MeadowBrand in usePage 95
Blind emboss
EmbossedDebossed
MeadowBrand in usePage 96
Envelopes & tape
C4
C5
DL
17
Merchandise
MeadowMerchandisePage 98
Merchandise
A linen cloth, an oak refill tray, a stone soap dish. Nothing with a logo on it.
MeadowMerchandisePage 99
Merchandise
Application rules
The "m." only — woven as a small label, pressed into soap, burnt into oak. The full wordmark stays on the bottle. Never on clothing.
18
Environment & signage
MeadowEnvironment & signagePage 101
Signage
Refill stations in travertine and oak.
MeadowEnvironment & signagePage 102
Environment & signage
Materials & fabrication
Lime plaster and travertine. The wordmark hand-painted in soil brown above the window, the "m." on the door glass. Refill stations in oak with amber glass taps.
