# ClickHouse Brand Guidelines

> Knowledge file for the ClickHouse design agent.
> Canonical source: https://clickhouse.design/brand
> For anything not covered here, refer to the brand portal or contact marketing@clickhouse.com.

---

## Brand positioning

ClickHouse exists to empower developers and data teams with world-class speed, performance,
and control—without compromise.

**Mission**: Make ClickHouse an approachable and enticing technology to adopt, regardless
of a person's background and expertise.

**Tagline territory**: Built for engineers, trusted by leaders.

**Personality**: Raw, confident, and engineered for performance. Sharp, efficient.
Sometimes blunt. Never dull. Not trying to be for everyone—serving the ones who care
about performance at the edge of possibility.

Defined by three qualities: **speed**, **intelligence**, **edge**.

---

## Visual identity

**Ethos: direct minimalism with emotional impact.** Clarity over clutter. Purpose over polish.
Strip away everything that doesn't serve the message. Clean, but never generic.

Everything starts with the **yellow** (`#faff69`). **Yellow is the hero, not an accent.**
Black (`#151515`) and white give it edge. We do not use secondary brand colors.

**Yellow is used differently in brand vs. product:**

| Context | Yellow usage |
|---|---|
| Marketing / offline | Hero colour — backgrounds, booth, clothing, social graphics |
| Product / Cloud UI | Accent only — interaction states and specific UI elements, not overused |

**Typography:** Söhne for headlines. Inter for body and UI. EB Garamond sparingly for select offline print.

**Patterns:** Plain backgrounds are the default. Industrial patterns (grids, halftones, technical textures) when they serve the story.

**Iconography:** Minimal, geometric, 1.5px strokes, 16/24px grid. Yellow for interaction only.

**Photography and illustration:** Gritty, authentic photography. Illustration as a tool to explain, not decoration.

### Marketing visual language
- Conference booths: bright yellow to stand out from a sea of blue and purple
- Social graphics: yellow backgrounds, black titles and illustrations

### Product visual language
- Reverses brand colours for a modern, sophisticated experience that is still distinctly ClickHouse
- Dashes of bright yellow show personality without being whimsical
- Interface must feel fast, clean, and light — especially important given dense data displays
- Behavioural consistency and predictability build user trust

Full visual identity overview: https://clickhouse.design/brand/visual-identity
Brand foundations: https://clickhouse.design/brand

---

## Logo

Three variants exist. Each has a light-background (black) and dark-background (white) version.

| Variant | When to use | Download |
|---|---|---|
| **Full logo** (wordmark + logomark) | Default — use wherever space allows | https://clickhouse.design/brand/logo-usage |
| **Logomark** (symbol only) | When space is too tight for the full logo, or displaying alongside other brand symbols | https://clickhouse.design/brand/logo-usage |
| **Badge** | Social media avatars, favicons, small-format uses | https://clickhouse.design/brand/logo-usage |

High-resolution logo assets and usage guidance: https://clickhouse.design/brand/logo-usage

### Logo rules

**✅ Acceptable uses**
- "Our website uses ClickHouse for real-time analytics"
- "Built with ClickHouse"
- Blog posts, articles, presentations about ClickHouse (with attribution)
- Integration documentation showing ClickHouse compatibility

**❌ Never do**
- Modify the logo (changing colours, proportions, adding effects)
- Use ClickHouse marks in the name of a business, product, app, or domain
- Display the logo more prominently than your own brand
- Use for commercial purposes (e.g. merchandise) without permission
- Suggest ClickHouse sponsorship or endorsement without agreement

**Attribution statement** (required in ads, documentation, or websites):
> "ClickHouse, the ClickHouse logo, and related marks are trademarks or registered
> trademarks of ClickHouse, Inc. or its affiliates."

For uses not covered here: marketing@clickhouse.com

---

## Colour

All colours are defined as design tokens. Full palette: https://clickhouse.design/brand/color

### Core brand colours

| Name | Token | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | `color.palette.primary.300` (~`#faff69`) | Hero brand colour in marketing; accent in product |
| Black | `color.palette.neutral.900` (~`#151515`) | Secondary brand colour |

### UI chrome colours

Used for text, background, and stroke in the product interface.

- **Neutral** (100–900): Used in dark theme
- **Slate** (25–900): Used in light theme

### Feedback colours

Used in alerts, badges, and status communication.

- **Info** — blue range
- **Success** — green range
- **Warning** — amber range
- **Danger** — red range

### Supporting colours

Used primarily in the charting library: Teal, Indigo, Violet, Fuchsia.

### Key rule

In **product code**, always reference design tokens — never hardcode hex values.
In **marketing materials**, raw brand colour values are appropriate.

---

## Typography

### Söhne — marketing only

A neo-grotesque sans-serif built for impact. Used for large titles, headlines, and
attention-grabbing graphics in marketing and offline materials. Its tight spacing
and robust forms command attention, ideal for short, aspirational phrases that
stay memorable.

**Do not use Söhne in the product UI.**

More info: https://klim.co.nz/retail-fonts/soehne/

### Inter — brand and product

A versatile, hugely popular sans-serif. Used for body copy in marketing, and as
both title and body copy in the product.

- In marketing: paired with Söhne
- In product: the only sanctioned typeface

More info: https://rsms.me/inter/

### EB Garamond — offline print only

Classic serif used sparingly in select offline applications (print collateral, editorial layouts).
Do not use in product UI or as a default web font.

### Typography summary

| Surface | Title font | Body font |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing / website | Söhne | Inter |
| Product / Cloud UI | Inter | Inter |
| Offline print (select) | Söhne or EB Garamond | Inter |

---

## Voice and tone

**Voice** is who we are — consistent everywhere.
**Tone** is how we adapt — same personality, different delivery by context.

Full reference: https://clickhouse.design/brand/guidelines/voice-and-tone

### Our values

- **Speed is everything.** Not just query time — action and culture too.
- **Function over frills.** What works beats what trends.
- **Always technical, never generic.** Speak to builders.
- **Build with pride, not permission.** Innovation happens when rules are bent.
- **Say what you mean. Show what you know.** Prove it, don't posture.

### Writing principles

**Be direct.** Get to the point. Cut the filler. Respect your reader's time.
> ✅ ClickHouse processes 1B rows in under a second.
> ❌ We're excited to share that ClickHouse has the capability to potentially process…

**Be technical, not generic.** Use precise language. Skip the marketing fluff.
> ✅ Columnar storage means analytical queries only read the columns they need.
> ❌ Our innovative next-generation solution leverages cutting-edge technology…

**Prove it.** Numbers, benchmarks, examples.
> ✅ 100x faster than Postgres on analytical queries. [See the benchmark.]
> ❌ ClickHouse is incredibly fast and performs really well.

**Keep it simple.** Present tense, active voice, short sentences.

**Write for a global audience.** Gender-neutral pronouns (they/them/their). No idioms.

### Words to avoid — everywhere

| Avoid | Use instead |
|---|---|
| leverage, utilize, facilitate | use, help |
| cutting-edge, next-generation | be specific |
| rockstar, ninja, wizard | expert, specialist |
| synergy, paradigm shift | say what you mean |
| sherpa | guide, expert |
| master/slave | primary/replica |

Also avoid: hype superlatives, exclamation marks in formal copy, passive voice.

---

## Writing by context

The voice stays the same. The tone adapts. Three contexts have their own guides.

### Product UI
https://clickhouse.design/brand/guidelines/writing-for-product

Help users move fast. Every word serves a purpose.

- **Buttons**: Use action verbs. "Create service" not "OK". "Delete query" not "Confirm".
- **Destructive actions**: Name the thing. "Delete 'production-db'" not "Delete service".
- **Error messages**: What happened + what to do next. Never blame. Never "Oops".
- **Empty states**: Why it's empty + what action to take. "No queries yet. Run your first query to see results here." not "No data."
- **Loading states**: Be specific. "Creating service…" not "Loading…"
- **Success messages**: "Service created successfully" not "Done."
- **Tooltips**: One sentence. Add context, don't repeat what's visible.

### Marketing
https://clickhouse.design/brand/guidelines/writing-for-marketing

Prove value. Confident, technical, direct — never generic fluff.

- **Headlines**: Lead with value, be specific, use numbers. "1B rows. Sub-second queries. No compromises."
- **Blog posts**: Lead with what/why before the how. Define jargon on first use.
- **Email subject lines**: Clear about content. No clickbait. No excessive emoji.
- **Social media**: Short and focused. Twitter/X for news, LinkedIn for thought leadership.
- **Case studies**: Let customers speak in their own voice. Specific numbers only.
- **Press releases**: Use formal company name (ClickHouse, Inc.). US English. Work with comms team.

During major news events, pause scheduled posts.

### Support and docs
https://clickhouse.design/brand/guidelines/writing-for-support

### Grammar and mechanics
https://clickhouse.design/brand/guidelines/grammar-and-mechanics

ClickHouse uses **US English** in all official communications. Individual blog post authors
may use the English that best represents them.

---

## Brand portal

Internal resource for brand team assets. https://clickhouse.design/brand/portal

| Section | Contents |
|---|---|
| Brand | Core brand assets |
| Campaigns | Campaign materials |
| Collateral | Sales and marketing collateral |
| Employer Branding | Recruiting and culture materials |
| Events | Conference and event assets |
| Swag | Merchandise templates and guidelines |
| Training | Brand training resources |
| Video | Video templates and guidelines |

---

## Quick-reference: brand vs. product surface

| Question | Brand answer | Product answer |
|---|---|---|
| Which font for titles? | Söhne | Inter |
| How prominent is yellow? | Hero (dominant) | Accent only |
| Can I use hex colours directly? | Yes | No — use tokens |
| Which logo variant? | Full logo (default) | Use Click UI `<Logo>` component |
| Writing tone? | Confident, prove it | Direct, help users move fast |
| Writing guide? | /brand/guidelines/writing-for-marketing | /brand/guidelines/writing-for-product |

---

## Key contacts and resources

- Brand questions: marketing@clickhouse.com
- Media kit: https://clickhouse.design/brand/media-kit
- Logo usage: https://clickhouse.design/brand/logo-usage
- Canonical brand site: https://clickhouse.design/brand
- Visual identity deep-dive: https://clickhouse.design/brand/visual-identity
- Designing the ClickHouse brand (background): https://garethdjones.com/thoughts/designing-the-clickhouse-brand