Synthesia Ltd. — Corporate Document Brand Guide

Version 1.0 · For SDS / TDS / Invoices / Letters document pipeline

0. Audit of the Old Template

For reference, here's what the current template actually contains (extracted from old_blank.doc):

Element	Old value
Font	Arial only, no weight/size system
Header	One wide logo image (2480×458px), dominant blue `#004C98`
Footer	A thin flat blue bar image (2482×43px), no page numbers, no company data
Body	Blank — no heading styles, no table styles, no defined margins beyond Word defaults
Colors	Just the logo blue; no defined palette

Logo and its blue are kept exactly as-is per your instructions — everything below is built to complement it, not replace it.

1. Color Palette

Role	Name	Hex	Usage
Primary	Synthesia Blue	`#004C98`	Logo (unchanged), header rule, table header fill, H1 headings, links
Primary Dark	Deep Blue	`#00335F`	Footer bar, pressed/emphasis states, dense fills
Secondary	Slate	`#2B2E33`	Body text, H2/H3 headings
Muted Text	Steel Gray	`#5B6670`	Footer text, captions, doc metadata, page numbers
Accent	Certification Blue	`#0071B8`	Left accent bars on H2, dividers, icon tint — matched to the new TÜV Rheinland badge blue so both blues in the document feel intentional together
Highlight / Table Stripe	Ice Tint	`#F2F6FA`	Alternating table rows, callout box backgrounds
Border / Rule	Hairline Gray	`#D9E1E8`	Table borders, section dividers
Background	White	`#FFFFFF`	Page background
Warning (SDS hazard use only)	Safety Amber	`#C77700`	Hazard/precaution call-outs — kept separate from brand blue so it isn't confused with brand color
Danger (SDS hazard use only)	Safety Red	`#B3261E`	Critical hazard call-outs only

Note: Amber/Red are reserved strictly for GHS/hazard signal words inside SDS content — never used decoratively — so hazard cues stay visually distinct from brand styling.

2. Typography

Calibri replaces Arial as the base family — a genuinely more modern, rounder sans-serif that still ships by default with Word and LibreOffice (as metrically-compatible "Carlito"), so there's zero font-embedding risk on a generation server.

Style	Font	Size	Weight	Color	Notes
Document Title (H1)	Calibri	18pt	Bold	`#004C98`	All-caps optional for TDS/SDS titles
Section Heading (H2)	Calibri	13pt	Bold	`#2B2E33`	Left accent bar, see §7
Subsection (H3)	Calibri	11pt	Bold	`#2B2E33`	Small-caps style via manual caps if needed
Body text	Calibri	10pt	Regular	`#2B2E33`	Line spacing 1.15
Table header text	Calibri	9.5pt	Bold	`#FFFFFF`	On `#004C98` fill
Table body text	Calibri	9.5pt	Regular	`#2B2E33`
Footer text	Calibri	7.5pt	Regular	`#5B6670`
Caption / metadata (doc ref, rev, date)	Calibri	8pt	Regular	`#5B6670`
Emphasis	Calibri	inherit	Bold or Italic	inherit	Bold for key terms, italic for chemical/product names

If the pipeline can guarantee font embedding on every generation target, a geometric sans like Montserrat (headings) paired with Lato (body) would push further into "modern" territory — but that adds embedding complexity and licensing checks. Calibri is the safe default; flag if you want the embedded-font route explored.

3. Layout Grid (A4)

Page size:        A4 — 210mm × 297mm
Margin top:        3.6 cm   (clears the header logo + rule)
Margin bottom:     2.8 cm   (clears the footer bar + text)
Margin left:       2.2 cm
Margin right:      2.2 cm
Header distance:   1.0 cm from top edge
Footer distance:   1.0 cm from bottom edge
Paragraph spacing: 6pt before / 6pt after
Line spacing:      1.15
Gutter:            0 (single column body; tables may span full text width)

4. Header Design

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  [LOGO — corrected crop, left]        [ISO SEAL — right]  │
│                              SDS-2026-014 · Rev 3 · 2026-07-04 │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤  ← 1pt rule, #004C98

Logo: left-aligned, scaled to 1.5 cm height, correct full crop (hexagon mark fully intact + wordmark), locked aspect ratio, never stretched.
ISO seal: right-aligned in the same row as the logo, scaled to 1.5 cm height — the compact certified-seal icon only (triangle + "TÜVRheinland" + "CERTIFIED" banner), not the wider text panel.
Below both: one slim right-aligned line — doc code · revision · date, muted gray, 8pt. No document-type label here anymore (it was redundant with the H1 title in the body), which keeps the header to just two lines total plus the rule.
A single 1pt horizontal rule in #004C98 separates the header block from body content.

5. Footer Design

├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤  ← 1pt rule, #D9E1E8
│  Synthesia Ltd. · VAT BG121306542 · Todor Radunchev 9,     │
│  Krivina 1588, Bulgaria · +359 2 974 4968 · office@synthesia.bg │
│  Certified ISO 9001:2015 · ISO 14001:2015 · ISO 45001:2018 │
│              — TÜV Rheinland, ID 9105074744 (italic)      │
│  SDS-2026-014                              Page 1 of 6    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
   ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓  ← 3pt solid bar, #00335F

Top line: full company legal + contact block, centered, 7.5pt, #5B6670.
Second line: certification statement in small italic text, centered, 7pt, #5B6670 — the visual seal lives in the header (see §4); this line keeps the compliance detail (cert numbers, TÜV ID) documented without repeating the graphic.
Third line: document ref (left) and "Page X of Y" (right) on the same line, 8pt — merged into one row rather than stacked, to keep the footer from feeling bloated.
Bottom: a slim 3pt solid brand-blue bar (#00335F) as the page's visual anchor, drawn as a table/shape so it scales losslessly at any print resolution.

Certification update: the visual ISO seal moved from the footer up into the header (top-right, alongside the logo) — a cleaner, more prominent placement than buried at the page bottom. The certification details (ISO 9001:2015 / 14001:2015 / 45001:2018, TÜV Rheinland, ID 9105074744) stay as small text in the footer so nothing is lost, just de-emphasized relative to the header seal.

6. Table Styles

Element	Style
Header row fill	`#004C98`
Header row text	White, bold, 9.5pt
Body row (odd)	White background
Body row (even)	`#F2F6FA` background
Borders	0.5pt, `#D9E1E8`, all sides
Cell padding	4pt top/bottom, 6pt left/right
First column (parameter/property names in SDS tables)	Bold, `#2B2E33`
Row height	Auto, minimum 0.6cm

7. Section Heading Styles

H1 (Document Title): 18pt bold, #004C98, followed by a 2pt bottom border in #004C98, 12pt space after.
H2 (Section, e.g. "3. Composition/Information on Ingredients"): 13pt bold #2B2E33, preceded by a 4pt-wide vertical accent bar in #4A7FB5 (implemented as a left cell border or a thin colored table column), 10pt space before / 6pt after.
H3 (Subsection): 11pt bold #2B2E33, no rule, 8pt space before / 4pt after.
Numbering: keep GHS/SDS-mandated numbering (e.g. "3.1") in the same weight/color as the heading text — no separate numbering color.

8. Design Tokens (for python-docx / pandoc implementation)

colors:
  primary: "004C98"
  primary_dark: "00335F"
  secondary_text: "2B2E33"
  muted_text: "5B6670"
  accent: "0071B8"
  highlight: "F2F6FA"
  border: "D9E1E8"
  background: "FFFFFF"
  warning_amber: "C77700"   # SDS hazard use only
  danger_red: "B3261E"      # SDS hazard use only

fonts:
  family: "Calibri"      # falls back to metric-compatible "Carlito" on LibreOffice
  sizes_pt:
    h1: 18
    h2: 13
    h3: 11
    body: 10
    table_header: 9.5
    table_body: 9.5
    footer: 7.5
    caption: 8
  weights:
    h1: bold
    h2: bold
    h3: bold
    body: regular

page:
  size: A4
  width_mm: 210
  height_mm: 297
  margin_top_cm: 3.6
  margin_bottom_cm: 2.8
  margin_left_cm: 2.2
  margin_right_cm: 2.2
  header_distance_cm: 1.0
  footer_distance_cm: 1.0

rules:
  header_rule_pt: 1
  header_rule_color: "004C98"
  footer_rule_pt: 1
  footer_rule_color: "D9E1E8"
  footer_bar_pt: 3
  footer_bar_color: "00335F"
  h1_underline_pt: 2
  h1_underline_color: "004C98"
  h2_accent_bar_pt: 4
  h2_accent_bar_color: "0071B8"

table:
  header_fill: "004C98"
  header_text_color: "FFFFFF"
  row_alt_fill: "F2F6FA"
  border_pt: 0.5
  border_color: "D9E1E8"
  cell_padding_pt: [4, 6, 4, 6]  # top, right, bottom, left

logo:
  file: "assets/logo-synthesia.png"      # 118×57px, hexagon mark + wordmark
  height_cm: 1.5
  alignment: left
  placement: header, top-left
  aspect_ratio: locked

iso_seal:
  file: "assets/iso-seal-tuv-rheinland.png"  # 56×57px, triangle + wordmark + CERTIFIED banner
  height_cm: 1.5
  alignment: right
  placement: header, top-right (same row as logo)
  aspect_ratio: locked

certification_text:
  content: "Certified ISO 9001:2015 · ISO 14001:2015 · ISO 45001:2018 — TÜV Rheinland, ID 9105074744"
  placement: footer, small italic line
  size_pt: 7

company:
  legal_name: "Synthesia Ltd."
  vat: "BG121306542"
  address: "Todor Radunchev 9, Krivina 1588, Bulgaria"
  phone: "+359 2 974 4968"
  email: "office@synthesia.bg"
  iso_certs: ["ISO 9001:2015", "ISO 14001:2015", "ISO 45001:2018"]
  certification_body: "TÜV Rheinland"
  certification_id: "9105074744"

# python-docx quick reference
from docx.shared import Pt, Cm, RGBColor

PRIMARY       = RGBColor(0x00, 0x4C, 0x98)
PRIMARY_DARK  = RGBColor(0x00, 0x33, 0x5F)
SECONDARY     = RGBColor(0x2B, 0x2E, 0x33)
MUTED         = RGBColor(0x5B, 0x66, 0x70)
ACCENT        = RGBColor(0x00, 0x71, 0xB8)
HIGHLIGHT     = RGBColor(0xF2, 0xF6, 0xFA)
BORDER        = RGBColor(0xD9, 0xE1, 0xE8)

section.top_margin = Cm(3.6)
section.bottom_margin = Cm(2.8)
section.left_margin = Cm(2.2)
section.right_margin = Cm(2.2)

For pandoc, drive the docx output through a reference.docx built once from this token set (Word "Styles" pane: Title/Heading 1/Heading 2/Normal/Table Grid mapped to the sizes/colors above) — pandoc will inherit all styling automatically from that reference file on every generation run.

9. Sample Page Layout (ASCII mockup)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [LOGO]                                        [ISO SEAL]      │
│                                    SDS-2026-014 · Rev 3 · 2026-07-04 │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ ← 1pt #004C98
│                                                                │
│  SAFETY DATA SHEET                                            │ H1, 18pt bold #004C98
│  ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁  ← 2pt underline
│                                                                │
│ ▍1. IDENTIFICATION                                            │ H2, accent bar #0071B8
│   Product name ................................ Product X     │ body 10pt
│   Recommended use .............................. Industrial    │
│                                                                │
│ ┌────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┐   │
│ │ PROPERTY           │ VALUE                              │ ← header row #004C98/white
│ ├────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┤   │
│ │ Appearance         │ Clear liquid                       │ ← white row
│ ├────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┤   │
│ │ pH                 │ 6.5 – 7.5                           │ ← #F2F6FA row
│ └────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                │
│ ▍2. HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION                                    │
│   ⚠ WARNING — Causes skin irritation                          │ Amber #C77700, hazard use only
│                                                                │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ ← 1pt #D9E1E8
│ Synthesia Ltd. · VAT BG121306542 · Todor Radunchev 9,         │ footer text 7.5pt #5B6670
│ Krivina 1588, Bulgaria · +359 2 974 4968 · office@synthesia.bg│
│ Certified ISO 9001:2015 · 14001:2015 · 45001:2018 — TÜV ID... │ ← 7pt italic, text only
│ SDS-2026-014                                     Pg 1/6      │ ← merged one line
│ ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████  │ ← 3pt bar #00335F
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

All headings/body text set in Calibri.

Notes for the Pipeline Team

Logo: assets/logo-synthesia.png (118×57px) — hexagon mark + wordmark, design/color unchanged from original.
ISO seal: assets/iso-seal-tuv-rheinland.png (56×57px) — TÜV Rheinland combined-certification mark (ISO 9001:2015 / 14001:2015 / 45001:2018, ID 9105074744) — swap this one asset whenever certifications renew, without touching anything else.
Logo and ISO badge are now separate image assets rather than baked into one banner image, specifically so either can be updated independently in the future.
All rules/bars are drawn as vector shapes or table borders, not raster images — this removes the blurring/scaling issues in the old letterhead and keeps output crisp at any print DPI.
Amber/Red are hard-scoped to GHS hazard content only, so automated hazard-statement rendering never accidentally inherits brand-blue styling meant for headings/tables.
This single token set (§8) should back every document type (SDS, TDS, invoices, letters) — only the H1 title text and footer doc-ref prefix change per document type.

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