Brand

Guidelines
The Manifesto
We believe product management
has evolved significantly over the last
several years. Gone are the days of
the weighty tomes we called product
requirements documents. Gone are
the days of project managing releases.
Gone are the days of defining products
in an ivory tower and then throwing it
across the wall to the engineering team
to deliver. Today product management
is much more than a job title – it’s a
discipline, and to some, a calling.
Today we work iteratively, in agile
stories and simple cards, because the
collaboration this forces with everyone
involved in the product leads to better
solutions and better designs.
Today we ship product continuously and
while there may occasionally be press
releases involved most of the time it’s
done to little fanfare other than the
appreciation of our customers.
Today we are one team, delivering
product together.
In this discipline you may be an
engineer, a designer, a founder or a
product manager – all that matters is
that you are at the core of the product
and passionately work towards the
betterment of that product.
This may require fewer people called
product managers in a company, but
it puts ever more emphasis on the
importance of the craft of product
management. On learning, sharing and
working with others inside and outside
our companies in the development of
that craft.
This is why Mind the Product and
ProductTank exist – to further the craft
of product management by bringing
together product people of all stripes.
The Story
Mind the Product is an international
product community, by product people,
for product people.
Product Management can be a lonely
job, whether you’re the only product
manager in a startup or part of a large
team you’re outnumbered by engineers,
designers and the rest of the company.
In 2010 we started ProductTank in
London to solve this - a simple meetup
with the aim of bringing together
product managers to share stories,
experiences, and lessons learned.
We obviously weren’t alone in this
desire and as the meetup was taking
off in London we also helped a dozen
other cities start their own ProductTank
meetups within the first year.
In 2011 we founded Mind the Product
to tie all these events together, and in
2012 we had our first conference which
gathered 450 attendees to London.
By 2015 the London conference
had grown to over 1,000 attendees,
ProductTank was in 25+ cities, and
we brought the conference to San
Francisco for the first time.
Today, our annual London and San
Francisco conferences compete with
each other for the title of the world’s
largest product conference, with over
1,200 attendees, and ProductTank is run
in over 75 cities around the world.
Mind the Product is the world’s largest
product community, bringing together
fellow product people online through
our blog, newsletter, slack chat, and job
board, and offline through our meetups,
workshops, and conferences.
The Venn Logomark
The primary logomark is the core of
the visual brand. It is a venn diagram
showing the intersection of the three
core roles or skills of a product manager
- UX, technology, and business.
The venn diagram came from a seminal
blog post defining the role published on
Mind the Product in 2011.
The original venn diagram is used
(with permission and attribution) in a
number of blog posts, published books,
and other contexts and has become
a recognised representation of and
symbol for product management.
The Logomark
Colours
Except for black and white printing
exceptions the venn logomark should
always be presented in colour, and in
the Cyan colourway shown here.
Cropping and Rotation
When used on its own, the Venn
Logomark can be rotated or cropped
for effect:
Always point the white intersection
in the Venn Logomark towards the
content/page and try to leave one of
the circles whole.
Background Colours
The Venn Logomark can be displayed
on any background colour except 100%
Cyan as the main circle bleeds out. For
full cyan pages with the logo on it use
the Light or Dark Cyan defined in the
colours section of this guide.
The Core Logos
The two core brands/logos are Mind
the Product and Product Tank. The logo
uses the venn logomark and emphasises
the word product.

Spacing
The logo should be given room to
breathe, the minimum white space
around the logo is equivalent to the
height of the T in product:

Colours
While the Venn Logomark doesn’t
change the text of the core logos can
be black or white depending on the
background.
No rotation
The logos should never be rotated,
and the white intersection in the Venn
Logomark should always point towards
the text of the logo.
Mind the Product Variations
Variations of the Mind the Product logo
are allowed for location or year of the
conference.
Typography
The variations are created by adding
text in Neutraface 2 Text Light. The
x-height of the additional text aligns
with the word product in the core
logo. Ascenders and descenders are
encouraged in the additional text.
Multiple Logos
Multiple logos should not be displayed
next to each other (this page just broke
that rule). For example, if listing a
number of conferences just show the
core logo and then a text list of the
conferences.
Vertical Logos
In exceptional cases vertical versions of
the logo and its variations are fine, just
bear in mind alignment:

Colour
The additional text should contrast with
the core logo text but is generally Cyan.

Text vs Years
Text should be italicized, years should
not. They should not be combined.
ProductTank Variations
Each ProductTank city gets its own
version of the ProductTank logo.
Typography
The base font for the city name is
Neutraface 2 Text Demi Italic but the
ascenders are truncated to match the
height of the lower case t in tank.
Multiple logos
Multiple logos should not be displayed
next to each other (this page just
broke that rule). For example, if listing
a number of ProductTank events just
show the core logo and then a text list
of the cities.

Colour
The city name is always in Cyan.

City Names
It’s up to each city how they want their
name represented. Eg dfw for Dallas
Fort-Worth, twin cities for Minneapolis/
St Paul, indy for Indianapolis, etc

The city names are always in lower case,

even if it’s an acronym.
Logo Usage
Secondary Logos
Other logo variations are generally
discouraged but sometimes used. We
will likely develop new ones over time
as various business areas are explored
and grow in importance.
Do not create new logo or variations
without first checking in with the Mind
the Product brand team for permission.
Examples
Backgrounds
The logos work best on Black, White,
Grey, and Navy Blue backgrounds or
photographics backgrounds.
Try to avoid overly bright backgrounds
(such as yellow and orange).
Text Only Logos
In exceptional circumstances the logos
can be presented as text-only (without
the Venn Logomark), for example if
black and white is the only option or
when greying out a logo.
This does not change the layout or style
of the text portion of the logos.
Please Do Not
• Vary the typography
• Add outlines or borders to the logo
text or venn logomark
• Add text other than the approved
variations above
• Place the logos on a patterned
background (other than a photo)
• Place the logos on an overly bright
or clashing colour
Typography
The core typeface is Neutraface 2 Text.
Font weight is determined by the size
of the text and legibility, but generally
the lighter the better. Body text should
be set in Book, while titles and headings
look great in Light.
Neutraface 2 Text Light
Neutraface 2 Text Light Italic
Neutraface 2 Text Book
Neutraface 2 Text Book Italic
Neutraface 2 Text Demi
Neutraface 2 Text Demi Italic
Neutraface 2 Text Bold
Neutraface 2 Text Bold Italic
Feel free to vary between Title Case,
lowercase and All Caps to help with the
visual hierarchy of text on banners, ads,
badges, or similar.
Web Fonts
Since Neutraface isn’t available as a web
font we use Brandon Grotesque as the
closest approximation.
For body text online we use Open Sans,
though a modern, humanist, serif would
be fine too.
Neutraface 2 Variations
Other variations of Neutraface 2 can be
used if the application demands it:
Neutraface 2 Condensed
In compact formats such as online
banners we use Neutraface 2
Condensed to fit more text while
maintaining our brand style.
Neutraface 2 Display
Neutraface 2 Display should be used
sparingly, and ideally only in it’s all-caps
Titling weight.
Colours
Primary Colours
Cyan. Lots and lots of Cyan.
CYAN BLACK WHITE
C:100 M:0 Y:0 K:0 C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:100 C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0
R:0 G:174 B:239 R:0 G:0 B:0 R:255 G:255 B:255
#00AEE7 #000000 #FFFFFF

Secondary Colours
For emphasis, wayfinding,
badges, etc. Only used in
small amounts.
ORANGE GREEN Venn Logomark Process Colours
C:0 M:60 Y:100 K:0 C:60 M:0 Y:100 K:0 While in CMYK and RGB the Venn
R:245 G:130 B:32 R:118 G:184 B:42
Logomark is derived from various
#F58220 #76B82A
opacities of White over the Cyan circle,
when process printing the colors are:

Cyan Variations Process Cyan C

To be used as backgrounds,
especially when displaying DARK CYAN LIGHT CYAN Pantone 297 C
the Venn Logomark on top C:100 M:0 Y:0 K:20 C:80 M:0 Y:0 K:0
so the Cyan doesn’t bleed R:0 G:146 B:200 R:0 G:185 B:242 Pantone 290 C
into the backgroud. #0092C8 #00B9F2

White
Photography
We use a lot of photography and
video. Follow general rules/styles of
composition and focus and if using it
as a background make sure the text is
legible on top of the photo.

We have thousands of photos from

ProductTanks and Mind the Product
conferences available for use on our
Flickr account.
Black and White photos work really well Black and White with a Cyan pop helps
with our Cyan logo and colours emphasise the Brand

Sense of scale, space, and context make Strong composition and a clean Strong composition, faded/blurred
this photo pop. background for the text background and cyan text
Style Guide & Voice
Brand Names
The brands are always written as follows
• Mind the Product
• ProductTank
UK/US Spelling
We’re based in the UK but our audience
is international and over 50% of our
audience is in the US so as long as it’s
consistent within a document/design/
event we’re ok with either.
Time/Date Format
The same goes for time and date
formatting - as long as it’s consistent
and appropriate for the intended target
audience, either is ok. Ideally dates
should spell out the month name to
avoid confusion, eg May 4, 2016 is less
confusing than 4/5 or 5/4.
Title Capitalisation
Titles. headlines, email subjects, and
similar are presented in Capital Case
following the AP style guide (capitalise
proper nouns, acronyms, and words of
four letters or more).
Oxford Comma
Yes, yes, and yes.
Our Audience
Our audience are called product
people to avoid any one job title and
be as inclusive as possible. In singular
form this would be product person and
neither is capitalised.
Gender Neutral
Our writing is gender neutral, by
referring to job titles or generic terms
like customers, users, them, their, etc.
Neutral Point of View
We believe that product management
is not an exact science — each company,
team, and product person refines their
own bespoke tools and methods. This
means Mind the Product itself does not
have a view, does not believe there is
one right way to do anything, but rather
represents a neutral reporter of the
views of others.
Individual team members and
contributors, however, absolutely do
have a view and are encouraged to
present it, even if it causes controversy
and discussion among our audience, but
these must be signed or bylined.
Voice
Our tone and voice are proper but
informal. We’re not afraid to make
puns or jokes. We don’t take ourselves
too seriously, and we do not take an
authoritative or definitive voice.
Taglines & Slogans
Taglines
We have a few different taglines
depending on context;
To further the craft of product
management by bringing together
product people of all stripes to inspire
each other and share lessons learned.
Connecting and inspiring product
people to further the craft of product
management
Passionate about products and the
people who make them
Slogans
We have a few different slogans and
mottos, such as build products people
love, that we use on swag and
venue branding, and I(venn)
Product which is a popular
sticker. We are open
to similar visual
treatments.