Visual-bar Brandability: 2026-09-12 northline leg
Status: Phase 4.3 brand-pack stills pass. Scores the Brandability axis under
the fictional northline skeleton only. Not a beauty certification. Not kiln.
Not a completed programme pass under VISUAL-BAR.md
section 6 (independent sign-off remains Phase 5).
Package under test: django-brickwork 3.18.0 on feat/phase4-visual-proof.
Prior package-default craft:
2026-09-12-visual-bar-scorecard-phase3.md.
Reviewer: agent session (rendered stills + northline token delta).
Render mode: package brickwork.css inlined, then
docs/examples/brand-pack/northline/tokens.css; data-bw-brand="northline"
on the html root (npm run visual-bar:fixtures:northline then
VISUAL_BAR_STILLS_DATE=2026-09-12-northline npm run visual-bar:capture:northline).
Private stills: docs/audits/_stills/2026-09-12-northline/ (gitignored; 32
PNGs). See _stills/README.md.
Bar: VISUAL-BAR.md. Clean-room only. Competitor names stay out of public marketing copy. No kit markup pasted. Do not restore POSITIONING beauty language from this file alone.
What this pass proves
The same S1 to S8 compositions from the package-default gallery still hold after the seven-token northline override (surface, fg, border, accent, danger, success, warning, plus fg-on-accent and type stacks per the skeleton). Fixture copy still names the example product "Northwind"; that is example content, not the brand-pack slug.
Brandability axis
| Check | Rating | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accent reads as brand, not substrate default | Pass | Primary buttons and active nav use northline teal/cyan in light and dark (S1 dark, S4 light, S5 both) |
| Surfaces and borders shift without breaking roles | Pass | Cooler light surface and darker charcoal dark theme; cards, tables and filters remain distinguishable |
| Display / sans pairing survives override | Pass | Page titles and marketing heroes keep display serif; UI chrome stays sans |
| Hierarchy and cadence hold | Pass | S4 weighted scorecard and S5 section sequence remain readable under the delta |
| Mobile chrome still usable | Pass | S5 dark 375px retains disclosure control and stacked CTAs |
| Kiln / showcase identity | N/A | Not applied; this leg is northline only |
Brandability: held under northline for S1 to S8 at both themes and both viewports sampled from the 32-PNG run. No new substrate follow-up from this leg alone.
Explicit non-claims
- This file does not certify beauty or declare VISUAL-BAR section 6 met.
- Do not update VISUAL-BAR "Latest completed pass" until Phase 5.
- Do not treat northline as a recommended product look or as kiln.
- Full axis re-score against Priority 1 and 2 kits remains the package-default and Phase 5 job; this note is Brandability evidence only.