Brand & Design Book

Who we are

Romania Connect is the Romanian-Austrian business platform - a bilateral association that strengthens economic cooperation between Romania and Austria by connecting decision-makers, entrepreneurs and institutional stakeholders.

Positioning line

The Romanian-Austrian Business Platform.

Actionable business intelligence for confident Romanian-Austrian market decisions.

Mission

Empower Romanian businesses to enter, navigate and grow in the Austrian ecosystem through trusted connections, practical knowledge and hands-on support.

Vision

A thriving cross-border business community where Romanian companies are natural partners in the Austrian economy.

The three things we do

• Executive-level networking between Romanian and Austrian companies.
• Curated business intelligence for strategic and operational decisions.
• Trusted environments for partnerships, collaboration and deal facilitation.

Logo

The wordmark reads ROMANIA over CONNECT. The letter O in ROMANIA is replaced by the mark's signature device - overlapping red and white rings, the brand's one expressive flourish.

Master files: rc-logo-positive.svg (dark wordmark, for light backgrounds - the default in the all-light design) and rc-logo-negative.svg (white wordmark, only for dark photographic backgrounds). Vector, PNG, JPG, PDF, AI and EPS versions are all in the shared workspace.

Two versions

• Positive - dark wordmark for light and white backgrounds. This is the default: the design system is all-light, so nearly every layout uses the positive logo.
• Negative - white wordmark, reserved for dark photographic backgrounds (e.g. the logo sitting on a dark area of a full-bleed photo). We no longer design navy panels, so the negative version is the exception, not the rule. The red/white ring device stays the same in both versions.

Always place the supplied master files - never re-typeset the wordmark or redraw the ring device by hand.

Clear space and size

• Keep clear space around the logo equal to the height of the ring device on all sides. Nothing - text, photo edge, other logos - enters that space.
• Minimum size: the CONNECT line must stay legible. Below roughly 90 px wide on screen or 25 mm in print, use the ring device alone rather than the full lockup.
• Use the vector (.svg, .ai, .eps or .pdf) files whenever the logo will be scaled up, so edges stay crisp.

Partner co-branding

Romania Connect regularly appears alongside institutional partners - the Romanian Embassy in Vienna, the Austrian Business Agency (ABA), the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO), the Vienna Business Agency - on invitations, event signage and press materials. Keep shared lockups calm and equal:

• Give every logo in the row equal visual weight - similar optical height, not necessarily identical box size.
• Separate logos with a thin hairline or generous white space, never by merging or overlapping them.
• Each logo keeps its own minimum clear space; do not compress the row to fit more names.
• On a single-event piece, order logos left to right in order of hosting role (host institution first, Romania Connect and co-organisers following) unless the partner's own guidelines say otherwise.
• Never resize, recolour or apply the Romania Connect palette to a partner's logo.

Colour

An all-light system. White and cool surfaces carry everything; royal blue is the one working colour; navy lives in the logo and strong text; Romanian red is a thin accent line, never a field and never text.

How to use them together

• Default surface is white or cool surface #F7F8FB with body ink text.
• Royal blue #02218E for anything that carries the brand or invites a click - and it is the only colour ever used for text labels, kickers and uppercase tags.
• Deep navy #081136 appears in the logo and in strong text. It is an accent, not a surface: no dark or navy background slides, panels or sections - anywhere. The design is all-light.
• Red #D81E2C draws thin lines and marks only: accent bars, the tricolor, the logo ring. No red text, ever. Red stays well under 5% of any layout.
• The light-blue gradient is reserved for hero, cover and closing surfaces. No other gradients exist - not on panels, not on cards, and never on photos.

Typography

Two typefaces, no exceptions. Archivo for all headings, names and numbers; Inter for all body text. Both are freely available on Google Fonts, so every team member can install them. The previous pairing (Familjen Grotesk + Arimo) is retired - do not use it in new work.

Type scale (guidance)

• Headings carry letter-spacing -0.02em; body text stays at default spacing.
• No single-word last lines in headlines or paragraphs - use text-wrap:balance on headings and text-wrap:pretty on copy, or rebreak manually.
• Page numbers are always formatted "03 / 09" - two digits, spaced slash.

Voice & tone

Sober, corporate, confident - and warm. We sound like a trusted senior partner: direct, community-led, action-oriented. We show results, not adjectives.

Principles

• Confident, not hypey. State what is true and let it stand.
• Concrete, not abstract. Real names, real dates, real outcomes.
• Warm, not corporate-cold. We are a community, not a brochure.
• Action-oriented. Every piece points to a next step - join, meet, register, talk.

Photography & imagery

The brand is photography-led. Images do the atmospheric work; text and logo sit cleanly on top. Real business settings, real people, real cities.

Style

• Natural light, professional business settings - meetings, networking, city architecture of Vienna, Bucharest, Timișoara.
• Composed and calm, never chaotic stock-photo energy.

How photos are placed - hard rules

• Photos are always flat. No gradients, no scrims, no darkening overlays, no colour washes on photos - ever. If copy would not be readable on the image, put the copy next to the photo, not on it.
• Two treatments only: either a contained photo with 6px corner radius and a 1px #E7EAF0 border, or full-bleed running to an edge of the layout with a hard edge - nothing in between.
• Text on a photo is limited to the negative logo on a naturally dark area; headlines and body live on the light surfaces beside the image.

Photo plus text - one flat image

When a visual combines a photo with headline text (event graphics, road show cards), the text sits on a light panel beside or below the photo - not over it, and never over a darkened image. The deliverable is a single flat PNG - never two separate files, never a web page, and never a background that already contains text.

Photo don'ts

• No visible watermarks, no low-resolution or heavily filtered stock.
• No text baked into a photo that will then be used as a background.
• No imagery that reads as a different brand.

Graphic elements

A small, consistent kit of shapes gives every piece the same handwriting.

The tricolor bar

A thin blue-yellow-red bar used as a subtle national signature - a foot on a card, a divider, a small detail. Keep it thin and short; it accents, it never dominates.

The ring device

The overlapping red and white rings that form the O in ROMANIA are the brand's one expressive mark. Do not extract it and scatter it as decoration - it lives in the logo.

Hairlines and space

Thin #E7EAF0 rules separate sections, frame photos and draw table rules. Space is a design element in its own right - when in doubt, add breathing room rather than another graphic.

Eyebrow kickers

Uppercase kicker labels ("Road Show 2026", "Business Circle") sit above headlines to orient the reader. The spec is fixed: Archivo SemiBold, 15px, letter-spacing .2em, uppercase, Royal Blue #02218E - the only colour ever used for these labels. One per block, never repeated as decoration.

Numbered hairline rows

Lists in presentations and structured layouts use numbered rows separated by hairlines - a small royal-blue Archivo number, a bold Archivo lead-in, then Inter body text - instead of bullet points. Calm, scannable, no dots.

Stationery & email signature

Business cards, letterhead and signatures are small pieces but they are often the first brand touch a partner sees - keep them as clean as everything else.

Business cards

• Light background, logo with full clear space.
• Name and role in Archivo SemiBold, contact details in Inter.
• Only confirmed contact details: name, role, office@romaniaconnect.at, www.romaniaconnect.at, and a direct line only if the person has one to publish.
• Optional thin tricolor bar as a foot detail - not on every element of the card.

Letterhead

• Logo top left or centered, generous top margin.
• Body copy in Inter, ink colour, single column.
• Footer line: full legal name, ZVR number, registered office, website - in small grey type.

Email signature

Keep it to plain text plus the logo - no photo banners, no motivational quotes, no social icon walls.

• Logo at a small, fixed size (roughly 120 px wide), positive version on white email backgrounds.
• No coloured background blocks or borders around the signature.
• One link only - the website - written as bare text or a simple hyperlink, not a button.

Presentations

Every deck is all-light: white slides, Archivo headings, Inter body, royal-blue kickers, one clear idea per slide. No dark slides exist in the system.

The slide anatomy

• Cover: light-blue gradient panel on the left (logo, kicker, title, subtitle, meta line) and a full-bleed photo on the right with a hard edge - no fade, no overlay. A thin tricolor bar runs along the foot.
• Content slides: white background, uppercase royal-blue eyebrow kicker (Archivo 15px, letter-spacing .2em) above an Archivo headline, Inter body below.
• Lists: numbered hairline rows with bold Archivo lead-ins instead of bullets - number in royal blue, lead-in in ink, description in secondary grey.
• Footer: small logo left, deck title centered in dim grey, page number right formatted "03 / 09".
• Closing slide: ALWAYS a call to action - light-blue gradient surface, headline, and a navy button pill with white Archivo text. Never a plain "thank you".

Layout library

• Split: text column plus an edge-to-edge photo running to the slide edge with a hard edge.
• Stats: cards with a thin royal-blue top rule, big Archivo numbers in royal blue, quiet labels.
• Bignum: one oversized Archivo number in royal blue with a label and hairline-marked side figures.
• Cards: white cards with 1px #E7EAF0 borders and 6px radius - no shadows.
• Twotone: white left panel, cool-surface #F7F8FB right panel holding cards.
• Logos: partner logos on white cards with hairline borders, never on colour.
• Agenda: rows with light-blue date chips (Archivo, royal-blue text on #EDF2FB) beside title and description.
• Team: 4:5 portrait photos (6px radius), royal-blue uppercase role ABOVE the bold Archivo name, then a short Inter bio.

Rules

• No dark or navy slides, no gradients except the light-blue cover/closing surface, no scrims on photos.
• Photos are flat: 6px radius with a 1px #E7EAF0 border, or full-bleed to a slide edge.
• Red appears only as thin accent lines (the top accent bar, the tricolor foot) - never as text.
• No single-word last lines in headlines or copy - rebreak or balance the text.
• Plenty of white space - resist filling every corner.
• Language: English by default; Romanian or German when the audience calls for it.

Print & press releases

Print materials (flyers, one-pagers, roll-ups)

• Same palette and type as screen. All-light surfaces, white space, royal-blue accents, red as thin lines only.
• Logo with full clear space; tricolor bar as an optional foot detail.
• Always include the website and one clear next step (register, apply, contact).
• Export print-ready PDF; keep the logo and photography high-resolution - use the .ai, .eps or .pdf logo master for large-format print.

Press releases

A press release is formal and factual. Structure:

• Header: logo, "Press Release", city and date (e.g. Vienna, 15 October 2026).
• Headline: Archivo, factual, no hype or exclamation.
• Lead paragraph: who, what, when, where, why in the first lines.
• Body: supporting detail, one or two quotes attributed to board members (with correct titles - see the board list).
• Boilerplate: the standard "About Romania Connect" paragraph.
• Contact: office@romaniaconnect.at.

Invitations

Invitations feel considered and exclusive - many of our formats are invitation-only.

• Light or light-blue gradient surface (or a flat photo beside the text), positive logo, generous space.
• Lead with the essentials, location prioritised visually: event name, date, time, venue, city.
• State the format clearly (Business Circle, Executive Breakfast, Leadership Forum) and whether it is invitation-only or members-only.
• One clear RSVP path - the Register button on the event, or a direct contact.
• Tone: warm but formal. No exclamation marks, no emoji.

Websites & landing pages

Clean, spacious, photography-led. The site sets the standard the rest of the brand follows.

• White and cool-surface sections, hairline dividers - no navy blocks; the light-blue gradient may carry the hero.
• Archivo headings, Inter body, royal-blue links and buttons.
• One idea per section, real photography, restrained accent use.
• Every page ends in a clear action: register, apply, or contact.
• Honour the anti-slop rules - no metric strips in the hero, no repeated kicker labels, no 01/02/03 decoration.

Key links

Forms

Membership application, event registration, newsletter and contact forms all share one calm, trustworthy style.

• Generous spacing, one column, clear labels above each field in Inter.
• Hairline field borders (#E7EAF0); royal-blue focus state and primary button.
• Short, human helper text. Ask only for what is needed.
• Clear confirmation after submit - tell the person what happens next.
• The membership application is a simple 4-step flow; keep each step short.

Social media

LinkedIn is our primary channel and has its own playbook. Instagram keeps its own conventions (hashtags are fine there).

LinkedIn post structure

• Hook - one short, punchy first line that fits before the fold (~140 characters on mobile).
• Body - 2-3 short paragraphs, or a short bullet list for people, outcomes or topics.
• Close - one clear call to action or the bare website URL.
• Aim for roughly 1,300-2,000 characters overall.

LinkedIn rules

• No em/en-dashes, no emoji, no hashtags, no separator lines.
• Write the URL bare (www.romaniaconnect.at), never as markdown.
• One external link at most, in the close - links in the body cost reach.
• Tag relevant people and institutions - but only those genuinely connected to the post.
• For posts that matter, draft two voices: the company page version and a personal board-member version (personal profiles reach far more).
• No engagement bait.

Visual formats

• LinkedIn feed: portrait (4:5) - it takes the most space in the feed.
• Event line-ups, road shows, agendas, quotes, key figures: branded template with real type, correct dates and the logo.
• New member / new partner: the established welcome card - the member's own logo, partner badge, tricolor foot. This graphic still runs on the previous master (see the transition note in Stationery) until it is re-cut in Archivo/Inter.

Accessibility & file management

Contrast that works

Keep text on a background that is genuinely easy to read - navy or ink text on white and cool surfaces, white text only on royal-blue buttons. Avoid light grey text on white.

• No red text anywhere - red exists only as thin accent lines and marks.
• Don't rely on colour alone to carry meaning (e.g. "coloured text means required") - pair it with a word or symbol.
• Alt text on web and email images: describe what is shown in one plain sentence.

File naming

Keep files findable months later. Suggested pattern:

rc-[type]-[topic]-[date or version].[ext]

Examples: rc-post-roadshow-2026-v2.png, rc-invite-businesscircle-nov2026.pdf, rc-press-launch-bucharest-2026-10-15.pdf.

Where things live

• Master brand assets (logo files, approved photography): assets/ in the shared workspace.
• Everything produced is mirrored automatically into the "Romania Connect" Google Drive folder, sorted into Posts, Texts, Images, Presentations, Website drafts, Uploads.
• When a design goes through revisions, keep old versions rather than overwriting - version numbers, not "final_final".

Before anything goes out

• Colours from the palette only - red as thin lines, never text?
• Archivo headings, Inter body?
• All-light surfaces - no navy or dark backgrounds anywhere?
• Photos flat - 6px radius with hairline border, or full-bleed; no gradients or scrims?
• Kickers in Royal Blue, Archivo 15px uppercase, letter-spacing .2em?
• Correct logo version for the background, with clear space?
• Plain hyphens - no long dashes, no exclamation marks, no emoji (official copy)?
• No single-word last lines; page numbers "03 / 09"?
• Real, correct event names, dates, venues - no placeholders?
• One clear next step and the right link?
• Clean and spacious - anti-slop rules respected?
• Text readable against its background - contrast checked?
• Website change? Preview only, Sergiu approves before publishing.