A mark for Notey
Four directions for the mark, each built from the Layers identity, and three settings of the name. Every mark is shown large, in one colour, down to a browser tab, as an app icon and in use, so it can be judged where it will actually live.
Retiring: the brush-script “notey” and “n.”. They belong to the handwritten look that Layers replaces.
The name
Three settings of “notey” in Rethink Sans.
The wordmark goes with every mark below. It starts as Rethink Sans so it matches the interface, and gets drawn as outlines once a mark is chosen: its own spacing, small optical fixes, nothing that looks typed.
Lowercase · 700Exactly the interface’s headline weight. Friendly, a little light next to a mark.
Lowercase · 800 · tighterRecommendedMore presence, holds up small and beside a mark. Still sounds like “my little corner”.
Capital N · 700Reads as a proper name. More formal, less like Notey’s voice.
Side by side
The same five questions for each mark, and which one I would take further.
| 01 Stack | 02 Arch | 03 Caret | 04 Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Says | Pages live in pages | Notey, drawn as a sheet | A place to write | The icon is a page |
| Letter | None | n | n | n |
| Teal | No | No | Yes, the caret | No |
| At 16 px | Good, as two shapes | Good, a solid n | The caret thins out | The n gets small |
| Distinct | Medium | High | Medium | Low |
| Risk | Looks like other “stack” icons | Needs careful drawing | Reads as “nl” in one colour | Most common icon pattern |
What I would take further: 02 Arch
It’s the only one that is both a letter and the system. An n drawn as a sheet, with the edge of its parent above it, is something only Notey could have. It stays a solid shape at 16 px, sits naturally beside the wordmark, and makes a strong app icon.
The caret can still live in the identity without being the mark: the wordmark can end with a teal caret that blinks once when Notey opens.
To get it right
Draw the n properly on a grid: shoulder curves that match Rethink Sans, a notch narrow enough to read as a letter, and an edge exactly like the app’s parent edge. Then test it at 16, 32 and 180 px before anything else.
Mark exploration · built on UI identity Definition 0.2