# Direction axes and placeholder register — Step 1

Two things settled before either direction is drawn: **how A and B differ** (declared in advance
so pre-flight item 3 is checkable, not argued afterwards), and **every placeholder** that must be
visibly labelled in both.

## The five axes, declared

The brief (§7) requires the two directions to differ in **at least three** of five axes; a
recoloured twin fails Step 1. They differ on **all five**, below. Same copy, same section order,
same palette — the difference is structural.

| # | Axis | **Direction A** — editorial and typographic | **Direction B** — modular and structured |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Hero composition** | Type-only. The H1 set large on white with generous margins, subhead and supporting line beneath, the paired CTAs on a single baseline. No panel, no image, no ground colour | Two-part: a NIGHT `#003B53` ground panel carrying the H1 and CTAs, offset against a light panel holding the supporting line. A bounded composition, not a full-bleed band |
| 2 | **Sectioning device** | Rhythm and scale. Sections separated by whitespace and a change in type size, not by background colour. At most two tinted grounds on the whole page | Alternating bands. Sections sit on alternating white / LAW `#FFFAEB` / NIGHT `#003B53` grounds, each band a clear horizontal unit |
| 3 | **Construction of the four patterns** | Typographic structures: steps as oversized numerals against text; before/after as two type columns split by a single rule; the accordion as a rule-separated list; value groups as headed lists | Bounded modules: step cards; a two-panel comparison with distinct panel treatments; an accordion with icon affordances; the value groups as a 2 × 2 module |
| 4 | **Role of imagery** | Effectively none. One optional non-people slot at the Guide section; the page carries itself on type | Iconography does the sectioning — one icon per value group, per step and per objection question (11 max), from the Kadence Blocks set, monochrome within the palette |
| 5 | **Header composition** | Wordmark left, nav centred, the two CTAs right, on white with a hairline rule. Low, quiet, no ground colour | Wordmark left, nav and both CTAs right on a NIGHT `#003B53` ground (reverse lockup, a declared departure from the guide's white-or-gradient preference) or on a brand gradient ground, the primary CTA in gold — the header itself reads as the first band |

**Both must still pass the shared list.** B is not permitted to become busy — one idea per module,
generous gutters, no stacked drop-shadow cards, no second accent. A is not permitted to become a
wall of text — the four patterns must still read as distinct structures, not paragraphs.

**Extension sentences.** Each direction's statement also answers, in words only, how its system
carries (a) a long-form migrated post — reading measure, body size, heading scale — and (b) the
General Counsel page's three tier cards. Rian judges reach into the inner pages on those two
sentences, not on inner-page drawings.

## Placeholder register

Every row appears in the mockup **visibly labelled as a placeholder**, and every row is repeated
in the handoff entry (brief §2, pre-flight item 17).

| # | Placeholder | How it appears | Cleared by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ~~**Logo**~~ **CLEARED 2026-09-03** | The real lockup: `Equinox__Logo_SLCTag_B_RGB.png` on white, reverse lockup on dark, the swirl as favicon. Residual note in the export: the kit files are raster, vector requested from the client | Brand Kit received and filed at `notes/source/brand-kit/` |
| 2 | **Revenue threshold** | "Your company generates more than approximately **[revenue threshold: AISV to confirm]** in annual revenue" — row 9, first criterion. Never a figure | AISV with Michelle Bomberger |
| 3 | **Objection-handling section heading** | "**[Section heading: AISV to confirm]**" in both directions. No working heading is written | AISV |
| 4 | **Assessment name** | Label is "Take the Business Legal Health Assessment" with "**(name to be confirmed)**" noted once on the page. Short form "Take the Assessment" in the header and drawer only | AISV with the client |
| 5 | **Canonical firm name** | Footer copyright reads "Equinox Business Law Group PLLC", labelled in the export notes as a working assumption | Client via Alicia Wimmer |
| 6 | **Street address** | Footer contact block carries a labelled placeholder address | Client — **and first confirm an office exists at all** (`notes/site-audit-2026-07.md` §4.3) |
| 7 | ~~**Palette**~~ **CLEARED 2026-09-03** | Confirmed brand colours (NIGHT `#003B53`, BUSINESS `#027CA1`, FREEDOM `#93BCCD`, CONFIDENCE `#FFD457`, DAY `#D98D00`, LAW `#FFFAEB`). **Rework:** anything drawn on `#004963` is swapped to NIGHT | Brand Kit received |
| 8 | **Typography** — partly cleared 2026-09-03 | Montserrat is confirmed brand, at the guide's weights (H1 Bold 700, H2 ExtraBold 800 caps, H3 Light 300 caps, H4 SemiBold 600, body Regular 400); the live site's Black 900 is not brand. Both directions ship Montserrat body. **Still open:** A's statement proposes a companion text face for long-form body only, labelled a declared deviation from the guide with its reason | The review round; the client decides |
| 9 | **Imagery slots** | Any image is an outlined slot showing size and crop, captioned as a placeholder. No photograph is placed, and never a person | Step 2 / build |

## Facts fixed for both directions (not placeholders — decided)

- **Header:** the Brand Kit lockup, six nav labels (General Counsel · Services · Our Approach ·
  About Us · Blog · Contact), both CTAs. Nothing else — no utility bar, strapline, search, phone or state list.
  Drawn once, closed, at page top; no sticky or scrolled state.
- **Footer:** brand column with the footer line and a location line naming **Washington, Oregon,
  Colorado** in that order; Explore column; **exactly five** Community Involvement text links (EO
  Seattle, Women's Presidents Organization, Seattle U Family Business Exchange, Bellevue
  LifeSpring, CFO Leadership Council); contact block with 425-250-0205,
  contact@equinoxbusinesslaw.com, the placeholder address and a "Newsletter" text link; LinkedIn
  and YouTube only; bottom bar with copyright and the four policy links.
- **No DC or VA anywhere. No licensing sentence anywhere.** The live header still reads "…located
  in WA, OR, CO, VA & DC!" as of 2026-09-03; that is the "before" this mockup answers.
- **One CTA band** between the assessment section and the footer columns — never two.
- **One H1** (the hero heading); section headings H2; group and step headings H3.
- **Sections 2 and 3 carry real visual weight in both directions** (decided 2026-09-03, Adi).
  Nobody hires a lawyer without a problem, so the two sections that name the problem must not be
  designed as a text passage between the hero and the value proposition. The copy already does the
  work — 13 concrete lines: seven "you may be wondering" questions ("What happens if a client does
  not pay?", "How much will it cost just to get an answer?") and six failure scenarios ("A former
  employee files a claim.", "A large legal bill arrives with no warning.") — so this is a
  **hierarchy decision, not a copy change**: the seven questions and six failures are set at a size
  and rhythm that reads as consequential, and The Stakes gets its own dominant treatment rather
  than sharing weight with its neighbours. Hierarchy is explicitly within our judgement (proposal,
  Website Design). Each direction expresses this its own way — A through scale and measure, B
  through a dedicated band — but neither may render sections 2 and 3 as quiet body text.