Wingate365 Brand Guide

01 · Who we are

Brand personality

Wingate365 is the personal blog of Andy Wingate. The tone is a practical field notebook: real problems, real fixes, written by a practitioner who has sat on both the customer and partner side of a Dynamics implementation.

Practitioner, not marketer

First person, hands-on. "Here is what I did and why." No sales language.

Clear over clever

Short sentences, plain UK English. Explain the fix, then the context.

Rooted in Business Central

The BC Azure signature is the visual signal - it roots the blog in the Business Central world at a glance, without cloning the product UI.

Authoritative, generous

Confident because the experience is real, but always sharing, never gatekeeping.

Technical, current

Business Central, Dynamics 365, Microsoft cloud - and the odd homelab or brewing detour.

02 · Lineage

Inspired by Venture

Wingate365 takes its cue from the Venture blues but stands on its own. The same cool, considered starting point, then two deliberate moves give it a distinct identity: a deeper, more focused foundation, and a vivid Business Central azure signature that Venture never uses.

Inspiration · Venture

All-cool blue

Dark Blue #12212E and Mid Blue #336687. The cool, professional starting point Wingate365 grew from.

Wingate365

Steel & Azure

Deep Ink #0F1E2A and Steel Blue #3D6B8F for structure, with a vivid Business Central azure #0B71C7 signature brightening to cyan #37BEF3. Cool, confident, and unmistakably in the BC family.

The non-blue rule: Venture is all blue - Wingate365 is not. Every page must carry at least a small spark of a non-blue accent, and that spark is Forest green #2E7D5A (brightened to #3FA876 on dark). It rides the header underline strip on every page, badges the "Latest post" pill, and marks tips and success states. Never let a page go fully blue.

03 · Signature · locked in

The signature - BC Azure

Selected: Option A, BC Azure. The signature is the Business Central azure #0B71C7, brightening to cyan #37BEF3, over the Deep Ink and Steel Blue foundation. The three options considered are kept below for the record - A is the chosen direction and the rest of this bible now uses it.

A ✓ Selected

BC Azure

Authentic, product-true, confident

Inspired by · the Business Central cube

The signature is the exact Business Central azure #0B71C7, brightening to BC cyan for highlights. Anyone in the ecosystem reads it instantly as "Business Central" without being a clone of the product UI. Steel Blue stays for structure, so the azure only appears where it counts. The gradient runs Deep Ink into azure into cyan - the cool half of the Copilot flow.

BC Azure#0B71C7

Azure Deep#095CA3

BC Cyan#37BEF3

Ice#94EFFF

In use

A link in running text reads clean.

Filtering for the current user

Business Central · 4 min read

Copilot Flow

Modern, AI-forward, energetic

Inspired by · the Copilot spectrum

The hero leans into the full Copilot ribbon - teal, blue, violet, pink - used only on hero bands and never behind text. The working signature is a single bright azure #3B6FE0 pulled from the middle of that flow, so day-to-day UI stays disciplined while the brand feels distinctly AI-era. Fits a blog that writes about Copilot in Business Central.

Azure#3B6FE0

Teal#2CC5D2

Violet#7A5AE0

Pink#E255A1

In use

A link in running text with a violet lift.

Getting started with Copilot in BC

Copilot · 6 min read

Deep Cyan

Fresh, technical, distinctive

Inspired by · the bright facet of the BC cube

Takes the cyan facet of the Business Central logo and deepens it to a usable #1596BE - cyan-forward and clearly separated from every default corporate navy, including Venture. It still lives in the BC family but owns a fresher, more technical feel. The gradient is Deep Ink to teal to cyan, the coolest read of the Copilot flow.

Deep Cyan#1596BE

Cyan Deep#0E7A9C

BC Cyan#37BEF3

Ice#94EFFF

In use

A link in running text stays legible.

Filtering for the current user

Business Central · 4 min read

Decision: BC Azure (Option A) is locked in as the signature and now drives the palette, gradients, hero placeholders, and components throughout this bible. The copper is retired. Next up: the secondary colours below.

04 · Colour

The full palette

A cool, authoritative foundation, the BC Azure signature, and a secondary set that blends Business Central logo tones with harmonised Precision colours for callouts, tags, and data.

Foundation

#0F1E2A

Deep Ink--inkDarkest anchor. Headings, dark backgrounds, gradient start.

#3D6B8F

Steel Blue--steelPrimary brand blue. Links, active nav, labels.

#6FB0D4

Sky--skyBright readable blue. Dark-mode links, hover on dark.

#8CC7E3

Mist Blue--mist-blueSubtle fills, quiet badges, text on dark panels.

Signature - BC Azure

#0B71C7

BC Azure--azureSignature. CTAs, "read more", primary buttons, key emphasis.

#095CA3

Azure Deep--azure-deepHover and pressed state for azure elements.

#37BEF3

BC Cyan--cyanBright accent. Link underlines, highlights, gradient end.

#94EFFF

Ice--iceLight fills, quiet badges, tints on dark panels.

Secondary & semantic

BC-family blues extend the signature; the Precision-derived accents carry meaning in callouts, tags, and charts. All are tuned to sit happily beside the azure.

#6FB0D4

Sky--skySoft supporting blue. Dark-mode links, quiet accents.

#2E7D5A

Forest--forestSuccess, tips, what worked, RAG green.

#C77D1A

Amber--amberCaution, heads-up, at-risk, RAG amber.

#5B5EA6

Slate--slateInfo, notes, side commentary. Bridges to Copilot violet.

#8B2E52

Burgundy--burgundyWarnings, breaking changes, RAG red.

#6A8A7E

Sage--sageMuted, quiet callouts, secondary data.

The family in data

Six distinct series that still read as one family - BC Azure and Cyan lead, the Precision accents fill in.

BC Azure BC Cyan Forest Amber Slate Burgundy

Neutrals

#FFFFFF

PaperPage background (light).

#F4F7FA

MistPanels, cards, code blocks.

#E2E8EE

CloudBorders and dividers.

#1A2530

Body TextParagraph text on light.

#5A6B78

MutedMeta, captions, secondary text.

#0E1720

NightPage background (dark mode).

05 · Gradients & heroes

Gradients

The primary gradient is the hero identity. Never present Wingate365 using the old Venture gradient.

Primary135deg, #0F1E2A → #0B71C7 → #37BEF3

Cool135deg, #0B71C7 → #37BEF3

Signature band90deg, #0B71C7 → #37BEF3

Hero images - logo-led

The go-to hero is the logo (or logos) of the tools the post is about, set on the bold BC gradient. It reads instantly, stays on brand, and reshares cleanly on LinkedIn. Logos are the hero - keep text out of the image; the post title sits above it on the page.

Two-logo "A → B" layout - the migration / comparison hero. Blogger → GitHub.

The rules

✓ One logo for a single-tool post; two logos (A → B) for a migration or comparison.
✓ Bold BC gradient background (Deep Ink → Azure → Cyan); logos on white chips.
✓ Big logos - they should dominate the frame.
✓ Faint WINGATE365 watermark, bottom-right, and nothing else.
✗ No headline, eyebrow, or descriptive text baked into the image.
✗ No decorative green bar - the watermark is the only chrome.

How to generate one

Authored 1200×630 (also the social/OG size). Brand marks are pulled from Simple Icons (CC0) and embedded, so the file is self-contained. Run from the repo:

# two-logo migration hero
./scripts/new-hero.ps1 -Slug blogger-to-github -Icon blogger,github

# single-tool hero
./scripts/new-hero.ps1 -Slug power-automate-tips -Icon microsoftpowerautomate

Then set hero: "/images/heroes/<slug>.svg" in the post front matter. Find icon slugs at simple-icons.org. A -Theme light option exists for the rare post that wants a clean near-white background instead.

Hero palettes

Pass -Palette to pick the gradient. Three-colour palettes anchor on Deep Ink and travel to a bright end; two-colour palettes are simpler and quieter. blue is the default signature.

Three-colour

blue

Ink → Azure → Cyan

aurora

Ink → Slate → Cyan

teal

Ink → Steel → Forest

dusk

Ink → Burgundy → Amber

Two-colour

azure

Azure → Cyan

ink

Ink → Steel

steel

Steel → Slate

forest

Forest → Sage

burgundy

Burgundy → Slate

./scripts/new-hero.ps1 -Slug my-post -Icon blogger,github -Palette teal

Hero placeholder gradients

The automatic fallback when a post has no hero image - a branded card with monogram and wordmark.

WWINGATE365

06 · Type

Typography - Figtree

Figtree does everything: display, headings, body, and UI. Code uses a system mono stack. Never introduce a second display typeface.

Display · 800
-0.03em

Business Central

H1 · 700
-0.02em

Fixing email for guest users

H2 · 700

The problem and the fix

H3 · 600

Step one: check the account type

Body · 400
1.0625rem / 1.7

I hit this error on a fresh tenant and spent an hour on it, so here is the short version for the next person searching.

Eyebrow · 700
0.1em caps

Dynamics 365

400 Regular

500 Medium

600 Semibold

700 Bold

800 Extrabold

08 · Voice

Writing & content

First person, UK English, problem-first. Assume a competent reader who is short on time. Lead with the problem or the answer, then the detail.

Do

Write in first person - "I hit this, here is the fix".
Use plain UK English (colour, organise, licence).
Give plain, searchable titles that describe the task.
Break steps with H2 / H3 and fenced code blocks.
Credit sources and link out generously.
Give every post a hero - real or generated.

Do not

Use em dashes or en dashes - hyphens only.
Present the blog as the Venture blue identity.
Flood a layout with BC Azure - it is a signature, not a wash.
Mix in a second display typeface.
Write clever puns for titles - people arrive from search.
Invent duplicate tags ("bc" vs "business central").

Post front matter template

---
title: "Descriptive, searchable title"
date: 2026-01-15T09:00:00Z
lastmod: 2026-01-15T09:00:00Z
url: "/2026/01/descriptive-searchable-title.html"
tags: ["business central", "dynamics 365"]
hero: "https://.../image.jpg" # optional
author: "Andy Wingate"
---

Wingate365 Brand Guide

Brand personality

Practitioner, not marketer

Clear over clever

Rooted in Business Central

Authoritative, generous

Technical, current

Inspired by Venture

All-cool blue

Steel & Azure

The signature - BC Azure

BC Azure

Filtering for the current user

Copilot Flow

Getting started with Copilot in BC

Deep Cyan

Filtering for the current user

The full palette

Foundation

Signature - BC Azure

Secondary & semantic

The family in data

Neutrals

Gradients

Hero images - logo-led

The rules

How to generate one

Hero palettes

Hero placeholder gradients

Typography - Figtree

UI patterns

Filtering for the current user

Writing & content

Do

Do not

Post front matter template

Quick reference