Elk River Guns

1. Brand Identity

1.1 Business Name

The official business name is Elk River Guns. It may also appear as Elk River Guns/WZ Outfitters in legal/copyright contexts.

1.2 Taglines

1.3 Location & Contact

2. Logo

2.1 Logo Versions

The Elk River Guns logo features a circular elk/deer crosshair mark paired with the wordmark "ELK RIVER GUNS" in a condensed serif typeface, with "STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO" as a subtitle. Two color variants exist for dark and light backgrounds.

WHITE ON DARK

BLACK ON LIGHT

2.2 Logo Files

2.3 Logo Rules

• Always place the white logo on dark backgrounds (#040507 to #111111 range).
• Minimum display width: 120px in digital. Never stretch or distort.
• Maintain clear space equal to the height of the elk mark on all sides.
• Never place the logo on busy photo backgrounds without a dark overlay.
• Do not rotate, add effects, drop shadows, or alter colors.
• In the email footer, display at 120px wide with 30% opacity as a watermark.

3. Color Palette

3.1 Primary Palette (CSS tokens from 00-tokens.css)

3.2 Email Palette

Emails use a slightly simplified palette. The core backgrounds and accents must match:

4. Typography

4.1 Font Stack

4.2 Type Scale

4.3 Typography Rules

• Headings are ALWAYS uppercase (text-transform: uppercase).
• Section tags/kickers use uppercase with wide letter-spacing (2–3px).
• Body text is sentence case, never all-caps.
• On web: use CSS custom properties (--erg-head, --erg-body, --erg-mono). Never hardcode font names in component CSS.
• In emails: use Arial as the universal fallback. Never embed Google Fonts in email HTML.
• Specials page blocks may load Oswald + JetBrains Mono via Google Fonts link (Elementor widget only).

5. UI Components

5.1 Buttons

5.2 Cards

5.3 Badges

6. Voice & Tone

6.1 Brand Personality

Elk River Guns speaks like a knowledgeable friend behind the counter — direct, confident, no-nonsense, but never aggressive or condescending. The voice is that of a Colorado mountain-town gun shop: unpretentious, experienced, and trustworthy.

6.2 Voice Attributes

• Direct & concise: Short sentences. Sentence fragments are fine. Get to the point.
• Confident, not aggressive: "We'll help cover the 6.5%." not "DESTROY YOUR TAXES!!!"
• Informative, not salesy: State the offer clearly. Let the value speak for itself.
• Unpretentious: No corporate buzzwords. No marketing fluff. Keep it tight.
• Community-rooted: Reference Steamboat Springs, Colorado, local hunting seasons.

6.3 Tone Spectrum by Channel

6.4 Writing Rules

• Headlines: uppercase, short, punchy. Period at end adds authority. ("March Specials Are Up.")
• Body copy: sentence case. Keep paragraphs to 2–3 lines max.
• CTAs: action-oriented, 2–4 words. ("Shop Specials", "Grab Ammo", "View Clearance")
• Product descriptions: facts over adjectives. Caliber, capacity, condition, price.
• Prices: always use $ with comma separator ($1,200). Never spell out.
• Disclosures/rules: clear, factual, no legalese. Use left-border block styling.

6.5 Avoid List

7. Email Design Standards

7.1 Layout

• Max width: 600px centered, table-based layout.
• Background: #111111 (outer wrapper and inner container).
• Section dividers: 1px solid #242424.
• Content padding: 32px horizontal (desktop), 16px (mobile).
• Gold accent line: 2px solid #C8A84B under the header.

7.2 Header

• Left: white horizontal logo at 200px wide.
• Right: "Steamboat Springs, CO" in 10px uppercase, #555555.
• Bottom border: 2px solid #C8A84B.
• Background: #111111.

7.3 Hero Section

• Month kicker: 10px, bold, letter-spacing 3px, #C8A84B, uppercase.
• H1: 32px (24px mobile), bold, letter-spacing 5px, white, uppercase.
• Sub-text: 12px, #666666, letter-spacing 1.5px, uppercase.

7.4 Section Blocks

• Section label: 9px uppercase, letter-spacing 3px, #C8A84B (gold) or contextual color.
• Availability badges: inline pills using standard badge colors.
• H2: 22px bold, white.
• Body: 14px, #888888, line-height 1.7.
• Rules/disclosure blocks: left-border accent bar (3px #333333), #1C1C1C bg, 11px #777777 text.

7.5 CTA Buttons (Email)

• Primary: #C8A84B background, #111111 text, 11px uppercase, letter-spacing 2px, 13px 28px padding, 2px border-radius.
• Secondary: transparent bg, 1px solid #3A3A3A border, #AAAAAA text.
• Always use table-based button markup for Outlook compatibility.

7.6 Footer

• Social buttons: Facebook (#1877F2), Instagram (#C13584), pill-shaped.
• Logo watermark: 120px wide, 30% opacity, centered.
• Business line: "ELK RIVER GUNS · STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO" in 11px, #444444.
• Links: elkriverguns.com + unsubscribe, #555555.

7.7 Responsive Rules

• At 600px breakpoint: tier cards stack to full width, logo shrinks to 160px.
• Ammo photo column hides on mobile (display: none).
• Hero H1 drops to 24px, letter-spacing to 3px.
• Section padding drops to 28px 16px.

8. Specials / Promotions Page

8.1 URL Strategy

Always use /specials/ as the evergreen URL. Swap content monthly or seasonally. NEVER put the month or season name in the URL (no /march-specials/ or /spring-sale/).

8.2 Section Order

• Online Deals This Week (if applicable)
• Bonus Credit Ladder (headline offer)
• Clearance section (inventory mover)
• Ammo Bundle (conversion closer)
• Legal disclosures (bottom, small text)

8.3 Monthly Rotation Process

• Swap section names and themes each month (e.g., "Cabin Fever" → "Spring Refresh").
• Keep the credit ladder structure — adjust tiers seasonally if needed.
• Ammo bundle angle changes with season (hunting → range day → etc.).
• Keep the rules/disclosure block updated to match active offer terms.

9. UTM & Campaign Tracking

All links to /specials/ must use consistent UTM parameters:

Campaign name format: [month]-specials-[year] (e.g., march-specials-2026). Check GA4 weekly to see which channel drives conversions.

10. Social Media

• Platforms: Facebook (primary), Instagram (secondary).
• Post frequency: 2–3 posts per week during active campaigns.
• Format: short copy blocks, sentence fragments, no emojis.
• Always include: elkriverguns.com/specials or relevant page link.
• Hashtags: #ElkRiverGuns #SteamboatSprings (always both, end of post).
• Never use: trending/unrelated hashtags, promotional language from the Avoid List.
• Images: product photography on dark backgrounds preferred. Avoid busy lifestyle imagery with text overlays.

11. Known Inconsistencies to Fix

The following discrepancies were found during the brand audit. Resolve these to achieve full consistency across all channels: