LinkedIn company cover · A + C + D applied

Operator evaluated the live company-cover PNG and flagged three composition issues with the wordmark/tagline relationship: gap too large, size step too big, empty left zone reads unbalanced without an architectural cue. Picked changes A (tighten gap), C (bump tagline size), D (add page-datum hairline). B (re-add "for General Contractors") deferred — stealth-mode positioning, tagline stays at "Institutional Intelligence" only for now. This workshop renders both the current cover and the proposed A+C+D variant at native 1128×191 + half-size thumbnail.

What's changing

A · gap — wordmark→tagline CSS gap 18px → 10px. With each element's line-height padding, the optical gap drops more than the raw number suggests. Brings the two elements into one composition unit rather than feeling like separated stacks.

C · tagline size — 36px → 42px. Size ratio against the 56px wordmark drops from 1.55× to 1.33×. Tagline gains presence without overtaking the wordmark as the brand mark. Inter Display (opsz 32) still applies; -0.03em tracking preserved.

D · page-datum hairline — vertical line at the left edge of the content block, echoing the landing page's page-datum gutter rule. First ship had this at the landing-page spec (1px @ rgba(208,214,224,0.18)) which was INVISIBLE on the cover — the grid uses the same color/weight (1px @ rgba(208,214,224,0.14)), so a hairline 0.04 more opaque just blends into the grid pattern. Section 1.5 below shows three ways to make it actually read: neutral-bumped, clay-tinted, or dropped entirely.

Constant across both variants: wordmark identical (Inter 700 / opsz 14 / -0.04em, 56px, locked rev-12 V/dot); tagline weight 700 / Inter Display opsz 32 / -0.03em; "Intelligence" in clay-bright; drafting grid + clay vignette upper-right; 80px right padding; content vertically centered.

Section 1 · Both variants at native 1128×191

Captured to PNG at exactly this size — no scaling on upload to LinkedIn.

A · current gap 18px · tagline 36px · no hairline

ecreal

Institutional Intelligence

gap: 18px · tagline: 36px · size ratio: 1.55× · hairline: none

B · proposed (A+C+D) gap 10px · tagline 42px · clay-tinted hairline (B2 default) ★ candidate

Property	A · current	B · proposed	Delta
wordmark size	56px	56px	unchanged
tagline size	36px	42px	+6px · ratio 1.55× → 1.33×
wordmark→tagline gap	18px	10px	-8px · tighter unit
page-datum hairline	none	1.5px clay-tinted @ left -20px · y -28 to +28 (B2 default; B0/B1/B3 in §1.5)	added · brand language echo
right padding	80px	80px	unchanged
vertical centering	50% / translateY(-50%)	50% / translateY(-50%)	unchanged
drafting grid + vignette	40px cells + upper-right clay	same	unchanged
tagline copy	"Institutional Intelligence"	"Institutional Intelligence"	unchanged · "for General Contractors" deferred (stealth)

Pick A (keep current), B + B1 (A+C+D with neutral hairline), B + B2 (A+C+D with clay hairline, my default recommendation), or B + B3 (A+C only, drop the hairline). On lock I'll update marketing/social/linkedin-cover-1128.html + regenerate the PNG + propagate to linkedin-cover-1584-personal.html + update component-library/wordmark.md with the brand-banner composition rule + CHANGELOG entry. Workshop file moves to workshop/archive/ on lock.

What to look for:
· Section 1 — does the proposed composition (B2 default) feel like one unit where A felt like two? Tagline reading as co-equal headline rather than footnote?
· Section 1.5 — does the hairline add a "considered design" cue, or feel like extra noise on top of the grid? If you want it, clay-tinted (B2) gives brand-language echo via the V/dot/Intelligence accent rhythm; neutral (B1) is quieter. B3 (no hairline) is the right pick if you decide the drafting grid is already enough architectural texture and the hairline is redundant.
· Section 2 (thumbnail scale) — does the larger 42px tagline survive LinkedIn feed compression? Does whichever hairline you picked survive, or does it disappear at half-size?

Vecreal · brand workshop · 2026-05-13 · LinkedIn cover treatment A+C+D