Section 01
Who we are
The story, the principles and the name behind the brand.
Brand guidelinesVersion 1.0 · 2026
NOTATEK brand guidelines. Everywhere, every way.
How NOTATEK looks, sounds and shows up on screens, paper, vinyl, thread and light. Everything we are, and exactly how to make it.
Ourbusinessisgettingyourbusinessnoticed.
Our work: Fat Cats at dusk. Designed, built and installed in-house.
Our story
One shop. Every sign. Since 2009.
NOTATEK designs, builds and installs signs and branded everything from one shop in American Fork, Utah.
Electric signs, vehicle wraps, lobby signs, environmental design, decals, promotional products, apparel and trade show displays. Design, fabrication and finishing happen under one roof, and our own crews install what we build.
The people who quote it are the people who build it.
2009
Making signs in American Fork
1 roof
Design, fabrication and finishing
Our crew
Installs what we build
What we believe
Show up.
Work hard.
Never lie.
It’s the principle Keith Johnson, our President and Managing Partner, loves most. He has taught it since the beginning, and it’s still the standard we hold ourselves to.
- Show up
- On time, ready to work, game face on. Bring joy to the gym.
- Work hard
- Work while you’re at work, then go home to your family.
- Never lie
- Tell customers, coworkers and yourself the truth, including when things aren’t great or you have a better idea.
“I know people that make a dollar an hour and people that make millions of dollars an hour, and the thing that makes them valuable… is: do they show up, do they work hard, do they never lie.”
How we treat customers
We’re here for you, and we mean it.
01
We’re all ears.
We listen for what you actually need, not what’s easiest to sell. Dream big; we’ll figure out how to build it.
02
We speak your language.
Fast answers, plain words and straightforward solutions. A clear quote and mock-ups within 24 hours.
03
We’re on your side.
From the first sketch to permits, install and the service call after. One team, start to finish.
The people who quote it are the people who build it.
The name
notaLatina mark, a sign
+
tekhnēGreekart, skill, craft
=The craft of the mark.
Nota is Latin for a mark or a sign. Its oldest sense is “a means of recognition,” which is exactly what a sign is for, and it gave English note, notable and noteworthy. Tekhnē is Greek for art, skill and craft in work, the root of technique and technology.
Put them together and you get NOTATEK: the marks people know a business by, made with real craft.
Say it
- NO-tuh-tek
- NO-duh-tek at Utah speed*
- no-TAY-tek
Write it
- Notatek in a sentence
- NOTATEK in headlines, on signs
- NotaTek · Nota-Tek · Notatech
Notatek
NO·tuh·tek noun
- 1.The craft of the mark. From Latin nota, a mark or sign, and Greek tekhnē, craft.
- 2.A sign company in American Fork, Utah, making signs and branded everything since 2009.
*Say NOTATEK fast, the way Utahns do, and it comes out no-duh-tek. As in: no duh, the obvious choice. Who should do our signs? Notatek. No duh. (Footnote is a nota word, too.)
Section 02
How we sound
Plain words, real warmth, a little wit, and never a promise we can’t keep.
1
Plainspoken
We speak your language.
Short words, short sentences, no jargon. When a sign term matters, we explain it.
Channel letters are the lit, 3D letters on a building. We’ll send a mock-up and a clear quote within 24 hours.
2
On your side
We’re here for you, and we mean it.
Warm, helpful and human. We make the next step obvious and easy.
Not sure what you need? Tell us where it’s going and we’ll figure it out together.
3
Fun, not silly
We make signs fun.
Energy and a wink are welcome. The joke is never on the customer, and it never gets in the way of the facts.
Get noticed. (No duh.)
4
Honest to a fault
Never lie.
Specific beats superlative. We promise what we can prove, and we say so when something can’t be done.
Built in our shop in American Fork and installed by our own crew.
Key lines
Your brand — everywhere, every way.
Our brand line. Website, proposals, vehicles and trade show graphics.
Get noticed.
Our shortest line. Headlines, social posts, merch.
Our business is getting your business noticed.
Our purpose. The About page, introductions and first meetings.
The people who quote it are the people who build it.
Our proof. Sales conversations, proposals, anywhere trust is on the line.
Write lines exactly as shown. Don’t mix them into new slogans, and don’t add exclamation points to the brand line.
Section 03
The logo
It’s the one thing that should never change. Use the master files, every time.
Two parts, one mark
The icon and the NOTATEK wordmark. They were drawn together and they travel together.
Our most valuable asset
It’s on our building, our trucks, our shirts and every proof we send. Consistency is what makes people remember it.
Never redrawn
Always start from the master files at notatek.com/download-logos. Never trace, retype or rebuild it.
The icon
One line. Three tiers.
“It represents some other things that make us timeless: it’s the relationship between customers, owners and employees.”
Three groups, held together by one line. When the relationship is right, all three rise together.
Lockups
Try it on.
Pick a lockup and a background. The right version appears on its own, with the reason why.
Full color on dark
Minimum size
Small, but never too small.
The finest detail in the logo is the gap between the tiers. These minimums keep that gap open in each medium. Measure the logo’s width.
| Version | Screen | Embroidery | Cut vinyl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizontal | 140 px | 1.5 in · 38 mm | 3.5 in · 89 mm | 6 in · 152 mm |
| Vertical | 96 px | 1 in · 25 mm | 2.5 in · 64 mm | 4 in · 102 mm |
| Icon | 32 px | 0.375 in · 10 mm | 1.1 in · 28 mm | 1.75 in · 44 mm |
Embroidery keeps the gaps at 1 mm or more; always approve a sew-out. Cut vinyl keeps them at 1/16 in so they weed cleanly; smaller than that, print and contour-cut instead.
Misuse
Please don’t.
Hover or tap any of these to put it right.
Section 04
Color
Four colors, four promises, and exactly how to make each one on screen, paper, vinyl, thread and light.
Palette
Green is the light in the sign.
Black and white carry the layout, gray supports it, and green is the part that glows. Use green like a sign uses light: sparingly, on purpose, exactly where you want people to look.
A typical balance
Black 45%White 30%Gray 15%Green 10%
NOTATEK Green · What it means
Green
Green is growth: earned, not borrowed.
It’s new birth and new ambition: new customers, new equipment, new ideas. It’s growth done the right way, by being smart with money, paying cash and making the hard choices that keep a company healthy. And it’s loud on purpose. When a printer tells you your green is too bright, you’re doing it right.
“This green breaks barriers. It’s a neon green. It represents so many awesome things.”
Use it for
The icon, highlights, buttons, links on dark, lit sign faces, and the one thing on the page you most want noticed.
From our color card
GREEN
Green represents new birth, growth, $$, ambition, being financially smart and debt free. Just like the others, this requires work.
Always err brighter.
If a match is off, it has to be off on the bright side. Dull, dark, olive or minty greens get sent back.
- ScreenNever eyedrop it from a photo or a JPG.
- PrintFour-color printing. Ask for a proof.
- PantoneThe master reference for every physical match.
- VinylCut graphics. ORACAL 651-063 for short-term, flat jobs.
- WrapsControltac wrap film for vehicles and curves.
- Lit signsOver white acrylic. Approve it with the lights on.
- ThreadSame color family, two thread lines. Order the one your embroiderer runs.
NOTATEK Black · What it means
Black
Black is depth, and the contrast that makes everything else shine.
Every lit sign needs a night sky. Black is the contrast that makes green glow and white read from across the street. It’s power and strength, and the quiet confidence of people who are deep enough to be useful without needing to prove anything. Depth takes work, which is why we read books like The Go-Giver together.
“It shows power, it shows strength, it shows our depth. Nothing looks good without having black. You’ve got to have some contrast in life.”
Use it for
Backgrounds, type, sign returns and trim caps, vehicle bands, apparel. The stage that makes green and white perform.
From our color card
BLACK
Black is required for all colors to have depth. Deep people are inclined to be useful but don’t need to prove anything. No confirmation bias. It shows Power and Strength.
Solid, deep, never gray-black.
Rich black for big solid areas so they print deep; plain 100 K for type so it stays sharp.
- Screen
- Print100 K for type and fine lines, rich black for large solid areas.
- Pantone
- Vinyl
- Thread
NOTATEK Gray · What it means
Gray
Gray is timeless: never out of style, never affected by time.
Gray is the steady one. It’s the color of work that lasts and people you can count on, the ones who show up, work hard and never lie. Ask yourself how you want to be remembered, then build that way.
“Gray is timeless… it’s not affected by time. It’s in style always. It will last forever.”
Use it for
Secondary type and captions on black, rules and dividers, details and quiet backgrounds. Never the logo, and never where it could be mistaken for black.
From our color card
GRAY
Never affected by the passage of time. Make timeless pieces and be timeless people.
Lighter, not darker. Always distinct.
Gray can vary a little between materials, but it must always read as its own color. When in doubt, go lighter.
- Screen
- Pantone
- VinylOther brands: match Cool Gray 7 C, erring lighter.
- Thread
NOTATEK White · What it means
White
White is light, positivity and a perfect target.
White is the clean wall before the sign goes up, and the standard we hold ourselves to: every sales order entered right, every job built right, every customer’s order perfect, every time. We won’t always hit 100%. We will never aim for less. And we look for the best in people and stay positive while we chase it.
“Let’s not accept 99.9 percent. Let’s shoot for 100.”
Use it for
Space. Backgrounds, type on black, the wordmark on dark and lit faces. Leave more of it than feels comfortable.
From our color card
WHITE
White represents light, positivity and a perfect target.
Clean and bright. Never cream.
Keep it pure: bright white stock, bright white vinyl and opaque white ink on dark or clear materials.
- Screen
- PrintThe paper itself. On dark or clear materials, use opaque white ink.
- Vinyl
- Thread
Getting green right
When in doubt, go brighter.
Our green is intentionally bright, close to neon, and some printers, films and threads struggle to hit it. That’s fine. What’s not fine is a green that turns dull, dark or minty.
A printer once told us to pick a new color because ours was “too bright, too awesome, too in our face.” We kept it.
On target. NOTATEK Green.
#8DC641
Spec sheet
One color, every medium.
Pick what you’re making. Tap any number to copy it for your vendor.
- NOTATEK GreenCut graphics. ORACAL 651-063 for short-term, flat jobs.
- NOTATEK Black
- NOTATEK GrayOther brands: match Cool Gray 7 C, erring lighter.
- NOTATEK White
Pairings
Make it readable.
Text needs a contrast ratio of 4.5 : 1 (WCAG AA). Big headlines can go down to 3 : 1.
- Green and gray belong on dark backgrounds. On white they’re for graphics and the icon, never text.
- On green, only black type.
- Never green on gray, or gray on green. They’re almost the same brightness, so they disappear.
on blackon whiteon grayon green
blackAaText21.0AaText7.0AaText10.3
whiteAaText21.0AaLarge type3.0AaGraphics only2.0
grayAaText7.0AaLarge type3.0AaGraphics only1.5
greenAaText10.3AaGraphics only2.0AaGraphics only1.5
Section 05
Typography
One family does it all: Myriad Pro, from a 40-foot pylon to a business card.
Our typeface
Aa
Myriad Pro
A humanist sans-serif designed by Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly for Adobe in 1992. Open letters, friendly curves and very clear shapes make it easy to read at any size and any distance.
It’s already on notatek.com through our Adobe Fonts license. Designers can activate it in Adobe Creative Cloud.
Get noticed.
Click the words to type your own.
Hierarchy
Loud, then clear.
One big idea per page. Headlines stay short, body copy stays left-aligned, and there are no more than three sizes on a page. When Myriad Pro isn’t available, use Arial in documents and email; websites fall back to the system font, just like notatek.com.
| Level | Myriad Pro | Web | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | Black or Black Italic | 48–96 pt | 48–96 px |
| Headline | Bold | 22–36 pt | 28–40 px |
| Intro | Light | 14–18 pt | 20–24 px |
| Body | Regular | 9–11 pt | 16–18 px |
| Label | Semi Condensed Bold, caps | 7–9 pt | 12–13 px |
| Caption, specs | Regular, tabular figures | 7–8 pt | 13–14 px |
Section 06
Look & feel
Two devices borrowed from the logo, a supergraphic, and photos that glow.
The tiers
Three stacked bars from the icon: always three, always in the same 9 : 5 rhythm. Use them as a section marker, a divider, a bullet or a bold stripe.
- 01 Section marker
- List bullet
- Divider
The lean
10.75°, the angle of every letter in NOTATEK. Use it for cuts, stripes, photo edges and motion, so shapes lean forward like the wordmark.
Supergraphic
The icon can go huge and cropped, like the cover of our guide. It turns walls, vehicles, booths and banners into something you can’t miss.
- The full logo appears on the same surface.
- One supergraphic per surface. Crop boldly, but keep the N readable.
- Green on black, black on green, or a 10% tint on white.
- Never behind text that needs to be read.
Photography
Our work is our best photo.
Show the glow
Shoot lit signs at dusk, in the 20 minutes after sunset, when the sign is the brightest thing around.
Get close to the craft
Returns, halos, faces and edges. Details prove the quality better than any claim.
Show it in place
Frame the sign on the real building, from where customers actually see it.
Keep it real
Our actual work, lightly edited and true to color. No stock photos, no fake glow.
Real signs, real clients, real crew Stock photos and mockups presented as our work Heavy filters, fake glow, crooked horizons
Section 07
In the wild
Signs, vehicles, apparel, paper and pixels: how the brand shows up in the real world.
Our own sign should be our best sign.
Icon faces
ORACAL 8500-063 translucent over white acrylic. Approve the green lit, at night.
Wordmark faces
White acrylic, lit evenly with no hot spots, on black returns and trim cap.
Placement
Horizontal logo on fascias with clear space all around. Vertical logo on pylons and blades.
Vehicles
A billboard that parks.
Logo
Horizontal logo on the sides, facing forward and above the beltline, away from handles and seams.
Contact
Website first, phone second, big enough to read at a stoplight. Nothing else competes.
Graphics
Black rear panel cut at the lean, three green stripes in the tiers’ rhythm, and the icon as a supergraphic.
Materials
3M 180-196 Apple Green and black Controltac, or print on wrap film matched to PANTONE 375 C.
Polo: horizontal logo, left chest, 3.5 in
Cap: vertical logo, centered
Apparel
Wear it well.
- Black or dark garments
- Green icon, white wordmark
- White or light garments
- Green icon, black wordmark
- Gray or heather
- One color, black or white
- Green garments
- One color, black
Thread is Robison-Anton: 2320 / 5620 Erin Green, 2297 / 5597 Snow White, 2296 / 5596 Black and 2483 / 5783 Cloud (rayon / polyester). Minimum widths: horizontal 3.5 in, vertical 2.5 in, icon 1.1 in. Always approve a sew-out on the real garment.
Section 08 · Files and contact
Get the files.
Before it’s made, it’s approved.
- 1The right fileFrom notatek.com/download-logos, in the right version for the background.
- 2The right colorsPANTONE 375 C, ORACAL 063, 3M 196 or Robison-Anton 2320 / 5620.
- 3A real proofA printed proof, a vinyl swatch, a lit face or a sew-out. Not just a screen.
- 4Space and sizeClear space all around, and above the minimum size for the medium.
- 5A NOTATEK sign-offNothing with our name on it goes into production without approval.
Questions? Ask us.
notatek.com/contact
(801) 796-1411 · toll free (888) 909-5014
1584 S 580 E, American Fork, UT 84003
When in doubt, ask. We’d rather answer a question than fix a sign.
Show up. Work hard. Never lie.