Mayet Strategic Consulting is based in Ottawa and specializes in hospitality, heritage buildings, and community revitalization. The firm's partners have opened restaurants, mobilized investors, navigated city councils, and purchased a 125-year-old church and turned it into a destination. They advise from experience, with their own money and reputations on the line.
The name "Mayet" (sometimes spelled Ma'at) comes from the ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, and order. The etymology informs the firm's values but is not used as a tagline or marketing message.
| Service | Scope |
|---|---|
| Hospitality | Concept development through to opening day, across restaurants, hotels, and retail |
| Heritage buildings | Adaptive re-use, vision shaping, investment mobilization for heritage properties |
| Community revitalization | Stakeholder alignment, economic analysis, engagement, and strategic communications |
The brand is authoritative but personal, warm but not decorative, inviting but not desperate. It reads like a firm that has taste and evidence in equal measure.
Mayet is not a firm of corporate consultants, it is a collection of practitioners who have founded and run the businesses their clients aspire to, owned and loved the heritage buildings they advise upon, with their own personal investment, dreams, and reputation at stake. The visual identity is drawn from the materials of those buildings: oak, brass, stone, linen, while adding a modern, clean spin. The voice is direct, personal, and specific. The palette is warm. The typography has authority, while being approachable. The single repeated invitation is: start the conversation. Everything else serves that.
The palette is drawn from the literal materials inside AllSaints, the firm's signature heritage project: the oak pews, the brass candle holders, the stone arches, the linen altar cloths. When someone looks at Mayet's visual identity, they are inside the work.
Forest green is the primary brand colour. The most distinctive and memorable element of the palette: the colour you would use to identify Mayet in isolation. The logo, the deepest section backgrounds, and the dominant accent on dark surfaces are all forest.
Amber is a signal colour, not a brand colour. It draws the eye to CTAs, category labels, and emphasised words. It is never used as a section background. Its power comes from restraint: the less amber appears, the more it means when it does.
Parchment is not white. Every "light" surface in the Mayet brand is warm. Pure white (#FFFFFF) should never appear in any Mayet material.
Earth is not black. Text and dark backgrounds use earth (#1E150E), a near-black with a warm undertone. Pure black (#000000) should never appear.
| Context | Rule |
|---|---|
| Light backgrounds | Parchment for sections, cream for cards and elevated surfaces |
| Dark backgrounds | Earth for most dark sections, forest for the deepest/most distinctive |
| Borders (light) | Sand at low opacity |
| Borders (dark) | Parchment at low opacity |
| CTAs (dark bg) | Amber text, hover to parchment |
| CTAs (light bg) | Amber text, hover to earth |
| Primary CTA buttons | Amber fill, cream text. Hover: parchment fill, earth text |
| Section rhythm | No two adjacent sections share the same background tone |
| Project cards | Always on dark backgrounds. Earth base, forest-tinted cards |
| Derived tokens | None. These seven colours are the complete system |
Display: Playfair Display
Body: Libre Franklin
| Font | Weight | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Playfair Display | 400 | Wordmark "ayet," italic emphasis text |
| Playfair Display | 600 | Section headings |
| Playfair Display | 700 | Hero headlines |
| Playfair Display | 800 | Wordmark "M" |
| Libre Franklin | 400 | Body copy |
| Libre Franklin | 500 | Navigation |
| Libre Franklin | 600 | Buttons, labels, eyebrows |
| Libre Franklin | 700 | Strong emphasis |
| Context | Line height |
|---|---|
| Hero headlines | 1.1 - 1.15 |
| Section headings | 1.2 |
| Body copy | 1.6 - 1.7 |
| Small / meta | 1.4 |
The amber italic emphasis in hero headlines is the technique that makes the site distinctive. It should be carried through to any visual material that uses a headline.
| Rule | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Two words per headline | One sets up the tension, one resolves it |
| Nouns and adjectives only | Never emphasise verbs, prepositions, or conjunctions |
| Never adjacent | The amber italics need surrounding roman text to create contrast |
| Memorable words | The amber words accumulate into a vocabulary that becomes the brand |
The accumulated vocabulary: vision, viable, practitioners, landmark, destination, purpose, walls, concept, opening, lasting, real. These words are the brand. Not a logo, not a tagline: a set of words the visitor carries away without realising they learned them.
No icon or mark: the letterforms carry all the weight. The M is set in Playfair Display italic at weight 800, "ayet" in italic at weight 400. The descriptor "Strategic Consulting" sits beneath in Libre Franklin, uppercase, with wide tracking (0.22em).
The amber M is the one constant across both variants. It does not adapt to background: this is intentional. On forest green it reads as warm firelight against the deep canopy. On parchment it reads as the same energy against a calm ground. The constancy is what makes it recognisable.
| Element | Light variant | Dark variant |
|---|---|---|
| M | Amber #A8782C | Amber #A8782C |
| ayet | Forest #2B3328 | Parchment #F3EBDA |
| Descriptor | Stone #6F6350 | Sand #BFB094 |
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Implementation | HTML/CSS in layouts/partials/header.html, not an image file |
| Style | Always italic. Never roman (upright) |
| Case | Never all-caps. "MAYET" is not part of the brand identity |
| Amber M | Always amber. No exceptions, no monochrome version |
| Small sizes | Descriptor may be omitted but the weight contrast between M and ayet must remain |
Each axis names what the voice rejects and what it embraces. The tension is the definition.
Write from the firm's perspective: "we," "our," "your." Never use impersonal third-person constructions like "the team" or "the firm." The visitor is always "you."
Use "your" wherever the copy is about something that belongs to the prospect: their project, their building, their neighbourhood. The test: read the phrase back and ask, is this about us or about them?
Apply "your" at high-attention moments: headings, CTAs, opening sentences. Let supporting copy breathe in neutral language. Overuse makes it feel like a sales script.
"Every project we take on, I ask the same question: will this still matter to the community in twenty years? If the answer is yes, we find a way to make it work." Leanne Moussa, Managing Partner
The first word of a heading, label, or link is capitalised. Everything else is lowercase unless it is a proper noun.
Never use the em dash. It has become a strong signal of AI-generated content. Use a comma, colon, or full stop instead. This applies to all copy: website, email, social, proposals, decks.
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| We do X — and then Y | We do X, and then Y |
| Three things — vision, balance, order | Three things: vision, balance, order |
| The result — a thriving space | The result: a thriving space |
| Simple, yes — but effective | Simple, yes. But effective. |
Hero titles do not take a full stop. They are evocative fragments, not sentences. Two exceptions:
1. The homepage thesis: "Where vision meets viable." A declarative statement, punctuated because it is finished.
2. The positioning statement: "Practitioners, not theorists." The firm's identity in three words, closed with finality.
These are the only two titles on the site with a full stop. Everything else stays open. The absence of punctuation invites the visitor to keep reading. The two full stops mark the two lines that don't need anything else said.
| Concept | Use | Never use |
|---|---|---|
| Past work (section) | our work | projects, case studies, portfolio |
| Single engagement | project | case study, engagement, study |
| Services section | what we offer | our services, capabilities |
| About section | who we are | the team, about us, meet the team |
| Contact action | start the conversation | contact us, get in touch, reach out |
| Link to project | View project | Read case study, Learn more |
| Link to projects | Explore work like yours | See our work, View all projects |
| Link to services | Find your starting point | View services, Our services |
| Link to a service | Explore this service | Learn more, Read more |
| Link to about | Get to know us | Meet the team, About us |
Nav labels match page headings exactly. When a visitor clicks a nav item, the first heading they read confirms where they are with the same words they just clicked.
Write link text as a verb phrase, not a noun. The arrow follows the text with a space.
The primary CTA across the entire site is "Start the conversation." It appears in the header, the footer, every service page, every project page, and the contact page. It is a promise, not a button label. Do not substitute "Contact us," "Get in touch," or "Reach out" in any public-facing context.
These three components carry most of the brand's visual character. A direction that looks coherent at page-rhythm level can still break down at component level if the button style fights the typography or the card treatment contradicts the spatial philosophy.
Primary action
Navigation
Project card
AllSaints Event Space
The brand's physical-material identity requires breathing room. Sections have generous vertical padding. Cards have comfortable internal spacing. Text blocks are narrow (max ~65ch) for comfortable reading. The site should never feel dense, packed, or dashboard-like.
| Context | Rule |
|---|---|
| Layout | Single-column centred, max-w-6xl (72rem). Service singles: two-column with sticky sidebar |
| Section rhythm | Alternate parchment, earth, forest. No two adjacent sections share the same background |
| Section padding | 64px (2xl) vertical minimum, 96px (3xl) for hero and major breaks |
| Reading width | ~65ch maximum for body text. Comfortable reading without head-turning |
| Section dividers | Background alternation creates visual chapters. The amber section-rule is used sparingly within sections, not between |
| Element | Behaviour | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Content sections | Fade-up on scroll (600-800ms) | Signals arrival, not decoration |
| Buttons, cards, links | Colour/transform on hover (150-200ms) | Smooth feedback, fast response |
| Team photos | Sepia to full colour on hover | Archival at rest, alive on interaction |
| Project cards | Subtle lift on hover | Depth and affordance |
| Everything else | Nothing. | No parallax, no animated backgrounds, no typewriter effects, no scroll-jacking |
Images do not explain what the firm does: they evoke the world the visitor is trying to build. AllSaints is the firm's most powerful visual asset. The firm owns this building. They transformed a 125-year-old church into a destination. AllSaints imagery should be the dominant visual thread.
| # | Principle | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atmosphere over information | The image should make the viewer feel something before they understand what they are looking at |
| 2 | Real over stock | Images of actual Mayet projects are always preferred over generic photography |
| 3 | Warm over cool | Cold fluorescent lighting, blue-grey concrete, and sterile interiors do not belong |
| 4 | Inhabited over empty | Spaces that feel lived-in, used, and loved. Not pristine showroom shots |
| 5 | Visual story in threes | When cards sit side by side, the images together create a narrative |
When not to treat images: Project cover photos on cards and case study pages should appear at full colour and brightness. These images are the content, not a backdrop.
This brand does not use illustration. No icons, no line art, no data visualisation (unless introduced in the brand palette). Photography and typography carry all visual communication.
The site has one conversion goal: get the visitor to the contact page and have them send a message. Every design decision, every piece of copy, and every page structure serves that journey. There are no secondary conversion goals (newsletter signups, downloads, social follows).
Visitors arrive from Google, from LinkedIn shares, from referrals. They do not always start at the homepage. Every page must be able to stand alone: it communicates who Mayet is, what they do, and how to start a conversation, without requiring the visitor to have seen any other page first.
| Page | Arc |
|---|---|
| Homepage | Cinematic aspiration (hero) → practical competence (services) → earned credibility (stats) → proof of work (projects) → human connection (team) → the ask (CTA) |
| Project pages | Immersion (cinematic hero) → the story (prose with mid-article image) → quiet invitation (sticky sidebar CTA) → more work (related projects) |
| Service pages | Orientation (category eyebrow above hero) → the offer (content) → proof (related work) → the ask (CTA) |
| Contact page | Invitation, not form. "Start the conversation." The submit button echoes the same phrase, not "Send" or "Submit" |
Frame outcomes in terms of what the client gained, not what the firm did. The visitor should see themselves in the story. Use active, outcome-oriented language: delivered, built, transformed, mobilized, launched.
Lead with the problem the visitor is trying to solve, not the service the firm offers. The visitor does not know they need "adaptive re-use consulting." They know they have a heritage building and no idea what to do with it.
Client voice is the most powerful trust signal. Ask for specific outcomes, not general praise. Attribute with full name and role. Keep to 1-3 sentences. Never fabricate or approximate testimonials.
A strong team quote does three things: names a personal standard that guides the person's work, grounds it in something real (a timeframe, a community, a decision), and ends with action or resolve, not reflection.
The test: Read the quote aloud. Does it sound like something this person would say across a table? If it sounds like a LinkedIn headline, rewrite it.