Brand
The PETRUZZI Advisory brand, to the tiniest detail.
The philosophy, the voice, the logo, the colour hierarchy, the typography, the motion language, and the locked decisions that govern every surface of the practice. Read it before you design, write, or ship anything on petruzziadvisory.com.
01 · Position
What we are, in one sentence.
PETRUZZI Advisory is the independent transfer pricing practice that brings peer-reviewed academic rigor to the kind of cases the Big Four can't take impartially.
Every design decision and every line of copy must serve this sentence. If a choice cannot trace back to it, the choice doesn't belong on the site.
Three commitments
Independent by construction.
Boutique, founder-led, no audit conflicts. Independence is the entire proposition. We never try to look as big as the Big Four; we lean into being smaller, sharper, more independent.
Peer-reviewed at every turn.
Every claim earns its place: numbered citations, named OECD paragraphs, named cases, published book covers. The site reads as research, not marketing copy.
Quietly authoritative.
WU Vienna meets Wachtell. No urgency, no superlatives, no “world-class.” Restraint earned by specificity. Reference quality: Aman, Lanserhof, Aesop, Maison Margiela.
02 · Logo
The mark, the wordmark, and the lockup.
The PETRUZZI Advisory logo is a navy infinity-with-heart mark paired with a Fraunces wordmark where “PETRUZZI” is set in ink at text-2xl tracking-tight and “Advisory” is the finishing accent in gold-deep.
The lockup
The mark, isolated
Clear space + sizing
- Minimum clear space around the lockup equals the height of the mark.
- Minimum mark size: 24px (favicon); minimum wordmark size: 16px.
- On dark surfaces the mark is white-tinted via
filter: brightness(0) invert(1)(used in the CTA pill inverted variant).
Do / Don't
Do
Pair the mark and the wordmark with the gap and proportions from the lockup. Use the mark alone for favicons, app icons, and CTA pill interiors only.
Don't
Combine the mark and wordmark into a single raster image. Skew or rotate the mark. Substitute the gold-deep 'Advisory' with any other colour. Use the mark on cluttered backgrounds without a bone circle behind it.
03 · Colour
Navy is primary. Gold is finishing only.
The brand identity colour is navy. It carries every primary CTA, every cinematic depth moment, and every dark surface accent. Gold is finishing: rules, hairlines, eyebrow dots, single-phrase emphasis. Gold is never a primary CTA fill, never a major surface, never the dominant accent.
Primary · Navy
navy
#15205C
Primary CTA fills, primary brand surface accents, manifesto cinematic surface.
navy-deep
#0D1640
Deepest cinematic. Hero overlay, cinematic CTA closer, request-a-consultation card surface.
navy-mist
#D6DAE7
Pale companion on navy surfaces. Used in card variants on dark sections.
Secondary · Gold (finishing only)
gold
#B89968
Decorative hairlines, marquee separators. Never as a primary fill on a button or card larger than a chip.
gold-soft
#D4BA8E
Emphasis on navy / dark surfaces (replaces italic on dark).
gold-deep
#7E6234
Emphasis on bone surfaces (replaces italic on light). Eyebrow dots. Single-phrase emphasis in display headings.
Surfaces (bone realm)
bone
#F7F2E7
Primary site surface. The canvas of every section.
bone-soft
#EFE7D7
Card depth within bone sections.
Text (ink scale)
ink
#0E0E0C
Body copy on light surfaces. Warm near-black.
ink-soft
#2A2A26
Secondary text.
ink-muted
#6E6E68
Tertiary text, micro-labels.
Locked surface rule
Sections never use ink, navy, or any dark fill as their background. Bone and bone-soft are the only allowed section surfaces. Dark surfaces only appear as:
- The hero photograph overlay (navy-deep over a Vienna still).
- The cinematic CTA closer before the footer.
- The
RequestAndFaqbooking card (navy-deep panel, mark in a bone circle, bone CTA pill).
Do / Don't
Do
Use navy for primary CTAs, the request card surface, and the cinematic closer. Use gold-deep for hairline rules, eyebrow dots, and a single phrase of emphasis per heading. Use ink for body text. Use bone as the canvas.
Don't
Use bg-gold-deep for any major surface or primary CTA. Use gold as a dominant accent across a section. Place the navy logo on a low-contrast background. Use pure white (#FFFFFF) as a surface; bone is the brand's white.
04 · Type
Fraunces for display. Inter for everything else.
Two families, both via next/font/google, self-hosted, zero layout shift. No monospace, no italics anywhere. Emphasis is upright gold-deep on bone, gold-soft on navy.
Fraunces · Display
Independent transfer pricing.
Peer-reviewed at every turn.
font-display · font-normal · tracking-tight · variable (opsz + SOFT axes loaded; italic axis NOT loaded)
Inter · Body
The arm's length pricing of intra-group financial guarantees raises three discrete questions: implicit support, fee basis, and substance. We answer each with the OECD's 2020 Chapter X framework, not the lender's templates.
font-sans · weights 300 / 400 / 500 / 600 · line-height 1.65
The type scale (locked)
| Role | Size (clamp) | Line-height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero H1 | clamp(1.625rem, 5vw, 2.75rem) | 1.05 | 400 (normal) |
| Universal Section H2 | clamp(2rem, 3vw, 2.75rem) | 1.05 | 400 (normal) |
| Card / row H3 | clamp(1.5rem, 2.2vw, 1.875rem) | 1.18 | 400 (normal) |
| Manifesto body | clamp(1.625rem, 3.5vw, 3rem) | 1.2 | 300 (light) |
| Stat numeral | 50px Fraunces | 60px | 400 (normal) |
| Body | 14–16px Inter | 1.65 | 400 (normal) |
| Eyebrow / label | 12px Inter (text-xs) | 1.4 | 500 (medium) |
The eyebrow standard
The Expertise
Every eyebrow on every section follows this pattern: text-xs font-medium, navy dot + Title Case label, no uppercase, no tracking. (Optional alternative: gold-deep dot on dark surfaces, gold-soft label on navy-deep.)
Usage rules (locked)
- No italics anywhere. Emphasis is upright gold-deep (on bone) or gold-soft (on navy) via
<span className="text-gold-deep">. Never<em>or theitalicTailwind class. - No em dashes (U+2014 or U+2013) in any author-controlled string. Use colon after labels, soft comma for clauses, hyphen for compounds.
- No uppercase on labels. Eyebrows, button labels, data rows render in calm Title Case. Acronyms (OECD, BEPS, TP, MAP, APA, CbCR, WU, UN) keep their case naturally.
- No monospace. The
.monoclass aliases.label(Inter font-medium, letter-spacing 0.01em). - One phrase of emphasis per heading. Never two.
05 · Voice
Calmly authoritative. Singular, not plural.
The register is academic gravitas at the edge of advisory: WU Vienna, Wachtell, Slaughter & May, the masthead of International Transfer Pricing Journal. NOT Big Four consulting brochures, NOT compliance-vendor copy, NOT LinkedIn thought-leadership influencers.
The 50-word rule
- Headlines: ≤ 8 words
- Body paragraphs: ≤ 50 words
- CTA labels: ≤ 5 words
- Eyebrows: ≤ 5 words
- Microcopy: ≤ 12 words / line
- FAQ answers: 40–60 words (AIO sweet spot)
Four tone modes
Editorial
Hero, manifesto, cinematic CTA
“Transfer pricing isn't compliance. It's how multinational businesses tell the truth about value.”
Curatorial
Expertise + service body, founder bio, publications
“The arm's length pricing of intra-group financial guarantees raises three discrete questions: implicit support, fee basis, and substance. We answer each with the OECD's 2020 Chapter X framework, not the lender's templates.”
Hospitality
Contact, request-a-consultation, FAQ answers
“Your first conversation is unhurried. Bring the structure you're working with, the time pressure you're under, and any documentation already on the file. We'll scope from there.”
Technical
Affiliations data, citation footers, methodology callouts
Tax Notes International 118 (6/2025), pp. 2021–2029 · Petruzzi / Myzithra
Five headline patterns
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| A. Two-statement | Independent transfer pricing. Peer-reviewed at every turn. |
| B. Inversion | Not the Big Four. Better aligned with your case. |
| C. Single image | Built on the arm's length principle. |
| D. Curatorial number | Twenty-four books. One arm's length principle. |
| E. Imperative | Begin with a second opinion. |
Anti-patterns (banned)
- Adjective stacking: revolutionary, cutting-edge, world-class.
- Mission-statement-ese: “We are committed to”, “We strive to”, “We believe in”, “Our mission”.
- Generic urgency: “Don't miss out”, “Book now”.
- Scale claims: “Global team of X”, “Y countries served”. Petruzzi's differentiator is the opposite of Big-Four scale.
- Vague proof: “decades of experience”,“deep expertise”. Replace with the concrete artefact (a book, a paper, a UN publication, an editorial role).
- Generic CTAs: Click here, Get started, Learn more, Submit, Sign up.
The locked copy register
These seven strings are LOCKED. Only the copy-doctor subagent + Thabrew sign-off can change them.
- Brand position: PETRUZZI Advisory is the independent transfer pricing practice that brings peer-reviewed academic rigor to the kind of cases the Big Four can't take impartially.
- Hero H1: “Independent transfer pricing. Peer-reviewed at every turn.”
- Manifesto opener: “Transfer pricing isn't compliance. It's how multinational businesses tell the truth about value. We don't sell scale. We bring the only opinion with nothing to gain from the answer being yours.”
- Closer H1: “Begin with a second opinion.”
- Founder one-line: “An academic-grade practice for the cases that demand impartial expertise.”
- CTA label:“Book a Consultation”
- Photography disclaimer: “Photography is for illustrative purposes. Images do not depict actual clients of PETRUZZI Advisory.”
06 · Components
The universal pill, the eyebrow, the marquee.
CTAPill · main variant
CTAPill · inverted variant (for dark surfaces)
Marquee · affiliations strip
- UN Subcommittee on Transfer Pricing
- WU Transfer Pricing Center
- Linde Transfer Pricing International, Editor
- Wolters Kluwer
- IFA
- IBA
- TPED
- Bocconi
07 · Motion
Editorial. Calm. Information, not decoration.
Motion is information. If a motion doesn't communicate something, it doesn't belong on the site. Cadences are calm (700–1400ms), easings decelerating; never spring-bouncy, never web2.0-quick.
Motion tokens (in globals.css @theme)
| Token | Value |
|---|---|
| --ease-editorial | cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1) |
| --ease-curtain | cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1) |
| --stagger-word / --stagger-letter / --stagger-card | 40ms / 18ms / 80ms |
| --dur-quick / --dur-default / --dur-slow / --dur-signature | 320ms / 700ms / 1100ms / 1400ms |
Twelve named signatures
- WordReveal — hero word-fade-up on mount (700ms / word, 40ms stagger)
- ScrollWordHighlight — manifesto + philosophy scroll-driven word color shift
- PhotoOrbit / AffiliationsOrbit — scroll-driven floating photos around a centred headline
- CardsConverging — services / expertise grid choreography
- Counter — every stat (1400ms, editorial ease)
- Marquee — affiliations strip (40s cycle, slow speed, paused on hover)
- FloatingCTA — sticky Request-a-Consultation pill after scroll > 0.85vh
- AnchorNav — sticky in-page nav on long pages
- PageTransition — route changes
- Parallax — hero + cinematic CTA
- StarStagger — deferred until first testimonials with consent
- CursorFollower — optional, deferred
Lenis is the smooth-scroll baseline (1.1s duration, editorial ease-out, smooth wheel on). All signature motion respects prefers-reduced-motion with a static fallback that conveys the same intent.
08 · Layout
Frame canvas, container, padding rhythm.
Frame canvas
The entire site sits inside a rounded card with bone padding around it.
- Mobile: 16px sides / 80px top / 16px bottom / 28px radius
- Desktop (md+): 50px sides / 104px top / 50px bottom / 50px radius
- Header sits in the top bone band; only top corners are rounded.
Section canvas radius
Every section canvas: rounded-[28px] md:rounded-[50px]. Exception: the thin Marquee at rounded-[15px].
Inner container
Every section's inner container: mx-auto max-w-7xl px-5 sm:px-6 md:px-10 py-20 sm:py-24 md:py-32.
09 · Accessibility
WCAG 2.2 AA across every surface.
- Body text clears 4.5:1 contrast. Large text (≥18pt or ≥14pt bold) clears 3:1. UI components (buttons, form borders) clear 3:1.
- Visible focus ring on every interactive element:
outline: 2px solid var(--color-gold); outline-offset: 2px;. - Semantic HTML throughout. Heading hierarchy with no skipped levels.
- Skip-to-main link is the first focusable element on every page.
- Every signature motion respects
prefers-reduced-motion. - Auto-moving content (Marquee) has a manual pause control (WCAG 2.2.2).
10 · Locked
The decisions that don't move.
- Navy is the primary brand color. Gold is finishing only.
- Sections never use ink, navy, or any dark fill as their flat background.
- No italics anywhere. Emphasis = upright gold-deep on bone or gold-soft on navy via a span.
- No em-dashes anywhere in author-controlled strings (.tsx / .ts / .md / .css / comments).
- No uppercase tracking on labels. Calm Title Case at small size.
- One phrase of emphasis per heading. Never two. The seven anchor strings (above) cannot be changed without sign-off.
- Every section canvas:
rounded-[28px] md:rounded-[50px]. - The site lives inside the frame-canvas wrapper; any horizontal scroll carousel subtracts the 16/50px gutter.
- Universal CTA = CTAPill component, with the 2500ms expanding-circle + 1200ms favicon-spin animation. No bespoke buttons.
Brand
Hold the line, every word, every pixel.
This page is the contract. Subagents (design-critic, copy-doctor, motion-engineer, art-director, performance-warden, a11y-auditor, aio-strategist) hold every commit against it.