Sanpo  ·  Brand BookDirection 02 — Nocturne

Version 1.1 · 23 October 2026

Sanpo

Step into the story.

散歩

An unhurried stroll. Walking for the pleasure of it, rather than to get somewhere.

A city at dusk seen from a hillside viewpoint
Plate 01 · Nou Barris at the hour the walk begins Barcelona
Five directions01 / 05
Brand book · content fixed, expression variable01 — 20
§ 01 · NameSanpo · Step into the story

The name

A slow walk, for its own sake

Sanpo is Japanese for an unhurried stroll: walking for the pleasure of it rather than to get somewhere.

The name carries the zen feel of the brand and puts the walk at its centre. It is a word you can say on a street corner without raising your voice.

Not a destination · not a route · a walk

Specimen散歩
散歩
sanpo · /sampo/noun

A stroll. From 散 to scatter and 歩 to walk: walking without a destination, which is the whole product.

Name02 — 20
§ 02 · The name, setSpelling · slogan · lock-up

Rules of the name

SpellingAlways “Sanpo”, capital S, rest lowercase. Never “SANPO” or “San Po” in running text.
Slogan“Step into the story”, sentence case, with a full stop when it stands alone.
CombinedName first, slogan second: “Sanpo. Step into the story.”
ProductThe walks themselves are called podwalks. Sanpo is the brand and the app.
The lock-up, set in type
Sanpo.
Step into the story.

No logo exists yet. Until the wordmark is drawn, the lock-up is set in type: name, full stop, slogan. Never a symbol, never an icon.

The full stop is part of the mark. It ends the name, which is also what a walk does.

Spelling and lock-up03 — 20
§ 03 · MissionWhy we make walks

Mission

A walk for the story, through the story.

We create walks in which the story comes first. The route exists to tell the story, and you experience the story by walking the route.

StoryThe reason the route exists.
RouteThe instrument.
WalkThe way you read it.
Mission04 — 20
§ 04 · VisionWhere the stories should live

Vision

Experiencing authentic stories in a new way.

Stories don’t belong only in books, museums or on signs. We want people to experience them where they happened, at their own pace, with their phone as their guide.

A narrow old-town alley at dusk, shutters and balconies, no people
Plate 02 · the story belongs hereNo caption needed on site
Vision · the story is experienced on site05 — 20
§ 05 · Brand promiseWhat every walk owes the walker

Promise

Authentic and unique stories.

Every walk tells a real story you won’t hear told this way anywhere else.

01

Grounded

Stories are grounded in real places, people and events.

02

Told, not listed

No generic tourist information, but a told story with character.

03

Irreplaceable

Every route is unique to the place where you walk.

Test

If a sentence could be printed on a sign at the same spot, it is not a story yet. Rewrite it until it could only be heard while standing there.

Brand promise06 — 20
§ 06 · Golden CircleWhy · How · What

The order

The product follows the drive. It is not the starting point.

“How” and “what” are read off the brand book rather than quoted from it. Marked where they are.

Why

Offering unique and authentic experiences to a digital native generation.

How

Stories written for one place, walked at your own pace, with the technology staying out of the way. · derived

What

GPS-based podwalks: audio that starts where the story happens. Free, open and available. · derived

Golden Circle07 — 20
§ 07 · AudienceWorking hypothesis · not validated

The digital native generation, split four ways

Four segments, still hypotheses

These are working hypotheses from the whiteboard session, not validated research. Each one still needs to be tested and sized.

Slow travellerDistinctive, original content about their destination · 30–40, highly educated, above-average income · Instagram, travel blogs / Substack, GEO, short video, forums
Podcast fanaticInteresting, high-quality audio productions · 25–50, highly educated · Podcasts, SEO/GEO, short video, forums
ExpatLearning about the origins of their new home through experiences · 28–40, high income · Instagram, TikTok
Curiosity seekerNew, original stories, both fiction and non-fiction · 20–35, highly educated, humanities background · Instagram, SEO, GEO, forums

Shared: highly educated, 20–50, quality over mainstream. GEO stands for generative engine optimisation: being found through AI search and assistants, alongside classic SEO.

Audience08 — 20
§ 08 · Four segmentsRead in the brand’s own words

One product, four different reasons to put the phone away and walk

01Fits · Zen · the name

Slow traveller

Travels to take a place in rather than to tick it off. Avoids the standard tourist circuit and wants content about a destination that they couldn’t have found in a guidebook.

02Fits · Creative · craft

Podcast fanatic

Already listens to audio stories every day and judges them on production quality. For this segment the bar is the story and the sound.

03Fits · Word of mouth

Expat

Has moved to a new city and wants to understand where they now live, beyond the practical. Learns by doing and experiencing, and shares that within the expat community.

04Fits · Open question

Curiosity seeker

The youngest segment, with a background in the humanities. Hungry for new and original stories and open to fiction as well as non-fiction.

Four segments09 — 20
§ 09 · How we’re differentAgainst audio tours, tourist apps, city walks

Position

Three things set us apart

Not three features. Three positions that a competitor would have to give up something to copy.

01

Free, open and available

Anyone can walk any route, with no paywall or account. Those who want to can support us with a voluntary contribution (“Buy me a coffee”).

02

A strong app

A good digital experience is not an afterthought: the app runs smoothly, feels intuitive and stays out of the way while you walk.

03

Creative and authentic stories

The stories are crafted with care, told in an original way and true to the facts.

Differentiators10 — 20
§ 10 · The productGPS-based podwalks

How it works

You walk, the app follows

Walking routes with audio stories that start automatically based on your GPS location.

01 · Choose

One route, one story. No account, no paywall.

02 · Download

Tours and audio are fetched before you leave. Outside coverage is the normal case.

03 · Walk

You don’t need to look at your screen; the story guides you.

04 · Arrive

Story and surroundings come together: you hear about a place while standing in it.

Every stop can also be played by hand, for the times the fix is late or the phone is asleep.

Over-ear headphones resting on a wooden surface, low light
Plate 03 · the sound is the productNot the screen
The product11 — 20
§ 11 · Core valuesCreative · Authentic · Zen

Values

Three words guide every choice

From story to interface. Each one has a failure mode named next to it.

Creative

We tell stories in a surprising, distinctive way.

Do

Original angles, atmospheric storytelling

Don’t

A dry list of dates

Authentic

What we tell is real and accurate.

Do

Real sources, local voices, an honest tone

Don’t

Invented sensation, marketing speak

Zen

The experience offers calm and space.

Do

Your own pace, little screen time, calm design

Don’t

Push notifications, busy screens, hurry

Rule

When two values collide, zen wins. A creative idea that costs the walker their calm is not a Sanpo idea.

Core values12 — 20
§ 12 · Look & feelDirection 02 · Nocturne

The first visual direction, to be developed

Calm, spacious, inviting you to slow down

SpacePlenty of white space and few elements per screen.
ColourA calm palette, for example natural, muted tones.
TypeSimple, readable typography without busy decoration.
ImagePhotography of places and atmosphere rather than stock images of people.

This direction reads it at night: one photograph per scene, cropped wide, graded down, with the type set in the dark beside it.

A stone fountain, water on stone, low evening light
Plate 04 · place, not peopleGraded · letterboxed
Look & feel13 — 20
§ 13 · Tone of voiceCalm · personal · honest

Calm and narrative, like a guide walking beside you

How we write

Personal: we address the listener directly as “you”. Honest and free of exaggeration; the story can speak for itself.

Says instead of / Say / Because

Discover Barcelona’s best-kept secrets!

You’re standing where the market opened at five in the morning.

The second sentence gives you the place. The first one sells it.

Audio tour available now — book today!

Press play when you’re ready. The street will wait.

No urgency. The walk sets the pace, not the app.

300+ attractions, 5 languages, 4.8 stars

Five stops, one kilometre, no hurry.

Numbers that describe the walk, not numbers that impress.

Tone of voice14 — 20
§ 14 · The app, in this directionScreen 01 · Home

Mockup · not a screenshot

One walk, already on the phone

The home screen does one job: get you to the start of a walk that will work without a signal.

GroundNight ground, panel cards. The app reads as the deck, not as software.
Radius14 px. A hairline does the work a shadow would do elsewhere.
AccentTeal is the thing you press. Ember is the offline state — the one thing that can go wrong.
SubjectOne photograph on the card, graded down, never brighter than the type.
Home · 390 × 844Offline ready
App — home15 — 20
§ 15 · The app, continuedScreens 02–03 · Tour · Player
TourBefore you walk
PlayerWhile you walk

Decisions

The screen is a lamp, not a window

At night the phone is the brightest thing in the street. So it stays dark, and it says one thing at a time.

One full-bleed still at the top of the player, graded to the street.
Teal on the progress bar and the play button only. Ember on the offline state.
“Play next stop manually” is a first-class button: it is the iOS survival path.
App — tour and player16 — 20
§ 16 · The website, in this directionDesktop · discovery

The app is the walk. The website is the trailer.

Same bones: night ground, one wide still, type in the dark beside it.

Desktop · croppedsanpo.app
Website17 — 20
§ 17 · Design systemAs proposed by direction 02

Colour

Night#0B100F
Panel#141B19
Light#E9E4DA
Teal#4FB3A6
Ember#D98A4E

Teal is lifted from Sanpo's own green so it survives on black. It is a signal, never a surface.

Type

Aa Bodoni
Display · 400 · 34–40 · leading 1.03
Aa Inter
Body · 400/500 · 16.5 / 1.62
Aa Inter caps
Labels · 10 · +0.16em
散歩
Shippori Mincho · subset, 8 glyphs

Rules

1

Type is never set on a photograph. It goes in the black beside it, or in a bar the image does not cross.

2

One still per scene, cropped 2.39:1, graded down until the type is the brightest thing again.

3

No faces. Photography is of places and atmosphere, per the brand book.

4

Motion is a 7 s push on the still and a 550 ms fade on the type. Nothing slides.

Design system18 — 20
§ 18 · Open questionsWhat this deck does not answer

Still open

A brand book is a map, not the walk

Nine questions from the brand book. The first one is the only one this deck deliberately leaves untouched.

Five directions, no logo. The wordmark stays set in type until it is drawn properly.

01Design the Sanpo logo and wordmark, including a lock-up with the slogan.
02Validate the four target audience segments with short interviews or a survey.
03Estimate the size of each segment and decide which one to target first.
04Work out the four segments into full personas: motivations, walking context, digital behaviour, willingness to contribute.
05Decide whether Sanpo also offers fiction, and how that fits the “authentic” value.
06Work out the revenue model: is a voluntary contribution enough, or are partners or grants needed?
07Define the colour palette, typography and imagery in a design system.
08Guidelines for story creators: length, style and source attribution per story.
09Develop “how and where to reach” further: physical places such as hostels, cafés, museums and route starts.
Open questions19 — 20
§ 19 · ColophonSources and caveats

Sources

ContentBrandboek – Sanpo v1.1, Oct 23 2026, @Myke.
ProductThe Sanpo repository: tour data, GPS-triggered playback, iOS fallbacks.
DirectionsFive readings of one open visual direction, not five finished identities.
PhotographyWikimedia Commons, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA. Credits in assets/img/CREDITS.md.
TypeBodoni Moda, Inter, Shippori Mincho. Self-hosted, OFL.

Every mockup in this deck is a layout study. No logo has been designed yet; the wordmark is set in type throughout.

Sanpo.
Step into the story.
Direction 02 — Nocturne

The evening walk. One wide still per scene, Bodoni in the dark, teal as the only signal.

Colophon20 — 20