BRAND INDEX
WCNWCNSONIC IDENTITY MAP
04 · MOTION → E
MOTION & SOUND
Sonic identity · E
How WCN sounds.
Six topics — principles, audio logo, UI sounds, voice, environment and governance. The brand’s voice when the screen makes a sound. Tap any card to open its spec.
SIGNATURE
UI CUES
VOICE
AMBIENT
17%
SONIC COVERAGE
0 shipped
2 in progress
4 planned
04E01 Sound principles PLANNED
Sound is the most intrusive thing an interface can do, so the first sonic principle is restraint. WCN sound is optional, meaningful, and never the only way to know what happened.
DEFAULTSilent OPT-INUser chooses MEANINGEvery cue earns it NEVEROnly signal
E01.1 · OPTIONAL
Silent by default.
WCN products start muted. Sound is something the user turns on, never a surprise that plays in a quiet room or an open office. The default respects every context the product lands in.
STARTMuted
OPT-INAlways
RESPECTSContext
SURPRISENever
E01.2 · MEANING
Earn every cue.
Like motion, a sound must answer a question — success, error, arrival. A cue with no meaning is noise, and audio noise is far more irritating than visual clutter. The bar is high.
ANSWERSA question
NOISEIf meaningless
BARHigh
FEWCues total
E01.3 · REDUNDANT
Never sound alone.
Anything a sound conveys is also shown visually — many users are deaf, muted, or simply not looking. Sound enriches feedback; it never carries it by itself.
ALSOVisual
DEAFConsidered
MUTEDCommon
ENRICHESNever sole
E01.4 · RESTRAINT
Less than you think.
A handful of well-crafted sounds beats a noise for every tap. Frequent sounds become fatiguing fast; WCN reserves audio for moments that genuinely benefit and stays quiet the rest of the time.
FEWWell-crafted
FREQUENTFatiguing
RESERVEKey moments
QUIETMostly
DON'T
×
Don't default to on — Start muted, let users opt in.
×
Don't sound every tap — Reserve audio for meaning.
×
Don't signal by sound alone — Always show it visually too.
×
Don't autoplay audio — Never surprise a quiet room.
“The first rule of sound design is knowing when to stay silent.”
04E02 Audio logo PLANNED
The audio logo is the W³ mark for the ear — a one-to-two second signature that resolves with a sense of proof confirmed. It plays where the brand signs off: an intro, an outro, a key moment.
LENGTH1–2 seconds SHAPERising → resolve FEELSProof confirmed USESign-off only
E02.1 · THE MNEMONIC
One to two seconds.
The signature is short enough to play before a video or after an interaction without wearing out. A tight, memorable phrase — the kind you could hum — is the goal, not a melody.
LENGTH1–2 s
MEMORABLEHummable
PHRASENot a melody
WEARSNever out
E02.2 · THE RESOLVE
Ends on certainty.
The phrase rises and settles onto a clear resolving tone — the sound of something verified, confirmed, settled. That resolution is the sonic equivalent of the proof seal in the visual system.
SHAPERise → settle
RESOLVEClear tone
MEANSConfirmed
ECHOESProof seal
E02.3 · TONE
Warm, not synthetic.
The palette is warm and slightly organic rather than cold and digital — matching the paper-and-ink, human side of the brand. It should feel trustworthy, not like a sci-fi interface.
PALETTEWarm · organic
NOTCold digital
MATCHESPaper & ink
FEELSTrustworthy
E02.4 · USAGE
Where the brand signs.
The audio logo plays at sign-off moments — a video intro or outro, app launch, a completed key flow — never repeatedly within a session. Like the visual mark, it signs once.
VIDEOIntro · outro
APPLaunch
FLOWCompletion
ONCEPer session
DON'T
×
Don't make it long — One to two seconds.
×
Don't play it repeatedly — It signs once, like the mark.
×
Don't go cold and synthetic — Warm and human.
×
Don't skip the resolve — End on confirmed certainty.
“The audio logo is the proof seal you can hear.”
04E03 UI sound set PLANNED
Beyond the signature, a tiny set of UI sounds marks the moments that benefit from audio — a tap, a success, an error, a notification. Each is short, soft, and built from the same sonic palette.
TAPSoft tick SUCCESSWarm rise ERRORGentle low NOTIFYBrief chime
E03.1 · THE SET
Five, at most.
Tap, success, error, notify, send/receive — a small family covers the genuinely useful cases. Each shares timbre with the audio logo so the whole system sounds like one instrument.
CUESTap · success · error
ALSONotify · send/receive
SHAREDTimbre
ONEInstrument
E03.2 · SHORT & SOFT
Barely there.
UI sounds are very short — well under half a second — and soft, sitting beneath conversation level. They register without demanding; you feel them more than you notice them.
LENGTH< 0.5 s
LEVELSoft
REGISTERWithout demand
FELTMore than heard
E03.3 · SUCCESS VS ERROR
Up good, down bad.
Success cues rise warmly; error cues settle to a gentle low tone — never a harsh buzz. Even the error should feel like a calm "not yet", in keeping with the brand's composure.
SUCCESSWarm rise
ERRORGentle low
NEVERHarsh buzz
TONECalm
E03.4 · CONSISTENCY
Same event, same sound.
A success always sounds like success across the product, so users learn the cues. The set is fixed and shared; teams pick from it rather than commissioning new sounds per feature.
SAMEEvent = sound
LEARNThe cues
FIXEDShared set
PICKNot commission
DON'T
×
Don't exceed a handful — Five cues at most.
×
Don't make them loud — Beneath conversation level.
×
Don't buzz on error — A gentle low, not a harsh tone.
×
Don't vary per feature — Same event, same sound.
“The best UI sounds are felt more than they are noticed.”
04E04 Voice WIP
When the brand has a literal voice — a readout, a video narrator, a synthesised assistant — it needs rules too. It starts with one fact everyone gets wrong: how to say the name.
NAMELocked pronunciation PACEUnhurried TONEWarm · clear TTSDefined voice
E04.1 · PRONUNCIATION
Say it "W-C-N".
The name is spoken as three letters — never as a word, never "win". This pronunciation is locked across narration, support, video and any text-to-speech, with a phonetic guide for every voice actor.
SAYW · C · N
NEVER"win"
LOCKEDEverywhere
GUIDEPhonetic
E04.2 · PACE
Unhurried, certain.
The brand voice speaks at a measured pace with room to breathe — confident enough not to rush. Speed reads as nerves; the calm pace matches the editorial calm of the visual system.
PACEMeasured
BREATHRoom for it
RUSHReads as nerves
MATCHESEditorial calm
E04.3 · WARMTH
Human, not corporate.
The tone is warm and plain-spoken — a knowledgeable person explaining, not a corporation announcing. It avoids hype words and jargon, the same way the written voice does.
TONEWarm · plain
LIKEA person
AVOIDHype · jargon
MATCHESWritten voice
E04.4 · TTS & READOUT
Pick the voice.
Where speech is synthesised, a specific TTS voice and settings are chosen and documented, so the assistant sounds the same everywhere. Pronunciation overrides handle the name and key terms.
TTSChosen voice
SETTINGSDocumented
SAMEEverywhere
OVERRIDESName · terms
DON'T
×
Don't say "win" — It is "W-C-N", three letters.
×
Don't rush narration — Measured and certain.
×
Don't sound corporate — Warm and plain-spoken.
×
Don't leave TTS undefined — Pick and document the voice.
“The brand is spelled out, never slurred into a word.”
04E05 Environment PLANNED
Beyond the interface, the brand makes sound in shared spaces — a livestream waiting screen, an event sting, a podcast intro. This is the brand’s ambient voice, set so it never overstays its welcome.
BEDSLoading · waiting STINGSEvent moments PODCASTIntro · outro RULELoop-safe · low
E05.1 · AMBIENT BEDS
For the waiting screen.
A quiet ambient bed can fill a livestream pre-roll or a loading lobby — atmospheric, loopable, and low enough to talk over. It sets a mood without becoming music anyone has to listen to.
USEPre-roll · lobby
LOOPSeamless
LEVELTalk-over low
MOODNot a track
E05.2 · STINGS
Mark the moment.
Short stings punctuate event moments — a segment change, a milestone, a reveal. They're built from the audio-logo palette so even a live broadcast sounds unmistakably WCN.
STINGShort punctuation
USESegments · reveals
PALETTEAudio-logo
SOUNDSLike WCN
E05.3 · PODCAST
Intro and outro.
A consistent intro and outro frame any WCN podcast or audio series, with the audio logo as the bookend. Episode to episode, the framing stays identical so the show is instantly recognised.
INTROConsistent
OUTROBookend
LOGOAt the ends
IDENTICALEvery episode
E05.4 · RESPECT THE ROOM
Never overstay.
Environmental sound fades out rather than cutting, stays under spoken content, and ends the moment its purpose is served. It is a host's background music, not the main event.
FADEOut, not cut
UNDERSpeech
ENDSWhen done
ROLEBackground
DON'T
×
Don't loop loudly — Stay under conversation.
×
Don't cut abruptly — Fade beds out.
×
Don't vary the intro — Keep podcast framing identical.
×
Don't compete with speech — Sound sits beneath voices.
“Environmental sound is a good host’s background music — present, never demanding.”
04E06 Governance WIP
Because sound touches accessibility and attention so directly, it needs governance — captions for every cue, loudness norms, and a mute-first respect that puts the user in control.
CAPTIONSEvery cue LOUDNESSLUFS norms MUTERespected CONTROLAlways user’s
E06.1 · CAPTIONS
Every sound, written.
Every meaningful sound has a text equivalent — captions on video, visible cues for UI sounds. Audio is always an enhancement layered on top of a fully captioned, fully visual base.
VIDEOCaptioned
UIVisible cue
BASEFully visual
AUDIOEnhancement
E06.2 · LOUDNESS
Normed, not jarring.
All brand audio is mastered to consistent loudness targets (LUFS) so nothing is suddenly loud. A sting never jumps out over a quiet bed; the experience is level and predictable.
TARGETLUFS norms
CONSISTENTAcross assets
NOSudden loud
LEVELPredictable
E06.3 · MUTE-FIRST
The user is in control.
Mute is always one obvious tap away and is remembered. Honouring the system's silent mode, never overriding a user's choice to be quiet — control over sound belongs entirely to the user.
MUTEOne tap
REMEMBEREDYes
SILENT MODEHonoured
CONTROLUser’s
E06.4 · OWNERSHIP
One owner, one library.
A single owner curates the sound library, approves new cues against the principles, and keeps the licensed-audio paperwork in order — the same governance rigour as the rest of the system.
OWNERCurates library
APPROVESNew cues
LICENCEDocumented
RIGOURSystem-wide
DON'T
×
Don't ship uncaptioned audio — Every cue has a text form.
×
Don't skip loudness norms — Master to consistent LUFS.
×
Don't bury mute — One obvious, remembered tap.
×
Don't override silent mode — Honour the user's choice.
“Sound touches accessibility directly — control over it must always be the user’s.”
Earliest cluster
The voice we haven’t built yet.
Sonic identity is the youngest part of the system — voice and governance are drafting, the rest is scoped. Defined here so sound joins the brand deliberately, never as an afterthought.
WCN Sonic Identity Map · 6 topics · E01–E06
04 · MOTION · E · v1.0