Lantern is a documentation generation tool that turns screen recordings into structured, AI-readable knowledge articles. We record what you do, our AI writes the guide and the metadata, and the result is real text-based documentation that an AI support agent (Intercom Fin, Zendesk AI, etc.) can actually consume — instead of the embedded video walkthroughs every competitor in this space ships. Solo founder, product complete, paying customers imminent, pre-launch on marketing. Primary distribution is the Chrome Web Store.

What I need:
A focused deliverable, not a full brand identity:

- Primary logo mark — an icon that works from 16×16 favicon → 128×128 Chrome Web Store icon → 400×400+ hero. Must read instantly at small sizes since the Chrome Web Store listing is icon-first.

- Wordmark — "Lantern" typeset cleanly. Open to your type recommendation, or fit Inter if Inter feels right.

- Lockups — icon + wordmark side-by-side, stacked, icon-only, wordmark-only.

- Source files — Figma + SVG vectors + PNG exports at common sizes + favicon set + Chrome Web Store icon at 128×128.

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What I do NOT need (already done):

- Color system — already defined, primary is oklch(0.57 0.23 265) (a clean modern blue), with light/dark variants implemented across the product.

- Typography pairing — using Inter throughout. Open to a different display type for the wordmark only if you have a strong recommendation.

- Brand guideline document — not needed; I have a separate design kit attached covering colors, type usage, and visual rules.

- Product UI mockups — not in scope.

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Materials I'll send you:
- UI / design kit with the existing color system, type usage, and visual rules

- Live access to the operating application — I'll provision a demo workspace so you can use the product end-to-end. The brand should feel right in motion, not just in screenshots.

- Marketing site at uselantern.io and the docs site at docs.uselantern.io — both live, both reflecting the current visual system. Use them as references.

- Product screenshots also available if you prefer those as a starting point; just ask.

- You're designing a mark + wordmark that fits into this system — not rebuilding the system. The job is "make this feel like it always belonged here."

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Aesthetic direction
The visual aesthetic I'm drawn to is restrained, geometric, modern-SaaS-but-not-soulless. The brands I keep coming back to:

Arcade — bold, confident, owns its color palette without leaning on it.
Linear — confident wordmark, mark that hints at structure without overexplaining.
Obsidian — purple-on-dark identity that feels considered, not loud.
Resend — letterform-as-mark done elegantly.

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What I want to avoid:

Camping-store lanterns (the iconic Coleman silhouette, fishing-trip / REI aesthetic — we're a SaaS, not an outdoors brand)
Gradient-as-the-whole-identity
Faux-3D / glossy / iOS-app-icon styling
Overly playful — we're selling to support teams and ops people, not consumers
Generic "AI startup" tropes (rings, particles, the orb)

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What I'm open to — sophisticated lantern interpretations. Lantern-as-subject is absolutely on the table if you can do something considered with it.

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Strong reference points:

Industrial signal lamps — railroad signal lanterns, marine navigation lights, aviation ground beacons. That mechanical / functional / utilitarian language.
Aperture or iris geometry — the lens / shutter / opening as a structural primitive.
Antique flashlights and hand-lamps — early-20th-century industrial-design simplicity. The kind of object where every shape is doing a job.
Arcade's top-down isometric mark — referenced for the level of executional confidence on a recognizable object, not the specific style. Their iso treatment works because their subject is a button. The lantern is a different object and may want a different treatment: flat profile, side elevation, abstracted geometric primitive, letterform-as-mark, something else. Any direction is welcome as long as the final mark carries comparable authority.

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The metaphor to evoke is illumination / making the dark obvious / guiding — abstracted, but the lantern itself can be the form if the form is good.