---
id: "4.4"
title: "The five directions, Ocho"
dept: brand
status: draft
owner: Param
branded: true
direction: octopus
last_verified: '2026-10-26'
sources:
  - "brand-directions/book/content/f.js:33-295 f-1 meet, instant, week, side-by-side, how-to-choose, after"
  - "brand-directions/book/content/f2.js:526-628 f-9 naming"
  - "brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json, all five entries"
  - "brand-directions/octopus/review.md, round 3, 25 October"
  - "brand-directions/octopus/brand.html b1, b2"
  - "brand-directions/octopus/system.md s0"
  - "brand-directions/raccoon/review.md, brand-directions/cooker/review.md"
  - "brand-directions/BRIEF.md sections 3.8 and 4"
  - "memory brand-directions-2026-10-25"
---

# The five directions, Ocho

## Answer

The five characters side by side, read from Ocho's corner: what each one is, owns and gives up, how the critics scored them, and why Ocho is the pick when the Monday feeling you want is that is me on a Monday, and it is handled.

## Today

### The audition
- Five characters audition for one product: Fetch the dog, Buzz the bee, Scoop the raccoon, Ocho the octopus, Seeti the cooker. Hush the ghost and Margo the cat were archived on 25 October. [src: memory brand-directions-2026-10-25; brand-directions/book/content/f.js:291]
- Nothing is picked yet: config.json holds an empty liveDirections list. [src: handbook/config.json]
- Every character sells the same plain promise: paste your store link, get this week's marketing ideas already drafted, pick the good ones and hand them off. [src: brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json identity line 3 in every entry]

### The cast at a glance
| | Fetch | Buzz | Scoop | Ocho | Seeti | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Scruffy, happy dog | Round, busy bee | Nosy raccoon | Overcommitted octopus | Indian pressure cooker | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:58] |
| Owned colour | Tennis ball green #aee32f | Pollen yellow #ffd60a | Tangerine #ff7a1a | Hot pink #ff4fa3 | Chilli red #ff3d2e | [src: brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json tokens.dark.hero] |
| Tagline | This week's ideas, fetched | The whole hive, one bee | Everything everyone says about your store | Eight arms on your marketing | This week's marketing, ready in a few whistles | [src: brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json tagline] |
| Five words | Scruffy dog fetches marketing ideas | Busy bee drafts my marketing | Nosy raccoon who brings gossip | Frantic pink octopus drafts everything | Bossy cooker that whistles ideas | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:61] |
| Edge | Over eager, brings back a bit too much | Overbusy and proud of it | Gossipy, never mean | Frantic, says yes to everything | Bossy, dramatic, impatient head cook | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:62] |
| Running joke | Sneaks its ball into the picks | The pollen count | The tally runs onto its tail | The coffee count, then it climbs into the mug | Nobody lifts the lid until Friday | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:63] |
| Sonic logo | Two toy squeaks, a ruff, a ball bouncing | A buzz up onto two marimba notes | A paper rustle, a two note gasp | A suction cup letting go, a pop, bubbles | Three rising whistle toots | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:64] |
| World | The yard | A garden and a hive | A gossip column, a little noir | A desk at the bottom of the sea | A home kitchen at dinner time | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:185] |
| Display and body type | Grandstander, Commissioner | Shrikhand, Parkinsans | Gloock, Schibsted Grotesk | DynaPuff, Archivo | Bakbak One, Anek Latin | [src: brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json display, body] |
| Caught up word | Nap time | The hive is humming | All dished out | Arms free | Kitchen's clean | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:189] |
| Hand it off word | Drop it | Pass the pollen | Pass the note | Free an arm | Order ticket | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:190] |

### What each wins and gives up
| | Why it wins | What it gives up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fetch | Throw, bring back, throw again. Warm without lecturing | Novelty and sharpness. A generic friendly dog was turned down before | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:195,110] |
| Buzz | The waggle dance is the ranked feed, the mark reads at 16 pixels | Novelty. Some people flinch at bees | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:196] |
| Scoop | Makes the read, the real edge, the best moment | Can read as a bin thief, gossip can tip into mean | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:197] |
| Ocho | Names the real feeling of eight jobs at once. The five areas become arms you can see. Progress is drawn on the body | Calm, gravitas, drawing cost. Busy arms could imply it posts | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:198; brand-directions/octopus/brand.html b2] |
| Seeti | The product already is a kitchen, the whistle is a native progress bar | Cuddliness. The whistle needs one sentence outside India | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:199] |

### Critic scores so far
| | Bar score | Octalysis fit | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seeti | 11 of 11 | 8 of 10 | 25 October, round 3 | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:208; brand-directions/cooker/review.md] |
| Ocho | 10.5 of 11 | 7 of 10 | 25 October, round 3 | [src: brand-directions/octopus/review.md line 5] |
| Scoop | 9.5 of 11 | 6 of 10 | 25 October, round 3 | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:210; brand-directions/raccoon/review.md] |
| Fetch | Not scored | Not scored | Built after round 3 | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:211] |
| Buzz | Not scored | Not scored | Built after round 3 | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:212] |

- Ocho's craft scores in that round: story 7, fun 7, art 6, human 6, product 8, with no blockers and three majors, all about the art. [src: brand-directions/octopus/review.md line 5 and Majors]
- The scores came before the art pass that redrew Ocho as vector from one rig, so the art scores are stale. [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:214]
- None of the five founder tests has been run yet. [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:116]

### The one risk and open question each
| | Risk | Open question | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fetch | A happy dog can read as uncritical | Is it sharp enough after a generic dog was turned down | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:234] |
| Buzz | Bees are familiar, some flinch | Is Buzz the final name, given Bumble is taken | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:235] |
| Scoop | A cute raccoon is a familiar picture | Is gossip the right frame | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:236] |
| Ocho | Busy arms can suggest the product posts | Is Ocho the final name | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:237] |
| Seeti | Steel and one red can look like a utility brand | A few whistles or three whistles | [src: brand-directions/book/content/f.js:238] |

### The case for Ocho
- A founder who is also the marketing team does eight jobs at once. An octopus with its arms full is that week, drawn. [src: brand-directions/octopus/brand.html b2]
- The areas are literal: paintbrush for social posts, megaphone for ads, shopping bag for website, phone for AI search, scroll for email and WhatsApp. [src: brand-directions/octopus/system.md s2]
- The weekly loop is drawn on the body: arms full Monday, one arm freed per hand off, arms free Friday, with no number about sales. [src: brand-directions/octopus/brand.html b2]
- Pink is free: none of the five agent colours is pink. [src: brand-directions/octopus/brand.html b2; brand-directions/BRIEF.md section 2]
- It grows by what the arms hold, never by a costume change. [src: brand-directions/octopus/character.html c10]
- The founder test is one line: show the cover for three seconds, and it worked if they say that's me on a Monday. [src: brand-directions/octopus/brand.html b2]

## Tomorrow

If Ocho is picked:
- v1 New: the product name is chosen first and fills every wordmark slot beside Ocho's small mark. See [Naming](/brand/naming).
- v1 Changes: liveDirections in config.json becomes octopus, and the other four versions of every branded document are archived.
- v1 Changes: one illustrator redraws the rig, the small mark and every pose, checked at 24 pixels, before the 45 screens are skinned.
- v1 New: every screen takes the octopus kit skin, all copy around the buttons is rewritten from Ocho's system file, and the voice, sonic logo and five cues are recorded and levelled.
- v1 Stays: the shipping order is Restyle, then Recompose, then Add on, and nothing changes the core.
- v1 Goes: Fetch, Buzz, Scoop and Seeti stop changing and stay only as history. Nothing from them appears in the product, the site or marketing.
- v2 New: the arms may hold the clock and the approve stamp once posting and scheduling ship after a yes.
- v3 New: the scorecard and magnifier arrive with How it went.
- v4 New: an arm acts within the brand's rules with undo, and the frantic edge still never implies more than the product does.

## How we do it

1. Each decider answers alone: what should a founder feel on Monday morning. If that is me on a Monday, and it is handled, lean Ocho.
2. Compare answers. Three or more matching is the front runner.
3. Read Ocho's seven moment lines and one other character's aloud, and ask whether a busy founder smiles at them every Monday.
4. Run the five free tests with at least five founders: ten second, blind sound, icon at 24 pixels, bad day, team.
5. Settle Ocho's open question, the final name, then pick and log it in the decisions log.
6. After the pick, run the nine step redo in book f-1: settle questions, lock the character, fill the name, skin the screens, rewrite copy, record sound, build play, ship in order, start marketing.

## Numbers

| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bar score | Points of 11 from a fresh critic | Each direction's review.md | Ocho 10.5 on 25 October, stale after the redraw |
| Octalysis fit | Score of 10 for the game layer fit | Each direction's review.md | Ocho 7 on 25 October |
| Ten second match | Founders out of five who name the octopus and the job after ten seconds | The ten second test | Proposed, not run |
| Blind sound match | Founders who pick Ocho's sonic logo as your week is ready, with no picture | The blind sound test | Proposed, not run |

## Open

1. Should Fetch and Buzz be scored by a fresh critic before the pick, so all five compare on the same bar? Proposal: yes, one critic round for all five on the redrawn art, then pick.
2. Is Ocho the final name if it is picked? Proposal: keep Ocho, Spanish for eight, and run the trademark check with the product name.
3. Will you run the five founder tests before choosing? Proposal: yes, with five design partner founders in one week, results logged in the decisions log.