---
id: "3.11"
title: "Character usage, Buzz"
dept: design
status: draft
owner: Param
branded: true
direction: bee
last_verified: 2026-10-26
sources:
  - "brand-directions/bee/kit-skin.js"
  - "brand-directions/bee/system.md"
  - "brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json"
  - "brand-directions/_shared/product-model.md:129-142, 207"
  - "brand-directions/_shared/kit-contract.md:19-27"
  - "brand-directions/_shared/ia.md:83-131"
  - "brand-directions/_shared/no-ai-look.md:7-18, 52-58"
  - "brand-directions/_kit/render.js:47-54"
  - "brand-directions/_kit/screens.js:83-536"
  - "brand-directions/BRIEF.md:241-276"
  - "brand-directions/_shared/surface-map.md:463, 473, 475"
  - "memory: brand-directions-2026-10-25, brew-sounds"
---

# Character usage, Buzz

## Answer

Buzz, a round, busy, pollen yellow bee doing a whole hive's worth of work, is Brew's one character in this direction, and it lives only in seven fixed slots, narrating the week around the brand's work and never sitting on a control, a card or a brand photo.

## Today

Checked 26 October 2026.

| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| The live product has no character. It shows five agent faces and colours, which go; only the area dots stay | [src: brand-directions/_shared/surface-map.md:463] |
| Logo stickers sit in the feed today and go from view | [src: brand-directions/_shared/surface-map.md:475] |
| The live app plays sound unless switched off, with 8 synthesized and 29 recorded cues | [src: brand-directions/_shared/surface-map.md:473] |
| Five directions are in audition; Param picks one and everything is redone around it | [src: memory brand-directions-2026-10-25] |
| Buzz's art: every frame is drawn as vector from one rig, bee/_src/rig/buzz.py, by poses.py; no image generation is used | [src: brand-directions/bee/system.md:93-115] |
| Owned colour pollen yellow #ffd60a with two black stripes, ink #17130a and wings #fff6d6; matte, no other colour on Buzz | [src: brand-directions/bee/system.md:93-115] |
| Anatomy that never changes. One round ball body with the face at the front, two stripes toward the tail, the left feeler always kinked, one honey pollen ball on the back leg, a soft round tail nub and never a sting. | [src: brand-directions/bee/system.md:93-115] |
| Signature. The waggle dance: the body wags along a straight run with the dotted figure eight behind it, and one arm points at the best pick. | [src: brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json] |
| Illustration treatment, books and marketing only: the honeycomb print: the honey plate printed 9 px right and 8 px down behind the body, a comb of 22 px hex cells and the dotted waggle trail | [src: brand-directions/bee/system.md:33-36] |
| The kit gives Buzz these poses: corner bee/char-mark.svg, idle bee/char.svg, wait bee/svg/pose-reading.svg, celebrate bee/svg/pose-celebrate.svg, error bee/svg/pose-error.svg, empty bee/svg/pose-empty.svg, caught bee/svg/pose-caught.svg, handoff bee/svg/pose-handoff.svg, drop bee/svg/pose-drop.svg, heart bee/svg/pose-heart.svg, read bee/svg/pose-reading.svg, paste bee/svg/pose-paste.svg, make bee/svg/pose-make.svg | [src: brand-directions/bee/kit-skin.js:20-34] |
| Below 120 px the kit swaps any pose for the small mark, bee/char-mark.svg, the ball, two stripes, the kinked feeler, one wing and two eyes; bee/char-mark-16.svg below 20 px | [src: brand-directions/_kit/render.js:52-54] |
| No raw generated image may appear; every character image is a flat traced SVG in the direction's palette | [src: brand-directions/_shared/no-ai-look.md:52-58] |

## Tomorrow

Buzz arrives in v1 as an add on layer behind its own off switch. Remove it and every control still works. [src: brand-directions/_shared/product-model.md:131, 152] v1, New.

### The slots

| Slot | Model size | Kit size | Pose | File drawn | Screens | Words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today header corner | 40 to 56 px | 44 px phone, 56 px laptop | corner | bee/char-mark.svg | t1, d1 | "Monday. Five best blooms for your store, drafted." on Monday, "Morning. Wings warm, picks waiting." other days |
| Sign in corner | small corner | 48 px | corner | bee/char-mark.svg | f2 | "Your work email keeps your store with your own team." |
| Reading your store | 120 to 180 px | 140 px | wait | bee/svg/pose-reading.svg | f4 | "Buzzing round your store. About 3 to 4 minutes." |
| The reveal | 160 px | 160 px | celebrate | bee/svg/pose-celebrate.svg | f7 | "Found this one first. Follow my dance." |
| Empty states | 96 px | 96 px | empty | bee/char-mark.svg | w2, f6 | "Nothing in the hive yet. Pick a bloom to start." |
| Celebrations | 120 px | 120 px | celebrate or caught | bee/svg/pose-celebrate.svg; caught up bee/svg/pose-caught.svg | h2, t5 | "The hive is humming. That is the week." |
| A heart | celebration, small | 40 px in the toast | celebrate | bee/char-mark.svg | t6 | "You danced for that one. More like it, coming up." |
| Errors and cap reached | 96 px | 96 px; 56 px inside Make it | error | bee/char-mark.svg | f3, f5, m5, x1 | "Bumped the window. Earlier versions are safe. Try again." |
| Long waits | wait pose | 64 px making, 96 px offline | wait | bee/char-mark.svg | m2, x2 | "Making honey. You can leave, I will keep it." |
| Your store header | idle | 56 px | idle | bee/char-mark.svg | y1 | "What customers, rivals and AI answers say about your store." |
| Brief page sign off | 32 px | 32 px | corner | bee/char-mark.svg | h3 | "Drafted by Buzz. Over to you." |
| Monday email sign off | small | 28 px | corner | bee/char-mark.svg | e1 | "Morning. Five picks for your store, drafted and waiting." |

Buzz appears in 18 of the 45 screens. [src: brand-directions/_shared/ia.md:131] [src: brand-directions/_kit/screens.js:83-536] [src: brand-directions/bee/kit-skin.js:47-89]

### Never

- On buttons, inside the thing being made, on tables of numbers, in Need your yes decisions, over a brand's own photos. [src: brand-directions/_shared/product-model.md:142]
- On a card. Cards belong to the brand; Buzz speaks around them. [src: brand-directions/_shared/product-model.md:207]
- As a second character. No swarm, no queen, no other bees. The whole hive is a joke Buzz tells about itself, never a drawing.
- In money, privacy, apologies or anything a person must sign.

### How Buzz behaves

- Errors are a bump on a window pane: small, silly and Buzz's fault. Never a sting, never a threat.
- On dark screens Buzz sits on a pale sun disc, #fff1b8, padded by 14 percent of the slot, so the ink limbs stay visible.
- One motion at a time in the product, at real moments only, all inside the reduced motion check.
- Voice: Fact first, buzz second. One joke per line at most. Quick, bright and warm. Short words, short clauses. It talks like someone mid flight who still lands on the right word. Buzz speaks in the first person about itself and the second person to you.

| Pose | Motion in the product |
|---|---|
| idle | hover, 2.4 s loop |
| wait | slow hover, 3.2 s loop |
| drop | waggle, 1.1 s, twice |
| celebrate | loop, 0.9 s, once |
| error | bump, 1.6 s, once |

[src: brand-directions/bee/kit-skin.js:35-46]

### Lines Buzz may say and never says

| May say | Never says |
|---|---|
| Best blooms. Five picks, drafted, still warm. | I posted it for you. |
| Buzzing round your store. About 3 to 4 minutes. | Scheduled for 9am. |
| You danced for that one. More like it, coming up. | Your sales went up after my picks. |
| Fresh batch. The old one is still in the jar. | You missed a week. |
| Brief copied. Pass the pollen, your team takes it from here. | Don't break your streak. |
| Your nod. This one needs your yes. | Only two hours left to claim your read. |
| The hive is humming. New picks Monday. | Works for any store. |
| Oops, I bumped the window. Your work is safe. Try again. | Your rival is stinging you. |
| The hive is full this week. Reads are capped while we build v0. Ask us for one. | Trust me. |
| I'm not sure of this number. Confirm it before you use it. | Buzz off. |

[src: brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json]

### Areas as props

| Area | Buzz's prop |
|---|---|
| Social posts | a little camera |
| Ads | a trumpet flower |
| Website | a shop awning |
| AI search | a speech bubble |
| Email and WhatsApp | an envelope |

Buzz's own props are the honey jar for making, the magnifier for reading and the idea card for every pick. Files: bee/svg/pose-mode-social.svg, pose-mode-ads.svg, pose-mode-website.svg, pose-mode-ai.svg, pose-mode-email.svg. Props show in marketing, the reveal and celebrations; in the product the area is a small dot and a word. [src: brand-directions/bee/system.md:79]

### Growing with the product

| Version | What Buzz gains | File | Tag |
|---|---|---|---|
| v1 | the slots above, as adviser | bee/char.svg | New |
| v2 | a stamp and a clock | bee/svg/pose-grow-doer.svg | New |
| v3 | a scorecard | bee/svg/pose-grow-reporter.svg | New |
| v4 | running within rules: no prop defined yet | not drawn | New |

New abilities arrive as new props or poses, never a new character. [src: brand-directions/BRIEF.md:241-249]

### Sound

Six cues, off on a first visit, one switch in Settings: logo bee/snd/logo.mp3, heart bee/snd/cue-heart.mp3, ready bee/snd/cue-ready.mp3, handoff bee/snd/cue-handoff.mp3, error bee/snd/cue-error.mp3, caught bee/snd/cue-caught.mp3. The longer line files are for books, the site and marketing and never play in the product. [src: brand-directions/bee/kit-skin.js:91-94]

## How we do it

1. Need a new moment? Add the prop, pose or line to brand-directions/bee/system.md first.
2. Draw it from the one source: every frame is drawn as vector from one rig, bee/_src/rig/buzz.py, by poses.py; no image generation is used. Never redraw the body by hand, never use a raw generated image.
3. Add the file to the art key in brand-directions/bee/kit-skin.js and any words to the words key, 12 words at most.
4. Place it only in a named slot from the table above, at its size.
5. Check it at the slot size; under 120 px it must read as the small mark.
6. Switch the character layer off and check the screen still works.
7. Turn on reduced motion and check Buzz holds still.

## Numbers

| Number | Definition | Today | Where measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screens with Buzz | of 45 kit screens | 18 | _kit/screens.js | Measured |
| Slots | named places Buzz may sit | 7 in the model, 12 placements in the kit | product model, kit | Measured |
| Buzz over a control | instances where Buzz covers a control | not measured | headless audit with the layer on and off | Proposed |
| Character switch off rate | share of people who turn the layer off | not measured | product event | Proposed |

## Open

1. Buzz's light focus colour is #8a6a00 at 4.7 to 1 on the page, the lowest of the five. Keep it? Proposal: Keep it; it passes the 3 to 1 a focus ring needs.
2. The sun disc is drawn only in dark. Does Buzz need it in light? Proposal: No, the ink limbs read on the light page.
3. The model puts the first heart in a 120 px celebration; the kit draws it at 40 px inside the toast. Which? Proposal: The first heart at 120 px once, later hearts in the toast.
4. Should the character layer start on or off for a new brand? Proposal: On, with sound off, since the slots never block a control.