Congressional Record

A concert on Capitol Hill, designed to look like it had always existed.

Congressional Record brings members of Congress on stage to play music, alongside professional musicians, in a bipartisan evening that makes the case for arts education and the federal funding behind it. The Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, Roll Call, and the Recording Academy convene it, with Americans for the Arts and the congressional Musicians and Arts Caucuses. The event came to Workhorse with its own name mark and a twelve-inch record, both drawn from the look of the historical Congressional Record. Workhorse kept the mark, cut a modernized version of the record, and built the rest: the dated label that advances each edition, the invitations, the program, the venue signage, the broadcast titles, the photo coverage, and the brand kit that lives on the live site.

A concert that needed to look like an institution.

A concert that needed to look like an institution.

A bipartisan evening on Capitol Hill where members of Congress perform for arts education. It came to Workhorse with a name, a mark, and a record already in hand. The job was to keep them and make them hold, edition after edition, so the event reads like it had always been on the calendar.

Members of Congress on stage with professional musicians, in a bipartisan evening that argues for arts education and the federal funding behind it. The Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, Roll Call, and the Recording Academy convene it, timed to the week the music industry comes to Washington to make the case.

01Record
The object
est. 2024 · washington, dc
01 / 0412-inch · GoldCongressional Record, Gold pressing
one master · four pressings

The record is
the brand.

It came with the event, drawn from the historical Congressional Record. Workhorse cut a new master and pressed it four ways.

Brought to the project

Brought to the project

Sep 17, 2024

Re-cut by Workhorse

Re-cut by Workhorse

New master

The dated seal
fixed field · variable date
fig. 01edition 2024Congressional Record 2024 edition seal
dateSep 17, 2024
Full seal

The label becomes
a calendar.

Lift the engraved Capitol off the record and it works flat, as a seal. The field holds. Workhorse made the date the only variable, so each edition re-cuts from one master, like the Congressional Baseball Game.

What holds
Engraved CapitolMasthead wordmarkNavy + red ringCircular field
What changes
The date
02System

Design System

A newspaper mark, modernized and built into a system.

The client brought the name set as a masthead, drawn from the historical Congressional Record, along with a twelve-inch record. Workhorse modernized the pressing, kept the Capitol engraved on its label, and made that label a dated seal that advances each edition. The palette stays narrow so the record carries the color, and the same pieces hold a bipartisan Capitol evening together year to year.

2024First edition
2026Second edition
6Convening partners
5Named colors
01Color System

Color Palette

Navy

Primary ink. The name mark, label type, the engraved field.
Hex#1f2d61
RGB31 · 45 · 97
HSL227° · 52% · 25%
CMYK68 · 54 · 0 · 62
1.6:113.1:1

Red

Accent. Label ring, invitation rules, broadcast titles.
Hex#bb1e40
RGB187 · 30 · 64
HSL347° · 72% · 43%
CMYK0 · 84 · 66 · 27
3.4:16.2:1

Gold

The record at its richest. Covers, seals, key placements.
Hex#c5a55a
RGB197 · 165 · 90
HSL42° · 48% · 56%
CMYK0 · 16 · 54 · 23
8.9:12.4:1

Cream

Background. Paper stock, page ground, on-screen base.
Hex#f5f0e8
RGB245 · 240 · 232
HSL37° · 39% · 94%
CMYK0 · 2 · 5 · 4
18.5:11.1:1

White

Reverse for navy applications.
Hex#ffffff
RGB255 · 255 · 255
HSL0° · 0% · 100%
CMYK0 · 0 · 0 · 0
21.0:11.0:1

Contrast Pairings

How the palette colors perform together: text on surface combinations ranked by contrast ratio.

Aa

Navy

on White13.1:1

Aa

White

on Navy13.1:1

Aa

Navy

on Cream11.5:1

Aa

Cream

on Navy11.5:1

Aa

Red

on White6.2:1

Aa

White

on Red6.2:1

Aa

Navy

on Gold5.5:1

Aa

Gold

on Navy5.5:1

Aa

Red

on Cream5.5:1

Aa

Cream

on Red5.5:1

Aa

Red

on Gold2.6:1

Aa

Gold

on Red2.6:1
02Typography

Type System

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Prestige Elite · 0123456789 · 400

Cheltenham Condensed

Display (700)
Display

Display. Headlines and section titles.

Franklin Gothic

Body (300–700)
Body

Text, captions, dates and credits. Site title in the narrowest weight.

Prestige Elite

Accent (400)
Accent

Accent only. Dates, ID numbers, ledger lines.

03Logo System

Logos & Combinations

The marks, and where they work.

Every version of the logo as delivered, each one drawn for a specific place the brand appears.

Primary Name Mark01

Primary Name Mark

Full-Color Mark02

Full-Color Mark

First Edition Seal, 202403

First Edition Seal, 2024

Second Edition Seal, 202604

Second Edition Seal, 2026

Edition Seal, Single-Color05

Edition Seal, Single-Color

Arch Mark06

Arch Mark

America 250 Partner Mark07

America 250 Partner Mark

Name Mark, Reverse08

Name Mark, Reverse

2026 Broadcast Title Mark09

2026 Broadcast Title Mark

Edition Seal, Reverse10

Edition Seal, Reverse

The brand book

The guidelines are a page on the live site.

No PDF in a folder. The same theme.json that styles the homepage renders the book. The brand updates, the book updates, the change versions in git.

congressionalrecord.net/brand
Live
Congressional Recordbrand kit · v1.1
01 · Color
1F2D61
BB1E40
C5A55A
F5F0E8
FFFFFF
NavyRedGoldCreamWhite
02 · Type
RecordCheltenham CondensedDisplay
A bipartisan eveningCheltenham ClassicBody serif
Franklin GothicFranklin GothicBody + metadata
EST. 2024 · DCPrestige EliteAccent · ledger
03 · DownloadsWordmark.svgSeal-2026.pngcolors.jsontype-kitrecord.png
theme.json → /brand · one source, every surfaceOpen the live brand book ↗
03Library
The library

Everything filed in one place.

filed on workbench · congressional-record
./VaultCongressional Record
Open library
32 shown · 717 frames archived
ViewGridSheetsList
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cr-2024-015.jpg
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cr-2024-060.jpg
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cr-2024-235.jpg
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photo
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dt-290.jpg
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photo
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invite
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sponsor-stack-2024.jpg
social
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event-screen.jpg
video
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seal
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2026-invite-cover.jpg
invite
2026-letterhead.png
2026-letterhead.png
collateral
2026-cover-wide.jpg
2026-cover-wide.jpg
social
2026-namm-01.jpg
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social
2026-namm-02.jpg
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social
2026-badge.png
2026-badge.png
seal
soundscapes-AL.jpg
soundscapes-AL.jpg
collateral
astromax.jpg
astromax.jpg
collateral
record-gold.png
record-gold.png
record
record-black.png
record-black.png
record
capitol-engraving.jpg
capitol-engraving.jpg
mark
full-color-rgb.svg
full-color-rgb.svg
mark
arch-logo.png
arch-logo.png
mark
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mark
2025-shirt.jpg
2025-shirt.jpg
collateral
2025-sticker.jpg
2025-sticker.jpg
collateral
387 main · 330 deep tracks · tagged by edition + beatr2 · congressional-record

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