Brand guidelines

Meet Noodle

Ask Noodle is safe AI for children aged 6 to 15, with grown-ups in the Kitchen. This page is how it looks and sounds: the character, the colours, the type and the pictures, all drawn flat, in one kitchen-table world.

Noodle, a cheerful yellow noodle, waving from a steaming teal bowl with chopsticks
The character

One noodle, one bowl, one face

Noodle is a single yellow noodle rising out of a full teal bowl of noodles. Every Noodle, in the app and on this site, is drawn by the same code, so Noodle looks the same on a phone, a poster or an email, and can move: arms wave, Zzz float up, confetti twinkles.

  • A round head, two dot eyes and a simple smile. No nose, ears, hair or teeth.
  • The bowl is always full of noodles, plain teal with a darker rim.
  • A wave or a cheer is a thinner strand lifting like an arm.
  • Noodle is "it": cheerful, curious and kind. A child's own Noodle in My Noodle takes the pronoun they give it. Tangled means puzzled, never hurt.
In the app

Noodle's moments

The screens children see most. Each one is gentle: even "no" is a puzzle for a grown-up, not a telling-off.

Noodle tangled in a loose knot, thinkingTangleA question Noodle can't answer. Ask a grown-up.
Noodle asleep under a teal lid with a moonLid's onQuiet hours, set in the Kitchen.
Noodle resting an arm on the rim of its bowl, with the sun peeping out behindBowl's emptyToday's questions are used up. More tomorrow.
Noodle cheering with confettiIn the clubA new device has joined the family.
Noodle checking a map, a little lostLostA page that doesn't exist.
Colour

Kitchen colours

Flat, warm and few. Yellow and teal carry the brand; tomato is for the one thing that should shout. Nothing glows.

Sunshine#FFD54AWebsite background, Join buttons
Noodle#F5B800Noodle, highlights
Bowl teal#0F5C63The bowl, buttons, links
Tomato#E4572EApp icon, the colander. Text: #C4421D
Paper#FFF3E6Pages, plates behind Noodle
Leaf#4C9A5BPlants, ticks, small accents
Ink#1F2433Text, Noodle's face

Yellow Noodle on yellow disappears. On yellow or teal, sit Noodle on a paper plate; the app icon uses tomato for the same reason.

Type

Three voices on the page, and a wordmark

Headings · Bricolage Grotesque ExtraBoldJoin the clubTight, chunky and friendly. Headlines and big numbers only.
Everything else · Nunito BoldWhat do highland cows like to eat?Rounded and easy for young readers. Body text never lighter than 600.
Notes · Gochi HandDo fish sleep?Handwritten notes and labels, like a felt-tip. A few words at a time, never paragraphs.
Wordmark · Bagel Fat OneAskNoodleThe word Noodle on the teal sticker, and nothing else. A handwritten word sits above it: Ask, or once on the website, Use your, Learn with, Talk to and Join.
Icon

On a home screen

The app icon is Noodle waving on tomato, so it can be spotted among other apps. Browser tabs use the simpler mark.

The app icon: Noodle waving from its bowl on a tomato-red square
App icon
60px
Ask Noodle
Browser tab
Illustration

Everything happens at the kitchen table

Flat shapes in solid colour: no texture, no grain and no outlines. Crockery, paper, pencils and tea stand in for what the product does, so nobody would guess at a glance that it's AI.

A kitchen table with Noodle in a steaming bowl, pencils, toast, a dinosaur drawing and taped notesThe kitchen tableHome: where questions happen
Noodle in a red colander full of noodles, with water dripping into a bowl belowThe colanderEvery question and answer checked
A recipe card of house rules with Noodle on a wooden spoonThe recipe cardHouse rules for each child
Noodle writing a fractions sum in an exercise bookThe exercise bookHomework help that teaches
A mug of tea beside a folded note with a heartThe mug and the noteGrown-ups hear when it matters
Three bowls of noodles on a bench under a smiling sunThree bowlsQuestions refill every morning
A scrapbook of children's drawings, glasses, tea and NoodleThe grown-ups' tableThe Kitchen, the parent dashboard
Bowls on a classroom shelf, each with a Noodle in a coloured scarfThe class shelfSchools and clubs
Noodle waving from a steaming bowl with chopsticksNoodle, helloIntroductions, sign-up, emails

Do and don't

Do
  • Keep Noodle in a full teal bowl, with the same face every time.
  • Use flat, solid colour: the kitchen colours first, and a few brighter ones for props.
  • Show everyday things: tea, pencils, paper, wooden tables.
  • Put Noodle on a paper plate when the background is yellow or teal.
  • Leave calm space for words beside the picture.
  • Write Internet and Noodle with a capital letter. Noodle the character and the brand, and "Use your Noodle", always; a bowl of noodles and noodling about stay lower case.
Don't
  • Make Noodle look like tech: no screens on Noodle, no circuits, no glow that means "AI". A toy robot on the table or a twinkle of fun is fine.
  • Make Noodle sad, hurt, scary or told off, even when tangled.
  • Add texture, grain, gloss or 3D. A thin edge is only for paper or glass.
  • Put words inside the pictures. Text lives in the page; a question mark or a Zzz is part of the picture.
  • Redraw, stretch or recolour Noodle by hand. Every Noodle is drawn by the same code, so change it there or not at all.
Voice

How Noodle talks

British English, plain words and short sentences. To children, warm and a little silly. To grown-ups, clear and calm, with nothing cute standing in for a fact.

That's a tricky one. Let's ask a grown-up.A tangle: kind, never "blocked" or "not allowed"
Your bowl's empty for today!To a child: the bowl, not a quota
Chats are deleted 30 days after they were last used.To a parent: the real rule, every time
Use your Noodle.The brand line, for the site and posters. Never to a child as a correction