The CIGAER Hexagon · August 2026

The CIGAER
Hexagon

Six pillars, one mark, and the rules for using both.

Why the hexagon exists

CIGAER is an acronym, not a coined word. Six letters, six pillars, six sides. That relationship is the single most useful asset the brand has — it means the name teaches the offer every time someone reads it — and it is currently almost invisible in the firm’s own material.

The hexagon is a framework device, not the logo. The logo is the CIGAER wordmark. The hexagon appears in Lockup B and as a diagram device. It never replaces the wordmark in client-facing material, and the six-sidedness always means the six pillars — it is never decoration.

Contents

  1. Six pillars, one pictureThe primary diagram
  2. Defining the sixWhat each pillar covers
  3. Visualising the sixThree approved forms
  4. Usage guidelinesRules and misuse
  5. Where it appearsApplying it across the estate
01The hexagon

Six pillars. One picture.

Every CIGAER engagement applies the same six-pillar analytical lens — the brand name made visible, and the framework that translates fragmented grassroots intelligence into board-ready insight.

CIGAERTHE HEXAGONCCOMPLIANCEIINTEGRITYGGOVERNANCEAACCOUNTABILITYEETHICSRREPUTATION
C
Compliance
Verifying adherence to multi-jurisdictional regulatory frameworks. Where the rules are written, we test where they are followed.
I
Integrity
Assessing foundational probity of counterparties. The only question that matters about a person: can their word be relied upon?
G
Governance
Mapping internal management structures and beneficial-ownership opacity — through layered entities, family-name holdings and nominee arrangements.
A
Accountability
Tracing financial flows and establishing responsibility chains. The bridge from suspicion to admissible recovery.
E
Ethics
Evaluating conduct against international standards including FCPA and the UK Bribery Act. Local norms do not equal global compliance.
R
Reputation
Measuring standing within the local political and social ecosystem — the ground-truth signal a data room cannot give you.
02Defining the six

What each pillar covers

Pillar definitions as held in the Interactive Hub, alongside the shorter scope line recorded on cigaer.com and the service mapping proposed in the Services Architecture document. Each pillar is a lens on the same question — can this counterparty be relied on — not a separate business line.

CCompliance
Verifying adherence to multi-jurisdictional regulatory frameworks. Where the rules are written, we test where they are followed.
On cigaer.com
FCPA / UKBA adherence and KYC solutions

Services

ESG Compliance
Counter-party Checks
IIntegrity
Assessing foundational probity of counterparties. The only question that matters about a person: can their word be relied upon?
On cigaer.com
Due diligence verification and red flag identification

Services

Transactional Due Diligence
Cyber Security & Digital Forensics
GGovernance
Mapping internal management structures and beneficial-ownership opacity — through layered entities, family-name holdings and nominee arrangements.
On cigaer.com
Corporate structure and leadership assessment

Services

Senior Management Due Diligence
AAccountability
Tracing financial flows and establishing responsibility chains. The bridge from suspicion to admissible recovery.
On cigaer.com
Stakeholder accountability and regulatory compliance

Services

Dispute Resolution
Asset Tracing
EEthics
Evaluating conduct against international standards including FCPA and the UK Bribery Act. Local norms do not equal global compliance.
On cigaer.com
Anti-corruption checks and organisational values alignment

Services

Anti-bribery & Corruption Matters
RReputation
Measuring standing within the local political and social ecosystem — the ground-truth signal a data room cannot give you.
On cigaer.com
Risk profiling, credibility checks and background verification

Services

Competitive Intelligence
Investigations
03Visualising the six

Three approved forms

Three ways to draw the framework, each for a different job. All three use the same geometry, the same graphite, and red for exactly one element — the lettered vertices, or the centre.

Form 1 · The Hexagon — the six on one mark
CIGAERTHE HEXAGONCCOMPLIANCEIINTEGRITYGGOVERNANCEAACCOUNTABILITYEETHICSRREPUTATION

The primary form, and the one held in common with the Interactive Hub. One regular hexagon; the six pillars sit on its vertices, named outside the perimeter, converging on the CIGAER core. The six-sidedness carries the meaning — there is no seventh vertex.

Use for: Covers, section openers, capability slides, the About page, the framework slide behind a deck cover.

Watch: Needs 300 px or more. Below that the pillar names go and only the lettered vertices survive — which is the correct degradation, not a fallback to a different drawing.

Form 2 · Linear — The acronym spelled out
CCOMPLIANCEIINTEGRITYGGOVERNANCEAACCOUNTABILITYEETHICSRREPUTATION

The six letters in a row, each with its word beneath. The clearest statement that CIGAER is an acronym rather than a coined name.

Use for: Website band under the hero, letterhead footers, email footers, running heads.

Watch: Purely typographic — carries no visual identity of its own. Always sits near the logo, never instead of it.

CIGAER

Six rings narrowing to a red centre — the pillars as successive filters closing on a finding. The method view rather than the menu view.

Use for: Method & sourcing material, proposals, thought leadership on how the firm works.

Watch: Implies a fixed order of application. Only use where that sequence is actually being described.

04Usage guidelines

Rules for the framework

RuleSpecification
Order is fixedAlways C · I · G · A · E · R. It spells the name. Never re-sequenced by importance, revenue or alphabet.
Six is fixedSix letters, six pillars, six sides. A seventh pillar would break the name — new services go inside an existing pillar.
GeometryRegular, pointy-top, height = width × 1.155. Never rotated, stretched or given a flat top.
ColourGraphite #494949 outlines, red #DD1010 on one element only — the lettered vertices, or the centre. Never six different colours. Small red type on an ink ground uses Red Light #FF2D2D: #DD1010 on #090909 is 3.94:1 and fails below display size.
LettersPoppins 800/900. The pillar word in Montserrat 700 uppercase, tracked. Never the logo’s own letterforms — the custom A and E belong to the wordmark alone.
Near the logoThe framework device and the logo never touch. Minimum 1 cap height between them, and the device is never used as a substitute for the mark.
As textureOutline only, at 15% opacity or less, behind covers. Never behind body text.
In writingPillar names are capitalised as proper nouns — “an Integrity engagement”. The acronym is written C·I·G·A·E·R with middots when spelled out, never with hyphens or slashes.
Do
  • Lead a service page with its pillar as the eyebrow — “Integrity · Transactional Due Diligence”.
  • Use the hexagon on covers and the linear form in footers.
  • Let one pillar own a piece of content rather than covering all six thinly.
  • Keep red on one element — the lettered vertices — and everything else graphite.
Don’t
  • Give each pillar its own colour. That is six brands, not one.
  • Animate it as a loading spinner or use a hexagon as a bullet.
  • Add icons inside the hexagons — the letter is the icon.
  • Use the hexagon decoratively where it does not mean the six pillars.
05Where it appears

Applying it across the estate

SurfaceFormHow
HomepageLinearA band beneath the hero, above the services grid. The first thing that explains the name.
Services indexHexagonServices grouped under their pillar rather than listed flat, with the diagram once at the top.
Service detail pageEyebrow only“Integrity · Transactional Due Diligence” above the H1. No diagram needed.
About pageHexagonWhere the acronym is already explained — give it the full diagram.
Report coversEyebrow + textureThe engagement’s pillar as the label; hexagon outline at ≤15% behind the title.
ProposalsLensWhere method is described and the sequence is genuinely being explained.
DecksHexagon, then eyebrowThe hexagon once behind the cover to establish the framework; the pillar name as an eyebrow on each divider to show where you are.
Letterhead & email footersLinearSmall, tracked, graphite. One line.
The biggest single opportunity in the brand. The website currently lists ten flat services and mentions C·I·G·A·E·R only on the About page. Grouping the ten under the six — and putting the pillar in every service eyebrow — makes the name self-explanatory at no cost in new content. It is the highest-value structural change available.
CIGAER The CIGAER Hexagon · August 2026