6 files changed, 78 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/assets/brand/README.md b/assets/brand/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b673589
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/brand/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# Brand assets
+
+## `meshbay-M-transparent.png`
+
+The stylised M, 214 × 190, RGBA with a transparent background. **This is the
+source.** It lived in `QE/` until 2026-08-19, which is gitignored — the artwork
+would not have survived a clone.
+
+## Deriving the nav wordmark
+
+`packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/meshbay-m.png` is generated from
+it, not drawn separately:
+
+```bash
+convert assets/brand/meshbay-M-transparent.png \
+  -trim +repage -resize x72 -strip \
+  packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/meshbay-m.png
+```
+
+- `-trim +repage` removes the transparent margin, so the CSS controls the
+  spacing rather than the file's padding doing it invisibly.
+- `-resize x72` is 72 px tall for a picture displayed at 30 px — enough for a
+  2× screen, and 56 KB becomes 10 KB.
+
+The derived file is listed in `_ASSETS` in `meshbay_hub/api/webapp.py`. It has
+to be: that list is what the `/a/<hash>/` fingerprint is computed from, so a
+file missing from it is a file whose change never moves the URL, and a browser
+holding the old one never asks again. Regenerate the picture, and the wordmark
+changes for everyone; forget the list, and it changes for nobody.
+
+The M is a picture standing in for the letter M; `eshBay` beside it is text.
+Their sizes are set independently in `style.css` — `.nav-brand { font-size }`
+and `.nav-brand-m { height }`, the second in **pixels on purpose**. Written in
+`em` it was a fraction of the lettering, so resizing the words resized the
+picture by the same stroke and the balance between them could never be changed.
diff --git a/assets/brand/meshbay-M-transparent.png b/assets/brand/meshbay-M-transparent.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6fea08c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/brand/meshbay-M-transparent.png
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/api/webapp.py b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/api/webapp.py
index 7028071..19d22d4 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/api/webapp.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/api/webapp.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ router = APIRouter(tags=["webapp"])
 # which is the failure this list exists to prevent, and it is silent.
 _ASSETS = ("style.css", "keyderive.js", "crypto.js", "transport.js", "app.js",
            "i18n.js", "downloads.js", "transfers.js", "zipstream.js",
-           "platform.js")
+           "platform.js", "meshbay-m.png")
 
 
 def _asset_version() -> str:
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js
index 0843d1d..2e3c422 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/app.js
@@ -400,6 +400,11 @@ const ICON_PATHS = {
   close:    ['M6 6l12 12M18 6L6 18'],
 };
 
+// The M of the wordmark is a picture; the rest is text. Resolved from this
+// module's own URL so the hub's fingerprinted path and the application's
+// app:// scheme both come out right without either being named here.
+const BRAND_M = new URL('./meshbay-m.png', import.meta.url).href;
+
 function Icon({ name, cls = '' }) {
   const paths = ICON_PATHS[name];
   if (!paths) return null;
@@ -579,7 +584,9 @@ function Nav({ user, theme, onThemeChange, onLogout, onMenuToggle, unreadCount,
           <button class="nav-hamburger" onClick=${onMenuToggle}
             aria-label="${t('nav.toggle_menu')}"><${Icon} name="menu" /></button>
         `}
-        <a class="nav-brand" href="#/">MeshBay</a>
+        <a class="nav-brand" href="#/">
+          <img class="nav-brand-m" src=${BRAND_M} alt="M" />eshBay
+        </a>
       </div>
       <div class="nav-right">
         ${user && html`<${TransferWidget} />`}
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/meshbay-m.png b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/meshbay-m.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a682f33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/meshbay-m.png
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/style.css b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/style.css
index 12fc15f..238f33a 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/style.css
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/src/meshbay_hub/static/style.css
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
   --success: #22c55e;
   --nav-bg: #0f172a;
   --nav-text: #e2e8f0;
-  --nav-brand: #38bdf8;
+  /* One step down from sky-400 towards sky-500: the wordmark sat brighter than
+     the picture beside it, which made the two read as different materials. */
+  --nav-brand: #23b1f0;
   --sidebar-bg: #f1f5f9;
   --sidebar-hover: #e2e8f0;
   --shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08);
@@ -92,11 +94,41 @@ a:hover { text-decoration: underline; }
 .nav-brand {
   color: var(--nav-brand);
   font-weight: 700;
-  font-size: 1.15em;
+  /* 22px measured in the application. 1.15em was lettering sized for plain
+     text and read as a caption beside the picture; 1.45em overshot. */
+  font-size: 1.375em;
   text-decoration: none;
 }
 .nav-brand:hover { text-decoration: none; }
 
+/* The M is a picture standing in for a letter, so it is sized in `em` and
+   follows the wordmark rather than being pinned to a pixel height.
+
+   Sized by measuring the running application, twice. At 1.35em of the old
+   font size it rendered 25px against a 29px line box — *smaller* than the
+   letters beside it, so the wordmark read as unchanged. At 1.9em it was 35px
+   against 29px, which overshot the other way. The pair is now set together:
+   the picture leads, the lettering follows a little behind it. */
+.nav-brand {
+  display: inline-flex;
+  align-items: center;
+}
+.nav-brand-m {
+  /* **In pixels, not `em` — and that is the point.** Written in `em` this was
+     a fraction of the lettering's size, so every adjustment to the text moved
+     the picture too and the pair could never be settled: making the words
+     bigger made the M bigger by the same stroke, and the ratio never changed.
+     Two independent things need two independent numbers.
+
+     30px against 22px of lettering. */
+  height: 30px;
+  width: auto;
+  /* Positive, deliberately. The glyph this replaces carried its own side
+     bearing and an image has none, so without this the picture sits flush
+     against the "e". */
+  margin-right: 4px;
+}
+
 .nav-hamburger {
   display: none;
   background: none;