Hourglass countdown
The days left to a launch as an hourglass that has nearly run: a turned-wood frame in the brand's deep colour, most of the brand-colour sand already fallen and a thin stream still running, the date engraved on the base. Beside it the count set huge with its unit, the headline, and what is coming in three short lines. Time running out reads in a heartbeat — no flip clocks, no consoles.
When the AI picks it
MarketiQ’s Creative Director favours the Hourglass countdown for posts that announce news or get people to act, when the message is one sharp insight or a list. It is built first to announce news.
It reads each post’s goal and shape first, then its own words, the platform and the facts you have, and offers this template only where it fits.
Who it’s for
Any business. Nothing in it assumes what you sell, so the Director can offer it to a software company, a café or a coaching centre alike — whenever the post fits.
Platforms and sizes
| Size | Where |
|---|---|
| 4:51080 × 1350 px | Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Pinterest, Reddit |
| 1:11080 × 1080 px | Ads |
| 9:161080 × 1920 px | TikTok |
| 16:91600 × 900 px | X, YouTube |
| 1.91:11200 × 628 px | Newsletter, Blog |
Single image. Each size is laid out for its canvas, not cropped; the sample above is the 4:5 version.
What it needs
The Director offers it only when these exist. Without them it simply picks another template.
- A real number from your post or your brand facts
Rules the AI follows
Word for word from the template library. The Director follows the copy rules when it writes into the template, and the visual review checks every creative against the visual rules.
Copy rules
- The count and the date are the post's own — never compute or invent a countdown.
- Teasers name what the launch brings in a few words each, from the post.
Visual rules
- An original hourglass drawing: deep brand-colour frame with turned posts, pale glass, brand-colour sand mostly fallen into a mound with a thin stream still running; the launch date engraved on the base plate.
- The count in huge heading type in the brand colour with its unit in mono caps; headline and a short ruled list of what is coming; the button and website at the foot.
More Openings & reveals templates
Specimen card
One new feature catalogued like a species in a naturalist's field guide: a framed plate with the feature drawn large as an engraving on a hatched oval and a figure…
Ribbon cutting
The moment you 'cut the ribbon': a grand-opening ribbon in the brand colour stretched edge to edge and just cut
Curtain reveal
A premiere on a dark stage: velvet curtains in the brand colour drawn back under a scalloped valance, a soft spotlight on the product's name, one line on what it is, a…
What's in the box
The product as a boxed product on the shelf: a brand-colour box drawn in perspective
Footnoted headline
An editorial launch statement
First-day cover
Launch day as a collector's first-day cover: an airmail envelope in the brand's stripes with a perforated commemorative stamp of the product, a postmark carrying the day…
Redacted teaser
A pre-launch teaser as a project file on a dark desk: a brand-edged sheet stamped CLASSIFIED, the headline, a ruled list of what the file says
Launch week
A launch week as a row of numbered 'advent calendar' doors: the days already revealed show what shipped (today's one lit in the brand colour with an 'open now' tag), the…
Make a Hourglass countdown with your brand.
MarketiQ writes the post, picks the template that carries it best — this one, when it fits — and fills it with your logo, colours, facts and copy.