Branding OHIO with updated color palettes and typography

Photo courtesy of: University Communications and MarketingRenea Morris, OHIO chief marketing officer

Stand up and cheer

Cheer loud and long for old OHIO

For today we raise

The Green and White above the rest

One of several units highlighted during the President’s Investiture speech this past fall, University Communications and Marketing (UCM) is heeding his call to build upon OHIO’s strengths to take “our branding and marketing efforts to greater heights by finding new, strategic, consistent, and rhetorically powerful ways to talk about the University.” To further unify and strengthen the University brand, UCM is implementing an updated color palette and a refined typography set. Campus partners are encouraged to begin using the new brand tools when planning, designing, and purchasing new materials. These materials include all marketing or departmental print and digital assets as websites are being migrated to the new content management system. UCM is encouraging and supporting phased-in transitions of the updated color palette throughout the year and would like to see the new color palette in use University-wide by July 1, 2019.

Color values, Adobe palette downloads, and information on obtaining fonts may be found at the UCM Brand Center.

Colors

What colors come to mind when you think about OHIO? Green and white, of course! The colors used to represent OHIO consistently and primarily in print and digitally play a major role in preserving our identity. OHIO’s new color palettes are expansions of the previous ones and have been segmented into three hierarchies: primary, secondary, and two accent palettes­—Vibrant and Classic. Each color is named to honor an aspect of OHIO’s rich and historical traditions and character. OHIO’s primary colors, Cutler Green and Cupola White, are a fundamental element of the University’s brand. Our secondary and accent palettes are designed to support OHIO’s primary colors and allow them to stand out, while providing flexibility in design layouts. Here a some color considerations:

• Supporting colors should be used as accents, as improper use of them dilutes the OHIO brand.
• Color ratios on individual pages, spreads, and layouts can vary, but OHIO’s Cutler Green should be prominent in every communication.
• Choose a strong combination of three or four colors and use that color scheme consistently and creatively throughout print communications.

• Print communications may use the primary and secondary palette along with colors from the Vibrant palette and the Classic palette.
• Be mindful of color combinations that represent other universities.
• For print: Tints of each color may only be used as accents, for example, in backgrounds, infographics, charts, graphs, and diagrams.
• For websites: Tints may not be used for functional elements of a website, such as buttons, text, or backgrounds. Tints of each color may only be used as accents, for example, in infographics, charts, graphs, and diagrams.
• Under no circumstances should any of the secondary or accent palette colors become the predominant, signifying color for a school, center, institute, or department.
• CMYK color values are derived from Pantone’s online conversion tool.
   

Digital and ADA Considerations

OHIO audiences usually meet the institution digitally before an in-person encounter. To translate our brand thoughtfully for digital communications, we’ve created Web-specific values for the color palettes. They have been optimized for digital use and for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) so that the colors are visually effective and functionally useful.

• The color values should not be altered in any way.
• Websites may use the primary and secondary palette along with either the Vibrant palette or the Classic palette. Colors from both accent palettes may never be used together when designing for the Web.
   

In addition to using OHIO’s primary colors consistently in marketing and promotion materials, care should be given to coherence during OHIO events in decor, signage, related collateral, and apparel worn by staff and volunteers. This usage helps reinforce the brand, promotes school spirit, and lends itself to photography that will look cohesive in future promotional materials.

Typography

OHIO’s typography includes two primary fonts—Galliard and Frutiger—and a secondary font—Zilla Slab. These brand typefaces enable a distinctive look and maximize long-term flexibility in design and communications.

Galliard is OHIO’s legacy font and is most associated with the brand because of its use in the OHIO woodcut logo. Its design is based on letterforms created in the 16th century, giving it a classic look that reflects OHIO’s historic, enriching, and authentic personality.

Frutiger is modern, practical, and refined. It allows for broad creative use and enhanced readability. The typeface is useful both in the large scale for signage and display work, as well as in the smaller scale for body text. Frutiger will continue to be used in logos and signage.

Zilla Slab is a contemporary, easy-to-work-with slab serif typeface that works well with Frutiger and provides an alternative to Galliard. Zilla Slab can be used with Galliard in display treatments if used sparingly. Within the OHIO brand identity, use Zilla Slab as an accent or to draw emphasis to emotive words or calls to action in display size type.

By using combinations of these three fonts, we can create bold and distinctive communications that are tied to the OHIO brand. Each of the typefaces has a variety of weights and styles that meet robust design needs. Only Frutiger and Zilla Slab should be used on OHIO’s newly migrated WebCMS websites.

Galliard and Frutiger font families are licensed and available for both Windows and Macintosh platforms through the Bobcat Depot. To order the fonts, you must have a departmental account number. The Zilla Slab family may be downloaded from Google fonts.

For quick reference, download the UCM infographic “Tips for Branding OHIO Visually.”