brand guidelines - aoc sport - the lead organisation for … · market intelligence, excellent...

1 AoC BRAND GUIDELINES

Brand Guidelines This is what we look like


3 Who we are

4 Our audience

5 Our mission

6 Our values

7 Our logo

17 Our fonts

21 Our colours

25 Our imagery

29 Our brand in action

40 Brand snapshot

Contents

3 AoC BRAND GUIDELINES3 AoC BRAND GUIDELINES

The Association of Colleges provides support, guidance and governmental influence for colleges across England, ensuring students reach their potential, have a better college education and a brighter future.

Who we are


Our audience

External

CollegesFurther education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges across England. Around 95% of the sector.

Affiliate subscribers Accountancy companies, law firms, awarding bodies, local authorities and universities.

Affiliate subscribers benefit from AoC’s market intelligence, excellent marketing opportunities and special conference rates.

Internal

Board One principal from each of our nine English regions, a maximum of seven governors and further members who represent the interests of our varied member colleges.

EmployeesHead Office and four local offices.

End User

Students 20,000 14 to 15-year-olds enrolled in college.

744,000 16 to 18-year-olds choosing to study in colleges instead of schools.

75,000 16 to 18-year-olds undertaking apprenticeships.

1.9 million adults studying or training in colleges.


Our single aim.

To create a brighter future for students by improving the standard of colleges

Thanks to our reputation and experience, we’re able to influence and help implement government policy that affects students and colleges.

We’re also here to help with the day-to-day challenges colleges face through our support services.

Put simply, we support colleges to encourage their students to go on to achieve great things.

Our mission



Our values

PASSIONATEAUTHORITYCHALLENGE

AoC expects all staff and associates to:

Be passionate about students and their colleges;

Be challenging of government, policies, our stakeholders and each other;

Act with authority in the way we deal with colleges, stakeholders and each other.

If you care about the future of education, the future of colleges and our future generations, the Association of Colleges is an exciting place to be.


We’re PASSIONATE about the development and success of students, the colleges they go to and the communities these students will one day be part of.

We CHALLENGE Government and use our reputation and expertise to help influence policy for the good of colleges across the UK.

We have the knowledge and AUTHORITY to deliver the best, most useful support services and advice to our Members. They will always know they can trust and depend on us.

Our core values sum up the culture of our working environment.

Our ethos of ‘students first’ runs through the heart of our organisation and the people who work here.

At the end of the day it’s all about the student. Everything

we do is focussed on their future and

their success.


our logoOur mark represents our unity

as a stand out brand in our industry.

Our brand

The linking and overlapping of the letters represents the coming together of the business internally, ‘one organisation, one voice’ and also how colleges and the association unite for the benefit of students and their communities.

This identity consolidates all letterforms as one united mark yet brings the ‘a’ and the ‘c’ to the forefront demonstrating how the ‘Association’ and ‘Colleges’ have an equal part to play in supporting students and their futures.

The curved edges and circles soften the identity and reflects the friendly nature of the organisation behind the brand.



Primary logo

Strap logo

VariationsThe primary logo should be used as a base identity, firstly in the colour format below, or the white out version if not possible. For mediums that require a thinner logo treatment, the strap version should be used.

Always ensure the logo is legible and clear of any obstruction. When applying a coloured logo, ensure there’s sufficient contrast on either a light or dark background.

The logo is supplied as a set of artwork master files. These are the only files to be used. DO NOT recreate or change the AoC word mark in any way.

Logo variations and usage


The name writtenWhen the name is written

and ‘Association of Colleges’ does not fit, the abbreviated version can be used but must

at all times capitalise the words ‘Association’ and

‘Colleges’ like below.

AoC


The logo must be displayed with an amount of empty space surrounding it. Use the identity formula to proportionally adjust the size of minimum space around the brand mark. The space guideline formula is in proportion to the size of the identity.

The formula for the minimum allowed space around the identity is:1x the height ‘a’ in the word AoC.

Clear zone and minimum heightA minimum clear zone equivalent to the height of the ‘a’ should be allowed around all edges.

The logo should not be reproduced any smaller than 32/17mm width.

Minimum width Print - 32mm

Digital - 110px On a solid colour only

Minimum width Print - 17mm

Digital - 160px On a solid colour only

Clear space rules



Shown here are colour breakdowns including Pantone references for litho printing, CMYK for process/digital printing.

Pantone & CMYK

Wise Teal Pantone 7467C C92 M0 Y30 K0

Slate Grey Pantone 447C C0 M0 Y0 K90

Snow White C0 M0 Y0 K0 R255 G255 B255

Grey versionWhen you can’t print in colour, the grey version of our logo can be used as an alternative. The grey logo version should never be used on screen.

Print colours



RGB

Wise Teal R0 G163 B183

Slate Grey R60 G60 B59

Snow White R255 G255 B255

Screen colours

HEX

Wise Teal HEX #00A3B7

Slate Grey HEX #3C3C3B

Snow White HEX #FFFFFF

Colours will always vary from screen to screen. Please refer to the final HEX Values in the Web design CSS files for website colours.



Our reverse logos

When used over colour or with photography, the white out version can be used in either the primary identity or the strap version.

Reverse logosWhen using the reverse logo on solid colour, the minimum tint any of the colours in the AoC palette can be is 60%. Any less and the logo becomes less legible.

Reverse logo on photographyWhen using the reverse logo on photography, the image must work well with the logo and the logo must still be legible.



Unacceptable uses

The AoC logo should not be changed or warped in any way. Here are some examples of how our logo should NOT be used.

1. Drop shadowsDo not use drop shadows with the logo.

2. AngleDo not angle/tilt the logo.

3. Logo and background colourDo not recolour the logo and ensure it doesn’t clash with the background colour chosen.

4. Squashing the logoDo not squash or stretch the logo.

5. Tint/opacityNo tints or percentages of opacity of the logo should be used at any time.

6. Background images Make sure the background you are using works well with the logo chosen.



100% - C92 M0 Y30 K0

80% - C92 M0 Y30 K0

60% - C92 M0 Y30 K0

40% - C92 M0 Y32 K0

20% - C92 M0 Y32 K0

Acceptable background tints

These are examples of all colours and colour tints that can be used with the different logos.

Tint percentages that are acceptable for each colour in the AoC palette are:

100%90%80%70%60%


Other logos

Awards & Charitable TrustWe also have a logo for our Charitable Trust and for each of our annual awards which are all extensions of the main identity. How the brand for each of these is used and presented is just as important as the masterbrand. The same principles that are applied to the masterbrand should be applied to the regional logos.



our fontsOur typeface and type style is

essential to our identity.



Brand fonts

&NexaOpen Sans

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r

Font weights of Nexa Bold Font weights of Open Sans


Nexa Bold is our logo font. It is to be used only for headings and subheadings. Open Sans is our brand body copy font.


HeadingsNexa Bold is to be used as the heading and subheading fonton all print collateral.

Body copyOpen Sans Light is our body copy font for both digital and print design.

There are a selection of weights for Open Sans to help emphasise messaging through contrasting weights and use of both upper and lower case.

Our general rule for body copy is to keep it simple and legible. By this, we mean giving the body of paragraphs enough breathing space in the leading.

Try to make the leading point size 120% more than the type size.

Print fonts

J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Bold

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ! @ £ % & * Extra Bold

j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Lights t u v w x y zA B C D E F G H Regular

Font weights of Open Sans


Font weights of Nexa Bold


System fonts

HeadingsOpen Sans Bold should be used for all digital headings and subheadings.

Body copyOpen Sans Light is our body copy font for both digital and print design.

When Open Sans is not available then Arial is a good replacement for the PC and Helvetica for Mac.

e.g. Email marketing, for example, where Open Sans is not available, the next font to show will be Helvetica then Arial.


Font weights of Arial

Regulars t u v w x y zA B C D E F G H Bold

J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Regular1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ! @ £ % & * Bold

Font weights of Helvetica


our coloursOur versatile colour palette is both vibrant and neutral,

appealing to our students, colleges and our staff, whilst being stand out enough to separate

us from any competitors.



Our brand colours

There are specific colour values for print and on-screen environments. Shown here are colour breakdowns including Pantone references for litho printing, CMYK for process/digital printing and RGB/HEX for anything on-screen.

Colours will always vary from screen to screen. Please refer to the final HEX Values in the Web design CSS files for website colours.

Our paletteThe vibrant turquoise shade synergises the rebrand, symbolising student futures in being a refreshing, energetic colour that communicates the enthusiasm and wisdom of not only AoC, but its students and colleges all as one united power.

The dark grey secondary colour retains the heritage, knowledge and standing in industry AoC are known for, pulling the vibrant colour into a sharp, yet refreshing colour palette.

Wise TealPantone 7467C C92 M0 Y30 K0R0 G175 B189 HEX #00AFBD

Slate GreyPantone 447C C0 M0 Y0 K90R60 G60 B59 HEX #3C3C3B

Snow WhiteC0 M0 Y0 K0R255 G255 B255 HEX #FFFFFF


These colours have been chosen to support and not compete with the brand logo colours. With the natural subdued colours you will be able to create zones without overpowering the screen or page.

80% tint

60% tint

Muted RaspberryPantone 710C C10 M87 Y51 K0R219 G72 B98 HEX #DB4862

Deep MarinePantone 7707C C92 M39 Y30 K24R0 G103 B128 HEX #006780

Dusty AmberPantone 143C C5 M31 Y90 K0R240 G179 B55 HEX #F0B337

Logo colour, headings and sub heading

Call to action only (Colour button white text)

Main background colour and zones

Supporting colours

Antique SilverPantone 421C C0 M0 Y0 K40R167 G169 B172 HEX #A7A9AC


Heading oneLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elitlaboris nisi ut aliquip sed do eiusmod.

The balance of colour

The supportive colour palette is to be used with restraint and not overdone. When the background colour is mainly white then more of the colour palette can be used to zone off sections. If the main background colour is not white then it is best to stick with one other colour or tint from the colour palette.

Sub headingLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris.

CALL TO ACTION

Stat styling using the versatile AoC palette

A strong sized main heading to introduce the contentLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Sub heading with its own strength, reinforcing but appearing slightly muted next to main heading

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.


our imageryOur selection of imagery speaks volumes about what we value as a brand. Soft, lifestyle with strong focus

on our students futures.



Using imagesOur photography is an integral element of our identity and characterises our main focus, our students.

The following is some general guidance on what you’ll need to look out for when selecting imagery.

StyleUse lifestyle photography that really depicts the students first hand, the support they receive and accomplishments. As natural as possible.

LightingKeep your selection airy and bright, warm with engaging colourful accents. Natural daylight or atmospheric room lighting gives a real and warm feel.

CompositionThink about the interaction of the image with the text. Allow it to breathe and intertwine a joint meaning opposed to being polar opposites. Keep clutter free, with plenty of clear space in the composition.



Devices to support design


The following design devices may be used to help reinforce imagery and add style to the brand.

Circle shapesThe encompassing circular rhythm of our brand allows us to use the circle in either an inversed or solid capacity to add character to imagery and body copy. Ensure white space is retained when using this device.Don’t make the design too busy.

Cropping of imagesSimilar to the shape device, images may be cropped within the circle shape and allowed to bleed off the edge of pages to add intrigue and pull the brand together.

Remember your image positioning within the cropping, not forgetting about the main focus of your image.

Colour overlaysOverlays can also be used over imagery to enhance and stylise but should be no lighter than 60% opacity, not be used with the logo and be free from effects.


Watchouts

Any deviation from our imagery style can ruin our appearance. Our brand photography style is a vital element to the essence of our brand. It’s essential that the right photography style and subject matter is used. So please take great care when choosing photography and stay clear of these watchouts.


Multiply or monotoneDo not use. For colour overlays the shade should not be less than 60% opacity and without any effect applied.

Watch image resolution Low quality imagery cheapens the brand.

Staged photographyDon’t stage the photo so it looks forced. Keep a natural feel.

Clip artDon’t use any clip art or illustrations.


our brand in action

How our new mark will stand out across all mediums.



Web design



Social media



Television



Poster design



Layout



Responsive



‘In your hands’



Individual identity



Stationery



Exhibition


Brand snapshot

Brand in action

Passionate Authority

Challenging

Logo Typography Colour palette Values

Fixe

d e

lem

ents

Flex

ible

ele

men

ts

Photography Photography Design devices

Nexa BoldOpen Sans


Ask our brand teamFor any further AoC brand guidance or just want to get hold of a logo file or other brand asset, contact our AoC

Communications team who will be happy to help.

2 - 5 Stedham Place, Off New Oxford Street,

London WC1A 1HU

020 7034 [email protected]

need more help?

brand guidelines - aoc sport - the lead organisation for … · market intelligence, excellent...

Documents