Colorado Symphony Brand Standards Media Guide

Colorado Symphony Brand Standards Guide VERSION 1: JULY 2021

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brand guide

Welcome to the Colorado Symphony Brand Book!

A brand is essentially defined by the public’s perception of us, and we guide that with our products, communications, and visuals. This is a condensed version of a brand book, with all the basic information you need to make sure your communications are formatted properly and on-brand.

New in 2021, we’re introducing a brand refresh with a new mark (logo) and color palette! Don’t worry, our core branding messaging, voice, tone, and look/feel with the black bar and clean white space will continue to remain at the heart of our visual communications.

Don’t see what you’re looking for? Check with marketing!

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core values

Our Mission The future of live, symphonic music.

The Colorado Symphony Association is the region’s only full-time professional orchestra committed to artistic excellence and ensuring the future of live, symphonic music. Performing over 150 concerts annually at Boettcher Concert Hall in downtown Denver and across Colorado, your Colorado Symphony is home to eighty full-time musicians, representing more than a dozen nations, and regularly welcomes the most celebrated artists from all genres of music. During the COVID-19 health pandemic, we worked to safely produce over 50 concerts with and without audiences, including: 18 Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre performances, two large scale virtual community benefit concerts, and dozens of small ensemble concerts performed in numerous outdoor venues like the Denver Performing Arts Complex Galleria, Denver Zoo, and Denver Botanic Gardens. Virtual #PlayOn campaigns garnered 2 million views between our Virtual Music Hour, Weekly Replay, From Home Concerts, and MusiCurious Instrument Interviews. Recognized as an incubator of innovation, creativity, and excellence, your Colorado Symphony continually expands its impact through education, outreach, and programming. We partner with the state’s leading musical artists, cultural organizations, corporations, foundations, sports teams, and individuals to expose diverse audiences to the power of symphonic orchestral music.

Core Values EXCELLENCE

We are committed to musical and artistic excellence with a further commitment to ensuring there is a solid future for live symphonic music in Colorado.

SUSTAINABILITY

We are dedicated to maintaining an orchestra of the highest performance standards, modeling best practices and balanced fiscal stewardship.

INNOVATION

We will embrace and maintain our culture of success, calculated risk-taking, fostering imagination, and invention in an ever-changing world of the performing arts.

COMMUNITY

We are committed to growing a culture for modern, relevant, creative music to uplift, unite, and celebrate all people.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

We are committed to providing symphonic and educational experiences that celebrate our humanity, reflect and value the diversity of our community, and seek out meaningful collaborations.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Statement Music brings people together to inspire and unite the human spirit. The Colorado Symphony Association (CSA) believes that symphonic music must be available to everyone and that communities thrive when music is accessible to all.

The CSA is committed to being an inclusive organization where diverse perspectives are sought out and valued; and to create experiences for our audiences where all people and communities feel welcome, represented, and connected. The CSA will continuously strive to achieve greater inclusivity and equity by leading in a way that represents our art form, one of collectivism and harmony.

The CSA believes in the dignity of all and respects a diversity of cultures, identities, orientations, heritages, beliefs, and experiences. As a cultural institution and only fulltime professional symphony orchestra in the state, we recognize the power of symphonic music and believe we can bring our community together to create greater social understanding through live symphonic music.

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new logo

For Every Season, There is a Reason Welcome to the Brand Standards Guide for 2021 and beyond! We’re ecstatic to debut this new logo as we return to the stage after a once-in-a-century event that has only made us stronger!

As a performing arts organization, our business lives in ‘seasons’ literally and figuratively. You’ll see here the color shifts for the FY22 Season for the Colorado Symphony mountain mark. We’re taking this year’s theme of “Music’s in our Nature” to a place where we can reflect nature’s four seasons in our messaging.

These marks below are the approved logos to be used in the time frames noted below each image. New color marks may not be debuted until 2 weeks prior to indicated timeframe of use. Please work with marketing before your projects are due so that a proper runway is utilized when changing mark colors. When in doubt, the black and white mark is safe for all uses at any time.

In the future, colors may change per project as the mark itself evolves to our necessary uses and needs. This guide will take us through the next year, however, as we continue to refine the logo’s use and work it into our dynamic offerings and changing projects there will be updates to logo usage guidance. More on logo do’s and don’ts as we go through this document and as always check with marketing if you have any questions!

Summer:Summer:Summer: Summer: Spring: Spring: Spring:Spring: Autumn: Autumn:Autumn: Autumn: Winter: Winter: Winter:Winter: JUN-AUG JUN-AUG JUN-AUG JUN-AUG MAR-MAY MAR-MAY MAR-MAY MAR-MAY SEP-NOV SEP-NOV SEP-NOV SEP-NOV DEC-FEB DEC-FEB DEC-FEB DEC-FEB

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our voice

Our Brand Name Our name is the Colorado Symphony.

It appears as “Colorado Symphony” in signage and graphics and as “the Colorado Symphony” in all other cases. In writing, it is fine to use “the Colorado Symphony.”

You may see the logo abbreviates CO, but we are still just your Colorado Symphony!

WE DO NOT USE THESE BRAND TITLES:

Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Denver Symphony Orchestra

CSO COSO

Denver Philharmonic

Although we are an orchestra, the word “Orchestra” is not part of our legal/registered name, and is not part of our brand.

What Is Our Brand Name?

“CSO, DSO, CSO (again)? We all know old habits die hard, but our brand name is not an acronym. We short form our logo to CO Symphony due to the immediate recognition of our state abbreviation and great use it provides design in various spaces. When in doubt, ask marketing.. Over the years our organization has had many names and formations, but our formal name is the Colorado Symphony Association (CSA) or Colorado Symphony.

CSO should no longer be used for many reasons, the most notable outlined below. As we continue to push forward to become a more visible brand on the national and international stage, we’ve analyzed the impact CSO has in the marketplace. The decision to detach ourselves from CSO is in great part due to the ownership of that specific acronym by other ensembles, most notably the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Unfortunately, in the digital world owning the .com/.net/.org/hashtag means that the competition in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is so great that utilizing that acronym only builds popularity for the owner of that brand acronym. As our brand evolves, other acronyms may become available, but as a general rule, we should be proud to keep our full brand in the visible spotlight and as we continue to educate our growing community, we need to educate them on who we are as a full name, not an acronym.

Musicians as a collective ensemble should be referred to as: • musicians of your Colorado Symphony, • members of your Colorado Symphony, (when small groups or chamber ensembles) • or if the brand has been noted; the orchestra/members of the orchestra

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our logo

Approved Logo Usage Logo pack is downloadable from the marketing department.

Please use the logo in full-color, the two-tone green is our standar; whenever possible with the stacked logo as our primary before the horizontal use. Only use the horizontal with approval from the marketing department. The horizontal is not yet trademarked and the stacked should remain the primary.

GIVE US SPACE Please imagine a safe space that exists around the logo.

Some brands would tell you percentages or inches, but we know you are a smart and generous person so we will leave the amount of space up to you.

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logo don’ts

Unapproved Logo Usages The most common infraction we see of our logo is the breaking apart of the elements and shifting of our color palette.

Marketing may turn the logo sideways in some situations, but we ask that you do not do this without permission. We also ask that (whenever possible) you observe white space around the logo — we do understand that sometimes that is not possible. Please retire all use of the ‘falling batons’ logo moving forward. Always check with marketing if you have questions.

Do not reorganize the logo elements

Do not allow text or other elements to overlap the logo

Lorem 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 commodo consequat.

Do not alter the color of the mark, even for special occasions

Do not place the logo over wild patterns

Do not add special effects to the logo like arches and drop shadows

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our colors

Approved Colors (2021/22) When in doubt, please stick to black, white and shades of gray in communications. Our logo and our photography is all the color we use at this time. Our default is 100% black, and a rich black build (shown below.)

If you’re in need of art that does not have a template provided for you, please reach out to marketing immediately to put your request into queue so you have ample time for a proof and revisions before your item is due. Please note that all copy should be approved through marketing and PR, as well. Hex colors are utilized for web only when RGB is not an option.

We appreciate you might have a skillset or prior experience, but no department should be designing any materials for public consumption without written permission to do so from the head of marketing. We have a graphic design team member for a reason, and they help keep the brand intact and are employed to make sure we take into account all the wonderful things we need to say and show!

Summer: JUN-AUG Summer: JUN-AUG Summer: JUN-AUG Summer: JUN-AUG RGB: 1 • 1 • 1 CMYK: 15 • 15 • 15 • 90 HEX: 010101

RGB: 1 • 1 • 1 CMYK: 15 • 15 • 15 • 90 HEX: 010101

RGB: 1 • 1 • 1 CMYK: 15 • 15 • 15 • 90 HEX: 010101

RGB: 1 • 1 • 1 CMYK: 15 • 15 • 15 • 90 HEX: 010101

RGB: 54 • 165 • 96 CMYK: 77 • 10 • 84 • 1 HEX: 36a560

RGB: 76 • 89• 167 CMYK: 80 • 73 • 0 • 0 HEX: 4c59a7

RGB: 75 • 110 • 139 CMYK: 76 • 51 • 31 • 7 HEX: 4b6e8b

RGB: 240 • 95 • 127 CMYK: 0 • 78 • 30 • 0 HEX: f05f7f

RGB: 110 • 179 • 71 CMYK: 63 • 7 • 99 • 0 HEX: 6eb347

RGB: 127 • 124 • 186 CMYK: 55 • 52 •0 • 0 HEX: 7f7cba

RGB: 82 • 163 • 206 CMYK: 65 • 22 • 7 • 0 HEX: 52a3ce

RGB: 255 • 206 •39 CMYK: 0 • 19 • 93 • 0 HEX: ffce27

RGB: 102 • 157 • 156 CMYK: 63 • 25 • 38 • 1 HEX: 679c9c

RGB: 243 • 145 • 64 CMYK: 1 • 51 • 84 • 0 HEX: f39140

RGB: 82 • 163 • 206 CMYK: 65 • 22 • 7 • 0 HEX: 1a4976

RGB: 246 • 156 • 29 CMYK: 1 • 45 • 100 • 0 HEX: f69c1d

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RGB: 98 • 165 • 204 CMYK: 55 • 14 • 2 • 10 HEX: 62a5cc

RGB: 249 • 169 • 71 CMYK: 1 • 38 • 82 • 0 HEX: f9a947

RGB: 212 • 229 • 217 CMYK: 16 • 2 • 16 • 0 HEX: d4e5d9

RGB: 182 • 216 • 220 CMYK: 28 • 4 • 12 • 0 HEX: b6d8dc

Autumn: SEP-NOV Autumn: SEP-NOV Autumn: SEP-NOV Autumn: SEP-NOV

Winter: DEC-FEB Winter: DEC-FEB Winter: DEC-FEB Winter: DEC-FEB

Spring: MAR-MAY Spring: MAR-MAY Spring: MAR-MAY Spring: MAR-MAY

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typography

Type

EXAMPLE OF CONCERT LISTING WITH HEADLINE

The typefaces used by an organization help to signal order, stability, and quality.

Inconsistent type choices signal disorganization and lack of professionalism to the audience. We want to send a message of quality and therefore ask that you limit your use of types to the ones shown below. We occasionally use decorative script (HalfNotes is Wanderlust), or “fun” types for special reasons, but that is determined by marketing and we ask that you do not introduce new types.

MYRIAD PRO

Used for body copy and in-house applications. The body font in this document is shown in condensed light. The regular or light all-caps can work as a headline font.

The condensed bold or semibold can be used for date/times instead of Tungsten shown below. When using this for body copy in standard letters, press releases, etc., make the type no larger than 10pt on at least 12.5 leading. When body copy gets large (larger than 10pt in most cases) it tends to lose its sophisticated feel.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 with Emanuel Ax SEP 17-19

CLASSICS

FRI-SAT 7:30 C SUN 1:00

Peter Oundjian, conductor Emanuel Ax, piano BARBER Adagio for Strings CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition

After 18 months apart, guest conductor Peter Oundjian leads your Colorado Symphony in their long-awaited symphonic homecoming showcasing the legendary Emanual Ax as featured soloist. Barber’s Adagio for Strings offers a poignant opening dedication to those lost, full of gripping harmonies that artfully convey the effect of courage in the face of tragedy, hope amid despair, and abiding love after a year of emotional and physical distancing. Ax — a famed GRAMMY-winning pianist — makes his highly anticipated Colorado Symphony return on Chopin’s poetic second Piano Concerto.

HEADLINE (WELCOME)

Neutraface display light with graphic elements shown above.

CONCERT NAME

Tungsten medium.

CONCERT DATES

TUNGSTEN

Used for date/time and for concert titles. It is very functional because it is so greatly compressed and can manage long concert titles and yet remain legible. This font is also not available for free, so we suggest using Myriad Condensed Bold to replace this font when necessary.

Tungsten bold for month and dates. Tungsten book for times. Zapf dingbat square for divider between multi-day concerts.

CONDUCTOR NAME

Myriad Pro condensed.

COMPOSER

abcdefghijkl mnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKL MNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijkl mnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKL MNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Myriad Pro condensed. Last name only if deceased; full name if living.

REPERTOIRE

Myriad Pro condensed. Music pieces line up as shown above. Repertoire may be italicized; please consult the Orchestra Library for correct italicization before print.

CONCERT DESCRIPTION

In describing a concert, please use approved material from marketing. In descriptions, all text is full-justified with no hyphenation. If hyphenation is used occasionally, never split proper nouns. We employ the Oxford comma and concert titles are not italicized.

What the Font?

When in doubt, use Myriad Pro, as it is available free on the internet. Do not choose any fancy fonts or scripts that you think are snazzier.

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social media

Social Media Brand Guidelines

How To Share! - Best Practices

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND HANDLES

Facebook Colorado Symphony Twitter @CO_Symphony Instagram @coloradosymphony YouTube Colorado Symphony

To get the word out about Colorado Symphony events and happenings, we recommend ‘sharing’ on social media!

There are simple tabs on every social post for Twitter and Facebook that allow you to share with a friend, to your own profile page, or in a private message.

Also, on Facebook, you can help further by confirming your ‘interest’ in our events!

HASHTAGS: APPROVED

#coloradosymphony #COSymphony

HOW-TO

Go to facebook.com/ColoradoSymphony/ Look to the left menu items and locate the “Events” tab, then click!

Search through each even t and select “Interested”, click “Going”, or both!

This will set a reminder in your own social calendar and also display to your network that you’re interested in the event, helping build exposure for the concert.

APPROVED HASHTAGS: GENERAL

#denver #redrocksco #boettcherconcerthall #DPAC #behindthescenes #sneakpeek Hashtags should not exceed 25 characters unless pre-approved by Digital/Social Media Manager. Additional hashtags should adhere to the approved voice and tone of the channel.

Hashtags: Unapproved/Outdated #CSO #CSOMG #CSOm #coloradosymphonyorchestra #denversymphony

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