S T YLE GUIDE VER SION 1.0 9 .1 6 . 2 0 1 3

Table of Contents

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Introduction

3

Brand Positioning

4

Copy

8

Typography

11

Photography & Video

15

Design

20

Spectrum

25

Questions

29

Introduction This Preliminary Style Guide provides a resource for future implementation of the University of Houston brand. The brand guidelines contained in this document describe the fundamental elements of the brand along with basic instruction for their use. Adherence to these guidelines will ensure consistency and recognition of the brand. Recognition of the greater University brand is something that will benefit each of its programs and key segments independently moving forward. It should be noted that use of the elements in this initial guide are open to change, however these changes will be reviewed and assessed periodically to ensure there is always a single standard usage overall.

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Brand Positioning

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P O S I T I O N I N G S TAT E M E N T

After a lengthy qualitative and quantitative research effort the following brand positioning statement was created for the University of Houston. This statement, which encapsulates the essence of the institution, serves as an internal reference to guide marketing communications and should never appear on outward-facing materials.

This phrase can be proven by stating facts, using examples, and telling specific stories relating to the following proof points: University Strides • Surprising number of top-ranked academic programs • Problem-solving research with practical applications • Metropolitan campus with the feel of a large traditional campus

The University of Houston is a mecca for the driven.

• New leadership shifting culture of change to focus on students

Staggering Potential in the City of Houston Communicators should strive to always convey this message without explicitly using the phrase in any piece of marketing communications.

• 4th largest city in the U.S.—and growing • Most Fortune 500 companies outside of NYC • Largest health system in U.S. (Texas Medical Center) • Thriving energy industry • International hub • More than 6 out of 10 UH alumni stay in Houston after graduation • Low cost of living and low unemployment

Self-Starter Mentality • Ambitious, entrepreneurial UH grads fuel Houston • High percentage of first-generation college students • Over 3,500 alumni own or run a business • Notable alumni accomplishments in research, sports, the arts, and business

Brand Positioning TONE WORDS

The positioning statement is informed by the following tonal words that reflect the personality of the institution: • Approachable • Practical • Bold • Progressive • Direct • Aspirational

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Brand Positioning R AT I O N A L E

Within the city limits of Houston, there are no limits. The resources of Fortune 500 companies fuel the ambition of Tier One university students and faculty to relentlessly drive progress.

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Brand Art: Sample Brand Executions

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Copy VOICE

UH offers a wealth of opportunities to students. Altogether, the tremendous potential provided to students produces a brand voice that is straightforward and confident. At UH we don’t need to try to be overly clever or outsmart ourselves to stand out. As a University we have incredible things to offer students, yet we remain humble and driven. These personality traits lead to a voice that is succinct, to the point, and generally upbeat.

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Copy HEADLINE TONE

UH is driven and ambitious. The brand’s personality is confident in all that it has to offer, yet grounded in the realities of the real world. Together, headlines reflect this persona by being direct and interesting, but not showy and brash. Generally, a UH headline is to the point. We are never overly clever. We don’t need to rely on heavy wordplay because our stories are strong enough to be impressive on their own.

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Copy BODY COPY TONE

With UH’s body copy, the tone is honest and authentic. We’re efficient with our body copy. We choose to use shorter, more direct words to make our points clearly and succinctly. We’re “direct” not “verbose.” We don’t rely on an elaborate vocabulary to illustrate our intellectual capacity. Our stories and accomplishments speak volumes on their own. We just need to tell them.

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Typography headline type face

Knockout is the headline font in Houston’s brand. It is used sparingly for big typographic moments. Only to be used in allcaps, with shadow behind the type. It can be used on an upward right slant when copy length allows. The angling of knockout communicates the progressive and enterprising ideas that the University stands for. When angling the typography, use the Fullbantamwt style of Knockout. In Illustrator, right click the type, choose transform, and select shear. From here choose the vertical axis, and type in -8˚.

KNOCKOUT

Knockout HTF48 Featherweight Knockout HTf67 Fullbantamwt

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Typography

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S econdary type face

Milo is the secondary headline typeface for the Houston brand. It is also suitable for subheads, pull quotes, and title pages. For situations where legibility must be immediate such as with billboards, it can be used as body copy. In these situations the headlines should appear in all-caps. The overall sentence case of the University of Houston brand suggests approachability. Milo also serves as the primary typeface for web usage. MILO

FF Milo Pro Thin FF Milo Thin Italic FF Milo Pro Extra Light FF Milo Pro Extra Light Italic FF Milo Pro Light FF Milo Pro Light Italic FF Milo Pro Regular FF Milo Pro Regular Italic FF Milo Pro Text FF Milo Pro Text Italic FF Milo Pro Medium FF Milo Pro Medium Italic

FF Milo Pro Bold FF Milo Pro Bold Italic FF Milo Pro Extra Bold FF Milo Pro Extra Bold Italic FF Milo Pro Heavy FF Milo Pro Heavy Italic

Typography S upporting type face

Hoefler is the primary supporting typeface for the Houston brand. It is suitable for use in body copy and subheads, but it is always used in conjunction with Milo.

HOEFLER TEXT

Hoefler Text Roman Hoefler Text Italic Hoefler Text Bold Hoefler Text Bold Italic Hoefler Text Black Hoefler Text Black Italic

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Typography T ype faces

Together, these three typefaces—Knockout, with it’s bold, direct look and feel, Milo with it’s clean, practical, and yet refined style, and Hoefler with it’s more traditional academic distinction— create an aspirational, approachable, and bold grouping that work well together as a family.

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Photography PORTRAITS

Houston’s brand of photography strives for an in-the-moment feeling. We use images captured from unexpected angles or vantage points to create a candid feel. Portraits especially should show the confidence and focus of the subject without feeling staged. The lighting should give the photographs an overall warmth, and help them drive the aspirational tone.

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Photography

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Photography A C T I O N /G R O U P S H O T S

Using more candid shots is what makes the brand’s photography feel approachable. It has a warmth tonally while still showing a confidence in the subjects. The lighting and lens flares demonstrate the brand’s aspirational ideals.

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Photography C A M P U S /O B J E C T

Unexpected angles are employed in the campus shots as well. This type of photography should be more staged and laid out with intention unlike the photographs with human subjects.

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Video OVER ARCHING GUIDELINES

Videos should follow the same general guidelines outlined for photography. Striving for candid shots, capturing insightful moments, and finding unexpected angles helps to create videos that have a sense of warmth to help UH tell its stories genuinely and honestly.

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Design

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C O L O R PA L E T T E

Keeping the traditional Houston red, silver, and white while adding in some shades of teal and gold helps to give the brand a warmer feel with more options for layouts. This color palette gives the brand more depth which carries through in the type, icons, illustrations, and graphic elements.

PRIMARY BRAND COLORS

SECONDARY BRAND COLORS

Tertiary brand colors

R:200 G:16 B:46

R:158 G:42 B:47

R:93 G:42 B:44

PMS: 186 C

PMS: 704 C

PMS: 490 C

C:2 M:100 Y:85 K:6

C:8 M:97 Y:76 K:31

C:26 M:85 Y:85 K:72

HTML: C8102E

HTML: 9E2A2F

HTML: 5D2A2C

R:0 G:179 B:136

R:0 G:115 B:103

R:0 G:78 B:66

PMS: 339 C

PMS: 328 C

PMS: 3305 C

C:84 M:0 Y:59 K:0

C:100 M:10 Y:61 K:38

C:95 M:25 Y:70 K:68

HTML: 00B388

HTML: 007367

HTML: 004E42

R:246 G:190 B:0

R:234 G:170 B:0

R:198 G:146 B:20

PMS: 7408 C

PMS: 124 C

PMS: 1245 C

C:0 M:29 Y:100 K:0

C:0 M:30 Y:100 K:0

C:9 M:35 Y:98 K:30

HTML: F6BE00

HTML: EAAA00

HTML: AD841F

R:241 G:230 B:178

White

Black

PMS: 7499 C C:1 M:2 Y:24 K:0 HTML: F1E6B2 R:136 G:139 B:141

R:84 G:88 B:90

PMS: Cool Gray 8 C

PMS: 425 C

C:26 M:16 Y:13 K:46

C:45 M:29 Y:26 K:76 HTML: 54585A

Design

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I N S P I R AT I O N

This is the moodboard that was curated for creating the brand for the University of Houston. These examples serve as inspiration for the various design elements that make up the overall brand.

CLEAN AND SIMPLE INFORMATION DESIGN

ILLUSTRATION WITH DEPTH COMMUNICATING A WIDE VARIETY OF CHOICE

TECH INSPIRED ICONOGRAPHY

COLOR SHADES GIVE ILLUSTRATION DEPTH AND SHADING

BOLD AND ENERGETIC TYPOGRAPHY

ENERGETIC AND ELABORATE ILLUSTRATION

Design ICONS

The icons in the University of Houston’s brand are single-colored. They are flat shapes used as support in larger illustrations or secondary visuals when used in conjunction with graphic elements. The idea behind the icons is to keep them simplistic and direct to help make bold statements visually and to supplement the copy’s subject matter.

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Design

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I L L U S T R AT I O N S

The illustrations in Houston’s brand differ from the icons in that they have depth. Use the color palette to help create the various layers—think of the icons as the base for the illustration and build upwards from there. The different shades of red, gold, and teal help to create a sense of depth, you can also use a multiplied gray over top of the colors and drop shadows to give it more of that feeling.

U H

$$$ UH

Design

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G R A P H I C elements

The dimensional boxes show constant forward motion reflecting the aspirational aspect of the brand. Within the brand, directional arrows are used to show the progressive mentality. The constant borders in the design help to ground the content within, relating back to the practical mindset of the UH, in that these enterprising ideas and beliefs are rooted in something real.

BORDERS

DIMENSIONAL BOXES

DIRECTIONAL ARROWS AND PIPING

Spectrum P L AY F U L

The UH brand is robust. It can flex to be more playful or serious as needed depending on the materials it’s being used for. In instances such as undergraduate communications, the brand’s various design elements, illustrations, and icons can be used more heavily. The brand’s full range of colors can also be used in these instances to appeal to a younger audience. While the type should remain clean and distinct, there is more room for breaking the grid, and having larger type moments throughout this aspect of the brand.

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Spectrum ENERGETIC

Sometimes the UH brand will be called on to provide an energetic and fun feel while still conveying the accomplishments and high level of work being done. In these instances, as is the case for materials about the Arts District, the use of icons is still appropriate, yet the overall design should be more sophisticated and incorporate some of the blocked type alignments and icons.

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Spectrum PROFESSIONAL

For certain materials, such as pieces for the business school or graduate programs, the UH brand takes on a more professional tone. Small hints of the brand’s personality shine through in places like headers or breakdowns of information that can utilize the icons sparingly. In this mode, the minimal color palette and use of white helps to communicate more of a clean and reserved tone. Likewise, typography for these types of materials should be more traditionally laid out.

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Spectrum DISTINGUISHED

For communications to alumni or donors, like capital campaign materials, using the design elements in a bold and simple way is key. We strive for a minimal use of colors on individual spreads, however the use of the full range of the color palette across various spreads is acceptable. Clear, bold messages with light use of icons help create an elevated feel while maintaining some of the youth and warmth of the brand. Depending on the purpose of the piece, using larger type moments, portraits of UH students, and photos of campus can help to show the bond between UH, the community, and alumni to generate excitement and support.

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Questions The information contained within this guide is just that, a guide. If you ever have questions about appropriate uses please contact Enita Torres: E N I TA T O R R E S

Art Director eltorres3@uh.edu Phone: 713-743-9023 Office: ERP Building 1-Room 157

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GO COOGS