Fulton County School System. Brand Identity Guidelines

Transcription

1 Fulton County School System Brand Identity Guidelines

2 2 Overview The Fulton County School System enjoys a well-earned reputation in the educational arena for its leading public schools. The value of this reputation gives us a tangible competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top students, principals, teachers, staff and community partners. Public perception of a school district significantly affects its success or failure. A priority objective is to make the Fulton County School System s brand image one of our most significant assets. With our students best interests in mind, our brand identity guidelines are a critical part of maintaining the discipline required to build brand value within our communities. These brand identity guidelines define just how the Fulton brand should look, sound and feel. We need to speak with one voice. A consistent voice and face better guarantee the positive public mindshare required to be an educational leader for our students not only today but also well into the future. Fulton s brand identity guidelines are designed for both the consistency we need and the flexibility we want in order to customize our communications to the needs of each individual school. We want to make it clear that each Fulton County school is part of a single, unified family yet still unique in its oneness and diversity. Brand success is never secured by accident but rather through a deliberate, focused and consistent effort by each and every Fulton County School System employee.

3 3 Branding 101 A brand is more than our name and logo. The brand represents our reputation, our everyday behavior, our personality. Each and every school system employee is the Fulton brand. Our brand is the sum of all internal and external perceptions. The school district s brand is our value promise to our stakeholders. It's important that we understand this promise and live up to it each and every day. Our school system is defined and represented by many key brand attributes attributes that should be consistently used in our everyday communications, whether formally or informally. What is the Fulton County School System brand? Fulton s primary brand attributes revolve around the tagline in its logo: Where Students Come First (the key words being students and first). Why? Because students are the reason we re here and what it s really all about. So it makes sense to put students first in everything we say and do and to continually remind ourselves and our stakeholders of this promise.

4 Brand messaging Other brand attributes or descriptors that help define the Fulton brand include: - Innovative - Focused - Responsive - Diverse - Caring - Excellence - Value Fulton s brand look These words should be used in our everyday language and certainly in our key messages to stakeholders both verbally and in writing. Doing so will help to ensure our stakeholders understand what Fulton County schools are all about and what they can expect from us as a school district. Brand messaging is important but so, too, is a consistent brand look and feel. These guidelines provide the graphic basis for the Fulton County School System, helping to secure a readily identifiable Fulton look among our audiences. The Fulton school district look is a composite of: - Logo - Color palette - Typography 4

5 The logo Our logo is used to encourage instant recognition. The logo has two basic elements: 1) the name or signature (Fulton County Schools) and 2) the tagline, sometimes referred to as an image-theme line or integrated slogan (Where Students Come First). The logo should appear on all print pieces and other specialty items (T-shirts, banners, pens, etc.). The logo should never be recreated or altered in any way and should never be crowded (i.e. placing type, photos or other design elements too closely). Let the logo breathe and stand on its own. The logo should always be printed in a horizontal position (i.e. don t angle or flip it or lay it down in a vertical position). Color palette PMS 343 PMS 457 PMS 216 Logos should be printed in the Fulton County green (PMS 343) and gold (PMS 457). The logo can also be printed in all black but not in all green or all gold. Moreover, the logo can be reversed out (a negative version of white on a dark background). The approved PMS green should be the dominant color on all printed and electronic collateral pieces, including brochures, newsletters, web pages, posters, fliers, calendars, directories, signage, PowerPoint slides, etc. Gold should be used as a secondary color to complement the green. A third color burgundy (PMS 216) has also been approved to use sparingly as an accent color when and where appropriate. (Note: burgundy should not be used without the green and gold.) 5

6 6 Typography Times New Roman and Arial are Fulton s official typestyles/fonts. Times New Roman is best used for body copy. Times New Roman bold and italicized (for emphasis) are acceptable versions, as well. Arial is appropriate for headlines and sub-heads. It can also be used as text when the amount of copy is minimal. Arial in bold, light or italic are all acceptable versions for use. Times New Roman Times New Roman Italic Times New Roman Bold Times New Roman Bold Italic Arial Arial Italic Arial Bold Arial Bold Italic

7 Brand identity design samples 7 John Smith Business card General brochure Departmental letterhead PowerPoint presentation template Annual report

8 The written word Speaking in one voice is important. So, too, is writing in one style. Uniformity makes it easier on the reader. The Communications Department has established the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook as its official style guide. AP style is a universally accepted guidebook for the written word, one that has been adopted by most journalists and PR practitioners. It is hundreds of pages long, but here are a few rules we should follow: Academic Degrees. Use an apostrophe in bachelor s degree, master s degree but no apostrophe when specifying degrees (bachelor of arts, master of science). Lowercase degrees. Acronyms. Should be avoided, if possible. If not, spell it out on first reference: She s employed by the Fulton County School System (FCSS). Active Verbs. Replace passive verbs (is, was, are and be) with active verbs. Example: The meeting was held by the subcommittee. Instead: The subcommittee held a meeting. Addresses. Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd. and St. only with a numbered address. Spell them out and capitalize when part of a formal street name without a number: 123 Peachtree St., Peachtree Boulevard, 14 Smith Ave. Adviser. Adviser, not advisor, is the preferred AP spelling. Affect/Effect. Affect, as a verb, means to influence: The game will affect the standings. Effect, as a noun, means results: The effect will last forever. Can/may. Can suggests mental or physical ability: Jane can do it. May implies permission: You may use my car. Capitalizing Titles. In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual s name. Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an individual s name or when used after a name: President Mike Jones arrived late. Sally Smith, president, knows the system. Vice President Sara Smith agreed, but the pope wouldn t comment. Capitalizing Formal Entity Names. Capitalize the formal name of a board, committee, division or department but only when the entire name is referenced: Voters elect Fulton County Board of Education members. The board of education relies on community input. All women sit on the board. The Communications Department takes all media calls. Employee complaints are handled through human resources. Colons. The most frequent use is at the end of a sentence to introduce lists. Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it s a proper noun or the start of a sentence: He promised this: The company will succeed. Commas. Omit the comma before the last item in a sequence: I love flowers, books and food. Commas should precede coordinate conjunctions (and, or, but, so, etc.) when joining two complete sentences: He handled the staff, and she did the paperwork. Compass Directions: Lowercase north, south, northeast, west, etc., when indicating compass directions. Capitalize when designating regions: He drove west. The North won. 8

9 Contractions. It s up to the writer whether to write in contractions or not. Both are correct. The general rule, however, is to be consistent throughout the written piece do one or the other. Consider the audience and desired tone of the message. Obviously, contractions are less formal, but studies show that simple, concise writing has a better chance of getting read, is more enjoyable to read and more readily absorbed. We want to write like we speak and we usually speak in contractions. Courtesy Titles and Names. Refer to both men and women by first and last name: Susan Smith or Robert Jones. Do not use courtesy titles Mr., Miss, Ms. or Mrs. except in direct quotations. On second reference use only the last name. Common Nouns. Do not capitalize common nouns (e.g. church, student, principal, president, school, teacher, board member, department, book, cafeteria, vaccine, office, auditorium, government, etc.) Ensure/insure. Ensure means to guarantee: To ensure better grades students should read more. Use insure for references to insurance: The policy insures his life. Fund raising. Fund raising challenges us all. They planned a fund-raising campaign. A fundraiser was hired. i.e./e.g. i.e means that is, to say or in other words. e.g. means for example: She s brilliant (i.e. a great student). I love lots of vegetables (e.g. corn, carrots, peas, etc.). Junior/Senior. Abbreviate as Jr. and Sr. with full names. Do not precede with a comma: Joe Smith Jr. Lay/Lie. Lie indicates a state of reclining or nontruth: I need to lie down. Lay is an action word that takes a direct object: Please lay the baby down. Numbers. Spell out numbers one through nine. Use numerals for numbers 10 and above: I want five apples and 13 oranges. Exceptions: Spell out a numeral at the beginning of a sentence (unless it s a number that identifies a calendar year). Always use numerals/figures for ages, percentages, times, monetary units, addresses, dates, weights, temperatures and other measurable units of the like. Insert a comma to denote thousands but spell out rounded numbers of a million or more: They had $3 million, 10,000 acres of land, 11 dogs, three cats, 2 pounds of chocolate and liked 9 percent of their neighbors who lived 1,000 feet to the south of 6 Devon St. Quotation Marks. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks: I wouldn t have it any other way, she said. Never, ever. Semicolons, question marks and exclamation points go inside quotation marks when they apply to the quoted material only: He asked, Are you OK? They go outside quotation marks when they apply to the whole sentence: Can we include the brochures called Making the Grade? Use single quotation marks for a quote within a quote: He said no more money every chance he got, the principal said. School System Name. Refer to the official school system as either the Fulton County School System or Fulton County Schools. For second references, school system and school district are acceptable. Semicolons. Semicolons join two complete sentences not joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, for, etc.) and to separate 9

10 10 The written word, cont. elements of a series when individual segments contain material that also must be set off by commas: He is happy; she is sad. He leaves a son, John Smith; two daughters Jane and Sally Smith; and a wife, Beth. Times. Don t use zeroes to express minutes for times on the hour: He started at 6 p.m. and finished at 1 a.m. Do not use 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. Instead write noon or midnight. The program starts at 10:30 a.m., lasts until noon and then starts up again at midnight. Telephone Numbers. If extension numbers are included: Ext That/Which. That defines, or restricts, a pronoun. Which is non-defining. That sets off an essential clause. Which sets off a nonessential clause. Essential clauses cannot be eliminated from a sentence without changing the meaning of a sentence. Nonessential clauses can be eliminated without altering the basic meaning of the sentence: The boy that bought the book was the last to leave. She is pretty, which isn t surprising. Titles. Capitalize the principle words in a title, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters. Put composition titles (e.g. books, movies, plays, etc.) in italics or quotation marks: Gone With the Wind Toward. Not towards. Web, , Internet. Correct written usage: The Internet includes addresses and Web site designations. Who/Whom. Who is the word when someone is the subject of a sentence, clause or phrase: The woman who rented the room left. Whom is the word when someone is the object of a verb or preposition: The woman to whom the room was rented left.

11 11 Answers to frequently asked questions Improper use of the logo 1) I ve seen the Fulton logo sliced up and repositioned in order to fit in a tight space. Is this acceptable? No, the logo as shown earlier is the only acceptable format. It is not to be reformatted in any way. The logo size can be increased/decreased but only proportionally. Chances are if the logo doesn t fit somewhere then it probably shouldn t be there. 2) I see a lot of quotes in s under the signature line some religious but mostly just inspirational/motivational. OK to do this? No, if it s a school district address it s best just to include your name and contact information only. Personal quotes should be used for personal addresses. (However, Where Students Come First would certainly be acceptable.) Where Students Come First 3) I like to use all capital letters to get my point across. Good idea? Actually not contrary to popular belief, all caps are very hard to read and should be avoided, if possible. 4) Isn t it correct to put two spaces at the end of a sentence after a period? It s unnecessary. Look at any professional publication, and you ll see. When typewriters were the norm, using two spaces was, in fact, correct. Today s computers, however, provide a little extra space automatically. It s a hard habit to break but think of all the keystrokes (and time) you ll save yourself. 5) For clothing pieces or other promotional items like pens of coffee mugs, do we still need to follow the correct logo-usage guidelines? Yes, logo guidelines should always be followed no matter what the medium. 6) Do we need to include an ADA/EEO statement on all printed pieces? Yes. Add a compliance statement on all publications at least once a year. The complete ADA/EEO statement is lengthy but using one of the approved abbreviated versions is acceptable. Here s the shortest one: Equal Opportunity Agency Compliance Coordinator TTY

12 Equal opportunity employer and service provider. Reasonable accommodations and modifications made for the disabled TTY