CORPORATE VISUAL IDENTITY This brand manual describes the core elements of COWI s corporate visual identity and provides the rules for how to apply the design, whether using digital, print or other media. The manual is primarily for graphic designers, communication agencies, and others working professionally with design or production of marketing and communication materials. The CVI manual must be used consistently to ensure a high quality of COWI s marketing and communication materials that adhere to the CVI at all times. Please contact COWI s Communication team if you have questions.
2 LOGO LOGO HISTORY COWI s logo was designed in 1972 by one of Denmark s best-known graphic designers, Erik Ellegaard Frederiksen. The logo was developed by forming an abbreviation of the first letters of the two founders first names and surnames: Christen Ostenfeld and Wriborg Jønson (in the past, the letter J was written with an I ). THE LOGO The COWI logo is the core element of our corporate visual identity. The logo must never be altered or reproduced. The COWI logo must be present on all materials, whether digital, print or otherwise. TAGLINE COWI is a one-brand company and has no tagline or sub-logo versions. DISTANCE OF RESPECT The distance of respect ensures that the logo always stands out and reads easily. The clear space around the logo is the distance of respect. No other elements must be placed within this area. That means no graphic elements, typography or other, non-approved background colours within the clear space. This also means that the logo must not be placed inside a box or other graphic elements. The clear space is determined by measuring the height of the logo (the x-height) and as a minimum, making sure that the logo has the same clear space around it. TIP: Draw a symmetric square with the height of the C and place it in the corner.
3 LOGO COLOUR PRIMARY LOGO ORANGE (POSITIVE) The COWI logo should be orange and positive whenever possible. The logo can be placed on a white or on a very light grey background (see colour specifications below). A negative version of the logo can be used on dark backgrounds. However, this is primarily used for clothing and merchandising (see clothing specifications). CMYK 00 85 100 00 RGB 240 78 35 PANTONE Warm red HEX F04E23 RAL 2002 SECONDARY LOGO GREY AND WHITE (NEGATIVE) The grey or white logo variations may be used whenever orange is impossible to use, e.g. because of a dark background or a mid-tone background where the orange will not stand out. On most single or multi-coloured backgrounds, the negative logo can be used. However, the orange logo should be used on all grey backgrounds. As regards clothing and merchandise, the negative logo can be used for dark backgrounds (see clothing specifications). CMYK 00 00 00 80 RGB 88 89 91 PANTONE 80% Black HEX 58595B
4 LOGO ON PHOTOS The logo can be placed on top of photos. It can be applied when making big wall-to-wall pictures for posters or wall decorations, or PowerPoint presentations, brochure or tender covers, or ads and customised products. When used on photos, the background behind the logo must be as uncluttered as possible, and the most appropriate (i.e. visible) positive or negative logo should be used.
5 SIZE AND SCALING The COWI logo is predefined in a range of sizes for use on specific formats. The logo may be scaled for other formats using the defined formula. A5 25 mm in width A4 35 mm in width A3 45 mm in width A1 100 mm in width. The logo must never be scaled down below 10 mm in width. The logo must be scaled using the correct proportions to ensure that it remains recognisable and undistorted.
6 LOGO PLACEMENT BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER The logo is always placed in the bottom right corner. Only exhibition stands and roll-ups are the only exceptions where the logo must be placed at the top to obtain the best possible exposure of the logo. NO ROTATION The logo must always be placed horizontally and never rotated. However, for merchandise and other special applications, a rotated placement of the logo may be the only option. In this case, the logo should only be rotated 90 degrees (with the letter C at the bottom).
7 LOGO POSITIONING WHEN IT IS USED TOGETHER WITH OTHER LOGOS When using other company logos in the same layout as the COWI logo, the other logos must be placed on the bottom left side of the page, one after another in a column, not on the same side as the COWI logo. When listing logos of equal partners, place the logos in one line at the bottom of the page. The COWI logo is always placed in the bottom right corner. SED MOD TIE DOLORTINIT VERAT MUOD EUS RERUM VELES VOLUPTI BARUNT COMNISUN VERAT SED MOD TIE DOLORTINIT VERAT MUOD EUS RERUM VELES VOLUPTI BARUNT COMNISUN VERAT Not equal partners Equal partners Please contact your collaboration partner in COWI when you need a COWI logo.
8 COLOURS PRIMARY COLOUR: ORANGE The colour is primarily used in the logo and to highlight words or sentences. It may only be applied to ten per cent of the entire design. PRIMARY COLOUR CMYK 00 85 100 00 RGB 240 78 35 PANTONE Warm red HEX F04E23 RAL 2002 SECONDARY COLOURS The only exception to the ten per cent rule is when the orange colour is applied as a full-page colour in PowerPoint slides, or for greeting cards, section dividers, brochure and tender covers. Used most often CMYK 33 06 00 71 RGB 67 90 105 PANTONE 7545 C HEX 435a69 CMYK 00 09 14 60 RGB 128 119 111 PANTONE Warm grey 8 HEX 80776f CMYK 56 28 42 00 RGB 124 157 150 PANTONE 624 c HEX 7c9d96 SECONDARY COLOURS: VARIATIONS OF GREY COWI uses three variations of grey: Grey with a blue tone (used most often), grey with a brown tone, and grey with a green tone. CMYK 55 41 32 02 RGB 125 136 151 PANTONE 430 C HEX 7d8897 CMYK 43 28 22 00 RGB 151 166 180 PANTONE 7543 C HEX 97a6b4 CMYK 00 08 13 36 RGB 176 164 154 PANTONE Warm grey 5 HEX b0a49a CMYK 00 04 09 21 RGB 208 199 189 PANTONE Warm grey 3 HEX d0c7bd CMYK 40 17 31 00 RGB 157 184 175 PANTONE 5575 C HEX 9db8af CMYK 29 11 23 00 RGB 182 202 194 PANTONE 5585 C HEX b6cac2 CMYK 17 09 09 00 RGB 209 217 221 PANTONE 642 C HEX d1d9dd CMYK 00 02 07 08 RGB 235 229 218 PANTONE Warm grey 1 HEX ebe5da CMYK 23 06 18 00 RGB 196 216 208 PANTONE 5595 C HEX c4d8d0 CMYK 13 04 11 00 RGB 220 229 223 PANTONE 621 C HEX dce5df TERTIARY COLOURS COLOUR CODE EXPLANATION: CMYK Print/reproductions RGB On-screen HEX Web/on-screen Pantone Reproductions/merchandise and clothing. WHITE SPACE White is not a colour, but white space is a very important part of the entire layout as it leaves space for text, pictures and graphics to stand out. CMYK 85 21 0 0 RGB 0 156 222 Pantone 2925 HEX 009cde PLEASE NOTICE Grey may be applied to between 30 per cent and 90 per cent of the design. If grey is applied as a background, the following colours should be used: CMYK 02 02 02 02 RGB 248 247 246 Pantone 50% Warm Grey 1 C HEX F8F7F CMYK 0 5 64 0 RGB 251 219 101 Pantone 120 HEX fbdb65 80 per cent grey black logo version and graphic elements are used as icons or lines. CMYK 00 00 00 80 RGB 88 89 91 PANTONE 80% Black HEX 58595B CMYK 34 0 85 0 RGB 179 212 85 Pantone 382 HEX b3d455 100 per cent black is used for text only. CMYK 00 00 00 100 RGB 35 31 32 PANTONE Process Black C HEX 231f20
9 TYPOGRAPHY COWI s corporate visual identity has two fonts to choose from, depending on the media. PRIMARY FONT HELVETICA NEUE Helvetica Neue is COWI s primary font. It is used in printed and digital marketing and communication materials produced by design professionals. HELVETICA NEUE abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 LIGHT HELVETICA NEUE LIGHT 45 Helvetica Neue Light 45 is used for headlines, sub-headlines and body copy. HELVETICA NEUE LIGHT 45 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elitvivamus in justo quis mauris tristique condimentum id vel mauris. CAPITAL LETTERS Capital letters are used instead of a bold version of the typeface for headlines or subheadlines, and to highlight a statement. LOREM IPSUM AQUAM LOREM IPSUM TOTATIS MAGNIMO LUPTAS ULPARIAT QUE IN PERAEPTAE NEST
10 HELVETICA NEUE MEDIUM 65 Helvetica Neue Medium 65 can only be used for customised design to highlight a paragraph headline, social media visuals, internal banners for the web or COWIportal, posters, video, motion graphics and infographics. COPYRIGHT The font is copyright-protected, and only designers are given a license to use it. For this reason, the font must not have shared internally or externally. HELVETICA NEUE MEDIUM 65 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elitvivamus in justo quis mauris tristique condimentum id vel mauris. FONT COLOUR To ensure maximum visibility and readability, the colour of the COWI font is 100 per cent black in all materials, whether digital, print or otherwise. CMYK 00 00 00 100 RGB 35 31 32 PANTONE Process Black C HEX 231f20 SECONDARY FONTS COWI have one secondary font, Verdana. SECONDARY FONT VERDANA Verdana is used for all on-screen communication such as digital media, websites, the COWIportal and in all Microsoft Office software (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel). This font was chosen as it is optimised for digital media. It is available on all computers as a part of the standard font package and free of charge. VERDANA abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 VERDANA BOLD Verdana Bold can only be used in exceptional cases and only to highlight paragraph headlines or other important information in PowerPoint presentations. VERDANA BOLD Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elitvivamus in justo quis mauris tristique condimentum id vel mauris.