University Brand reminders

As we begin a new semester, it’s a great time for a few reminders about applying the University’s brand in your marketing and communications.

The University of Minnesota System style guide was created a couple of years ago to establish consistency in how we reference all of our campuses and our work as a systemwide institution.

Please reference and use the System style guide when you are crafting your marketing and communications. A core principle of these standards is to ensure you are clearly naming whether your communication is referencing a specific campus, e.g. University of Minnesota Twin Cities, or the system as a whole, University of Minnesota or University of Minnesota System. A couple of additional reminders:

• “Systemwide” is one word, no hyphen
• “System campuses” references all five campuses, including the Twin Cities campus

Thank you for your ongoing work to promote the value of this University both through the specific work of your unit or the collective work of your campus and the System at large.

Other Reminders

• Get to know your campus/college/unit brand leader. Your campus/college/unit marketing communications leader is an important point of contact for you as you think about aligning your communications with brand standards. They can advise on any specific branding guidelines that align with the central brand policies and standards and connect you to the specific wordmarks that apply. University Relations collaborates closely with the marketing communications leaders in our shared work as brand advocates.
• Email signatures should not have images embedded. University Relations has developed an email signature template that you may use for your campus, college, and unit. Please note that this template is based on best practices and does not allow for the addition of graphics, images, or brand elements.
• Ensure proper buffer space around University marks. To avoid elements looking combined with University trademarks, there should be proper buffer space separating those elements. What does that mean? Generally more is better than less; but we recommend taking a look at the guidelines for more specific details.
• When selecting apparel color, maroon and gold is preferred. Avoid color combinations that might be confused with another university (such as black and gold, blue and gold, etc.). The primary colors should be the first choice when purchasing merchandise; if those colors are already being used for the branding application, then the secondary colors, such as white, black or gray, should be used.

Visit the Resources Section for all brand standards, assets, and related information. As always, if you have any questions about the brand guidelines illustrated above or any of the guidelines posted on our website, please reach out to University Relations.