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The Medical University of South Carolina has branding standards that must be applied to all
broadcast and online video productions. This document provides guidelines for the appropriate
use of logos, fonts, tags, lower thirds, music, video and sound quality. It also provides the proper
approval process for posting to our websites as well as a resource directory for your video project.
Reflect the Medical University of South Carolina Brand
Be sure that your story reflects MUSC standards and tells our story in a compelling way.
Adherence to the brand guidelines ensures that we communicate a consistent look and feel that
reinforces the superior research, education and clinical care available at MUSC. All subjects
should be comfortable on camera and should effectively communicate the MUSC experience.
Video Release Forms
Think about the many individuals and groups who will be impacted by your video. Make
sure to get appropriate approvals from all involved including having a legal video release form
signed by any and all persons that can be recognized in the video. It is not necessary to have
signed release from employees, but any other persons must sign a release. Should you be filming
outside, on MUSC property, you legally do not have to have a release signed particularly if it is
a crowd scene. However we do encourage anyone who is easily recognizable and not part of a
crowd be approached to sign a release.
Video Planning
Think through the video story board and plan your shots and locations beforehand. This will
eliminate poor story lines, lighting, sound and inconsistent jumps in video which result in sub
par quality. Prepare your interview questions in advance and think about the sound bites you
need from your subjects. Video planning is one of the most important steps in the execution of
quality video.
Use Professional Video Equipment
Be sure to use professional video equipment including proper lighting and audio sources.
Professional external microphones should be used whenever possible. Most consumer product
cameras provide poor quality audio and video for posting to the Web and may reflect badly on
the MUSC brand. Video from Smart Phones is not considered professional quality and is not
appropriate for posting to a MUSC website. “Flip video” is permissible but not recommended
unless the sound and lighting are of a more professional nature.
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Video Length
Limit your final edited product to 2-3 minutes. This will keep the viewers engaged and provide
a more effective result in your call to action. After 2-3 minutes attention by the viewer decreases
dramatically and your intended message may be lost. If your story includes many subjects and
runs the risk of being overly long, you should consider editing it into two separate videos.
Music for Videos
All music used in any video must be licensed. Using copyrighted music without a license is
strictly forbidden and illegal.
Video Identifiers
Remember your video may be used in multiple places such as broadcast or on an approved
website. Therefore it is important to properly identify all subjects in your video (patients,
faculty, employees, and vendors) as well as the event or story being showcased. It is not necessary
to add credits at the end of your production as the final tag frame should be a call to action with
appropriate phone numbers and URL for MUSC. There should also be a link when possible on
the hosting site to the proper page on MUSChealth.com, musc.edu or other MUSC websites.
Content
All video content should be appropriate for the intended audience. Videos for general public
consumption should not be overly graphic in their portrayal of surgeries, before and after shots,
etc. The intent is to educate not to frighten or make the viewer squeamish. Any video involving
animals and animal research must be approved prior to filming. There can be absolutely no
promotional use of videos with animals. These should be confined to viewing by very select
audiences: i.e. other researchers, or institutions involved in similar studies, etc.
Compliance
The University and its affiliated sites, as well as MUSChealth.com, reserve the right to remove
any video if requests to make the video compliant are not met.
Design Guidelines
All video produced must include certain standard design traits which will identify the video as
sanctioned by MUSC. These standards will provide consistency of message and strengthen our
Brand with a cohesive representation of the Hospital and University. The following video slides
exemplify the elements that should be used when creating a video on behalf of MUSC.
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Opening Brand Slide
All video should begin with the MUSC corporate logo on a white background as shown. The MUSC
Children’s hospital has its own sanctioned logo which should be used.
Medical University of South Carolina
Opening slide for MUSC
Hospital Authority videos
Opening slide for MUSC
University videos
Opening slide for MUSC
Children’s Hospital
Logo Positioning on Screen
Logos should be centered horizontally and evenly spaced vertically within the broadcast safe wireframes.
Broadcast safe wireframe
Broadcast safe wireframe
Caption Standards
Place captions in the lower third of the video frame. Use a translucent screen of the MUSC blue and
a white font in the standard text font. Make sure to identify all key subjects with their official titles.
Top Line Title Caption Text
Standards
Font Verlag Book 25 pt
Tracking 3
White
Bottom Line Text Standards
Font Verlag Book 18 pt
Tracking 3
White
Background Translucent Screen
Color 006699 (web safe)
Opacity 70%
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Physician abbreviations
Use periods for M.D., Dr.P.H and Ph.D. only. All other academic degrees (DO, MBA, MHA,
MSW, FACP, etc.) should include the letters only. Example: Marcy B. Bolster, M.D., FACP
Outro Slide/Call to Action Slide
All videos should contain an Outro Slide with a call to action slide when necessary so viewers can
contact MUSC for further information and to insure the viewer associates this subject matter
with MUSC. This call to action slide MUST include the corporate logo, phone number, and
URL as shown below. There should also be a link embedded on the host page to the proper
MUSC web page.
Medical University of South Carolina
For more information:
MUSChealth.com
843-792-1414
For more information:
musc.edu
843-792-1414
For more information:
musckids.com
843-792-1414
Outro Slide
Keep information text below logos inside the smallest line of copy in the logo.
These slides should appear no less than five seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find a media release?
The Photography/Video/Story Release Form is available on the MUSC Communication
Standards website at musc.edu/communications/releaseform
What is the approval process for approving the video?
For MUSCHealth.com: All videos must be approved by MUSC Marketing’s Interactive
Manager, Jane Kelley, (kelleyje@musc.edu) before being uploaded. Videos needing to be
approved may either be posted to You Tube as unlisted and the link sent to spillan@musc.edu, or
they maybe uploaded to an ftp site at ftp://ftp.musc.edu/users/kar/outbound/Danny_Spillane.
Please include all of your contact information so you can be reached if there are any questions
or corrections.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can other logos be used with the MUSC logo in the video?
Yes, co-branding can be used. These will be approved on a case by case basis according to
communication brand standard guidelines.
Request from news outlets and other organizations?
Any external source (local or national media) that receives video which was recorded by MUSC
must use a courtesy super “Medical University of South Carolina.”
Any further information or questions?
Please contact Interactive Manager, Jane Kelley 843-792-6632 (kelleyje@musc.edu) or
Videographer/editor Danny Spillane 843-792-5487 (spillan@musc.edu)
musc.edu/communicationstandards