Helping Texans stay independent
BRAND GUIDELINES
Strategic Brand Overview
1 Brand essence
“Helping Texans stay independent”
“A framework for Independent Living”
“Empowering Independent Living in
Texas”
“Bringing Independent Living to
Texas”
“Guardian of the rights for Independent
Living”
“Overseeing the Interest of
Independent Living”
“Independent Living Curator”
“Ambassadors for the Texas
Independent Living Network”
“Making Independent Living
Accessible”
At the heart of our identity is our essence, encapsulated in
the phrase, “Helping Texans stay independent.”
At the core of what we are about is our framework of
ensuring that Texans with disabilities have access to quality
Independent Living services by focusing on a service
delivery system through the 27 centers for Independent
Living.
It defines what the brand stands for, ensuring consistency
and credibility for all our key stakeholders and acting as an
anchor for all communications and activities around the
brand.
Brand Fonts
2 Typefaces
To present a consistent and coherent
brand image, we have selected the
following group of typefaces to be
used when producing Texas SILC
materials.
The National Institute for the Blind
recommends using between front size
12-14.
Garamond
MAIN HEADINGS, BROCHURE COVERS, AND WEB TITLES
•
Adobe Garamond Pro to be used in the majority of cases.
•
Times New Roman to be used sparingly and only with approval from
Marketing.
•
Default for the use of this font should be all capitals.
Century Gothic
Secondary headlines/subheads
•
Weights/sizes by usage type at designer’s discretion.
Primary & secondary body copy
•
Main Narrative.
Lucida Sans Unicode
Detail Copy
•
Itineraries/Schedules/Agendas
•
Charts
•
Disclaimers, Terms & Conditions, other “legal copy” –
minimum type size 6 pt.
Vladimir Script
•
To be used as initial capital letters to start new body
copy sections or use sparingly in full words/titles, drop
caps.
Brand Colors
3 Logos
We have adopted the following color
palette to present a uniform look for
the brand.
SILC BLUE
Pantone 655 C
R: 16, G: 50 , B:99
C: 100, M: 88, Y: 34, K: 24
Web Hex value: #103263
SILC BLACK
Pantone Process Black
R:0, G:0, B:0
C:0, M:0, Y:0, K:0
Web Hex value: 000
SILC RED
Pantone 200 C
R: 194, G: 4, B: 48
C: 16, M: 100, Y:86, K: 7
Web Hex value: c20430
SILC YELLOW
Pantone
R:208, G: 158, B: 0
C:20, M:37, Y:100, K:1
Web Hex value: d09e00
Users of these guidelines should be
aware that colors are and can be
dramatically different when applied to
a variety of materials. Care must be
taken when quality controlling any of
the many forms of print and color
outputting.
Brand Identity
3.1 Master Logo
SILC BLUE
Pantone 655 C
The Texas State Independent Living
Council logo is the preferred identifier for R: 16, G: 50 , B:99
C: 100, M: 88, Y: 34, K: 24
the back of all brochures.
Web Hex value: #103263
SILC BLACK
Pantone Process Black
R:0, G:0, B:0
C:0, M:0, Y:0, K:0
Web Hex value: 000
The brand element should appear at
least once on every piece of brand
communication. The master brand is
made up of these elements using the
three brand colors as follows:
Emblem—Background circle and state:
Pantone 655 C
Stars: Pantone 200 C
Outline: White
Tagline: remove if under 7pt.
SILC RED
Pantone 200 C
R: 194, G: 4, B: 48
C: 16, M: 100, Y:86, K: 7
Web Hex value: c20430
Helping Texans Stay Independent
Brand Variations
3.2 Identity variations
All collateral should feature the Texas
SILC logo. Wherever possible the full
color logo should be used. Where the
background does not contrast
sufficiently strongly with the full color
logo, the black and white (grayscale)
version should be used.
Emblem—Background circle and state:
Process Black
Stars: Graytone
Outline: White
Tagline: remove if under 7pt.
When using the identity on a background, please verify that the
background provides sufficient contrast to the identity and choose
an area with a solid light or dark space to ensure proper staging and
legibility.
Brand Sizing
3.3 Sizes
The following minimum size applies to
all collateral material. Promotional
materials are dependent on the
product chosen.
Website: 150px X 150px
It is important that the size of the
brand identity be appropriate to the
medium and to other graphic
elements. The identify must also be
placed away from other elements in a
layout so that it is easily identifiable.
There is no maximum size for the
identity. However when sizing with the
tag line, increase or reduce as a unit to
maintain the proportion.
To preserve the SILC’s logo integrity, always maintain a
minimum of clear space around the logo. This clear space
isolates the logo from competing graphic elements such as
other logos, copy, photography, or background patterns
that may divert attention. The minimum clear space for the
SILC logo is defined as the height of the letter “S” in the
wordmark. The minimum clear space should be maintained
as the logo is proportionally enlarged or reduced in size.
Wordmark: consists of two fonts: Georgia and Century
Gothic
Texas State Independent Living Council
Texas SILC
Brand Identity Applications
3.4 Applications
Co-Branding
When using the SILC identity with
those of other organizations, or
programs, it is important not to
obscure the logo in any manner. It
must stand alone but in close
proximity to another logo.
Imagery
4 Photographs
The quality of images used is also
paramount to illustrate the quality of the
Texas SILC brand. An image used should
be no less than 250 dpi and enlarged no
greater than its original size. In addition,
when resizing an image, do not distort it
either horizontally or vertically. Always,
therefore, resize an image with
percentage values and do not drag the
picture placeholder to resize.
The preference is to use color images if
the hardware being used to produce the
printed item is able to produce full color.
Black and white images can be used on
their own or alongside color images on
the same page.
Whenever using a photographer always
check the Texas SILC’s rights for usage.
Photographers are required to provide a
digital image on CD in high resolution.
They will be credited at the rear of the
document.
Copy
5 Tone of Voice
To ensure a consistent message, we
believe that the tone of voice needs to
be simple to understand. Use of
colloquialism is alright under certain
circumstances. Use of the AP style is
preferred.
A huge component of the SILC’s brand’s personality is the copy. When multiple
people are writing the copy, the brand can start to sound like it has multiple
personalities.
When reading, the brain automatically
looks for consistency and patterns, and
poor copy-writing can ruin the reading
flow.
Headline Wordmark
Text Subhead font
Texas State
Independent Living Council
Helping Texans Stay Independent
Collateral
6 Brochures
To ensure consistency, the preferred
options for all SILC brand brochures
are as follows:
On brochure front covers, if used, the
tagline must only ever appear
vertically on the left hand side, with
copy running from bottom to top.
BROCHURES
Portrait: Letter 8.5” X 11”
Landscape: Letter 11” X 8.5”
Booklet: 5.5” X 8.5”
Designers must follow the typography and identity guidelines to ascertain the
correct brochure cover fonts and identity formats to use in conjunction with
the design layout.
Collateral
6.1 Stationery
There are several applications where a
less formal stationery is applicable.
Font variations within the body of the letter is acceptable. The preferred font
style for all collateral materials is Century Gothic or any san-serif font style.
Font size should be at least 12 pt. and preferable 14 pt.
EXAMPLE
Collateral
6.2 Reports
Reports can take on many forms. As
long as the colors, logo, and tone are
consistent throughout the materials,
the branding remains the focal point of
the product.
Designers must follow the typography and identity guidelines to ascertain the
correct fonts and identity formats to use in conjunction with the design layout.
EXAMPLE
Texas State
Independent Living Council
Title Here
Helping Texans Stay Independent
Hootsuite Dashboard
7 Social Media
Social media can be managed through
a Hootsuite dashboard or hootlet.
There is an app just for Chrome.
Social Media dashboard: https://hootsuite.com
Account login: silcfb@txsilc.org
PW: socialevery1
Accounts: twitter, facebook, linkedIn
Add hootlet app to Chrome www.hootlet.com/start/index.html#
twitter.com/TexasSILC
facebook.com/txsilc
linkedin.com/company/texas-silc/
youTube.com/texassilc
plus.google.com/+txsilcorg1
pinterest.com/silcfb/
Helping Texans stay independent!
Web Format
8 Basic usability
The Texas SILC’s web software preference is WordPress. It is currently using
Joomla as its template style.
Web guidelines keep everything
consistent, from button styles to
navigation structure.
See section 5 for writing style and tone of voice for language style. The AP style
manual is the preferred guideline for copy.
Naming conventions:
yyyyCapitalLetter.jpg (to begin each
word) If more information is needed,
add a period before the extension.
Ex: 2013ConfAttendee.Name.jpg
Use clear Error Messages; i.e.: “The page you requested is no longer at this
location.” instead of Error 404: file not found.
Accessibility standards:
When ever possible provide accessible
code within the webpage. In the
navigation, have an accessible menu
item that describes how to
workaround an accessible issue within
the website.
Use fluid layout design.
Use book title capitalization style for menu and navigation.
Include links to the key locations within the site.
Provide “alt text”.
Use white space liberally.
Keep content to one screen. Avoid scrolling wherever possible.
Treat graphics consistently throughout the site.
Use the Microsoft language widget.
Broadcast Media
9 Press Releases
Media distribution is part of the
ongoing branding process. Consistent
tone, message and imagery is
important. Always attach the
company logo to any press release
distribution (do not embed in
document).
There is a fairly standard format for creating press releases. It will help your
credibility and chances of being published if you present your material this way.
Each press release should include the following:
EXAMPLE
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
These words should appear at the top left of
the page, in upper case. If you don't want
the story to be made public yet, write
"HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL ...." instead.
Headline
Just like a headline in an newspaper. Make
sure this describes the content of the story.
City, State/Country - Month Day, Year These details precede the story and orient
the reader.
Body
This is where the actual story goes. There
should be more than one paragraph, each
paragraph no more than a few sentences. If
there is more than one page, write "-more-"
at the bottom of the page.
Company/organization info
Include any background information about
the company or organization featuring in
this press release.
Contact Information
Include contact person, company name,
phone/fax, email, physical/postal address.
ENDS or ###
This indicates the end of the press release.
(xxx words)
If you like you could include the total
number of words contained in the press
release.
Policies and Procedures
10 Marketing approval
Marketing approval or guidance can be
obtained by contacting the following
SILC personnel.
Texas SILC
Christine Martin
eMail: christine@txsilc.org
Regina Blye
eMail: admin@txsilc.org