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Branding Guide

Branding Guide for New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NMSBVI)

Cover of NMSBVI 2023 Annual Report with a picture at the top of 3 secondary students and their O&M Instructor, using their white canes to navigate past the pecan orchard. The Elizabeth Garrett dorm can be seen behind them. Beneath the picture, two bold geometric shapes utilize the school colors of Golden Bear blue and gold. Text to the right reads, “Official Logos, Typography, Colors, and Imagery”.

The ID&R Dept. produces graphic design projects to maintain branding and accessibility standards. Please allow at least 1 mo. for new design and print projects. Any publicity that will be seen off campus should follow the process above. Posters are only designed for off-campus publicity. On-campus events will primarily be publicized via email. For small inter-departmental needs (such as a text-only sign, a department potluck, or bulletin boards, you may work with your supervisor to create what you need without involvement of ID&R or a GDWO.

ELEMENTS OF NMSBVI's BRAND

Official Logos are our most immediately visible and recognizable means of identification. 

 

Typography includes the fonts that we use in our logo, online   and other printed marketing materials.  Accessibility should always be a top-of-mind consideration.

 

Colors keep our presentation consistent in print, product, and digital communication.

 

Images convey the truest image of who we are and what we do.  Best practices should also be apparent in visual communications.

People walk on a path near a building, featured in a 2023 Annual Report cover.

Logos

Appropriate Use of School Logos

The logo for New Mexico School for the Blind & Visually Impaired, featuring text and a stylized figure.

 

 

Primary Logo:

    • Office supplies (letterhead, business cards, notepads)
    • Shirts or uniforms for staff
    • Promotional or recruiting items (pens, apparel, tumblers, etc.)
    • Fundraising items
    • Traditional printed marketing collateral (Annual Report, brochures, flyers, posters, etc.)
    • Electronic branding (website, social media)

       

Official NMSBVI Logo (Includes Written School Name):

  • Full Logo (Includes Written School Name)

    This logo is best used for promotion and identification on professional and educational items such as letterhead and presentations.  Consider this logo when:

    • audience is out of state/country or may not be familiar with the school.

  • Horizontal Logo (Graphic, Acronym, Braille & Written Name):

    This logo is best used in situations when a long, horizontal logo is a better design choice or the best fit for the project.

  • Partial Logo (Graphic, Acronym, Braille):

    This logo is preferable when producing smaller items such as business cards or small marketing items such as pens.  Consider this logo when:

  • space is limited
  • target audience is local or familiar with the school
  • size makes inclusion of the words in the full logo too small to read

Logo Color and Proportions:

  • Black or blue for professional purposes (business cards, letterhead, etc.)
  • May vary on collateral materials to improve cohesiveness with the piece, or to improve contrast with the background.
  • The logo should not be stretched, squeezed, or reduced in size to the point of being illegible

 


Athletic Logo

 

Two versions of a bear logo with the text 'NMSBVI' above.

    • NMSBVI Golden Bear Mascot
    • Colors:  Golden Bear Blue & Gold (see official school colors)
    • Combinations of Golden Bear Blue, Gold, Black & White may be used for the NMSBVI acronym, however Golden Bear should remain as shown with blue and gold fur; white teeth and tongue.
    • The athletic logo may or may not include “Golden Bears”, but should always include “NMSBVI”.
    • Consider contrast with the background when designing merch.
    • For logo clipart, contact Tiffanie Owen

       

Several t-shirts with a school logo are displayed, some labeled 'YES' and 'NO'.

TYPEFACE & FONTS:

  • Typeface and font selection carry additional weight for our audience due to accessibility concerns.  Simplicity is always preferred.
  • “Verdana” recommended (This is Verdana.)  It uses more space, but the kerning (space between letters) is easier to read than fonts such as Tahoma, or Arial.
  • Verdana is also preferable due to unique shapes.  In Arial, for example, the upper case “l” and lower case “l” are the same glyph and can be easily confused.  In Verdana, the “I” and “l” are distinguishable.
  • Typefaces and fonts with serifs or “tails” should be avoided.

(The exception is the use of Copperplate Gothic in the Athletic Logo to parallel the official school logo.)

  • Avoid italicized type.
  • Avoid cursive, “curly Q”, “cartoony” or overly “scripty” fonts.
  • 16 pt. is recommended for accessibility over the typical 12 pt.
  • Leading (line-spacing) should be no less than 1.0 or “single-spaced”.
  • Avoid using colors that do not strongly contrast with the background.

Image lists accessible typefaces: Calibri, Times New Roman, Tahoma, Helvetica, Verdana, Arial.

Fonts Used

These are the fonts used within our brand assets. Typography includes the fonts that we use in our logo, online and other printed marketing materials. Accessibility should always be a top-of-mind consideration.

 

 

Jost

  • Web Font 
  • Jost is an original font created by indestructible type*. It is inspired by 1920s German sans-serifs. This is version 3.7. Jost is designed and maintained by Owen Earl, who is the creator of the font foundry indestructible type*. in 2020 Owen Earl, and Mirko Velimirovic worked together to make Jost a variable font.

Verdana

  • Web Font
  • The Verdana typeface family consists of four TrueType fonts created specifically to address the challenges of on-screen display. Designed by world renowned type designer Matthew Carter, and hand-hinted by leading hinting expert, Agfa Monotype's Tom Rickner, these sans serif fonts are unique examples of type design for the computer screen.

Arial

  • Print 
  • A contemporary sans serif design, Arial contains more humanist characteristics than many of its predecessors and as such is more in tune with the mood of the last decades of the twentieth century. The overall treatment of curves is softer and fuller than in most industrial style sans serif faces. Terminal strokes are cut on the diagonal which helps to give the face a less mechanical appearance.

Color Palette

NMSBVI’s official school colors are royal blue and gold. Consistent and uniform use of these colors throughout our branding efforts promotes our institutional identity.

Image displays the Golden Bear logo with color swatches and color codes.

 

       #1f2c8a

Golden Bear Blue

  • RGB: 31-44-138
  • CMYK: 100-97-11-2

 

 

      #ffd51a

Golden Bear Gold 

  • RGB: 255-213-26
  • CMYK: 0-16-90-0

      #121d71

Golden Bear Blue (Secondary)

  • RGB: 18-29-113
  • CMYK: 84-74-0-56

 

 

      #ffdd47

Golden Bear Gold (Secondary)

  • RGB: 255-221-71
  • CMYK: 0-11-71-0

      #37439e

Golden Bear Blue (Accent)

  • RGB: 55-67-158
  • CMYK: 65-58-0-38

 

 

      #d3ad00

Golden Bear Gold (Accent)

  • RGB: 211-173-0
  • CMYK: 0-18-100-17

PHOTOGRAPHY and PERMISSIONS

PHOTOGRAPHY

  • Photography can be a powerful instrument to help promote the school’s brand recognition.  This can be accomplished with
    • inclusion of school colors, logo, recognizable campus landmarks, and spirit apparel in images.

    • use of the school’s logo as a “watermark” on images (especially online where images are often shared by others).

    • inclusion of best practices in V.I. Education.

 

 

A graphic congratulates NMSBVI, the New Mexico School for the Blind & Visually Impaired.

PHOTO PERMISSIONS: 

  • The school’s Media Specialist keeps an updated list of photo/video permissions on the residential campus students.  It is very important to make sure that the child/children in the photo are cleared for publicity before printing or posting their photo or video.

FOR PRINT:

  • Photos should be high resolution (at least 300 dpi).

DIGITAL

  • Image files should be .jpg, .gif, or .png.
  • Photos intended for the web may be downsized to make page loading faster.
  • Alt Text should be added to images for screen-readers whenever possible.

 

The NMSBVI logo is shown at top with the graphic logo featuring a stick man using a white cane, encircled by the Zia symbol of New Mexico. To the right of the graphic are the letters NMSBVI, the same letters in braille directly underneath, and the school name completely spelled out below the braille.

USE BEST PRACTICES:

Whenever you see the Media Specialist taking pictures, try to keep your Best Practices and Blindness Awareness Training in mind.  Demonstrating best practices through our images helps us continue to be leaders in our profession.

 

Image comparing two photographs, one of a child and one of a person's arm.