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Highland Community College Brand Standards & Style Guidelines
Introduction:
The Highland Community College (HCC) brand is one of our most valuable assets and defines who we are and what we do. The style guide helps ensure all professionals representing the college are working together to communicate our message in a unified voice and image. Our logos, colors, typography, and voice used to describe the college help maintain our identity. As relevant situations arise, updates to these guidelines will be distributed. This manual has been issued for your convenience as an authoritative guide for any document or other communication that comes from or on behalf of HCC and the guidelines within it must be adhered to.
The Marketing Department’s mission is to create and lead a comprehensive communications and integrated marketing program that emphasizes the college’s unique brand and enhances its visibility.
As relevant situations arise, updates to these guidelines will be distributed. Any question about specifications and its contents should be directed to Olivia Seweryn at 785.442.6090 or oseweryn@highlandcc.edu
Style Guide:
What is a style guide?
A style guide establishes standards for the writing, formatting, and designing of documents associated with the College. A well-developed style guide is essential for a brand’s identity. It acts to improve communication by ensuring consistency across multiple design and writing platforms. This brand style guide outlines Highland Community College’s design standards for professionals representing the College. It includes guidelines for the applications and variations of our logos, color palettes, and typography (font families, sizes and line-height/spacing).
Why is a style guide important?
The purpose of providing a style guide is to make sure professionals representing the College are able to work together to develop content in a clear and cohesive way that reinforces our brand awareness. The following brand standards ensure brand consistency with everything from design to writing, this cohesion helps establish a strong brand identity.
Highland Community College's History:
Highland Community College began as Highland University in 1858, making it the first college in Kansas. After eight name changes, the College has now provided higher education opportunities to the people of Northeast Kansas for more than 160 years. The College has traditionally prepared students to continue their studies at baccalaureate institutions. Studies conducted at the Regents universities in Kansas show that students who begin their college careers at HCC and then transfer do as well or better academically compared to students who transfer to those universities and those who start there.
Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled on the main campus, online, or at our five regional locations in our nine-county service area. Highland Community College offers associate degrees in 50 concentration areas and has 15 programs that are technical education degrees. The main campus is located in a small, rural Northeast Kansas community surrounded by agricultural land.
The history and mission of the College can best be described as providing opportunities for higher education that citizens in the region would not have had otherwise. Whether as a conduit to a four-year degree, for professional enhancement, or personal development, the College has provided affordable access to higher education in Northeast Kansas.
The College is governed by a six-member Board of Trustees elected from Doniphan County and is coordinated by the Kansas Board of Regents.
The Brand:
Our brand is what our audiences think, how they feel, and how they respond when they see or hear the name Highland Community College. As Highland Community College staff, faculty, and students, we have the opportunity and responsibility to shape perceptions of Highland Community College by the consistency and clarity of our branding.
What our brand means to our audiences:
As staff, faculty, students, alumnus, supporters, and donors, we want our community to have a sense of pride that the College provides a solid foundation for long-term success. We want you to feel connected to something larger than yourself. As a citizen of Northeast Kansas, we want you to know that Highland Community College is the best reflection and is open to opportunity.
College Mission Statement:
Highland Community College, the first college in Kansas, provides lifelong learning opportunities and contributes to the economic development to enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve.
College Visual Statement:
Highland Community College is recognized as the college of choice in Northeast Kansas.
Key Messaging:
To be truly effective, any messaging from Highland Community College must give the recipient a “reason why” they should attend or associate with the College. When producing any piece of communication on the behalf of Highland Community College, be sure to include any or all following points to give support to the document. The use of these benefits can assist in providing incentives and increasing interest, as well as promoting a positive feeling about HCC, its people, and its programs.
Wide Range of Courses:
From academic prerequisites to business training and community education programs, HCC offers something for everyone.
Convenient Locations:
Highland main campus, online and regional sites in Baileyville (Western), Perry, Wamego, and a Technical Center in Atchison.
Affordable:
Due to our size and resources, we’re able to offer education at much lower costs than bigger colleges and universities, while still retaining high standards and national accreditation.
Logos:
Highland Community College’s logos reflect the reputation and visual brand of the College. Therefore, it is critical that those elements representing the institution are presented correctly and with integrity. Highland Community College has four official marks: the primary logo, the horizontal logo, the ‘H’ mark, and the crest. The College also has specialty logos that include unit logos and athletics logos that can be used when appropriate. Downloadable logos can be found on the intranet.
Do:
-Ensure proper usage by preserving the logo and not altering it.
-Always use files created by the Marketing Department.
-Always ask if you don’t have the correct file.
Don't:
-Don’t design a logo yourself. If you need files, reach out to the Marketing Department.
-Don’t manipulate any logo in any way. This includes stretching, squeezing, skewing, tilting, or otherwise distorting proportions or adjusting the layout or design.
-Don’t add anything (words, colors, images) to any logo.
-Don’t add drop shadow or stroke to any logo.
-Don’t use a low-resolution (pixelated) version of the logo. If you need high-resolution files, reach out to the Marketing Department.
Primary Logo:
The H:
The ‘H’ is the primary identification of the College and it should appear on all Highland Community College publications.
Primary Word Mark:
Horizontal:
The horizontal version of the wordmark is considered to be the primary wordmark of the institution. In case the horizontal wordmark doesn’t work due to space or design considerations. The stacked wordmark is the secondary option. The horizontal logo can only appear in navy and white.
Stacked Logo:
The standard stacked logo should be used when space is limited. The stacked logo should only appear in navy and white. Any other color formats must be approved by the Marketing Department prior to usage.
College Crests:
The Highland Community College Crest and the Highland Community College President’s Crest are used under the direction of the HCC President. Any use of these crests must be approved by the Marketing Department.
Specialty Logos:
Unit Logos:
Individual college units and departments may use the Highland stacked logo with the name of the unit/department either underneath or to the right of the Highland stacked logo. The name of the unit/department should be in Gotham. Certain units/departments have specialized logos that have been approved by the Marketing Department (HCC Foundation, HCC Precision Agriculture Program, etc.).
One-Color Logos:
You may be limited to a one-color print on merchandise. One-color logos should only be produced in our Highland navy or white on merchandise: Highland navy on a white, gray, or clear background. White on a gray or navy background.
Typography:
When used effectively, typography demands attention, elicits emotion, and helps our brand’s overall voice.
Primary Typeface:
Arial
Arial is the primary typeface for the HCC brand. It is easy to read at small and large sizes. The primary font weight should be Arial-Regular. Heavier weights may be used occasionally to emphasize. When used as display text, right, center or left alignment is acceptable. When being used as a body copy, it is recommended that text should always be left-aligned. If you do not have Arial, Open Sans can serve as a good alternative.
Secondary Typeface:
Gotham
Georgia
Gotham and Georgia are secondary typefaces chosen to support and complement the primary typeface. If you do not have Gotham, Anton is a good alternative. If you do not have Georgia, Libre Baskerville is a good alternative.
Note: All typography must be legible and readable. Fonts recommended are available free of charge. Highland Community College does not have licensed fonts.
Specialty Typefaces:
Specialty fonts may be used to set a tone. Below are some options of specialty fonts that we recommend, you may choose your own. These fonts are available for download on the intranet.
Impact, Futura, Homestead, Lemon Tuesday
Editorial Style:
The Associated Press Stylebook (apstylebook.com) is the College’s primary style guide because much of our writing is intended for external readers — prospective students and their parents, donors and prospective donors, news contacts, and the general public.
Color Palette:
Primary Colors:
Color is as significant to a graphic identity as image, symbols, and marks. The official colors of Highland Community College are navy and gold.
Navy: PMS: 295 C - RGB: 0, 40, 85 - CMYK: 100, 88, 37, 35 - WEB: #002855
Gold: PMS: 123 C - RGB: 255, 199, 44 - CMYK: 0, 22, 92, 0 - WEB: #FFC72C
Social Media:
All new sites and social media accounts associated with Highland Community College must be reviewed by the Highland Community College Marketing Department. Incomplete social media profiles misrepresent your department and the College. Social media is one of the many communication methods used by Highland Community College to share information, engage with our audiences, create a sense of community, and recruit future students.
Managing a social media account:
All social media accounts affiliated with the College must have a specific employee responsible to monitor and post content regularly. The name and contact information of this employee must be provided to the Marketing Department.
Please be aware that when creating or obtaining an account that represents a Highland Community College department, this account is the property of the College. You will be required to provide login information and/or share administrative privileges with the Marketing Department.
Social media accounts that go 30 days or more with no activity will be considered dormant. If you are contacted by the Marketing Department about your dormant account, you have 30 days to utilize the account again. If the account is not utilized after those 30 days, it will be recommended for deletion.
