To clarify...

Union is still the Orange and Black. I regret that there are several people who are under the impression that we are now the Orange and Purple. Not so. By introducing a new color palette (a topic I addressed in an earlier post), we are adding accent colors—colors chosen because they're relevant—for marketing materials. I explained the significance of the purple a couple of weeks ago, so I'll not revisit that. But please understand that by having a color palette, we're doing a good thing for Union. We're establishing a color group that allows us flexibility, while maintaining a consistent look and feel. If I hadn't mentioned it, you probably wouldn't have noticed it. But we're going the extra mile by being transparent with our stakeholders, explaining almost every detail of the new brand.

What's happening here is we're explaining our secondary colors. The primary colors haven't changed. Tonight, I've introduced another color to the mix. The green you see along the border of the blog title is also included in our design scheme. Does that mean our official schools colors are orange, purple and green? Absolutely not. Green is another accent color to be used in our secondary palette. It represents our commitment to the environment and the beautiful lawns and athletics fields we're so proud of. But we're not the Orange and Green any more than we are the Orange and Purple.

As much as I'd love to claim it, this isn't my idea. Most colleges and universities have secondary palettes in their brand manuals. To help you fully understand, check out the palettes of Texas A&M and Clemson University.

And in the future, if you're concerned about colors or any other aspect of the new brand, please don't be afraid to post questions or comments here. That's what this blog is for...at least for now. Eventually, the purpose will shift to how we should live the brand and sustain it.

In closing, I've included a screen shot of the last blog post so we can reflect on the design process. As I've explained before, this blog will shape up as I introduce you to elements of our visual identity that we've either determined or are contemplating so far. Your input matters. Never doubt that.

What's wrong with Museo?

There's really nothing wrong with Museo. In fact, it was named by My Fonts as one of the top 10 fonts for 2008. But this exposure led to greater exposure and eventually landed this font in the "do not use" lists of most respected designers. But we like it anyway. And we're going to use it anyway...but in a way it hasn't been used before. Here's why.

Museo (we use it in our blog title) is strong and assertive. It's modern and speaks to us in a way that screams, "We have convictions that cannot be deterred." So we're sticking with it even though its overexposure suggests we shouldn't.We've decided to move forward with this because we're committed to breaking the rules in a way that help us differentiate ourselves with our new brand. You may be wondering how we'll use an overused font to help us stand out. And that's a valid question. Here's your answer: We can redesign the font and use in a way that is unique to Union College and in ways that no other business or website has used it before. It will be our own and used very sparingly. We'll present options to you in hopes that you'll agree to help us figure out the best way to handle it. But that piece of this grand puzzle will come later. For now, we want you to fully understand why we're committed to this font.

Aside from its strength and authoritative integrity, Museo shares with Union an esprit de corps based on the letter "U." The designer, Jos Buivenga from the Netherlands, was inspired to create Museo because of a daydream where he envisioned the "U" with clean, crisp lines with bent endings to create the serifs (the "feet" at the ends of letters). His creation was an overnight success and got the attention of many graphic artists. It's used now largely by web designers but not in higher ed, at least not that we know of. So in choosing Museo to use in our marketing materials, we don't expect to present ourselves like anyone else in our industry, even if we don't modify the font. To separate us across all categories of business and institutions, our modified version of Museo should help us carve out a unique identity.

I have no idea at this point what our version of Museo will be. We might use thin and thick lines together; we might pair two of our brand colors in the text; we might alter the shape of the serifs. But whatever we choose, we want you to be involved. When options are available, they'll be presented here, and we hope you will help us figure it out.

On a side note, I'd like to clarify that Museo has been chosen as a foundational font to illustrate our marketing message—not our logo. The logo is a separate piece that will have a much longer shelf life than our marketing plan. Generally, a logo and tagline serve as the inspiration for a brand message, and the longevity of the use is long-term. The marketing message that articulates the brand is meant to serve for about five years, give or take. So Museo, in whatever form we use it, will help us tell people that Union is stable and confident by broadcasting messages and pointing to the logo. In a few years, we'll have another font at the helm.

Like it? Tell us what you think. Or if you'd rather respond offline, feel free to shoot me an email: mreid@unionky.edu.

—Missy Reid '91
Union College Director of Communications

Are fonts important?

Are fonts important to a brand identity? You betcha. They shouldn’t be chosen on a whim, as they are as important to the identity system as colors and photography style in creating a unified look, while inspiring an intended emotional response. Further, the system should visually communicate how a brand is different from its competitors. To say this is much to consider is an understatement. But we’re on it.

So how do fonts participate in the identity system to illustrate our story? Think about your dinner table. Our third meal of the day is a routine part of life, but sometimes the centerpiece is a pizza box surrounded by paper plates on Hot-N-Ready night (rhetorical pop quiz: Which brand am I referring to here?), while on rare occasions, the centerpiece is fresh flowers in a crystal vase surrounded by fine china and linens. Regardless of the entrée or the presentation, it’s still dinner. But the presentation is key in defining the mood and often the behavior of the people engaging with it. So it is with fonts. They communicate words. The language (like the entrée) paired with certain fonts (like the table settings) influences how people perceive a brand. And if they aren’t coupled in a way that makes sense, credibility can suffer. Imagine being invited to a formal dinner with take-out pizza as the main course. The conflict would be tough to reconcile, would it not? (But not impossible, in my view. It might actually be fun, but you get the picture.)  

OK, so my analogy makes common sense, but naysayers may need real-world evidence, so here you go: The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) released an important discovery in the summer of 2012 about how atoms stick together. This physics project was expensive and globally significant, but the public had a difficult time taking it seriously because scientists used Comic Sans MS to present their research. Instead of being in awe, the mainstream public made a joke out of it. Is the mainstream public superficial? Perhaps. But that’s really irrelevant. We’re not on a mission to convince them to pay attention to content rather than presentation; we’re campaigning to influence their perception. That means we must pay attention to what influences them. And fonts do that.

So what kind of fonts will appropriately tell Union’s story? In answering this question, we had many things to consider. For one, we had to look at our competitors so we wouldn’t have typefaces that could be confused with theirs. Differentiation is key to building a successful brand, right? Also, we had to think about the general message we want to send. Based on our marketing research, along with Union’s vision and mission, it makes sense for us to promote a brand based on strong social responsibility that resonates with connected consumers. (By “connected,” we mean those whose day-to-day experiences with friends, influencers and brands include many online touch points. More on that later.) And to communicate effectively with our target market, we must consider what’s important to students in our region of Appalachia. This part is easy, because the things that are important to them are in perfect alignment with what’s important to us: We all want to positively influence a change in the perception that many people have of southeast Kentucky. To erase a stereotype based on “Mountain Dew mouth” and other not-so-attractive beliefs, we must assert ourselves as confident thought leaders and contribute to the economic growth of our area.

So what kind of font communicates confidence, focus, determination and forward thinking? We think Museo is an excellent choice for this. But it’s not perfect.

Museo is the typeface you see in the blog title. It’s also overused. Google it, and you’ll so what I mean. Problematic? Yes. But we think we can work around it by modifying the presentation to make it more unique. We plan to use it as a display font, which means it will be used sparingly. More about that tomorrow.

For now, I’d like to draw your attention to another font we’ve chosen to help us communicate a brand that exudes confidence and forward thinking: Optima. Unlike Museo, this font isn’t new or trendy, but it’s appropriate. 

Thank you for reading, and please comment about how you think we could graphically modify Museo to create a unique headline for Union’s marketing messages.  

Why should we rebrand?

Is it really necessary for Union to rebrand? Absolutely. There are many reasons, but today, I'll concentrate on just one. Or more specifically, one-to-one.

Our current brand is based totally on personal attention. We're good at it, so it makes sense...or does it? The problem is, this doesn't differentiate us in any way. All small, private colleges brag about their small class sizes and personal attention students receive from faculty and staff. The brand that we've claimed is actually a characteristic of our category. It doesn't define us within our category. Would Pepsi brand itself as a sparkling soda? No, because that describes their category.

By leaving this brand behind, will we also ditch personal attention? No, no, no! We're still committed to that. Always will be.

More on this later.

Before I sign off, let's take a look at what the blog looked like yesterday compared to now. Today, the blog title features one of our chosen fonts. It's a slab font called Museo, and it's extremely versatile and modern.

More on this later, too.

Have a great weekend!

So what is branding?

While educating our college community about the new brand, we included a quick lesson about branding itself. Chances are, you might need a crash course as well. Think of this post as Branding 101: The Bumper Sticker Version. 

Not surprisingly, there are a great many folks who think a brand is all about a logo and a cool tagline. Those things are important, but a brand is so much more than that. Marketing materials and logos are merely visual representations of what businesses and organizations want stakeholders to perceive them to be. A brand itself is a perception that lives in the minds of the consumers, and the business has no control over it. A branding effort is an attempt to influence that perception, not just with a visual identity system, but through actions as well. And it won't work unless the business or organization is true to the brand promise. For example, BP worked diligently for years to promote itself as a "green" company, but the public ultimately didn't buy it. Public perception was influenced more by BP's highly publicized environmental negligence. On the flip side, Apple's "Think Different" campaign totally worked (and still does) because the public believes its products are innovative.

I could ramble on for hours about what it means to delve into a branding campaign, but I'll stop for now and take advantage of teachable moments as they arise in future blogs. My intention is to keep you here, after all. But I found a cute video that sums it up nicely, and I encourage you to watch it if you have a spare three minutes (the running time says it lasts more than five minutes, but it actually ends at 2:55).

Let's switch gears now as I unveil something new about the new brand: A lot of things are changing at Union College, but our orange isn't one of them. We're still Pantone 165—the same color on this blog's background. While we haven't taken colors away, we have added a few. One of them is the purple you see in this blog's dateline. This color will be used as an accent in marketing materials and various other applications. Here's a better look at it. 

Why purple? It's all about the brand. One of our goals in influencing public perception is to demonstrate that we are truly committed to our region. We've implemented and continue to develop new programs that prove this commitment, so we're completely confident in building in a visual representation to illustrate this through the brand. And we're confident enough to broadcast what this color means. Here it is: When we tinkered around in Photoshop using Union's orange and the blues owned by Barbourville Independent and Knox County schools, we came up with this amazing and majestic purple—we call it "High School Spirit." This is a color that symbolizes solidarity among Knox County's educational institutions, and we love it. (That's why we're presenting it here in a heart shape, by the way, which is not the norm.)
 
We actually developed an entire color palette inspired by Union's values. We'll show you more as time goes on, but for now, we'd love to know what you think, as it's not too late to add or substitute colors. Is there another color you have in mind to help us convey Union's commitment to Knox County and Appalachia? Leave us a comment with your recommendation, along with a rationale. We live for that kind of thing.

In closing, I've included a screen shot of the last blog post so we can reflect together on the design process. As I explained in my first post, this blog will shape up as I introduce you to elements of our visual identity that we've determined so far. 

Missy Reid '91
Director of College Communications

This is only the beginning

Hello to one and all, and thank you for engaging with the Union College branding blog. We're happy you've decided to join us on this trek as we put together a new identity for (to quote lyrics in our Alma Mater) "dear old Union." Yes, Union is old, but we're not outdated. But many people aren't aware of the forward-thinking strategies Union has on its docket. The branding process will help us articulate these things and position southeastern Kentucky as a hub for innovative thinking and thought leadership. Our hope is that you will give us input as we shape the plan in such a way that our history supports our future. This means that loads of crowd-sourcing will be necessary. So please share your opinions freely as we embark on this journey. We're all on the same team here. Let's win together!

You'll notice that the design of this blog is...well...absent. That's because we've decided to let it evolve as we explain our rationale behind the brand and you contribute input about our considerations. Therefore, this blog site will evolve and serve as a gradual unveiling of how our new brand will be presented. To be honest, some of it has been predetermined. That stuff will unfold as we tell you why we've made certain decisions. But most things have left us totally on the fence, and that's where we hope you'll help us out.

So be a part of it. Subscribe to our blog and help form the future of Union College as it represents our region of Appalachia. We need you, and you need us. So let's be partners. (No contract required.)

Missy Reid '91
Director of College Communications