Branding & Creative

We are a team of professional creators who define, elevate and protect the brand identity of SUU. We provide a positive & interactive experience for the campus community who utilize our services & talents. We reinforce the mission and vision of SUU through engaging storytelling, and compelling content creation.

Brand map banner

Southern Utah University
Brand Map 2021/2022 

Navigating the SUU Brand

Welcome to the SUU Brand Map. This is an exciting time to be a T-Bird. Campus is growing in new and significant ways, and now more than ever, communicating clearly and cohesively is critical to our institutional success and identity.

This style guide is compiled by the SUU Marketing Communication office to provide you with the tools and guidelines necessary to visually represent SUU. Please carefully review these pages and become familiar with the guidelines.

Moving forward, it is important that we work together to clearly articulate and represent the image of this outstanding University. I invite you to join me in becoming a brand ambassador for SUU.

Download Brand Map PDF

Logos

Institutional Logo

This is the official logo of our university, and should be used wherever possible. Use in either full color on white, or white on SUU-Red. Keeping to only those two color variations will help build repetition and visual equity. Clear Space: The height of the logo. Minimum clear space is half the height. Minimum Size: 1.25”

SUU logo
Primary

SUU logo
Primary Reversed

SUU logo
Primary Clear Space

SUU logo
Stacked

SUU logo
Stacked Reverse

SUU logo
Stacked Clear Space

SUU logo
Acronym

SUU logo
Acronym Reverse

SUU logo
Acronym Clear Space

Download Institutional Logos

Combination Mark

This mark symbolizes SUU school spirit, and can be used in swag, T-shirts, or if the audience is students or alumni, as it is easier to personally connect with than the primary logo. Clear Space: The width of the middle ‘U’. Minimum clear space is half the width. Minimum Size: 0.75”

SUU logo
Primary Combo

SUU logo
Combo Reversed Black

SUU logo
Combo Reversed Red

SUU logo
Combo 1 Color

SUU logo
Combo 1 Color Reversed

SUU logo
Combo Clear Space

Download Combination Marks

SUU Seal

The seal should only be used on degrees, awards, and materials related to the president & the cabinet. Overuse can incur dilution of its power & quality. Minimum Size: 1”

SUU logo
Primary Seal

SUU logo
Seal Reversed Black

SUU logo
Seal Clear Space

Request Seal Assets

Athletic Logo

This mark represents SUU Athletics, and should be reserved for their use. See Athletics style guide for usage rules. Since it doesn’t include context of SUU, rare usage is encouraged.

SUU logo
Athletic

SUU logo
Athletic Reversed Red

SUU logo
Athletic Reversed Black

Secondary Logo System

All SUU Departments are allowed an on-brand letterhead and logo design to call out their entity within the organization. In order for us to speak with 1 voice, these designs must be highly uniform to ensure sub-entities still reflect the larger organism of SUU. Variations based on audiences and use case have been allowed to help make these logos as usable as possible. If you have not received a secondary logo, fill out a design request to have your logo assets designed and delivered to you.

SUU logo
Primary

SUU logo
Stacked

SUU logo
External

SUU logo
Social Profile Icon

SUU logo
Badge Red

SUU logo
Badge White

Request Logo Design

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Color

This palette makes our primary brand color, red, the contrasting star of the overall scheme. Use red strategically in your designs as a key call to action in a neutral or natural palette. We are the University of the Parks, and our environments should reflect that. Analogous blues, greens, golds, and browns embody the environments that surround SUU.

NEVER use one large swash of green or blue, instead mimic the way green and blue are seen in nature, as a gradient, with multiple layered shades, or only in photography.

SUU colors

Brand Colors > 95% Use

SUU-RED, and the scale of SUU-WHITE to SUU-BLACK are our main brand colors. Almost all communication created for SUU will be overwhelmingly these colors. It can be used in multiple ways, color on lights, whites on color, or color on darks.

It is also acceptable to use a primary palette of neutrals, only black, white, and grays, using red as a call to action or accent color. When layering red colors for depth, go lighter before you go darker, to communicate vibrancy, youth, surprise and welcoming.

SUU colors
SUU-RED, GREY-2, GREY-1

SUU colors
SUU-WHITE, RED-5, SUU-RED

SUU colors
SUU-RED, GREY-10, SUU-BLACK

image of the gray shade in SUU's approved color pallet

SUU-BLACK
#000000
75-68-67-90

GREY-10
#212121
72-66-65-73

GREY-9
#3C3C3C
68-62-60-50

GREY-8
#787979
54-46-45-11

GREY-7
#999999
43-35-35-1

GREY-6
#BBBBBB
27-21-22-1

image of the gray shade in SUU's approved color pallet

GREY-5
#C6C6C5
12-17-18-0

GREY-4
# D2D2D2
17-13-13-0

GREY-3
# DDDDDC
12-9-10-0

GREY-2
# E7E7E7
8-6-6-0

GREY-1
#F4F4F4
3-2-2-0

SUU-WHITE
# FFFFF
0-0-0-0

Display of the red color pallets for SUU web pages

RED-10
#29110F
56-75-71-80

RED-9
#431414
44-85-75-69
SW 2801

RED-8
#711719
32-97-91-44
SW 2802

RED-7
#981B21
26-100-96-24
SW 7102

RED-6
#C41425
0-100-90-20
SW 6871
PAN 200 C

SUU-RED
#E91D2D
2-100-92-0
SW 6868
PAN 185 C

Top part of the color pallet for red

RED-5
# F04C4C
0-86-70-0

RED-4
# F69591
0- 51-33-0

RED-3
# F9B9B6
0-33-19-0

RED-2
#FCDCDA
0-16-8-0
SW 6603

RED-1
#FEF4F2
0-4-2-0
SW 7102
 

SUU-WHITE
# FFFFF
0-0-0-0

Support Colors < 5% Use

Use with caution. This pallet succeeds when it replicates nature. When seen in nature, you don’t see 1 color, you see a myriad of slight variations. That is how these colors should be used. very rarely, shown in key graphics or illustrations, as accents.

SUU colors
GRAD-3, GREY-2, GREY-1

SUU colors
SUU-RED, RAIN-2, RAIN-1

SUU colors
GRAD-3, SOAR-7, STORM-7

image of the cool color shades in SUU's approved color pallet

LICHEN-4
#95C93D
47-0-100-0
SW 6718
PAN 375 C

LUSH-4
#00A669
100-0-82-0
SW 6739
PAN 3405

PINE-4
#006451
99-36-74-27
SW 6755
PAN 336 C

STORM-7
#13121F
81-76-57-75

SOAR-7
#182840
93-80-47-51
SW 9178

STORM-4
#1A468C
100-84-12-3
PAN 286 C

image of the cool color shades in SUU's approved color pallet

SOAR-4
# 0076BB
100-46-2-0
SW 6796
PAN 3005 C

SKY-4
# 00A7E0
81-12-1-0
PAN 2995 C

RAIN-4
# 86D0E5
44-2-7-0
SW 6787
PAN 636 C

RAIN-2
#C7E8F3
20-0-3-0
SW 6799

RAIN-1
#EDF8FC
6-0-0-0

SUU-WHITE
# FFFFF
0-0-0-0

image of the gradient shades in SUU's approved color pallet

STORM-7
#13121F
81-76-57-75

STORM-4
#1A468C
100-84-12-3
PAN 286 C

SOAR-4
# 0076BB
100-46-2-0
SW 6796
PAN 3005 C

LUSH-4
#00A669
100-0-82-0
SW 6739
PAN 3405

LICHEN-4
#95C93D
47-0-100-0
SW 6718
PAN 375 C

image of the gradient shades in SUU's approved color pallet

SOAR-4
# 0076BB
100-46-2-0
SW 6796
PAN 3005 C

SKY-4
# 00A7E0
81-12-1-0
PAN 2995 C

RAIN-4
# 86D0E5
44-2-7-0
SW 6787
PAN 636 C

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Typography

Headings: Merriweather

The primary typeface, Merriweather, is a versatile serif that can feel adventurous, or serious, with a good balance of masculine and feminine forms. It’s a Google font that will allow budget friendly access to the entire university at no cost, so there won’t be any added difficulty to stay on brand.

Sub-Headings: Barlow

Our brand will need an extensive, stable font that can work with both audience extremes. Barlow has many weights, as well as a compressed version. It can dress up with Merriweather and appeal to working professionals, or dress down with industry to speak to prospective students.

Infographics & Numbers: Barlow Condensed

Large colored numbers are a great way to break up content and make it easier to scan and consume. The only time red text is preferred in designs. Can be on their own, or white on a red circle.

Accent Font: Industry Inc.

We also have a stylistically dynamic font to appeal to prospective students, Industry Inc. This face is built off a system of style layering for added character, and has enough stylistic choices for any use case. All university communications should be done with these three fonts, and no others, to ensure a consistent look and feel.

SUU typography
Merriweather

SUU typography
Barlow

SUU typography
Barlow Condensed

SUU typography
Industry Inc Baseline

SUU typography
Industry Inc In-Line

SUU typography
Industry Inc Bevel

Download Fonts

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Photography Style

#1 - Focus On the Student

All SUU photography should be literally student focused. Use extreme depth of field wherever possible, as well as color, composition, and contrast to distinguish 1 student as the “star” of each image. Show them outdoors with the breathtaking vistas out of focus, even nature is second to them.

A student with mountains in the distance.

#2 - Pops of Red + Elements of Nature

Our color system has been crafted to ensure our primary brand color stands out. Style your models with pops of red and SUU logos and swag where appropriate. Embrace an outside-in mentality when styling shoots, particularly if you are indoors, with house and desk plants, textures, and natural motifs in wardrobe patterns.

Students talking in nature, with pops of red clothing.

#3 - The Most Human University

Authentic human emotion is key. Small groups are preferred. Effective single subjects use eye lines compositionally, or look directly into camera to connect with the viewer. Each photo should feel Unfiltered, but high quality. Be intentional, thoughtful, and strategic, but not at the cost of looking overly produced or “perfect”. Don’t edit out little human details.

A student smiling against a pure red background.

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Illustration Style

#1 - Prospective Students

Reduce our illustration style into its simplest forms, curved line icons and drawings for high school students. Use bright colors with lots of contrast. Embed with humor and soul.

#2 - Current Students

Graduate the simple line icons and add depth by adding detail to parts of the whole. Fill in with pattern texture, and line weight variations. Use bright colors and illustration over photography.

#3 - Working Professionals

Use more literal depictions in realistic pencil drawings and etchings. These should not feel stuffy, and should still exude appropriate humanity.

The ’S’UU Curve

Our S in our name distinguishes us from other universities, particularly in Utah where the norm is angular, blocky letters. The S-Curve also hints towards nature in the form of streams, paths, and even lighting. It also makes for mathematically pleasing compositions, so use the S curve frequently, ensuring it’s present in every design possible.

Circles, Dashes & Organics

Circles should be used frequently, and should be used over squares and rectangles. They are more friendly, welcoming, and have more forward momentum than their blocky counterparts. Where other brands go geometric, we go organic, which is sometimes the harder choice, but inherently more human.

An example of a web page using circles, curves, and background illustrations.

Pattern Library

These patterns are meant to be used as subtle background texture to add interest, and context through illustration based on the subject matter. Patterns should be based on natural forms. Plants, animals, and all things nature are acceptable. Forms of connection or innovation may also be used if needed. Use strategically, and change the color where it crosses background colors. Either light gray on white, White over photography, or Red-6 Over SUU Red.

An example of circles being used with illustrated background patterns.

Icon Library

Outlines Preferred: In order to align with our illustration style, outlines are preferred on iconography, rather than fills, or duo-tones. Ensure the stoke of the outlines is the same throughout each design piece so not 1 icon sticks out. Creating your own iconography is encouraged, as long as it looks high quality, and each icon created has similar corner, and stroke widths as our standard icons.

Icon Resources: SUU has two licensed iconography packages for use. FontAwesome: Best for website applications. We’ve downloaded a curated list of these, since not all are created equal in terms of design and quality. Streamline Icons: An extensive package of icons (30,000) vector editable, and includes fill and line versions of each icon. Best used for print applications.

Icon Styles: Icons are preferred in either gray #999999, or SUU Red #E81727, or white #FFFFFF on red or gray. Rarely, if ever show an icon in thick black. They should be supporting visual elements, so try to reserve the highest contrast for the text in your designs. Arrow styles and other commonly used icons are listed below.

Example of approved usage of icons.

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