Designing in the Lines
When designing a logo for a client, most of the time design firms boast about an out-of-the-box design. At Tribe Design, we are guilty of this as well. You might be wondering why out-of-the-box designing may be negative for certain businesses or organizations. At some business or organizations, they have strict rules when it comes to their brand. These companies or organizations want a design firm that can follow their branding rules and still give them a fresh look. It takes a special discipline for a designer to work within boundaries and still be creative. What sets Tribe apart from our competitors is the fact that we can provide out-of-the-box designs for our clients, but we can also play by the rules of the brand police.
What are the brand police you may ask? Branding police are the people that make sure the branding standards of their company or organization are used correctly. When working with an organization that has high branding standards, it is challenging to stay within those lines. Something that Tribe has learned over the past 18 years is how to work well with others and bring the client exactly what they want to see when it comes to their brand.
When we redesigned the logo for the University of Houston’s 70th Anniversary for the College of Technology, we worked diligently to stay within the lines of the branding standards to provide a new look and compliant design.
Here are some examples of the rules we were required to follow.
- Spacing and size relationships between the logotype have been carefully established and calibrated so that university identity will remain consistent in all applications.
- Use official colors of the University of Houston Pantone Matching System only.
- The word “University” appears in ITC Avante Garde Gothic Book by BT type style all upper case, separated by the word “of” which is in Avante Garde Gothic Book all lower case.
- The word “Houston” in all upper case in the Avante Garde Gothic Demi by BT type style.
- “You Are the Pride” wordmark can appear in ITC Avante Garde Gothic Demi by BT type style, all upper case condensed.
- Alternate taglines may not be substituted.
- No graphic element may be placed next to the university, college or business unit logotype.
If your business or organization has been nervous in the past to use a design firm to rebrand because of all the boundaries they have to stay in, feel confident that the designers at Tribe Design have this special discipline. If you know your business or organization needs a new look and you haven’t taken the time to meet with a designer not in your organization, you are missing out on fresh ideas that can only create more awareness for your company or organization.
In the end we were very happy with the final outcome. How do you feel about this design for the College of Technology?
