corporate brand & style guidelines

CORPORATE BRAND & STYLE GUIDELINESJULY 2015

CORPORATE BRAND & STYLE GUIDELINES JULY 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRO: OUR BRAND ............................................. 3

PART I: VISUAL IDENTITY ........................................ 4 LOGO & USAGE ........................................... 5 TYPOGRAPHY ............................................ 8 COLOR PALETTE .......................................... 9

PART II: EDITORIAL VOICE .....................................10 OUR VOICE .............................................11 AP STYLE - HELPFUL HINTS ..............................14

PART III: RESOURCES ..........................................22


INTRO: OUR BRAND

thoroughly managed and well-implemented brand identity system will help preserve, protect and carry our brand message to our members, our community and beyond. These guidelines are provided to ensure the correct and consistent use of our brand identity system.

What is a brand?

A brand is what a person thinks and feels about a product or service. The words, imagery, and communications materials developed for or about an organization or a product forms its brand.

We sum up the Chamber’s brand like this:

“Collaborative and productive: Moving Utah forward together.”

As a Chamber, we challenge the preconceptions and possibilities of business. We search for smarter ways to do things; we bring new partners together in a productive and innovative way to discover ideas to help Utah grow economically. We use our knowledge and experience to continually improve and consistently deliver results for our community and stakeholders. And we do everything responsibly and considerately to help support our members and the businesses we work with.

Specific directions are included for you to manage your commnunication materials including logo, typography, color palette and tone of voice for all visual and written elements. By accurately implementing this brand identity system, you help protect the equity of the Salt Lake Chamber brand and better support its positioning.

OUR BRAND CAPTURES WHO WE ARE, HOW WE WORK AND HOW PEOPLE THINK AND FEEL ABOUT US.

A


PART I - VISUAL IDENTITY



LOGO & USAGE

MINIMUM SIZE

BREAKDOWN

LOGO

To ensure proper legibility, the Salt Lake Chamber primary logo should not be used a size smaller than 1” in width.

The Salt Lake Chamber primary logo is comprised of three major components: the wordmark, the icon and the tagline.

The preferred use of the Salt Lake Chamber logo is a one-color application with a horizontal orientation. The use of silver (PMS Cool Gray 7) is preferred when production allows. Only substitue alternative logos when use of the primary logo would result in an unprofessional application.

ICON

WORDMARK

TAGLINE

1”



LOGO & USAGE

CLEAR SPACE

CLEAR SPACE

To ensure legibility and consistency, the Salt Lake Chamber primary logo should always appear with a minimum amount of clear space around it; free of other graphics and type. This space is equal to the cap height of the Chamber “H” as shown. The same distance is maintained on all sides as indicated by the graphic below:

To ensure legibility and consistency, the Salt Lake Chamber primary logo should always appear with a minimum amount of clear space around it; free of other graphics and type. This space is equal to the cap height of the Chamber “H” as shown. The same distance is maintained on all sides as indicated by the graphic below:

100

100

100

SPACE TYPE TO OPTICALLY JUSTIFY

MATCH TYPE SIZE – MINION REGULAR ALL CAPS

EQUAL LINE SPACING



LOGO & USAGE

ALTERNATE LOGOS In situations where the primary logo is not suitable for use, the below variations of the logo are acceptable substitutes. The same rules for the primary mark including color treatment, tagline, minimum size and clear space apply to these logos as well.

SECONDARY LOGO

WORDMARK

ICON



TYPOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SERIFTYPEFACE

PRIMARY SANS SERIFTYPEFACE

SYSTEM TYPEFACES

The official Salt Lake Chamber serif typeface is Minion. It is an incredibly versatiletypeface with numerous weights and italics available.

The official Salt Lake Chamber sans serif typeface is News Gothic. It is available in standard, condensed, and extra condensed widths, making it adaptable to numerous applications. News Gothic was chosen to communicate the Chamber’s modern, multi-dimensional brand.

Times New Roman & Calibri are the official Salt Lake Chamber alternate serif/sans serif typefaces for use in electronic formats where system fonts are required.

Minion Pro Regular/Italicabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890

Times Regular/Times Italicabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890

Calibri Regular/Calibr Italicabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890

News Gothic Regular/Italicabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890

News Gothic Extra Condensedabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890

News Gothic Condensedabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890



COLOR PALETTE

2378 Cr 56 g 73 b 103c 84 m 71 y 38 k 23Hex 384967

2374 Cr 77 g 95 b 128c 77 m 62 y 31 k 11Hex 4D5F80

130 Cr 253 g 184 b 19c 0 m 30 y 100 k 0Hex FDB813

Cool Gray 7 Cr 153 g 152 b 153c 42 m 35 y 35 k 1Hex 999899

PRIMARY PALETTE

Our corporate color system communicates a rich, dynamic, multi-dimensional orginization. The Chamber is no longer simply a one-dimensional “blue” company. We will retain blue as the primary corporate color, a nod to our history, but integrate a wider color palette to reflect our modern, leading-edge corporation. These colors were chosen to support the Salt Lake Chamber logo and brand, without overpowering it.

It is important that we maintain a consistent appearance of all visual communications across various media types and materials. Using colors consistently in all communications will strengthen our brand recognition.

PRODUCTION NOTES: The PMS colors are specified for use on coated paper. If you are printing on an uncoated or matte sheet, adjustments to the color may

be necessary. PMS color equivalents are derived from PANTONE Plus Color Bridge Coated recommended values.


PART II - EDITORIAL VOICE


hen we put words and images together, they create a strong and consistent brand, as well as a “tone of voice.”

A “Tone of voice” refers to the words we choose and the appearance they give to the people who hear or read them. For our employees, volunteers, community leaders and other stakeholders, a common tone of voice means they can recognize us. The more consistently we use our tone of voice, the stronger our brand is.

These guidelines show us how to use our tone of voice. They’re especially useful for writing that appears in publications like magazines and newsletters, or internal communications and email.

Below, there is also guidance on writing for the web, newsletters, speeches and presentations. And we’ve also included our style guide, bringing all of our writing and tone of voice information together into one document. TONE OF VOICE What is it?

Why does it matter? How we talk, the words we choose and tone we use reflect our brand values. It’s not only about the message we want to get across, but also about the way we deliver that message in a consistent and effective way.

The Salt Lake Chamber tone of voice is engaging, straightforward and transparent. This tone of voice is a part of our brand that matters just as much as the visual elements such as, our logo, typography, imagery and design.

Writing with this tone of voice helps us bring the energy and positivity of our brand to life. Writing clearly embodies our values. It gives us accountability by making us transparent. It makes for better teamwork by cutting through confusion. It shows respect for our members and stakeholders by being open and straightforward. By being consistently clear and engaging we earn the trust those we work with and so enhance our ability to create positive, lasting change.

Our tone of voice is:

Engaging: Be personal and be direct

Straightforward and transparent: Be clear, be concise and be honest

How to be engaging:

Being personal in our writing cuts the distance between the writer and the audience. It makes us sound approachable and easy to engage with.

You can add a more personal touch to your writing by:

• Using natural, conversational phrases & simple words–this will help you tell a story and connect with your audiences.• Adding contractions – these will help make your writing less formal • Using personal pronouns like “we” and “us” involve your audience


OUR VOICE

W


How to be positive and direct:

By writing in a positive and direct way you’re helping to keep things interesting for your audience. And that keeps them reading – right to the end.

• Keep it simple – mix sentence lengths• Be active, not passive, use verbs rather than nouns• Start sentences differently (it’s okay to start sentences with “and”, “but”, “because” and “so”) • Use various writing techniques

How to be straightforward and transparent:

The clearer your writing is, the more likely people are to understand what you’re saying.

• Get to the point• Break up your information with subheadings• Avoid redundant adjectives

Be Concise The more concise your writing is, the more honest you’ll seem. Here’s how you do it:

• Avoid jargon • Know your facts and establish clear context • Be consistent


OUR VOICE



AP STYLE - HELPFUL HINTS

The Salt Lake Chamber uses the AP Style for written communications. This style will remain consistent through all mediums of communications, including print, web and other digital forms of communication.

Below you will find helpful references as you draft written communications.

ADDRESSES Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd. and St. only with a numbered address:

• 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Spell them out and capitalize when part of a formal street name without a number:

• Pennsylvania Avenue.

Lowercase and spell out when used alone or with more than one street name:

• Massachusetts and Pennsylvania avenues.

Alley, drive, road, terrace and similar words are always are spelled out, even if in a name or address. Always use figures for an address number:

• 9 Morningside Circle.

Do not use st, nd, rd or th with dates. Do use them if part of a street name over 10:

• 32nd Street, Fifth Avenue.

Spell out and capitalize First through Ninth when used as street names: use figures with two letters for 10th and above:

• 7 Fifth Ave., 100 21st St.

Abbreviate directionals in Utah addresses with a specific address, with no comma between:

• 3200 S. 4800 W., Salt Lake City, and 123 E. 400 S., Murray

For addresses with a suite number, put a comma between the address and suite number:

• 400 S. 600 W., Suite 450, Salt Lake City

Spell out directional street names if not noting a specific numbered address:

• The intersection of 3200 West and 450 South. • Exceptions include 203 S. West Temple, 203 W. South Temple and the like.

Put the numerical street name in parentheses if the street has a generic name:

• 175 S. University Blvd. (400 S.), Salt Lake City.

Capitalize Room when used with a number (such as Room 211) Use the two-letter Postal Service abbreviations only with full addresses, including ZIP code.




BOOKS, PERIODICALS, REFERENCE WORKS AND OTHER TYPES OF COMPOSITIONS

Use quotation marks around the titles of books, songs, television shows, computer games, poems, lectures, speeches and works of art.

• Examples: Author Porter Shreve read from his new book, “When the White House Was Ours.” They sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the game.

Do not use quotations around the names of magazine, newspapers, the Bible or books that are catalogues of reference materials.

• Examples: The Washington Post first reported the story. He reads the Bible every morning.

Italicize the names of magazines and newspapers, including “The” if part of the official title:

• The New York Times is working on a story with The Washington Post. • The Forbes 500 List of Big Companies.

CAPITALIZATION

Generally, capitalize formal titles when they appear before a person’s name, but lowercase titles if they are informal, appear without a person’s name, follow a person’s name or are set off before a name by commas. Also, lowercase adjectives that designate the status of a title. If a title is long, place it after the person’s name, or set it off with commas before the person’s name.

• Examples: President Bush; President-elect Obama; Sen. Harry Reid; Evan Bayh, a senator from Indiana; the senior senator from Indiana, Dick Lugar; former President George H.W. Bush; Paul Schneider, deputy secretary of homeland security.

Capitalize proper nouns and proper names. Avoid random capitalization. Do not capitalize for emphasis.

1. In a headline.

Capitalize all words in a title or headline except articles (a, an, the) and prepositions (of, on, to, at, in). Do not use all caps. (Students Engage in Community Outreach)

2. Of a title.

Capitalize only when they precede a name. (Provost John Smith) Lowercase in all other instances. (John Smith, provost of the university)

3. Names.

Proper names should always be capitalized. Capitalize university when it is part of a proper name.

• Example: University of San Diego.

Lowercase in all other references.

• Example: There are more than 7,000 students at the university.

Lowercase school when referring to more than one of the university’s schools or when referencing anything other than the formal names of the schools.

• Example: Students applied to the schools of law and business.




Formal name of a degree is capitalized.

• Example: John Smith received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry.

4. Church.

Capitalize as part of a formal name of a building, a congregation or a Denomination, St. Mary’s Church, The Roman Catholic Church. Lowercase in phrases where church is used in an institutional sense:

• The church teaches that God is love.

5. Religious titles (treat like all titles).

Spell out and capitalize in front of name:

• Father John Smith, Sister Anne Smith, Monsignor John Smith, Brother John Smith.

COMPANY NAMES

Capitalize the first letter of a company name that begins with a lowercase letter (eBay, for example) only if it begins a sentence.

Do not “all-caps” a company name unless the letters are individually pronounced (CRX, IBM, etc.).

LLC and PC and such after a company name require no periods:

• Holland & Hart LLC.

Use “&” when part of a company name:

• Holland & Hart LLC.

MONTHS/DATES

When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.

Spell out when using alone, or with a year alone:

• February 2002, for example, with no comma between

Place a comma before and after the year of a specific date

• Jan. 1, 1961, was the day in question. However, January 2010 was a special month.

NUMBERS/NUMERALS

Generally, spell out whole numbers below 10, and use figures for 10 and above.

Generally, use numerals for the following:

• Academic courses (Calculus 2, English 101) • Ages• Days of the month




• Degrees of temperature • Dimensions

Spell out amounts in indefinite and casual uses:Examples: Thanks a million! He walked a quarter of a mile. One at a time. A thousand members. One day we will know. An eleventh-hour decision. Dollar store. Avoid two sets of numbers back-to-back. If it is necessary to use them consecutively, spell one of the numbers out:

• She cut 20 three-inch sections for the project.

AGES For ages, always use figures. If the age is used as an adjective or as a substitute for a noun, then it should be hyphenated. Don’t use apostrophes when describing an age range.

• Examples: A 21-year-old student. The boy is 5 years old. The student is 21 years old. The girl, 8, has a brother, 11. The contest is for 18-year-olds. He is in his 20s. The race is for 3-year-olds. The woman is in her 30s.

DATES, YEARS, DECADES, ERAS

If numerals are left out of a date range:

• In the ’70s. He was in his 60s. He was in his 60s in the ’60s. 21st century, fifth century (note lowercases).

Exception is when used in property name:

• 20th Century Fox, Twentieth Century Fund

DECIMALS, PERCENTAGES AND FRACTIONS WITH NUMBERS LARGER THAN 1

For amounts less than 1, precede the decimal with a zero:

• The cost of living rose 0.05 percent.

Spell out fractions less than 1, using hyphens between the words.

• For example, two-thirds, three-fifths.

In quotations, use figures for fractions:

• He was 3 1/2 seconds behind with 2 laps to go.

DIMENSIONS

When writing about height, weight or other dimensions, use figures and spell out words such as feet, miles, etc.

Examples:

• She is 5-foot-3 • He wrote with a 2-inch pencil • He is 5 feet 6 inches tall• The 5-foot-6 man is here (“inch” is understood) • The 5-foot man




• The basketball team signed a 7-footer• The car is 17 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet high • The rug is 9 feet by 12 feet • The 9-by-12 rug• A 9-inch snowfall• Exception: a two-by-four

DISTANCES Use figures for any distances over 10. For any distances below 10, spell out the distance. Examples:

• My flight covered 1,113 miles• The airport runway is five miles long• She walked 5 miles• He missed a 10-foot jump shot

Spell out amounts in formal language, rhetorical quotations and figures of speech:

• Fourscore and seven years ago... • Ten Commandments• High-five• Day One

Use numerals for legislative bills with no space:

• SB115, HB134, SJR10, SB4

MILLIONS, BILLIONS, TRILLIONS DOLLARS Use a figure-word combination:

• 1 million people, $2 billion.

For ranges, use the word twice:

• from $12 million to $14 million, not $12 to $14 million

MONEY

When referring to money, use numerals. For cents or amounts of $1 million or more, spell the words cents, million, billion, trillion etc. Examples:

• $26.52, $100, 200, $8 million, 6 cents. • Do not ever say $5 dollars (the dollar element would be redundant).

Convert $0.02 (sometimes seen in company earning reports) to 2 cents.

Spell out cents after an amount under $1, and always use a numeral:

• 5 cents, 2 cents, etc.

For amounts of $1 or more, use this: $1, $1.02, $5, $5.12.




For amounts of money or anything else over a million (dollars), write it with a dollar sign, then a numeral, then the word “million,” like this:

• $1 million, $1.23 million, $100 million (same applies to billion or trillion).

Use “million” if used in a generic sense without a figure in front of it (He owes me a million bucks.).

NUMERALS

Never begin a sentence with a figure, except for sentences that begin with a year. Examples:

• Two hundred freshmen attended. • Five actors took the stage. 1776 was an important year.

Use roman numerals to describe wars and to show sequences for people.

Examples:

• World War II, Pope John Paul II, Elizabeth II.

For ordinal numbers, spell out first through ninth and use figures for 10th and above when describing order in time or location.

Examples:

• second base• 10th in a row

Some ordinal numbers, such as those indicating political or geographic order, should use figures in all cases.

Examples:

• 3rd District Court• 9th ward

For cardinal numbers, consult individual entries in the Associated Press Stylebook. If no usage is specified, spell out numbers below 10 and use figures for numbers 10 and above.

Example:

• The man had five children and 11 grandchildren. • Rank • He was my No. 1 choice. • Speeds • 7 mph, winds of 5 to 10 mph, winds of 7 to 9 knots • State names • Spell out state names, even if used after a city name. • Technology References and Words • A/V (for audio/video) • Cellphone• CEO is acceptable in all references to a chief executive officer.• fundraiser • e-book • e-book reader




• e-reader• email• Facebook• Google, Googling, Googled • hashtag • healthcare • IM (IMed, IMing; for first reference, use instant messenger)• Internet (after first reference, the Net)• iPad, iPhone, iPod (use IPad, IPhone, or IPod when the word begins a sentence) • LinkedIn• nonprofits and nonprofit organizations, but not-for-profit organizations • onsite • social media • smartphone• the Net • Totaled, totaling (note only one “l”) • Twitter, tweet, tweeted, retweet • underway • World Wide Web, website (see the AP’s tweet about the change), Web page • webmaster • website • Wi-Fi • YouTube

TEMPERATURES

Use figures, except zero:

• It was 8 degrees below zero or minus 8.• The temperature dropped from 38 to 8 in two hours.

TIMES Spell out noon and midnight, and never say 12 noon or 12:00 midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes, but do not use :00.

Examples:

• 1 p.m., 3:30 a.m. • For a range, do this: 1-3:30 p.m., 10 a.m.-5:15 p.m.

Spell out numbers less than 10 standing alone and in modifiers:

• I’ll be there in five minutes. • He scored with two seconds left. An eight-hour day. • The two-minute warning

Appropriate AP style: a.m. and p.m.

PUNCTUATION Colon




Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence:

• She promised this: The team will go to nationals this year • But: There were three issues with the project: expense, time and feasibility.

Colons go outside quotation marks unless they are part of the quoted material.

COMMA

Do not use commas before a conjunction in a simple series. Example:

• In art class, they learned that red, yellow and blue are primary colors. • His brothers are Tom, Joe, Frank and Pete.

However, a comma should be used before the terminal conjunction in a complex series, if part of that series also contains a conjunction. Example:

• Purdue University’s English Department offers doctoral majors in Literature, Second Language Studies, English Language and Linguistics, and Rhetoric and Composition.

Commas and periods go within quotation marks.

Example:

• “I did nothing wrong,” he said. • She said, “Let’s go to the Purdue game.”

In AP style, omit the comma before the last item in a simple series, such as “Joe, John and Steve.” If the series includes internal commas that necessitate semicolons or uses a conjunction such as “and,” include the comma. For instance, AP would use the “serial” comma in this sentence: “The school offers courses titled Arts and Entertainment, Geology, History and Human Development, and Algebra.” When writing dialogue, place commas inside end quotation marks: “Nobody was home,” he said. Put commas between the day and year in specific dates, as in “Jan. 3, 2015.” Leave out a comma between a person’s name and the title “Jr.” or “Sr.,” as in “John Jones Jr.” With the exception of street numbers and dates, use commas in numbers 1,000 and greater, as in “23,444 people.” Do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series: Boston, Newton, Cambridge and Lexington. Use a comma to set off a person’s hometown and age

PERIOD Use a single space after a period.

THAT, WHICH.

AP says to use that and which in referring to inanimate objects or animals without names. Use that for essential clauses, important to the meaning of the sentence.

• I remember the day that we met.

Use which for nonessential clauses, where the pronoun is less necessary, and use commas.




• The team, which won the championship last year, begins its new season next month.

TITLES

Only capitalize formal titles when they precede an individual’s name. If it falls after, lowercase.

• Mayor John Appleseed signed the proclamation. • John Appleseed, mayor of Leominster, Mass., attended the banquet.

UNITED STATES, U.S.

An easy way to remember the difference: United States as a noun; U.S. as an adjective.

• The United States is a country.


PART III - RESOURCES


PART III - RESOURCES

SHARED SERVICES FORMS

For your convenience, and to promote the overall branding mission of the Chamber, we ask that staff utilize a Shared Services Form for graphic design content that they need developed. This form will be sent to the Chamber’s graphic designer. You can access the Shared Services Form on the K drive under Chamber Common/Shared Services Form

Shared Services Job Request Form

Date Submitted:

Requested Employee:

Name of Job:

Date Due:

Estimated Hours:

Approval:

Internal Use Only:

Job and Timeline Approved by COO:

Handled by:

Department:

Project Description:

Date Assigned:

Your Name:

175 E. University Blvd. (400 S.), Suite 600 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 slchamber.com

Please fill out the requested information including a detailed project description,save the PDF and either print or email to [email protected].

.

SUBMIT BY EMAIL

Actual Time Spent: Date Completed:


WWW.SLCHAMBER.COM175 E. UNIVERSITY BLVD. (400 S) #600

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84111801.364.3611

FOR QUESTIONS, CONTACT MATT LUSTY:[email protected]

corporate brand & style guidelines

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