E-learning Innovations

Branding information session

Brand Management

Purpose of this session

This session will provide E-learning Innovations Brains Trusts with guidelines around how the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework) brand should be applied to outputs from the E-learning Innovations projects.

Why is branding of Framework and E-learning Innovations project outputs important?The Framework is continuing to develop a strong and recognisable brand within the VET sector. Maintaining this brand on all E-learning Innovations project outputs will ensure that these outputs are easily recognised as Framework supported products, and will demonstrate on a national level the key work the Framework is doing to encourage the use and uptake of e-learning within VET.

Inconsistent branding dilutes our message and undermines the key work being conducted by the E-learning Innovations business activity, which is why branding consistency is so important.

Reference tools

• Framework Branding Guide

• Framework Spelling and Writing Guide

• E-learning Innovations Toolkit

• Brains Trust Guidelines

• Brains Trust Branding Guidelines

• Brains Trust Branding Checklist

The following tools provide further information on applying the Framework brand:

These tools are all available from the Framework Workspace, except for the Toolkit which is online at http://flexiblelearning.net.au/toolkit

Where will the output be housed?

Where the output will be housed will determine what sort of branding should be applied to the output.

Where possible this should be determined early on in the project as it may be difficult to adjust branding later.

There are two options re where outputs can be housed:

• on an external RTO website• on the Framework website.

For outputs housed on an external RTO website

• When an output is going to be solely housed on an external RTO website, and be supported and maintained by them, then Framework branding should be kept to a minimum.

• This is because the Framework is not actively involved in or responsible for the output’s ongoing future support and maintenance, and therefore cannot ensure the continued quality of the output.

In these instances, the following short acknowledgement statement should be used:

This is a [insert year] [insert state/territory] E-learning Innovations project output, developed by [insert RTO name] with seed funding from the national training system's e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework.

Positioning is preferably on the first page of the output, in Arial italicised 8pt font.

For outputs housed on the Framework website

The location on the Framework website where the output is housed will also influence the branding that is applied.

The flowchart in the 2009 Brains Trust Guidelines outlines how to determine which of the following three Framework website locations is the most applicable for an output:

• Toolbox Repository• Resources Database• E-learning Innovations Team Profile page.

For outputs housed in the Toolbox Repository or the Resources Database

• If the output is housed on the Framework’s Toolbox Repository or Resources Database, then the usual Framework branding requirements apply (which will be covered in this presentation shortly).

• This is because the output is considered ‘significant’ and will be promoted as a Framework product or resource.

• In addition, outputs in the Toolbox Repository and Resource Database should also contain the detailed acknowledgment statement (see next slide). Positioning will depend upon the output, refer to the ‘Summary’ slide.

Detailed acknowledgment statement:

This is a [insert year] [insert state/territory] E-learning Innovations project output, developed by [insert RTO and partners names], with seed funding from the national training system's e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework).

The Framework provides the vocational education and training (VET) system with the essential e-learning infrastructure and expertise needed to respond to the challenges of a modern economy and the training needs of Australian businesses and workers.

For more information, contact the Framework on:

Phone: (07) 3307 4700

Email: enquiries@flexiblelearning.net.au

Website: http://flexiblelearning.net.au

For outputs housed on the E-learning Innovations Team Profile page only

• If the output is only going to be housed on the Framework’s E-learning Innovations Team Profile page, then Framework branding does not need to be applied.

• This is because these outputs are not considered ‘significant’ outputs and hence will not be promoted as Framework products or resources.

• Instead, the specific E-learning Innovations Team Profile project page (that the output links off) will contain the necessary branding.

In these instances only the short acknowledgement statement should be included on the output:

This is a [insert year] [insert state/territory] E-learning Innovations project output, developed by [insert RTO name] with seed funding from the national training system's e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework.

Positioning of the statement will depend upon the type of output, refer to the ‘Summary’ slide at end of presentation.

Brains Trust Branding Guide checklist

• The following slides contain a list of branding requirements to check for when reviewing E-learning Innovations project outputs for inclusion in the Framework’s Toolbox Repository or Resources Database only.

• These are a guide only and should be used in conjunction with the Framework Branding Guide and the Framework Spelling and Writing Guide, which contain more detail.

• Some outputs may be exceptions to how Framework branding is normally applied – please contact Brand Management in these instances to discuss the best option.

Branding

• Framework logo is positioned top left on the first ‘page’ of all outputs and is the dominant brand, has the correct tagline, is legible, and meets minimum size specs (refer Branding Guide p8).

• DEEWR logo is positioned top or bottom right on the first ‘page’ of all outputs, is legible and an appropriate size in relation to the Framework logo, and meets minimum size specs (refer Branding Guide p13).

• Framework URL is present bottom left on the first ‘page’ of all outputs, in Arial bold 14pt font (refer Branding Guide p15).

• Other organisation’s logos and names should be included in the acknowledgement section of the output.

• Positioning of these will vary with the output type eg– In reports acknowledgements appear on the inside cover

page.– In case studies there is an acknowledgements section.– For web resources there should be an acknowledgments

‘page’.

• Refer to the templates in the E-learning Innovations Toolkit for further information.

• Framework copyright statement is present and the appropriate option has been used (refer Summary slide and Branding Guide p16).

• Framework disclaimer statement is present and correct, if needed (refer Summary slide and Branding Guide p18).

• Framework identification statement is present on reports and documents only. It should appear in the footer of the second page onwards, in Arial italicised 8pt font and left aligned (refer Branding Guide p19).

• Framework contact details are present and correct (refer Summary slide at end of presentation and Branding Guide p20).

Definitions

• The Framework should be written as the ‘Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework)’ in the first instance and can then be referred to as the ‘Framework’ in subsequent references.

• Note: The Framework can be spelt out in full throughout a document if preferred; consistency is the key.

• ‘AFLF’ should never be used as the acronym.

• If defined, the correct Framework definition should be used (refer Branding Guide p16).

All Framework products and resources used (or referred to) should be correctly named and preferably include a web link for more information as a footnote.

The Resources and Tools section of the Framework website is a good reference point for product/resource information and links.

Practical branding examples:A Framework resource - label and splash page

A Framework resource - content page

An E-learning Innovations learning object - splash page

E-learning Innovations learning object - content pages

E-learning Innovations - case study

E-learning Innovations – Ning example

In this example space and logo placement was limited, so branding was adapted.

Another example –

Again the initial page has all relevant branding information, with the subsequent content pages including a Framework acknowledgement statement – for 2009 projects it is preferable if the approved statement wording is used. The Framework logo does

not have to appear on each page here

Formatting

• If an output is a report, case study or document, they should use style sheets to ensure consistent formatting and to make it easy to change headings, body text etc if they are not correctly formatted.

• Using a style sheet also means that a ‘Table of contents’ can be generated for reports.

• The E-learning Innovations Toolkit contains templates for reports, case studies and documents that include correctly formatted style sheets – we recommend that these are highlighted to project teams.

As per the Branding Guide (p24) the following formatting should be applied to reports, case studies and documents:

Heading 1 (Arial 18pt bold, left aligned, paragraph formatting: 18pt before, 12pt after)

Heading 2 (Arial 14pt bold, italicised, left aligned, paragraph formatting: 18pt before, 6pt after)

Heading 3 (Arial 12pt bold, left aligned, paragraph formatting: 18pt before, 6pt after)

Body Text (Arial 11pt regular, left aligned, paragraph formatting: 6pt after)

Quotes (Arial 10pt italicised font, indented 1cm, paragraph formatting: 6pt after)

• Headings should be in ‘Sentence case’ not ‘Title Case’.

• If a report or document, the name of the report or document appears in the header on all pages except the first, in Arial 8pt centred font.

• If a report or document, page numbers should be in the footer on all pages except the first, in Arial 8pt right aligned font.

• Footnotes should be in 10pt Arial font – use the ‘footnote’ option under Insert>reference>footnote so that the footnote numbers automatically update if changes are made or additional footnotes are added.

Punctuation

• Bulleted lists should not be capitalised and only have a full stop on the last bullet – except when each bullet is a full sentence – in this instance the first word is capitalised and a full stop is used at the end of each bullet.

• Numbered lists have the first word of each item on the list capitalised and a full stop at the end of each list item.

Tables

• Recommended table font is 10pt Arial font – this allows the table content to more easily stand out from the rest of the text.

• Tables and diagrams don’t have to include captions, but if they are, make sure that all tables have them and that they are consistent, (recommend using Arial 10pt bold font, left aligned).

• Tables should not go over two pages unless they are bigger than one page.

Words • Avoid jargon – if you don’t understand the term there’s a

good chance the user won’t either.

• ‘E-learning’ is written all lower case (‘e-learning’) unless at the start of a sentence where it is ‘E-learning’, and it includes a hyphen.

• Some common mistakes include:– Don’t use ‘&’, use ‘and’.– ‘online’ and ‘website’ are one word, not two words or

hyphenated.– ‘web page’ and ‘home page’ are two words.– Use single quote marks around words unless you are quoting

someone, eg: • …from the ‘learn to earn’ market segment…. • He said “You can’t do that!”

• Acronyms are spelt out in the first instance with the acronym in brackets after. Note: there are some exceptions where the acronym is more well known eg:

– LORN – should only be referred to as ‘LORN’ and not spelt out in brackets.

– RPL – should be written as ‘RPL (recognition of prior learning)’ in the first instance and just ‘RPL’ thereafter.

– COAG - should be written as ‘COAG (Council of Australian Government)’ in the first instance and just ‘COAG’ thereafter.

• Acronyms should not be over used.

• Make sure there is consistent naming used – eg ‘E-learning Innovations project’ is written like this every

time it is mentioned using the same words and capitalisation.

Numerals• Numerals are written in full for numbers 1 – 9; and then as

numerals thereafter, unless at the beginning of a sentence where they are always written out in full.

• Percentages are the exception - they should be written as numbers unless at the start of a sentence where they are written out in full eg there was a 5% uptake in e-learning; or Five percent of students were using e-learning. Percent is written is as one word not two.

• Use brackets around the area code on a phone number eg (07) 3307 4700.

• Use a comma to break up numerals that are in the thousands eg 5,100 (don’t use a space, just a comma).

URLs • If a URL is ‘active’ it should include ‘http://’ ie

http://flexiblelearning.net.au (URLS should not be written as www.flexiblelearning.net.au)

• If the URL cannot be made active (eg in a hard copy flyer) it does not need ‘http://’ ie flexiblelearning.net.au

• To make links shorter and cleaner, it is now acceptable to drop ‘www’ from an active URL, but make sure it is consistently applied throughout.

• Where possible, Framework URLs should be written as http://flexiblelearning.net.au/[name]; eg http://flexiblelearning.net.au/toolboxes

Referencing

• For reports, referencing should be at the end of the report.

• In the body of the report just include the authors name and the year of the publication.

Summary

Brand Management

For any branding queries you have please contact us on:

Phone: (07) 3307 4700

Email: enquiries@flexiblelearning.net.au