St. George’s University Brand Identity Guidelines

As a world-class institution, it is important to maintain first-rate, professional standards in our marketing and communications materials. The University brand identity guide is intended to provide a definitive resource for designers, writers, and others seeking to use our brand, offering a consistent approach to how we present ourselves to our internal and external audiences—prospective and current students, faculty, staff, alumni, volunteers, government, media, community partners, and others. It is a guidebook on how to properly and most effectively use the SGU brand.

These guidelines have been designed to be user-friendly and to make marketing and communication materials both attractive and effective. Each section offers important information on how to successfully adhere to the University’s brand identity standards.

Below are the assets available to the University community and external partners to assist you in creating materials that reflect the outstanding quality and value of the education, facilities, and opportunities available to our students and mirror the sophistication and elegance associated with the SGU name.

Brand Identity Guidelines

Updated 4/13/21

Official Logos

The University logo and school specific-logos are the primary visual identity marks of the University and are to be used on all printed and electronic materials, stationery, merchandise, etc.

To maintain consistency, the logos cannot be recreated or manipulated in any way. The elements may not be separated; the lockups are to be treated as single design units. The logos must stand alone and cannot be combined with any other logos or graphic elements. No elements may be added to the logos, and they cannot be superimposed on any other graphic element.

Permission is needed prior to using any University logos. Please fill out the logo request form and attach any samples of the intended usage. To ensure the logos always look their best, it is essential you only use the supplied assets. Do not pull copies from the internet.

University Logo

The official University logo consists of the seal, word mark, and location.

There are three acceptable configurations that may be used: centered, horizontal, and stacked. There are also four different color versions of both the official logo and school specific logos: color, black, color + white, and black + white.

The official University logo should be used on all materials that promote the University as a whole or that promote more than one school at a time. This logo can used in printed and digital materials as well as promotional items.

Centered
Horizontal
Stacked

School-Specific Logos

The official school-specific logos consist of the seal, word mark, school name, and location.

Each of the four schools has its own logo, and there are two acceptable configurations that may be used: centered and horizontal. There are also four different color versions of both the official logo and school specific logos: color, black, color + white, and black + white.

The school-specific logos are the preferred logos and must be used for all advertising, marketing collateral, and promotional items that are promoting or highlighting an individual school.

Color Palette

SGU’s primary color is navy blue and is the essential color on all materials. Navy blue should be the primary and dominant color in layouts, graphics, and large headlines.

The secondary colors offer an extension to the primary palette and should be used in supporting the core brand campaign.

The SGU Red seen in the official logo should be used as an accent color in limited use, only supporting the core brand colors.

PRIMARY // Navy Blue

Hex Code // #1e1e64

RGB // 30, 30, 100

CMYK // 100, 100, 29, 21

Pantone® // 2119 C

SECONDARY // Turquoise

Hex Code // #00bec8

RGB // 0, 190, 200

CMYK // 71, 0, 24, 0

Pantone® // 319 C

SECONDARY // Turquoise 30%

Hex Code // #b2ebee

RGB // 178, 235, 238

CMYK // 71, 0, 24, 0 at 30%

Pantone® // 319 C at 30%

SECONDARY // Turquoise 10%

Hex Code // #e5f8f9

RGB // 229, 248, 249

CMYK // 71, 0, 24, 0 at 10%

Pantone® // 319 C at 10%

SECONDARY // Orange

Hex Code // #ff6400

RGB // 255, 100, 0

CMYK // 0, 75, 100, 0

Pantone® // 1585 C

ACCENT // SGU Red

Hex Code // #b30830

RGB // 179, 8, 56

CMYK // 0, 100, 63, 29

Pantone® // 201 C

Typography

The brand typography for SGU covers all marketing materials, campaigns, and digital assets. This type style sets the tone and quality of our market position, and must be used in all brochures, newsletters, advertisements, and university communications. Usage should be consistent across all communications.

Montserrat is a modern sans serif font and is the preferred headline, subhead, and body typeface intended for use throughout all advertising and marketing materials.

SGU Photography

SGU has a distinctive photographic style that reflects what it’s like to live and learn on the beautiful Caribbean island of Grenada. This style showcases our unique campus, entices people to visit, and underscores the brand values of innovation, diversity, and esteem.

Campus Gallery

SGU’s home is the breathtaking True Blue campus, which boasts 65+ state of-the-art, cutting-edge facilities with a backyard of lapis blue waters and extraordinary reefs. Images of the campus are publicly available for marketing or promotional use.

Photo Archive

SGU maintains a searchable photo archive of images approved for marketing and promotional use. Many of these images were created for a singular purpose but may be leveraged for other projects. For download permissions, please contact marcom@sgu.edu.

Release Forms

Anyone featured in either a still photograph or video that is used for promotional purposes must complete and sign a photo release form. Any image that depicts a patient (human or animal) must also be accompanied by a signed release.

Brand Assets

The University’s brand represents who it is and what it does, which is why it’s essential for visual branding to be used and displayed correctly in every possible medium. To help the University community support and promote SGU’s visual identity, a collection of brand assets have been created, including email signatures, business cards, letterhead, and PowerPoint templates. You can find these brand assets on the Office of University Communications page on the University portal. To use them to their full capacity, please be sure to install the brand font, Montserrat, on your computer.

Editorial Style

Tone of Voice

Unlike design guidelines, which specify precise visual rules, tone of voice guidelines are necessarily much looser. With the flexibility of language, the only way to ensure exact consistency would be to insist on the use of stock phrases and vocabulary—far from the creative and compelling copy we hope to deliver. However, it is important to be aware of the key principles that underpin the SGU tone of voice, as these allow us to convey the University brand’s unique personality in our writing.

Imaginative

Our Goal: Visionary, creative, experimental, open to new ideas, at the forefront
What to Avoid: Unrealistic, not living in the real world, dreaming and not doing

Community-Driven

Our Goal: An open and responsive attitude to our readers and community
What to Avoid: Corporate-speak, copy without emotion and depth

Friendly

Our Goal: Inclusive, welcoming, responsive, supportive, warm, down-to-earth
What to Avoid: Lacking ambition or drive, too soft, no focus, unprofessional

Direct

Our Goal: Clear, uncomplicated, and easy to understand. Jargon-free
What to Avoid: Dumbed down, patronizing, facile, lacking in substance

Confident

Our Goal: Accomplished, authoritative, we celebrate success, we take pride in what we do
What to Avoid: Arrogant, style over substance, over-promising, self-important

Editorial Style Guide

The SGU editorial style guide provides our standards for editorial consistency and serves as an easy-to-use reference regarding the University style, punctuation, and word usage. Our style is based on The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Any of the style points that are taken from the Chicago Manual of Style are noted as such. If no reference is given, the recommendation is SGU style as decided by the marketing and communications team.

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Questions?

marcom@sgu.edu

St. George’s University
University Centre
Grenada, West Indies

or

Office of Marketing and Communications
St. George’s University
c/o University Support Services, LLC
3500 Sunrise Highway, Building 300
Great River, NY 11739