1-brand-book-2018-august

BRAND

GUIDE

BOOK

2018

JULY 20, 2018

See where

experience

takes you.

WELCOME

to the Centennial College brand guidelines.

This document serves as a resource for

understanding and applying the

Centennial brand, identity and creative

expression. It outlines brand strategy,

tone and voice, and provides standards

for using logos, artwork, colour

palettes, typography and other

key visual elements.

A living reference and a starting point for

communications and creative professionals

charged with articulating and representing

the Centennial College brand, the document

is intended to be a developing body of work

that will evolve over time.

See where

experience

takes you.

Centennial College Brand Guide

2018

Content

What is a Brand .....................................................................................................4

Why Brand Matters ................................................................................................6

Our Services ..........................................................................................................8

What is Our Brand ................................................................................................13

Style Guide ..........................................................................................................24

Creative Guide .....................................................................................................31

Digital Properties .................................................................................................63

Design Terminology ..............................................................................................83

What is a Brand?

It’s a logo, right?

Well, that’s part of it. But a logo is actually a very small component of what gives a

brand its lasting character, communicates the “brand promise” and ultimately

sells the brand to consumers. What it does do is help to build sustainability and

longevity by creating “fans” who will sell your product for you.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola’s history began in 1886 when Atlanta pharmacist Dr. John S.

Pemberton’s curiosity led him to produce a distinctive tasting soft drink that could

be sold at soda fountains. He created a flavored syrup that included cocaine and

took it to his neighbourhood pharmacy, where it was mixed with carbonated water

and deemed “excellent” by those who sampled it. Dr. Pemberton’s partner and

bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, is credited with naming the beverage “Coca-Cola”

as well as with designing the trademarked, distinct script, still used today. So, the

drink initially gained a loyal following through the inclusion of cocaine in the

original recipe. But long after it was removed, Coca-Cola has maintained its status

as the world’s top selling beverage.

Centennial College Brand Guide

What did Coca-Cola do right?

A logo that never changed

Reliable quality and taste – The only gaffe in Coca-Cola’s history is a failed

recipe change in the ’80s, which consumers hated, and an unofficial name

change to “New Coke”. A decrease in sales led to the rebirth of the original

version, labelled “Coca-Cola Classic”. When “New Coke” was discontinued

“Coca-Cola Classic” reverted to the name “Coca-Cola” like nothing had ever

happened.

Since the 1970s, Coke has become aligned with fun, friends and good times.

Its slogans have included:

▸ I’d like to buy the world a Coke

▸ Have a Coke and a smile

▸ Can’t beat the feeling

▸ Open happiness

Still think that a logo is the brand?

Target, a huge retailer in the U.S.”, failed

in Canada despite an identical logo and

tremendous brand recognition when it

couldn’t meet the brand promise for

Canadian consumers who expected an

American Target experience.

Why Brand Matters

1966

Warden Woods

Centennial College was founded more than 50

years ago and was the first college to open its

doors as part of the province’s public college

system.

Its evolution over the past half century reflects

that of our city and country. Today, Centennial is

recognized as one of the most culturally diverse

post-secondary institutions in Canada.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Centennial College Brand Guide 2018

The visual and verbal elements included in this

guide help us utilize the power of our brand,

applying it to materials we create in support of

the College. By using the same colours, graphic

elements and approaches to creative

development, we all make the brand stronger

and more cohesive.

Our Services

Our Services 9

What we do

Behind every Centennial College Viewbook, calendar, and bus, print, web and

social media ad lies our talented Marketing and Communications team. We are

also working behind the scenes on broadcast emails, posters, events and media

stories. We’re innovative, forward-thinking marketing strategists, writers,

designers, event planners, webmasters and social media gurus — and guardians

of the Centennial College brand. We constantly look for new and creative ways to

align our design, digital engagement and public relations support with the

College’s mission and vision and the long-term strategic direction charted in

Our Book of Commitments.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Advertising

Advertising is paid communication designed to inform and/or influence our

distinct audiences: current and potential students, employers and partners in

industry, community and government. We may determine that advertising is the

best option for you, our internal clients, when you want to: a) raise awareness of

something new or existing; b) encourage people to take action, i.e., enrol, attend,

join, etc.; and/or c) recognize special achievements, milestones, etc. We’ll then

work with you to decide which advertising media best suits your needs. Our

advertising campaigns can encompass website display ads, organic/paid social

media, newspapers, magazines, trade publications, bus shelters, bus wraps,

television, directories, radio and more.

Corporate Communications

Corporate communications supports many areas of the College, helping to tell our

story to various audiences. We work closely with the Office of the President and a

range of departments to ensure employees receive timely information that helps

them do their jobs and understand how they fit into the College’s overall strategy.

We draft and edit broadcast emails and other messages that target your internal

and external audiences: employees, students, alumni, employers and partners. As

with other marketing materials, we then help you identify the best method(s) for

reaching these stakeholders, put key details front and centre and punch up your

message for maximum impact, and target the message to meet your audience’s

informational needs.

Additionally, Centennial Central, the employee Intranet portal, is your one-stop

shop for information. From policies and photos of staff by department to starting

a marketing request or finding out what is happening at the college, Centennial

Central has what you need.

Our Services 10

Graphic Design

Graphic design merges creativity, strategy, communication and brand. It conveys a

message through visual and textual components. Our designers work with you to

create eye-catching and unique creative pieces such as posters, flyers, signage

and booklets that help you achieve your goals.

Media Relations

Our Book of Commitments compels us to “lead the conversation” by sharing our

success stories and we’re always keen to promote newsworthy developments

from across the College. Mass media plays an important role in helping to ensure

our stories are heard. Our broad-based media relations plan leverages paid

advertising opportunities with strong unpaid editorial content. By reaching out to

media outlets using traditional press releases, distribution networks and our

social media channels, we garner media coverage of our students, programs and

campus events as well as the awards celebrating our students’ achievements.

The coverage we receive complements our robust College website.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Public Relations

We use continuous outreach and strategic communications to maintain the

College’s positive public perception and strong brand recognition. Our

stakeholders include all levels of government, employers, Colleges Ontario, the

Board of Governors and the general public. Stronger relationships and ties with

key influencers, industry champions and partners can help us further our mission,

strategic goals and objectives. Public relations can include social media, media

relations and events — all proven tools for telling our story.

Photography

A great photo can sometimes convey your story better than words. We work hard

to capture the right imagery for the right context. Working with photographers,

agencies and our in-house team, we photograph live events, coordinate

professional photo shoots and handle a variety of coverage requests. Our data

asset management tool is also a great resource for photos depicting our students,

classrooms, programs and buildings.

Social Media

Centennial College continues to be a sector leader in social media. This important

marketing and communications medium can help you reach your audience in a

more direct and intimate way. As a result, social media helps us build

relationships with key influencers, increases our brand awareness, and helps us

gain competitive and audience insight that allows us to provide richer user

experiences. Whether you’re hosting an event, introducing a new program/course

or educating your audience about your differentiators, social media gets the word

Our Services 11

out. We conduct both paid and organic campaigns, working with you to develop

dynamic, relevant copy and creative materials. Want to learn more about our

social media presence? See our social media directory.

Video Production

Lights, camera, action! Using our in-house and external professionals, we can

collaborate with you to create a sleek and engaging visual experience that reflects

the Centennial brand. We offer a full-service process, from pre-production to the

final product. In pre-production, we gain a thorough understanding of what you’re

trying to achieve and storyboard the idea. Then, during the production stage, we

film, design and/or animate the footage. In post-production, we edit sound, music,

graphics, footage, etc. before delivering the final product to you. The last step of

the video production process is tailoring a targeted campaign designed to

optimize views and engagement.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Web Services

Centennial’s website is one of the first places current and prospective students go

to find what they want to know. We work with you to ensure that our website is a

one-stop shop for all their informational needs by offering you a variety of

solutions to help get your message across. We’ll determine if your content belongs

on the front page or Student Hub sliders, or if it is best suited for the events

calendar, Centennial Central or on its own landing page. We may suggest simple

edits to an existing page or an update to our full-time program database. We also

ensure our website is accessible and meets a WCAG 2.0 level of compliance with

the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Forms

We can help you design your forms as fillable PDFs or online forms for easy

distribution and use.

Writing and Editing

Need some help creating clear and concise copy to convey your message? We’ve

got writers for that! Whether you need a snappy headline, an engaging description

or an informative blog post, our team offers an array of copywriting and editing

services to precisely position your program, department, service, etc.

Make a Request

All requests must be submitted using our online Marketing Request tool, which

can be found on Centennial Central.

Our Services 12

Questions to consider when making a request

Who is your audience? The more narrowly defined, the better.

What are your objectives and what are you trying to achieve? Do you want to:

▸ Increase exposure (reach, impressions, views)

Centennial College Brand Guide

▸ Increase traffic (page views, unique visitors, length of visits)

▸ Increase engagement (likes, shares, comments, retweets)

▸ Garner market insight (survey entries, comments)

▸ Generate leads

What is your budget? How much money do we have to work with?

What medium do you want to use?

▸ Print (newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers, direct mail, etc.)

▸ Broadcast (TV and radio)

▸ Highly Targeted Programmatic Display Ads (website banners, big-box,

leaderboard, sky scrapers, takeovers, etc.)

▸ Social Media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest,

Tumblr and Google)

▸ Outdoor Advertising (billboards, bus wraps, transit shelters, etc.)

▸ Other

What action do you want your audience to take?

What is the single most important message you want your requested piece

to convey?

What is the timeline for this project?

What other information can help us with this project?

Who is your subject matter expert? You may need to provide us with a draft or

written copy. We will revise the content to better align your message with our

brand and fit this within the available creative space.

Be sure to review the Service Level Agreement on Centennial Central.

What is our Brand

Logo Strengths

Distinctive colour (Centennial Green is unique to the College)

Strong, simple design

Easily recognizable

Relevant tagline (See Where Experience Takes You)

Centennial College Brand Guide

Brand Character Strengths

First community college in Ontario

Diverse and inclusive

Commitment to growth

Investment in research

Signature Learning Experiences embedded into curriculum

Convenient locations and campuses

Brand Promise Strengths

Experiential learning and leading industry professionals as faculty

Ranked No. 1 for student and employer satisfaction in the Greater Toronto Area

Quality education (among the Top 10 research colleges in Canada)

Passion for education, equality and inclusion

Our Book of Commitments

Dedicated to community outreach

What is our Brand

Brand Positioning

Category Dynamic

Experience is everything

Centennial College Brand Guide

Target Insight

People who learn best by doing

and seeking engaging

life experiences

EXPERIENCE

WHAT’S NEXT

Brand Power

Future-forward experience

critical for a global work world

Our Commitments are to:

1. Bring the New Essential Skills to a Global Community

2. Drive Innovation and Entrepreneurship

3. Offer the Map and the Compass

4. Redefine the Relationship Between Education, Experience and Employment

5. Make a Bigger Promise to Students

6. Ensure Smart Stewardship and the Truly Sustainable College

7. Lead the Conversation

8. Offer a Signature Employee Experience

What is our Brand

Best Practices

Our Marketing and Communications team is made up of industry professionals

with the same education and expertise as any big name Toronto agency. Whether

you require strategy, content or design, our team stays on top of the trends to

ensure we maintain a competitive edge and follow the industry’s best practices.

AODA Compliance

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) aims to identify, remove

and prevent barriers for people with disabilities. The AODA became law on June

13, 2005. It applies to all levels of government, nonprofits and private sector

businesses in Ontario that have one or more employees (full or part time,

seasonal or contract). Centennial Marketing and Communications is bound to

follow the AODA’s Information and Communication Standard. Our team is well

versed on the intricacies of compliance and has access to tools to determine the

accessibility of our materials, both online and in print.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Text Readability

Text on a coloured background is more difficult to read than black text on a white

background. While you can still use black or white text on a colored background,

it must meet an accessibility rating of at least Level AA of the Web Content

Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a set of international standards. You can use

these colour contrast tools. In terms of font size, we recommend a font no smaller

than 12px for web and print materials.

Our Language

Language is one of the most important elements of a brand. In this section,

we provide guidelines for developing language that reflects and reinforces the

College brand.

These guidelines are intended for promotional applications such as marketing

and advertising. They encompass:

Tone

“Tone” describes the way a written document sounds as you read it to yourself.

Tone can be formal or informal, complex or simple, professional or casual. It can

be modern, old-fashioned, approachable or remote. The styles of writing that

Centennial uses most often are academic, business and student-focused.

What is our Brand

Using Centennial’s tone in your promotional writing will help you take advantage of

the strength and recognition of the brand to leverage action. It will also help build

greater cohesion and consistency across all College communications.

Tone Words

Nine tone words represent the unique character and persona of the

Centennial brand:

Centennial College Brand Guide

Grounded

Relevant

Compelling

Actionable

Credible

Integrity-based

Empathetic

Innovative

Inclusive

Adopting the Tone to Your Writing

To adopt this tone in your writing, consider these six points:

1. Write with simplicity, force and energy. Be brief, ensuring every word,

sentence and paragraph contributes to one overarching idea.

More like: In 1966, MPP William Davis established Centennial as the first in

Ontario’s new system of community colleges.

Less like: The year was 1966 when William Davis, Ontario Education Minister

made real a network of colleges to help the province become more

competitive in an increasingly technological and global economy, and

established Centennial College.

What is our Brand

2. Be ambitious and creative in your writing. Look for new ways of expressing

familiar ideas, and find the interest in your topic.

More like: Centennial is committed to growth and innovation, which is evident

in the latest gems of our campuses, the Centennial Residence and Culinary

Arts Centre and the Downsview Campus: Centre for Aerospace and Aviation.

Less like: Our five campuses are located across the GTA.

Centennial College Brand Guide

3. Address all sides of the story and make it clear when something is uncertain.

More like: When implemented correctly, the new process can generate cost

savings of up to 35 per cent.

Less like: The new process generates cost savings of 35 per cent.

4. Avoid slang and jargon, and define acronyms and esoteric terms when their

use is unavoidable.

More like: Clear writing makes website content (for example, words and

numbers) easier to understand.

Less like: Systematic linguistic transparency aids user consumption of

digital content.

5. Centennial is a special place. In your writing, convey the inspiration and pride

we feel for our institution.

More like: Have you considered residence at Centennial Place? Our brand new

facility is home to more than 700 students and we can’t wait to invite you to

make our Place yours. Centennial Place Residence…where students

love living.

Less like: Students requiring accommodations can apply for housing at the

Centennial Place Residence.

6. Avoid talking about the College itself, through “we.” Instead, speak directly to

the reader using “you” and focus the writing on what the College can do for

the reader.

More: At Centennial College, you can take hundreds of programs.

Less: At Centennial College, we offer hundreds of programs.

What is our Brand

Adding Your Interpretation

We encourage you to interpret and apply tone as you would a colour palette or

collection of visual assets. Use your creative sensibilities and promotional goals to

decide which elements to employ.

Base your decisions on your audience and the channel you are using to reach it.

For example, as shown in the diagram below, you might emphasize certain

aspects of the Centennial brand when addressing future students and accentuate

others when communicating with current students and recent graduates.

Centennial College Brand Guide

You might also adopt a more casual yet professional tone for digital channels than

you would for print. And a video script will likely be more conversational than a

webpage. Your audience and goals should drive these choices.

Speaking to Future Students

Grounded Relevant Compelling Actionable Credible Integrity-based Empathetic Innovative

Inclusive

Speaking to Current Students/Recent Graduates

Grounded Relevant Compelling Actionable Credible Integrity-based Empathetic Innovative Inclusive

What is our Brand

Hallmarks of Centennial

This section is intended to provide examples of how we connect each of the ideas

in the document to the College’s history, culture and people. This should serve as

a guide to creative work, particularly in developing body copy, and as a framework

that further expands and expresses each of these core ideas.

This section does not address tone or nomenclature, which are covered in their

respective sections. Rather than being all-inclusive or serving as boilerplate

language, the examples are starting points for aligning and sparking creative

development around the essence of the Centennial brand.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Signature Learning Experience

This distinctive educational experience integrates the principles of global

citizenship, social justice and equity. Programs’ applied and theoretical elements

are delivered through a global and social lens that further enhances students’

employment marketability and prepares them for the global marketplace.

The Centre for Global Citizenship, Equity and Inclusion (GCEI)

With social justice in mind, GCEI works to actively engage students and the wider

community in transformative learning to further develop inclusive working and

learning environments, to foster new essential skills for an evolving global

economy and to encourage civic action for social good.

Indigenous Education Services

The heart of our Indigenous engagement lies within our commitment to students

and our desire to connect with Indigenous nations and communities to help

enrich the Indigenous student experience. We believe that by working together, we

can make a difference in Indigenous students’ lives so they can in turn positively

impact their communities.

Education Pathways

Pathways provide opportunities for students to study at Centennial or other

Canadian or international institutions by applying previously earned credentials to

the continuation of studies.

The Leadership Passport

The Leadership Passport is a program, in addition to students’ regular studies,

that enables student leadership development through hands-on learning activities

both on-campus and in the community.

What is our Brand

Nomenclature

At the College, we share a common language that is different from that used at

any other institution of higher learning. Here we explain some of the most notable

terms in that language.

Centennial College

Use this designation when referring to the College for the first time. Thereafter,

it may be referred to as the College. C is always capitalized when referring to

Centennial and lower case when referring to a college in general. (i.e., “The

College has campuses throughout the GTA.” vs. “Universities and colleges often

collaborate to offer joint programs.”)

Centennial College Brand Guide

Global Citizenship and Equity Learning Experiences (GCELEs)

GCELEs are the perfect mixture of learning, travel, adventure and social reform.

These service learning-based experiences take place in a range of diverse

locations around the world and are open to all students.

Faculty-Led International Programs (FLIPs)

Through FLIPs, students from a particular academic program travel abroad with

faculty members for 10 to 14 days to gain first-hand experience and practical

knowledge relevant to their field of study while earning credit for their studies

overseas. Recent FLIPs have included Panama, China and Denmark.

Centennial Advising and Pathways Services (CAPS)

Our advisors provide students with up-to-date program information and connect

them with on-campus resources to make their journey a smooth one.

Schools

Centennial College is made up of a collection of seven schools, each with its own

Dean, faculty, administration professionals and support staff.

Wearable, Interactive and Mobile Technologies Access Centre in Health

(WIMTACH)

WIMTACH brings together a proven multidisciplinary faculty/staff experience,

diversity and depth of students, state-of-the-art facilities across five Centennial

campuses, international reach, robust project management based on best

practices and an extensive innovation ecosystem to benefit Canada’s health

technologies industry.

What is our Brand

Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services (ARIES)

ARIES is a mechanism for growth and creating dynamic partnerships between

students, faculty and our impressive roster of industry partners. Together, ARIES

supports and advances learning, applied research, innovation and solutions that

transform lives in our communities.

Program Advisory Committees (PACs)

PACs guide Centennial’s course curriculum and program direction, keeping them

up-to-date and relevant. Made up of industry leaders, these committees help pave

our students’ way by ensuring we provide them with the skills employers are

looking for and the connections to launch a career.

Centennial College Brand Guide

myCard

myCard is a multipurpose ID/access card that gives students access to resources

and allows them to make payments on campus. Students can load money onto

their card for all their Centennial needs — free of fees.

Co-op Programs

Co-op gives our learners real-world, work-related experience they can add to their

resume while they are still at Centennial. The paid opportunities not only help

students decide the direction of their career and increase their chances of quickly

establishing a successful career (with a higher salary) upon graduation, but they

also assist in paying for their college education.

Apprenticeship Programs

Apprenticeships are opportunities to learn by doing. Consisting of on-the-job

training with an employer and related in-class studies, Centennial apprenticeships

range from two to five years and will prepare students for an exciting future as

skilled professionals in the transportation, engineering, and child and community

services industries.

Stackable Credentials

Our stackable credentials programming offers students an opportunity to

graduate with a diploma in their area of study plus a certificate in one of our three

stackable options.

Colts

The varsity sports teams for Centennial College’s Athletics and Recreation

department are generally referred to as the Colts and our mascot is Bolt the Colt.

What is our Brand

Centre for Academic English (CAE)

CAE provides free English tutoring and workshops for Centennial students at all

campuses. The tutors are professional teachers with certification from TESL

Ontario or TESL Canada. Tutoring is free for all full- and part-time students.

Centre for Students with Disabilities (CSD)

CSD is a confidential service that provides counselling, support, advocacy and

accommodation for students with documented disabilities.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Centennial Place Residence

Centennial Place is home to more than 700 students and creates a positive

experience that residents from all walks of life can enjoy.

Centennial College Student Association Inc. (CCSAI)

CCSAI is the voice of students on campus. Its team of spirited student leaders and

dedicated professionals work diligently to enhance the student experience.

Style Guide

We advocate the use of proper grammar and punctuation at all times. Even when

you are trying to achieve a casual style, it’s important to avoid distracting your

readers with grammar or usage choices that appear unnecessary or careless.

Within College communications, we refer to The Canadian Press Stylebook for

grammar, punctuation and style guidance, and to The Canadian Press Caps and

Spelling for capitalization and spelling rules. We encourage you to do likewise.

There are a few exceptions to our use of The Canadian Press’ rules, but they serve

as a base from which to start.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Spelling

Spelling poses a major problem in English because it is not phonetic and because

its rules nearly always have significant exceptions. In addition, there are hundreds of

words that have variant spellings in different parts of the English-speaking world,

the principal difference being between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Partly as a result of our historical links with Britain and our proximity to the United

States, Canadian spelling has tended to waver between the forms used in these two

countries. So, to this day, there is no clearly established Canadian standard.

While a list of words that have variant spellings in British and American practice

would run into the hundreds and still not be exhaustive, the great majority of them

fall into a few well-defined classes, as listed below. The British variants are in the

left-hand column, the American in the right-hand column. The Centennial preference

is highlighted accordingly.

Verbs ending in ise/ize and their derived forms:

British

civilise, civilisation

organise, organisation

specialise, specialisation

American

civilize, civilization

organize, organization

specialize, specialization

Nouns ending in our/or:

British

colour, honour, favour

Nouns ending in re/er:

British

centre, fibre, theatre

American

color, honor, favor

American

center, fiber, theater

Style Guide

Verbs with single L/double L and their derivatives:

British

American

instil

instill

fulfil, fulfilment

fulfill, fulfillment

enrol, enrolment

enroll, enrollment

Verbs with single L/double L in the past tense:

British

American

counselled, labelled, travelled counseled, labeled, traveled

Centennial College Brand Guide

Nouns ending in ce/se:

British

defence, offence, pretence

American

defense, offense, pretense

Treatment of the digraphs ae and oe in words derived from Greek

and Latin:

British

anaemia, encyclopaedia

Punctuation

Spacing After a Punctuation Mark

American

anemia, encyclopedia

As a general rule, in English there is no space before and only one space after a

punctuation mark.

No space before or after a question or exclamation mark when followed by a closing

quotation mark, parenthesis or bracket. For example: The delegate added, “Is it not high

time we tightened our belts and dealt with the deficit?”

No space before or after a comma when followed by a closing quotation mark. For example:

“Stop procrastinating,” she said

No space before or after a colon when used to express ratios or the time of day using the

24-hour clock, or to separate chapter and verse, volume and page, act and scene in

references to books, plays, etc. For example: A slope of 1:4

One space before and none after an opening parenthesis or bracket within a sentence; no

space before or after a closing parenthesis or bracket when followed by a punctuation mark.

For example: Please read the enclosed booklet (Using Your Modem); it will help you take full

advantage of your new communication tool

Style Guide

No space before or between parentheses enclosing subsections, paragraphs,

subparagraphs, etc., in citations from legislation. For example: subparagraph

123(4)(b)(ii)

No space before or after an oblique (/) when used between individual words,

letters or symbols; one space before and after the oblique when used between

longer groups that contain internal spacing. For example: yes/no but Language

and Society / Langue et société

Use of the Period

The period is a “full stop.” It stops the reader more fully than the colon, semicolon,

comma or dash. In many circumstances, each of these punctuation marks may be

used in place of one of the others to lessen or intensify a break in the flow of the

sentence or passage.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Short signboard messages do not require a final period. For example,

No Trespassing, Employees Only

Do not use periods with acronyms and initialisms, compass directions (except

in street addresses that do not appear on envelopes or packages), degrees,

memberships and distinctions, SI/metric unit symbols, chemical symbols or

mathematical abbreviations. For example: GCEI, BSc, km

At the end of a quotation, a period comes before the quotation marks.

For example: “If you’re going to touch on a hot-button issue, tread very

carefully.”

Use of the Semicolon

The semicolon is used between independent clauses not joined by a coordinating

conjunction but too closely related to be separated by a period. For example:

“Inflation makes misery unanimous; it is universal poverty.” —Arthur Meighen

Use of the Colon

The colon may be used between two independent clauses not joined by a

conjunction if the second clause explains, illustrates or enlarges upon the first.

In such sentences, a semicolon would also be correct, but less effective.

For example, “Put most simply, the colon looks forward or anticipates: It gives

readers an extra push toward the next part of the sentence.”

—The Canadian Press

Stylebook – A Guide for Writers and Editors and The Canadian Press CAPS

and Spelling.

Style Guide

Use of Apostrophes

Apostrophes should only be used to denote possession (e.g., Bob’s car) or in

contractions (e.g., “it is” becomes “it’s”)

When used with plurals, no additional “s” should be used. For example: the

employees’ suggestions

Plurals of numerals should be formed by adding an “s” rather than an

apostrophe: For example: the 1960s

Centennial College Brand Guide

Numbers

Generally, the rule of thumb is to spell numbers in long form up to the number

nine. For 10 and above, they should be conveyed numerically. The exception is the

start of a sentence. For example: Forty to 50 students were nominated for the

award. Only nine students attended the ceremony.

Dates and Times

When writing dates, format them in the following ways:

Month and year: February 2018

Month and day: February 2

Month, day and year: Feb. 2, 2018 or March 2, 2019 (in this instance, March,

April, May, June and July shouldn’t be abbreviated)

Day of the week, month and day: Friday, February 2

Day of the week, month, day and year: Friday, Feb. 2, 2018

On a table or form: 02/Feb/2018

When writing times, format them like this:

10:30 am

2 pm

Style Guide

Capitalization

Use Centennial College’s full name when referring to the College for the first

time. Thereafter, it may be referred to as “the College”. The “C” is always

capitalized when referring to Centennial and a lower case “c” is used when

referring to a college in general. For example: “The College has campuses

throughout the GTA.” vs. “Universities and colleges often collaborate to offer

joint programs”

Centennial College Brand Guide

When writing a title or a headline, capitalize the first letter of every word.

The exception is the first letter of short connecting words such as “and,” “of”

or “the” — unless these words are at the start of a headline. For example:

The Best Part of College and University

When capitalizing hyphenated terms in headlines, capitalize the term after the

hyphen only if it’s a word by itself. For example: Co-op, Fast-Track, Part-Time

and Full-Time

Capitalize the word “the” when it is part of the name of an organization or

brand. For example: The Business School, The Local restaurant. In all other

instances, keep it lower case

Use of Acronyms and Abbreviations

When presenting an acronym or abbreviation for the first time, write the full name

followed by its acronym or abbreviation in brackets. After that, use either format

throughout the rest of the content. This rule does not apply when the acronym

mentioned is widely known. For example: Centennial Advising and Pathways

Services (CAPS) and Story Arts Centre (SAC) but DNA and CD.

Use of links

When creating an interactive link from a webpage or online document, avoid

using general hyperlink texts such as, “Click here.” Add descriptive hyperlink

text that will demonstrate the topic of the linked page. Also, avoid using the URL

itself as a link, unless the document will frequently serve as print material. For

example: “View all our full-time programs” and “As mentioned in our blog post

about changes in contemporary journalism.”

Always ensure URLs on social media and in print materials (even shortened

URLs) are descriptive. Avoid acronyms and separate words by standard

hyphens. For example: https://www.centennialcollege.ca/programs-courses/

full-time

Style Guide

Symbols

Instead of using ampersands (&), always use the word “and”.

Spell “per cent” with a space instead of using the % symbol, unless it’s on a

chart.

Always use “at” instead of “@”, unless it’s for email or social media usernames

Centennial College Brand Guide

Use a standard, short hyphen when combining words or defining a range.

For example: well-meaning, co-op, 2018-2019

Use an en dash, with spaces before and after, when creating a separation in a

title or between a title and its description. For example: Business

Administration – Accounting

Use an em dash, or long hyphen, when creating a break in the structure of a

sentence: For example, em dashes can be like parentheses — that is, they

enclose a word, phrase or clause — but they’re not for combining words

Phone and Address Formats

Use hyphens (not brackets or spaces) to break up phone numbers.

For example: 416-289-5000

When noting an extension, a comma always follows the main number.

Abbreviate “extension” to “ext.” For example: 416-289-5000, ext. 123

The College’s mail address should follow the below format:

Centennial College

P.O. Box 631, Station A

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1K 5E9

Common Mistakes

“Postgraduate,” not “post-graduate.” However, to refer to our programs we use

“graduate certificate” as the standard term

“Post-secondary” not “post secondary” or “postsecondary”

“Full time” and “part time”, but “full-time student” and “part-time job”

“Resumé” with an accent instead of “resume”. To make an “é” appear in

Microsoft Word, press Control, apostrophe (‘) and E at the same time

“Well-being”, not “wellbeing”

You can find more tips on TERMIUM Plus ® , a Government of Canada’s resource.

Creative Guide

Logos

In addition to our primary logo, Centennial College has a variety of logos, marks

and graphics that express distinct facets of its identity. Our logo is the most

important and recognizable element of our brand’s identity. It is a graphic symbol

that represents our organization to the outside world and acts as an identifying

and unifying mark. The logo is composed of two main elements: a grey/black

rectangular box and the Centennial logo-type.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Primary Logo

The Centennial logo has two orientations, vertical and horizontal, that are to be

used for very specific applications.

Vertical

Used by most print materials unless:

Usage is for external host and our logo

appears alongside others

Logo or imprint area is too small for vertical

orientation, i.e. on pens

Logo may not be used in any orientation other

than vertical for any printed material except

with the approval of Centennial’s Marketing and

Communications department.

Horizontal

Used by most web materials unless:

Full logo is not supported in favour of a

favicon for certain websites

Logo may not be used in any orientation other

than horizontal for any web or social site except

with the approval of Centennial’s Marketing and

Communications department.

Creative Guide

Logo Safe Zone

The safe zone for both logos is the minimum distance that any other elements can

be placed around them. The safe zone is determined by the x measure, which is

always determined by the cap height of the letter “E” in CENTENNIAL. To maintain

the integrity of the logo, the proportion of the x measure must never be

compromised.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Minimum size for the

logo is 0.75 inches

In print, the logo must

not be less than 0.75

of an inch in height.

Creative Guide

Black and White Logo

In the event that colour printing is

unavailable, use the black and

white logo.

If the logo is needed for engraving

or on swag, please contact the

Marketing and Communications

department.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Special Exception

The Pride logo is only used in the

month of June

Favicons

Centennial Central Centennial College Student Hub

Creative Guide

Correct Logo Usage

CORRECT USE – Print

The vertical logo used

on white or light

photo background

The vertical logo

used on a solid

Centennial Green

background

Centennial College Brand Guide

CORRECT USE – Web

CORRECT USE - Web

Creative Guide

drop shadow

Incorrect Use

outline

remove box or add drop shadow

remove fill colour or change colour

Consistent use of the logo is essential. NEVER alter

electronic artwork in any way. If you need assistance with the

use of the logo, please contact the Marketing and

Communications department.

change colour

DO NOT add any graphic treatment

or change the colour of the logo

Centennial College Brand Guide

DO NOT alter or change the

proportions of the logo. For

example: rotate, squeeze or stretch

rotate

increae box size

stretch

squeeze

DO NOT alter the shape of the logo

1 2

1) DO NOT use any (green) old logos

2) DO NOT angle or display the logo

horizontally

3) DO NOT recreate the logo or change

any of the components of the logo

*web is horizontal (please

see page 35 for exception)

Creative Guide

Download Logos

Centennial College’s official logos are available on the Marketing Resoures page

on Centennial Central.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Centennial College Brands

Centennial College Brand

Academic Brand

Departmental

Brand

Initiative Brand

What is it?

The Centennial College brand is the

College’s overarching brand and

must be represented by its logo on

all internal and external promotional

material (print and web) and all

official documents.

The Academic

brands refer to

the wordmarks

associated with

each of the seven

Schools within

Centennial College.

Departmental

brands refer to

departments,

centres, institutes

and any other

individual entities

that are distinct

offices of Centennial

College.

Initiative brands

refer to special

projects, events or

initiatives led by the

College, Schools or

departments

Colours

The Centennial logo utilizes only

Centennial Green and Grey

(primary palette)

Each School has

been assigned its

own colour from the

secondary colour

palette to be used

in addition to the

primary palette.

Each entity has

been assigned a

colour from the

secondary colour

palette to be used

in addition to the

primary palette.

Each initiative must

use the colour of

the parent School

or department as

well as the primary

palette, except

in such cases

where the initiative

involves more than

one parent.

In such cases, a

different colour

from the secondary

colour palette, not

assigned to one

of the parents,

will be used.

Iconography Logo Icon Icon Icon

Creative Guide

Academic Brands

Each School may request a wordmark, which is available in two formats and must

be used as detailed below. Wordmarks for Schools must not contain additional

icons or graphics. A secondary colour from the brand palette will be assigned.

However, the use of colour, as opposed to black and white, will depend on how the

wordmark is being used, at the discretion of the Marketing and Communications

department.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Academic School Brand

School of

Engineering

Technology and

Applied Science

Academic School Brand – Use when

Centennial logo is not already present.

School of

Engineering

Technology and

Applied Science

Academic School Brand – Use when

Centennial logo is already present.

For non-Centennial websites and

properties, please use the version

on the left.

EXAMPLES Internal External

School of

Hospitality,

Tourism and

Culinary Arts

OPEN

HOUSE

Wednesday, March 14

OPEN

HOUSE

Join us

anytime

between

5 and 7 pm

Wednesday, March 14

Tour our brand new:

• Learning Facilities

• The Local Cafe

and Restaurant

• Event Centre

• Culinary and

Bake Labs

Tour our brand new:

• Learning Facilities

• The Local Cafe

and Restaurant

• Event Centre

• Culinary and

Bake Labs

Join us

anytime

between

5 and 7 pm

Learn about our Part-time and Full-time programs

RSVP to hospitality.pt@centennialcollege.ca

or call 416-289-5000, ext. 2252

937 Progress Avenue,

Toronto, ON, M1G 3T8

Learn about our Part-time and Full-time programs

RSVP to hospitality.pt@centennialcollege.ca

or call 416-289-5000, ext. 2252

937 Progress Avenue,

Toronto, ON, M1G 3T8

School of

Hospitality,

Tourism and

Culinary Arts

centennialcollege.ca/hospitality

1299_FEB18

Creative Guide

Departmental and Initiative Brands

Each centre, institute, special project or event may request a Departmental or

Initiative brand wordmark, which is available in two formats and must be used as

detailed below. Wordmarks for this group allow for the use of an additional icon in

a secondary colour. The only additional colours possible to include in the icon are

Centennial Green and Grey.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Departmental Brand

Use where the Centennial logo is already present. For other

websites and properties, please use the version on the left.

Initiative Brand

Creative Guide

Athletic Marks

Athletic marks are important representations of the College’s competitive spirit

and pride. In addition to athletics-specific executions, they are also commonly

used in pageantry, promotional materials and general apparel merchandise to

represent pride and unity as a college and as a wider community.

Centennial Colts – Example

Centennial College Brand Guide

Iconography/Rules

Icons may be created for Departmental or Initiative brand wordmarks only and

should be the assigned colour of the office requesting them. In cases where there

are multiple project owners/departments, a secondary palette colour, different

from the assigned colours of project members, will be used in addition to

Centennial Green and Grey.

Fonts/Rules

Wordmarks must be one to three lines deep and in the Franklin Gothic URW text.

Use of upper and lowercase lettering is permissible and font size and linear depth

will depend on the number of words.

Creative Guide

Fonts

Headlines, Sub Headers and Body Copy

Headlines are meant to be bold and unafraid. Therefore, the preferred proportions

of headline-to-body copy are intended to give the headlines a significantly larger,

dominant presence on the page. There is no specific numerical value assigned to

the ratio.

Centennial College Brand Guide

EXAMPLE

Whose Body

Franklin Gothic URW Comp

Demi (Headline)

Franklin Gothic URW

Heavy (Subhead)

Franklin Gothic URW

Heavy

Is it, Really?

Event facilitated by: Carlene Daley

The Female Perspective of

the Entertainment Business!

Friday, March 23 | 11:30 am -2 pm

Story Arts Centre | Room 191 and 193

Franklin Gothic URW

Demi (Sub-subhead)

KADON DOUGLAS - Women in Film and Television Toronto

Kadon Douglas is the Communications and Engagement Manager at Women in

Film and Television - Toronto (WIFT-T). Founded in 1984, WIFT-T is a memberbased

organization of both women and men who work in screen-based media

that supports the development and advancement of women in the industry. They

aim to promote women’s success by designing programs to help meet the needs

of women at every stage of their careers and make connections among

members.

Franklin Gothic URW

Book (Body text)

Franklin Gothic URW

Heavy (URL)

Contact

cdale03@my.centennialcollege.ca

FranklinGothic URW

Medium (brought by)

Brought to

you by:

Social Action

Fund

Story Arts Centre

951 Carlaw Avenue

Toronto, ON M4K 3M2

Franklin Gothic URW

Heavy (Tagline)

Creative Guide

At Centennial, the following fonts are the only acceptable

brand fonts:

Purpose Print Web

Main Headings

Franklin Gothic URW or

Anton Compressed

Anton

Subheadings

Franklin Gothic URW

or Unna

Unna

Body copy Franklin Gothic URW Open Sans

Headings for sub-landing

pages and Part-time/

N/A

Roboto

Online Learning

Special events Alex Brush N/A

Downsview Directional

Signage

Real Time Stencil

N/A

Centennial College Brand Guide

Those who do not have access to these fonts must use the Arial font in

correspondence (i.e., letters, PowerPoint and email).

PRINT FONTS

Franklin Gothic URW is a simple and versatile sans serif font with a modern feel.

This font family is the most flexible system available in the Centennial brand.

All weights and faces are available but, where appropriate, must be used with

discretion. Franklin Gothic URW is the primary typeface for headlines and body

copy in printed marketing materials.

Franklin Gothic URW Compressed – Headline

Franklin Gothic URW Comp – Book

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890$%&()

Franklin Gothic URW Comp – Demi

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890$%&()

Creative Guide

Franklin Gothic URW – Body Copy

Franklin Gothic URW – Book

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Centennial College Brand Guide

Franklin Gothic URW – Medium

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Franklin Gothic URW – Demi

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Franklin Gothic URW – Heavy

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Creative Guide

Alex Brush is a beautifully flowing brush script. It has short ascenders and

descenders allowing a legibility not seen in other script fonts.

Alex Brush – Ceremonial

Alex Brush – Body Copy

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890$%&()

Centennial College Brand Guide

This font is to be used at the discretion of the Marketing and Communications

department.

Typeface:

Realtime Stencil

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890

Realtime Stencil - Regular

Do not distort the typeface’s kerning, tracking, and leading

Realtime Stencil is a header typeface for

Centennial College Downsview Campus

Application

Room number on door vinyl

Building directories

Text height

130mm

60mm (DCCAA)

55mm (1 and 2)

Directional wayfinding 60mm (1 and 2)

Hangar entrance signs

Admin. office entrance signage

130mm (Larger signs)

80mm (Smaller signs)

55mm

123A 123A HANGAR A

On light surfaces, the text colour can be black only

On dark surfaces, the text colour can be white or

Downsview Yellow (0/0/88/3) only

For signage and wayfinding, only caps are used

DOWNSVIEW CAMPUS: CENTRE FOR AEROSPACE AND AVIATION

WAYFINDING WAYFINDING SIGNAGE SIGNAGE TENDER GRAPHIC DOCUMENT

GUIDLINES

Prepared by MJMA:

JULY 18, 2018

This font is to be used only for diectional signage at Downsview Campus: Centre

for Aerospace and Aviation.

Creative Guide

WEB FONTS

Anton is a reworking of many traditional advertising sans serif typefaces.

The letter forms have been digitized and then reshaped for use as a web font, the

counters have been opened up a little and the stems optimized for use as a bold

display font in modern web browsers.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Anton – Headline

Anton – Regular

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Unna has a soft look that is expressed through delicate serifs and strong stems,

thus accentuating the typical neoclassical vertical texture.

Unna – Body Copy

Unna – Regular

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Unna – Bold

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Creative Guide

Open Sans is a humanist sans serif typeface. This version contains the complete

897 character set, which includes the standard ISO Latin 1, Latin CE, Greek and

Cyrillic character sets. Open Sans was designed with an upright stress, open

forms and a neutral, yet friendly appearance. It was optimized for print, web and

mobile interfaces, and has excellent legibility characteristics in its letterforms.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Open Sans – Body Copy

Open Sans – Regular

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Open Sans – Semibold

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Open Sans – Bold

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Creative Guide

Open Sans – Bold

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Centennial College Brand Guide

Open Sans – ExtraBold

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

Correct Font Usage

Download Fonts

These are Centennial College’s official fonts. Consistent use of the fonts is essential, so

NEVER alter fonts in any way. If you need assistance with using the fonts, please contact

the Marketing and Communications department.

CORRECT USE

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

INCORRECT USE

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890$%&()

DO NOT USE ANY ITALIC FONTS (except for book titles)

Creative Guide

Colours

It’s Easy Being Green

Primary Palette for Print and Web

The institution’s colour palette is a powerful and important asset in establishing

a strong, consistent identity for the College. The primary palette features

Centennial Green and Centennial Grey.

Centennial College Brand Guide

These are to be used in all full-colour logos and across all communications and

applications.

Note that Centennial Green and Centennial Grey use Centennial-specific

formulas to ensure greater production consistency and to better manage

licensed use by approved College vendors. Centennial Green and Centennial

Grey are available in Spot, CMYK, RGB and HEX formulas.

Print Production

When Centennial Green and Centennial Grey are printed as Pantone colours,

they cannot be referenced by standard Pantone numbers. Designers and

vendors must refer to approved colour swatches to ensure colour accuracy.

Use the Pantone Coated (C) and CMYK Coated formulas when printing on coated

paper stock. Use Pantone Uncoated (U) and CMYK Uncoated formulas when

printing on uncoated stock. Swatch palettes with these colour values are

available to download.

There is no need to make changes to existing printed materials, however any

reprints will be migrated to the new branding prior to printing.

Creative Guide

Primary Colours – Print and Web

12 pt/12 px

Black text

12 pt/12 px

White text

12 pt/12 px

White text

We recommend a

font size no smaller

than 12 point/pixels

to ensure AODA

compliance for

printed pieces.

Centennial College Brand Guide

CENTENNIAL GREEN

PMS C 380

PMS U 387

CMYK 20 / 0 / 93 / 0

RGB 212 / 223 / 56

HTML D4DF38

CENTENNIAL GREY

PMS C BLACK 7

PMS U 447

CMYK 67 / 60 / 58 / 42

RGB 69 / 69 / 70

HTML 454546

CENTENNIAL TEXT

CMYK 0 / 0 / 0 / 90

Secondary Colours

12 pt/12 px

Black text

12 pt/12 px

White text

12 pt/12 px

White text

12 px

White text

GOLDENROD

PMS C 130

PMS U 130

CMYK 0 / 32 / 100 / 0

RGB 242/ 169 / 0

HTML F2A900

SKY BLUE

PMS C 7688

PMS U 7688

CMYK 69 / 19 / 4 / 0

RGB 70 / 152 /203

HTML 4698CB

MARINE

PMS C 326

PMS U 326

CMYK 81 / 0 / 39 / 0

RGB 0 /178 /169

HTML 00B2A9

FLAME

PMS C 7597

PMS U 7597

CMYK 0 / 85 / 100 / 4

RGB 209 / 65 /36

HTML D14124

12 px

White text

12 px

White text

12 px

White text

12 px

White text

PURPLE

PMS C 7447

PMS U 7447

CMYK 78 / 86 / 30 / 17

RGB 80 / 61 / 107

HTML 503D6B

TRUE BLUE

PMS C 2945

PMS U 2945

CMYK 100 / 53 / 2 / 16

RGB 0 / 76 / 151

HTML 004C97

WINE

PMS C 221

PMS U 221

CMYK 9 / 100 / 26 / 38

RGB 145 / 0 / 72

HTML 910048

TURQUOISE

PMS C 3145

PMS U 3145

CMYK 100 / 10 / 29 / 20

RGB 10 / 119 / 139

HTML 008598

12 px

White text

RED

PMS C 187

PMS U 187

CMYK 7 / 100 / 82 / 26

RGB 166 / 25 / 46

HTML A6192E

These accent colours

have been incorporated

for accessibility

purposes and to add

design flexibility.

12 px

Black text

DOWNSVIEW YELLOW

PMS C 604

PMS U 604

CMYK 100 / 53 / 2 / 16

RGB 234 / 219 / 27

HTML EADB1B

Downsview

Yellow is ONLY

used for Way

Finding Signs for

the Downsview

Campus: Centre

for Aerospace

and Aviation.

Creative Guide

Colour Rules and Assignments –

Internal vs External Communications

Colour Academic Departmental/Initiative

Centennial College Brand Guide

Flame

School of Communications,

Media, Arts and Design

Alumni and Development | ARIES

Turquoise

School of Engineering,

Technology and

Applied Science

Enrolment / SLED | Libraries /

Learning Centre

Goldenrcvod

School of Advancement

Human Resources |

Institutional Research Office

Marine Part-time SIER | CSD and Counselling | COE

Sky Blue

Purple

Wine

School of Transportation

School of Hospitality,

Tourism and Culinary Arts

COLT (Learning) | GCEI | OAPP

myCard | Career Services and

Co-Operative Education

True Blue The Business School SaGE | International

Red

School of Community

and Health Studies

Life, Safety and Security | Suzhou

Branding Rules

Wordmarks must be one to three lines deep and in the Franklin Gothic URW text.

Use of upper and lowercase lettering, font size and linear depth will depend on

the number of words.

School of

Communications,

Media, Arts

and Design

School of

Transportation

1327_FEB18

Immigration, Refugees

and Citizenship Canada

Immigration, Réfugiés

et Citoyenneté Canada

Creative Guide

Additional Graphical Elements

Lines may be used as separators

between the icon and text of a

wordmark.

Get Connected

Stay Connected

Centennial College Brand Guide

Brand Art

This section introduces you to patterns, shapes and graphic treatments reflecting

core principles of the Centennial brand, including ideas. These techniques and

tools provide flexibility and depth in expressing the brand while providing a

cohesive look and feel.

Shading/Photos

Photos used in mastheads should be coloured or they can be converted to

greyscale if the overlay image is not very visible. The overlay should be as follows:

Purpose Colour Percentage

Internal

Assigned colour or Centennial Green

at the discretion of the Marketing

and Communications department

90%

External Centennial Green 90%

External

English for

Academic

Purposes (EAP)

Internal

Are You New

to CANADA?

Do you want to communicate

better at work?

Occupation-specific

Language Training

(OSLT)

Dream | Learn | Succeed

FREE Workplace

Communications

Courses

Make your dreams come true – improve your

academic language skills in the EAP program

•Business

•Health Sciences

93.3% graduate

satisfaction rate

with EAP program

(from 2016-17 KPI

Graduate Survey)

•Human Services •Skilled Trades

•Technology

centennialcollege.ca

To qualify, you must be a permanent resident or protected person and have intermediate-level English (CLB6 to 8)

eap@centennialcollege.ca

416-289-5000, ext. 7683

centennialcollege.ca/

OSLT@centennialcollege.ca

416-289-5000, ext. 7405

centennialcollege.ca/

Creative Guide

Lines as Separators

Lines may be used as content or section separators, but not as pure design elements.

Use of Footers

Footers are permissible but should only contain the other brand and call to action

items.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Use of Wordmarks

Wordmarks may be used at the client’s request. In the absence of a wordmark, at a

minimum, the Centennial logo must be used.

Treatment of Multiple External Logos

The Centennial logo (vertical orientation) must have an upper left or lower right corner

position with bleed on all print materials, at the discretion of the Marketing and

Communications department. Additional sponsor or partner logos will be arranged

in a common position (at the discretion of the Marketing and Communications

department) and will take a diminutive role to the Centennial logo. In cases where the

Centennial logo is being used by an external sponsor or partner, it will be positioned

at the discretion of the sponsor/partner in the vertical orientation unless it is one of

multiple logos represented, in which case the horizontal format should be used.

Swag

The Marketing and Communications department can help you with your selection,

design and purchase of promotional materials, otherwise known as swag. We work

with a small roster of Purchasing-approved vendors to get you access to the best

products and prices.

Should you prefer to work directly with our vendors, please be sure to liaise with us

via Patricia Delle Monache at pmonache@centennialcollege.ca to ensure brand

compliance.

EXAMPLES

logo use

is correct

logo use

is incorrect

Creative Guide

Photography

Photography is an important element of the Centennial College brand. Wherever

possible, avoid stock photography and use approved Centennial images. If using

stock images can’t be avoided, they must be derived from the proper sources

rather than copied from web photo banks such as Google Images.

The College uses a roster of professional photographers and has a schedule for

acquiring new program photos. If you do not have access to the Widen data

access management system, we can source a relevant collection of images for

your consideration.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Should you require event photography, please notify the Marketing and

Communications department one week in advance, as per the Service Level

Agreement. We will arrange for on-site photography based on the event and

dedicated budget. A briefing of the photos’ use and signed photo/video release

forms for all participants (i.e. social media, print, website) will be required.

Based on this briefing, we will orchestrate the most fitting coverage.

EXAMPLES

Creative Guide

Photographic Style

A camera lens is often the most direct route to an emotional connection with

audiences —whether engaging our community with a photo of the perfect fall day

on campus or captivating potential students with a view of student life. By defining

and delivering a signature photographic style, we ensure that we’re presenting the

College in an authentic and unique way.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Portraits

Portraits of students, faculty and other individuals should be strong, bold and

genuine. The subject should be engaged with the camera, and have an air of

confidence, intent and purpose.

Whenever possible, photographs should show dimension, a sense of space and

environment using a shallow depth of field. In these instances, the subject should

be centred within the frame to bring balance and symmetry to the image.

EXAMPLES

Creative Guide

Candid

Candid shots should feel active, cinematic, purposeful, meaningful and genuine

— like a snapshot in the midst of action. They should capture a sense of forward

movement and illustrate an individual or group in pursuit of a goal or objective.

Campus Grounds

Grounds should be shot in one of three ways:

Centennial College Brand Guide

Head-on: To evoke the feeling of being bold, confident, unafraid.

Dynamic Angle: To suggest movement in architecture and landscapes.

Cinematic: To lend an iconic, epic quality, with wide and aerial shots that

achieve balance and symmetry on a larger scale.

EXAMPLES

Campus Grounds

Candid

Creative Guide

Still life / Textural

Still life and textural shots should feel purposeful and unique, providing a strong sense

of place.

Textural photos should not be used as main photographic elements, but as secondary

graphics to add texture and depth to a layout.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Where to Get Photos

Approved photos are stored on the College’s data asset management system, Widen.

If you require photo(s), please contact the Marketing and Communications

department. Simply describe the photo and/or type of image you require and we

will source a collection of images from which you can choose.

Photography Considerations

Good photography can help create a clear, consistent, genuine view of life at

Centennial. To maximize the impact and authenticity of this perspective, it is important

to avoid ambiguity in photographs and to use photography in ways that are consistent

with the College’s brand.

You must obtain permission via a photo/video release form in order for your photos

to be used

Avoid photography that portrays artificial settings or interactions, such as stock

photos

Do not use amateur/low resolution photos

In order to be used, images must be high resolution (at least 300 dpi) and a

minimum size, depending on use. Centennial must have the right to use them. We

cannot use images sourced from Google Images or other noncommercial photo

banks. Regardless of where you find them, this is copyright infringement.

Additionally, high-resolution photos must be sent to us as attachments or via a

file-sharing service such as We Transfer, Dropbox or Google Drive.

Images embedded in Word documents, PDFs or Publisher are unacceptable.

Creative Guide

Corporate Templates

Stationery

Stationery acts as an important official expression of our identity. It signifies and

identifies the many parts of the College as well as the individuals and roles within

it. We have created a flexible stationery system to meet the needs of the College

community. It includes several formats and options to accommodate a wide range

of applications.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Print Letterhead

We recommend printing correspondence on official Centennial-branded stock,

which we can order for you from the list of contracted printers. We can also help

you customize the letterhead with your School or academic unit’s information.

Electronic Stationery

Electronic stationery is available for general staff and faculty use by way of a

first-sheet letterhead page. The electronic letterhead option is available for

download at Centennial Central. Do not adjust or change anything within the

template. If you require something that is more customized (e.g., to contain the

information of a specific School or department), please submit a request to

Marketing and Communications.

Envelopes

Our #10 plain and window envelopes as well as our 9 by 12-inch and 10 by

13-inch envelopes are available from Shipping and Receiving. We can also help

you customize envelopes with your School or academic unit’s information.

Business Cards

Business cards can be ordered from Braund Supergraving (see Centennial Central

for the order form), who will personalize the template with your individual information.

Creative Guide

EXAMPLES

P.O. Box 631, Station A

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1K 5E9

T 416-289-5000

centennialcollege.ca

Stationery

Centennial College Brand Guide

Bruce Williams

Director

Marketing and Communications

941 Progress Avenue

Toronto, ON M1G 3T8

Tel | 416-289-5000, ext. 7144

brucewilliams@centennialcollege.ca

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 631, Station A

Toronto, ON, Canada M1K 5E9

facebook.com/centennialcollege

twitter.com/centennialEDU

linkedin.com/company/centennial-college

centennialcollege.ca

Front

Back

Creative Guide

E-signature Setup

Refer to the email signature template to create your custom email signature, and follow

the provided instructions to add your signature in Microsoft Outlook for PC or Mac.

EXAMPLE

Centennial College Brand Guide

EXAMPLE

You must use the official Centennial E-signature. Failure to do so will be considered

non compliance with our brand standards.

E-blast Broadcasts

E-blast broadcasts to any Centennial community should utilize Centennial-branded

graphics. We can create custom graphics to help convey your message in an impactful

and professional manner.

DO NOT include any additional graphics or text format without the assistance of the Marketing

and Communications department

Creative Guide

E-blast Banners Available

Centennial College Brand Guide

800

150 or

200

Text should be spaced horizontally to the letter “E” and tab over three times to

the right with the arrow key on your keyboard

Text should be left justified and be centred horizontally within the logo space

If an icon is added to the right side of the banner, then an outline of (0.5pt)

around the icon is needed

Sizing for all ebanners is 800px x 150px if text is 1 or 2 lines or 200px if the

line of text is 3 lines or more

The file is exported as a png file or jpeg at a maximum quality of 72dpi

Creative Guide

PowerPoint

The Marketing and Communications department has developed a PowerPoint

template for general use. Whenever possible, please use the approved template.

If you require a custom template for a specific project, please submit a request to

the Marketing and Communications department.

Correct Usage

Centennial College Brand Guide

Correct

▸ Store each presentation and its

associated files in its proper folder

▸ Be brief (no more than six bullets/

points per slide)

▸ Use template fonts: Big (min. 28pts).

If possible, test your slides by running

them to see if you can read your slides

from the last row of the room in which

you will be presenting

▸ Use Centennial colours as per the

template. Remember that what looks

good on your monitor may not

necessarily look good on the big

screen

Incorrect

▸ Rely on the program’s Autosave

feature

▸ Put everything you present on the

slides. Remember, slides are just a

visual aid. If you overload them, the

audience will end up trying to read

the slides rather than paying

attention to you

▸ Use colours/fonts outside of the

template

▸ Use too many animation effects,

as they are distracting for the

audience. Only use animation to

make a point

▸ Create contrast using font size and

approved colours

Creative Guide

Powerpoint Template

Logo slide – Primary colour

Logo slide – Secondary colour example

Centennial College Brand Guide

Title slide for schools, areas or departments

(colour will vary depending on the colour assignment

to your area)

Body Copy slide

Photo slide

Digital Properties

Website Homepage

News or Success Story – Do you have a news or success story worth sharing?

Our Digital Content Specialists will work with you to develop a story and capture

the appropriate image to accompany the story. This is a great way to highlight and

showcase your academic school, centre, division, project or initiative. Make your

coverage requests to the Marketing and Communicatios department.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Hero Image Video – The hero image above the fold is prime real estate for our

internal Centennial College stakeholders to promote events, programs, initiatives

and any key messages that would be appropriate for an external audience. It is up

to our Online Marketing Specialists to determine the best fit and site location for a

message.

Please abide by the following parameters:

1280 x 720 pixels resolution

24 FPS

30 seconds or less in length

No audio

Slow motion (without lowering the clips FPS below 24). Please note that

Marketing and Communications will determine if the video fits the brand

standards prior to deploying to the production environment.

Events – Any event, important date or special holiday should be added to the

official Centennial College event calendar.

Blog

Best Practices

Guest bloggers are welcome to produce blog posts for the official Centennial

College Blog. Please use the Marketing request forms to upload your blog

submissions.

Posts are typically around 500 words in length with a 700-word maximum and

400-word minimum

An eye-catching title is essential. It’s important to make it interesting without

descending into full-on clickbait

The aim of the Blog is student recruitment and engagement. So, the topic

should always lead back to portraying the College as a place students want to

be. This can be done through directly discussing what Centennial offers in

terms of career and education development, or by highlighting the College’s

unique activities, programs and courses

Digital Properties

The blog post’s tone should be conversational without being too informal. As a

guest blogger, it’s OK to use your own voice as long as the language is

appropriate and professional

Include a few common Search Engine Optimization (SEO) search terms in the

opening paragraphs. Utilize Google Trends

Typically, blog entries are formatted into two or three sub-sections, with a title

(heading 2) separating each section. However, this isn’t always the case. As a

guest blogger, you’re free to put your own spin on it

Centennial College Brand Guide

Try to include at least two hyperlinks in the story. For SEO purposes, the links

should lead to trusted reputable websites outside the College and to internal

College pages for programs, courses and other materials

Your full name and title will be published at the bottom of the piece, so be sure

to include it

The title of the post must have a length of about 40-50 characters, including

spaces

Each post must come with a separate short “summary” paragraph that

explains the piece. It may be a condensed, altered version of the story’s

opening paragraph. Its length should be of about 150-170 characters,

including spaces

Each post must be accompanied by a single picture. The image must be a

horizontal image (840 x 450px)

Mobile

The entire Centennial College website is optimized to be responsive for mobile

and tablet devices. Responsive code is embedded within all video and image

snippet codes, tables, accordion menus and content pages. If you are an

Umbraco content editor and you are questioning the responsiveness of new

content, please reach out to webupdates@centennialcollege.ca.

Student Hub

The Student Hub allows students to connect to myCentennial, eCentennial and

myApplication to conduct all their school business. Students can also:

Download essential student apps and upload myCard dollars

Access essential school resources, including the IT Help Desk, Library,

Athletics, the Centre for Students with Disabilities, Educational Pathways,

Student Health and Wellness, Financial Aid, including Scholarships and

Bursaries

Digital Properties

Learn about current events at the College and never miss an important date

again! Our New Students section will highlight everything a student needs to

know about getting started at Centennial College. We also have a complete

guide for international students coming to Canada

Centennial Central

Centennial Central is our internal portal for everything an employee needs to

be successful at the College. It provides a sense of community, with employeecentric

photos, a “meet the team” section, news stories, email access,

emergency notifications, awards and recognition, and polls. It also offers

quick access to human resources, including benefits, pension, payroll and

labour relations

Centennial College Brand Guide

Employees can ask questions and engage with their colleagues by utilizing the

interactive polls section right on the front page. The social media wall is also

interactive, meaning a user can share, retweet and favourite right from the

front page

Downloadable forms, policies and documents ranked in order of most

frequently downloaded reside on the front page of the site along with individual

department pages

Social Media

Best Practices

Consistency – Consistency across all social media platforms is critical. It’s

suggested you post at regular intervals, at approximately the same time of day.

Posts can be scheduled in advance either on the platform itself or using a

third-party social media management application tool like Hootsuite. It’s free to

set up a basic account and it will help you manage your social adventure, all in

one place

Tone – Your tone should be friendly, informative, professional and

conversational

Target audiences – Be mindful of your primary and secondary audiences.

You may belong to a single department/school, however you still represent the

College as a whole

Visual elements – It’s recommended every post on every platform contains a

visual element, as posts with imagery perform better than those without

▸ Images (photos and graphics) – Photos featuring behind-the-scenes,

live-event action, students, staff and faculty “in-the-moment” are great

examples of potential posts. Just don’t forget to obtain proper sign-off with

the waiver and release form, which you can find on Centennial Central

Digital Properties

Accessibility

Post types – Mix it up! Try posting different types of content such as videos,

cinemagraphs, boomerangs, imagery, albums, quizzes, polls, blog posts,

how-tos, etc

Sharing is caring – Sharing with your audience applicable content from

reputable sources and other College accounts is a great idea as it:

Centennial College Brand Guide

▸ Provides your visitors with relevant and timely information they want and

need (industry news and events)

▸ Showcases you as a credible resource

▸ Puts you in a better position to self-promote without coming off as too

“salesy”

If you’re sharing content – You should always provide your own perspective

and give proper attribution by tagging sources using the “@” feature

(e.g., where the article came from and who wrote it)

Shorten and track – When posting URLs, use the link shortener bit.ly for more

visually appealing links and to track click-throughs. If the content is being

disseminated from a Centennial College handle, you can use our personalized

vanity shortener, centenni.al. Check our Style Guide for instructions on

formatting shortened URLs. If you require a URL to be shortened for social

media purposes, please use the online request form located on the Centennial

Central Marketing Resources page.

Monitor comments and reviews – Regularly keep an eye on responses to your

posts across all platforms. Students, alumni and other parties frequently reach

out through social media with questions, comments and concerns, and expect

to hear back in a timely manner. To maintain good public perception, it’s critical

provide prompt and informational responses

▸ Tip: You can monitor comments, mentions, engagement and other

analytics for multiple social channels using Hootsuite.

Digital Properties

Marketing and Communications will grant certain departments and users

access that allows for content to be scheduled on platforms other than their own.

However, this content should, first and foremost, be scheduled and/or posted to

your department-owned channels. College channels are a potential secondary

option for cross-promotion.

Posts you send to the main College accounts are deemed requests and we will

consider all submissions. However, there is no guarantee these requests for

cross-promotion will be granted. The digital marketing team considers various

factors when determining whether or not content will be approved, including:

Centennial College Brand Guide

Lead time: We request as much lead time as possible, with a minimum 48

hour notice (exceptions may apply)

Content value and audience: Posts must align with a large portion of our

target audiences and provide them with some value

Copy: Posts must be well written, concise and contain a call to action

(e.g., learn more, register now, apply by March 1

Post Imagery: All submitted posts must contain imagery that fits the sizing

standards noted in the below platform overview

Cover Photo Gallery

We can work with you to help you infuse your social media presence with

Centennial’s visual identity in your cover photo for Facebook, Twitter, Google+,

LinkedIn and YouTube. Please contact webupdates@centennialcollege.ca for

further assistance

Digital Properties

Social Media Planning Template

The chart below is an example of how the Marketing and Communications team

manages four of our social platforms, and the types of content posted to these

channels. What your team can handle largely depends on the time and resources

available for managing the selected platforms. We recommend beginning with

smaller goals on only one or two platforms to successfully build your team’s

social presence.

Centennial College Brand Guide

▸ 4-8 posts/day

▸ Every 1-2 hours

▸ After hours posts

do well between

6-8pm

▸ 10-15 posts/day

▸ 1-3 posts/hour

▸ 2-4 posts/day

▸ Every 2 hours

▸ 1 post/day

▸ College/School/

department information

▸ Photos

▸ Photo albums

▸ Events

▸ Tweets with photos are

better received than

those without

▸ Leverage popular/daily

trends and hashtags

▸ Student reminders and

alerts

▸ Photos

▸ Videos (1 min. max)

▸ Utilize popular hashtags

(i.e.,

#MondayMotivation,

#TBT)

▸ Utilize re-posts

▸ Career-focused info

▸ Tips and advice

▸ Geared to current

students as well as

alumni

▸ Geared towards

business professionals

(“what’s happening at

the College”)

▸ Width: 1200 pixels

▸ Height: 628 pixels

▸ Width: 880 pixels

▸ Height: 440 pixels

▸ Width: 640/1080

pixels

▸ Height: 640/1080

pixels

▸ Width: 1200 pixels

▸ Height: 627 pixels

Digital Properties

Managing Negative Posts

Start by documenting the negative post. Be sure to take a screen capture,

noting the time, date, platform, the user’s handle/screen name, etc

Delete the comments of and block any user who posts anything racist,

derogatory, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate. Ignore comments simply

intended to pick a fight (the public knows the difference between an actual

issue and an internet troll). However, never delete or ignore negative comments

with legitimate issues. These require a different tactic (see below)

Centennial College Brand Guide

Managing negative posts is about acknowledging the issue, being sympathetic

to how it may be affecting the user and keeping your cool by leaving your

emotions out of it

If you don’t know the answer to something, find out who does and either refer

the user to a specific department or provide the answer yourself (if it’s

straightforward). There may be others who have the same question, so it’s

important to provide enough information for anyone reading the answer to

understand (this is one reason responding in the public forum is good practice)

Whatever you do, respond like a human (like you’re speaking to the person

face-to-face, as much as possible). Avoid canned, robotic responses. If you feel

comfortable, add your name and title to close the response

If a negative user continues to rant after you have replied once (or twice in

certain circumstances) and provided the information pertaining to the issue at

hand, we recommend you stop responding

Hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to get more eyes on your content and aggregate content

around a certain topic for years to come. If you’re looking for wider audience

participation, you’ll want to use popular hashtags instead of Centennial-specific

ones. However, also feel free to use the hashtags below and on the next page.

Event

Centennial Open House

Convocation

GCELE - Global Citizenship and Equity

Learning Experiences

Student Awards Night

Centennial College

Hashtag

#ChooseCentennial

#DiscoverCentennial

#CentennialGrad

#GCELE

#CCStudentAwards

#CentennialCollege

Digital Properties

Mock Disaster

Centennial Colts

Career Week

Mental Health Strategy

Experience Centennial

Engagement Week

Centennial Wellness Kit

Pride Centennial

#CentennialMockD

#ScreamGreen #GoColts

#CareerWeekCC

#CCLetsTalk

#ExperienceCentennial

#EngageCC

#CCSurviveStress

#PrideCentennial

Centennial College Brand Guide

Instagram Stories Takeover Guidelines

Pre-promotion of takeover: Before the big day, we need to spread the word

about your takeover. Share the news on your social channels, especially on

Instagram, and remember to direct users to Centennial’s Instagram account,

@centennialcollege. We’ll also inform our audiences well in advance by posting

across our platforms

Introduction: Introduce yourself or the team taking over the account with a

brief video explaining who you are, where you’re from and what followers can

look forward to seeing

Tone: Your tone should be friendly and conversational.

What to post:

▸ Posts should be 80 per cent video and 20 per cent photo for the best

viewing experience for our audiences

▸ Orientation for all posts should be portrait

▸ Keep Instagram Stories between six and 10 posts. However, if there’s

something amazing happening, feel free to keep adding. Just be cautious,

as we don’t want viewers to get bored and overlook your content

▸ Become a “live reporter” at events and behind-the-scenes activities and

during everyday life. Be sure to explain to the audience what’s happening

and what they’re looking at

▸ Get creative! Use filters, stickers, boomerangs, superzooms, rewind,

location and hashtag stickers and text double check for typos!

Also, don’t forget to tag relevant accounts such as @coltsathletics,

@ccsaitoronto and @centennialinternational

Digital Properties

▸ You can also try asking students or faculty quick questions, utilize polls,

etc. Posts should be fun, interesting, and authentic. We want to

showcase “real life”

What NOT to post: It’s imperative the College maintains a high standard of

conduct and positive public perception. As such, do not post anything the

College would deem inappropriate such as drugs or alcohol, violence or

threatening behaviour, and/or lewd content

Centennial College Brand Guide

Ending your takeover: When it’s time to sign off, remember to let the viewers

know. Wrap up your takeover with a simple, “Thanks for having me” or

something more creative such as a video of you leaving the College or

waving goodbye

Snapchat Stories Takeover

The above guidelines for Instagram Story takeovers also apply to Snapchat

takeovers. Please see below for some additional Snapchat-specific guidelines

Duration of daily My Story – Attention spans are short and Snap stories are

easily exited. A good rule of thumb is to keep your stories under 90 seconds

Sending snaps – Send all snaps to My Story as well as My Memories

Saving snaps – At the end of every day, save the entire My Story, in addition to

screenshotting the My Story views (send to webupdates@centennialcollege.ca)

Saving messages – Save snap messages by holding your finger down on the

text. You’ll have to do this for each individual message, as it won’t save the

entire conversation. Messages you save will appear greyed out for both parties.

You might want to save snap messages if you need to document inappropriate

messages or to easily recall a conversation if you need to come back to a

message later (since Snapchat erases all conversation history, daily)

Video Guide

Video captures the emotion, energy and natural visual interest of people, places

and things. Like no other medium, video blends aspects of entertainment,

education and information, making it a powerful communication tool.

By tapping into the strength of the College’s storytelling approach, you can make

videos with great impact and resonance.

Digital Properties

Brand Integration

Every subject has many stories and many different ways of telling them.

By applying key themes from Centennial’s brand platform, you can ensure that

the story your video tells is aligned with, and benefits from, the brand’s reach

and resonance.

How do you integrate these themes into your videos? Try incorporating them into

the questions you ask your subjects, and letting them inform your choice of music,

filming style and emotion.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Story Development

Great stories are relatable, have an interesting and logical progression from

problem to resolution, and connect with people on an emotional level. A few key

practices can help you develop strong video stories.

Establishing a Logical Flow

▸ First, think about the overall flow of the piece. One best practice for

effective storytelling is to break it down into three parts:

▸ The beginning should focus on a relevant, relatable challenge or

opportunity. Give some context for why the subject has taken the actions

that your video will focus on

▸ The middle gets into the heart of what the people in your video have done.

Some challenges, setbacks or uncertainty can create tension that keeps

viewers engaged

▸ The end of a great story celebrates what the protagonists have achieved.

If possible, feature people who have benefited from their efforts or have

been touched by them

Emotionally Engaging Your Viewers

▸ You should establish the “mood” of the video during the pre-production

phase. What should the audience feel when watching this video?

You should be able move an audience emotionally through your choice

of subject, music, the tone of the interview and your editing choices

▸ Our nine brand tone words represent the unique character and persona of

the Centennial brand and can assist in evoking sentiments in your video

to emotionally engage viewers. Depending on the audience being

addressed, certain tonalities can be emphasized or deemphasized

Digital Properties

Primary Video Elements

Logos, Colours and Fonts

Our logo is the most important and recognizable element of our brand’s identity. It

is an icon that represents our organization to the outside world and acts as an

identifying and unifying mark. Using the Centennial College logo, colours and font

treatments can quickly and effectively bring the brand into your videos.

Centennial College Brand Guide

You’ll find additional information regarding logos, colour palettes and fonts within

this Brand Guide Book.

For video purposes, the centred College logo is recommended. Because of its

construction, it works best when centred within the frame. For legibility, we

recommend using the full-colour logo against a solid background as the end

bumper on any video piece.

For a 1920px by 1080px video sequence, we recommend a logo that is sized at

585.827px by 188.297px

Text on Screen

The most common text on screen takes the form of “lower-thirds,” which is the

term used to title an individual subject or location.

We recommend a two-line format for the presentation of lower-thirds, where the

first line is the subject’s name and the second line is the subject’s title, degree,

area of study, affiliation, etc. Utilize a single-line format when a two-line format is

not applicable or necessary.

Franklin Gothic URW and Open Sans are the preferred fonts for lower-thirds, styled

with kerning set to 180 points. Size the first line at 50 points and the second at

40 points, as shown in the example that follows.

Our recommended placement of lower-thirds is at the bottom left or right of the

screen, depending on the composition or location of the subject. Justify the text

left or right accordingly. Always place lower-thirds within the title safe area, which,

on a 1920px by 1080px frame, would be 120px from the left or right of the frame

and 120px from the bottom of the frame.

Digital Properties

EXAMPLE

Centennial College Brand Guide

Lower

Thirds

Lower

Thirds

Digital Properties

Podcast Guidelines

Check that the topic of your podcast has not been covered either on Centennial

College’s site or on the wider Internet. If it has been covered, strategize ways

your podcast can stand out

Make notes about what you want to say before recording. You don’t need to

stick to a script but notes will help you stay on track. Create an outline to

reference as the podcast goes along

Centennial College Brand Guide

Do proper research on your topic before presenting the podcast

Make sure any people, organizations, products or programs in the podcast are

properly named and you know the correct pronunciation in advance. Spelling

out the names also helps if they’re tricky to a listener

Keep the production professional by using professional recording equipment

To ensure the audio is adequate, make a test recording before starting

your podcast

Clearly tell listeners the topic of your podcast at the start of the recording

If you’re interviewing someone, prepare questions in advance to go along with

your notes. Don’t be afraid to diverge from your notes if the interview goes to

interesting places. When interviewing your guest, be sure to give him or her

time to speak and don’t interrupt

Podcasts don’t need to be long. Don’t feel obligated to fill an hour or or even 30

minutes. Listeners are more likely to pick up and stay tuned to a shorter

podcast, since it’ll take up less of their time. When in doubt, keep it simple

Speaking of keeping it simple, don’t include music to fill time unless music is

the point of the podcast. Also, keep to a minimum the usage of any other

production elements such as sound effects

Don’t be afraid to edit your audio a little bit but don’t alter it too heavily.

For example, it’s a good idea to clip out long stretches of silence

Listen to your recorded audio in full to ensure the content and technical

aspects are of high, professional quality

Provide program notes when you release your podcast, including links to

anything you talk about

If you discuss things that you are passionate about, your podcast will be

interesting and resonate with your audience

Digital Properties

Web Elements

Our digital platforms are some of our most widely used and visible communication

vehicles, making them effective outlets for a wide variety of content. At the same

time, our locally managed approach to web and interactive communications

allows for creativity and enables each unit to effectively correspond with its

respective audiences.

Centennial College Brand Guide

Apply the elements described in this guide — fonts and headings — to create web

pages that align with the Centennial brand. Doing so also provides a cohesive

user experience that looks and feels consistent with other Centennial digital

properties.

These web elements can be used to build Centennial-branded web pages.

They include font styles and hierarchies, photo ratios, and page elements.

Digital Elements

Logo

Photography

Brand colours

Consistent writing or brand voice

Font hierarchy

Digital Properties

Desktop

Brand elements

Approved Centennial

photography or video*

Centennial College Brand Guide

Title

Font: Anton

Effects: All caps

Colour: White and

Centennial Green

*Images, logos and documents are stored in the Centennial digital asset management

system, Widen. The videos are from the Centennial YouTube/Vimeo channels.

Digital Properties

Desktop Initiative / Departmental Brand

Initiative brand

elements

Authentic Centennial

photography or video*

Centennial College Brand Guide

Title

Font: Anton

Effects: All caps

Colour: White and

Centennial Green

Departmental brand elements

Initiative brand icon

*Images, logos and documents are stored in the Centennial digital asset management

system, Widen. The videos are from the Centennial YouTube/Vimeo channels.

Digital Properties

Typography Hierarchy

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Centennial College Brand Guide

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Digital Properties

Mobile Display – Responsive Design

Centennial College Brand Guide

Digital Properties

Tablet Display – Responsive Design

Centennial College Brand Guide

Design Terminology

CMYK, sometimes referred to as four-colour process — or just process — uses

cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks. CMYK is used for both offset and digital

printing of full-colour images

Spot colour, also referred to as PMS, uses the Pantone Matching System. Spot

colours provide uniformity when producing colour as they are printed with a

predefined ink mixture on a single plate. They are primarily used in offset

printing but can sometimes be accommodated in a digital run

Centennial College Brand Guide

Resolution should be a minimum of 300 dpi (dots per inch) for printing and

72 ppi (pixels per inch) for web and mobile

RGB colour is made up of red, green and blue hues that should be used in

digital design for display on computer screens, televisions and mobile

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1 - BRAND BOOK [2018 August]

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