Visual identity of University of St Andrews

Lewis Wake
Thursday 22 February 2018

As our communications continue to grow in both pace and complexity, we need to ensure that our corporate identity is presented in a clear, controlled and consistent manner.

The University of St Andrews is a global institution and our visual identity reflects our approach to education and the international community that shapes our students and staff.

In this post, the areas of branding and visual identity topics that will be covered are:


University logo

The University logo, consisting of the shield and word mark, is the foundation of our visual identity. It reflects both a pride in heritage and confidence in the future.

Being the asset that immediately identifies our University, there are rules set in place to ensure appropriate use through consistent application. This assures quality and strength of the University of St Andrews brand.

Corporate identity

Correct usage of the University logo

The strength of the University of St Andrews logo is dependent on its consistent application. The correct logo graphic must always be used without any modifications or additions.

The University of St Andrews logo must always retain the original proportions when resizing to avoid distorting the image.

University logo usage


Colours

All colour is emotive, and our palette has been designed to reflect the values, energy and vitality of the University of St Andrews. Most importantly, our colours are web-accessible.

Colour is a key part of our visual signature but care should be taken not to use too many colours within a given piece of design at any one time.

The St Andrews blue colour is the core of our colour palette. It is our primary colour and features at the forefront in most of our products. Here are the RGB and Hex values for our St Andrews blue colour:

St Andrews Blue

RGB: 0, 83, 155
Hex: #00539b
Pantone: 287c
CMYK: 100, 68, 0, 12

A detailed page containing RGB and Hex values for all colours can be found within our digital pattern library. Please note that the base values are the default.

Colours


Typefaces

There are two main typefaces used across the University website: PT Sans and PT Serif. Both are freely available from Google Fonts.

Primary typeface

The University of St Andrews’ primary typeface for web is PT Sans. This typeface must be used for body text and headings. The common equivalent typeface available on all computers is Arial.

Secondary typeface

The University of St Andrews’ secondary typeface for web is PT Serif. This typeface must be used only for category header sections and body text on long-form pages. The common equivalent typeface available on all computers is Georgia.

Typefaces


Image standards

There are standards in place for producing and publishing images intended for use on the University of St Andrews website, social media channels, or other online sources.

Quality of content

To assure quality, photographs should be taken by professional with appropriate equipment.

To abide by brand identity, photographs must be relevant to St Andrews. This includes some of the following subjects:

  • The town of St Andrews
  • University buildings
  • The student community
  • Work related to the University

Sourcing images for St Andrews

We no longer support or encourage the use of stock images across the University website as they vary in consistency and are not representative of the St Andrews brand.

Ideally, where images are required, we recommend using photographs that are St Andrews specific.

We hold approximately 8,000 current images of the University and town internally. The photographs, which are regularly updated, are taken by our in-house photographer and also by freelance photographers.

Requests for images can be made through the University’s online imagebank or by contacting print and design.

Image bank

Image copyright

The University of St Andrews or a specific School or Department must own copyright of images used, and/or have an agreement with the photographer that allows use of the image on their site.

Images from books, works of art, footage and stills from websites are generally not copyright-free. Everything must be checked or the University may be fined for breach of copyright. If in doubt, check with the legal team. It may possible to buy copyright but if the content is of a famous person or owned by a news group it will probably be a long and costly process.

Avoid showing any clear product names or labels in any photographs.


Video standards

As with the University logo, the strength of our brand identity throughout our videos is enforced by consistency. To help maintain a consistent quality standard of footage, videos should use the University’s assets.

Information for production companies and University staff who are producing videos using the University of St Andrews branding can be sourced from the video standards webpage.

Video standards

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