Brand Guide
Content To-do List
- Move this content to a landing page and create a fake right rail
- Eliminate Web section
- Move Trademark content to Identity
- Add Web under Colors and link to Design
Guidelines and best practices that promote a unified institutional identity and leverage Columbia's name, reputation, and trademarks in support of the University mission. System>Colors and Design System> Typography
Having a strong University-wide identity that adds to each unit’s value has a number of benefits:
The Collective Value
of a single brand bestows all the University’s prestige on each unit
A Shared Identity
builds a sense of community and pride
Efficient Use of Resources
limits duplication of effort and minimizes cost of trademark, design, legal, and other branding expenses
Consolidated Expertise
applies the brand management expertise of Columbia’s communications professionals across the entire University
IDENTITY
The official trademark for Columbia University is the modern crown adjacent to the full name of the University, in black or an approved blue. For use on a black background, please use a white trademark. On a dark blue, you may also use a PMS 290 version of the trademark.
CLEAR SPACE
The o-height from the “o” in “Columbia” defines the minimum clear space, which should be maintained around the trademark to separate it from surrounding elements.
MINIMUM SIZE
The Columbia trademark must be large enough to be legible. In print, the trademark’s minimum width is 1.5 inches. On the web, the trademark cannot be smaller than 150 pixels.
RESTRICTIONS ON USE
Do not change the background
The trademark must be on white, black, or an approved blue background. Visit the colors part of the website for more information.
Do not change the color
The trademark must be black, white, or an approved blue. Visit the colors part of the website for more information.
Do not place trademark on a similar color
Always ensure legibility of the trademark to maintain accessibility standards for low-vision users.
Do not change any trademark elements
Never edit, crop, distort, add font effects, or change the proportions of the trademark in any way.
We believe that different schools, institutes, and centers at Columbia are best served by employing some combination of core elements of name, color, typography, and visual mark. As a guide, we have developed a series of “co-branded” identities that communicate individuality while bestowing the value of Columbia’s name and reputation.
The University seal is for the official use by the Trustees of Columbia University. Do not use the University seal as a stand-in for the University trademark. Contact Creative Services at [email protected] to learn more.
Content tk and tk and tk. Add info on the various lions and how they can and cannot be used.
COLORS
The official Columbia Blue is Pantone 290. It is based on the color of the Philolexian Society, Columbia’s oldest student organization, founded in 1802.
Please note the color swatches on this page may vary on different computer screens, and color printouts from this page will not be accurate. Web-safe colors are listed separately.
PMS 290C
RGB: 185, 217, 235
CMYK: 23, 0, 1, 0
The Columbia University trademark can also be rendered in these approved blues. Columbia University Irving Medical Center uses PMS 7686 and PMS 3005.
PMS 284C
RGB: 108, 172, 228
CMYK: 59, 17, 0, 0
PMS 285C
RGB: 0, 114, 206
CMYK: 90, 48, 0, 0
PMS 286C
RGB: 0, 51, 160
CMYK: 100, 75, 0, 0
PMS 280C
RGB: 2, 33, 105
CMYK: 100, 85, 5, 22
TYPOGRAPHY
The Columbia University trademark was designed using the official University typeface, Trajan Pro. Trajan Pro is reserved for trademarks and display typography, such as headlines, and should not be used in body copy or paragraph formats.
Trajan Pro
Trajan Pro Bold
Garamond Pro is the University’s secondary typeface and is used for body copy. It is not recommended for headlines or other display typography.
Garamond Pro
Garamond Pro Bold
Proxima Nova is the official University web font and can be used in headers at 400–700 weight and in body copy at 100–400 weight. More details are available in the web section.
Recommended CSS stack: "“proxima-nova”, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
Recommended weights: font-weight: 100, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700
Proxima Nova
Proxima Nova Light
Proxima Nova Semibold
Proxima Nova Bold
WEB
The University’s primary web color is darker than that used in print to ensure low-vision and color-blind users have adequate color contrast between the font and the background color. This color should be used for headers and branding.
#000d74
RGB: 0, 13, 116
The Columbia trademark should be used either on white or dark blue to ensure there is enough color contrast for website accessibility.
Columbia University uses web font stacks in CSS to ensure cross-platform reliability. Primary fonts may use Typekit fonts and fall back on web-safe fonts that are similar in type classification and characteristics. The CSS web stacks are specified below.
Proxima Nova
Wide usage:
Bold and semibold weights for display type (400–700), medium and light weights for paragraph. (100–400).
Recommended CSS stack:
“proxima-nova”, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
Recommended weights:
font-weight: 100, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700
Adobe Garamond
Limited usage:
Best used for paragraph copy and 300 weight only. Not recommended for display type.
Recommended CSS stack:
“adobe-garamond-pro”, TimesNewRoman, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, Georgia, serif;
Recommended weights:
font-weight: 400
Trajan Pro
Limited usage:
While Trajan Pro is the University’s official typeface it has limited use for headers and logos. It is not for use for paragraph copy.
Recommended CSS stack:
font-family: “trajan-pro-3”, TimesNewRoman, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, Georgia, serif;
Recommended weight:
font-weight: 300
Web-safe font stacks should be used more frequently than Typekit stacks for page load time and general readability.
Helvetica Neue
Wide usage:
Bold and semibold weights for display type (400–700), medium and light weights for paragraph. (100–400).
Font smoothing:
On webkit browsers the font may appear fuzzy. Please also use a font-smoothing declaration in your CSS when used. webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
Recommended CSS stack:
“Helvetica Neue”, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
Recommended Weights:
font-weight: 100,300, 400, 500, 600, 700
Times New Roman
Wide usage:
Headlines and paragraph copy with normal weight only. Also for use on calls to action, for example, button text.
Recommended CSS stack:
TimesNewRoman, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, Georgia, serif;
Recommended weight:
font-weight: normal
Do not use bold
Softer in value, these are ideal for use in a lower percentage than primary values for branding.
#C4D8E2
RGB: 196, 216, 226
#75AADB
RGB: 117, 170, 219
#6CADDF
RGB: 108, 173, 223
#008EE0
RGB: 0, 142, 224
#2C6BAC
RGB: 44, 107, 172
#0046A6
RGB: 0, 70, 166