Q&As about branding

• Do we have a new logo?

  Yes, Texas A&M Health Science Center, each of its colleges, centers, and institutes will all use logos that depict the institution’s position as a unit within Texas A&M University. If more than one college or department is to be represented in a single piece, the Health Science Center logo should be used (i.e. two college, center, or institute logos should never appear on the same brochure or marketing/promotional item).

  The colleges of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and rural public health will begin using the rebranded logos on all brochures, websites, and marketing and promotional materials. The same parameters will apply to the Coastal Bend Health Education Center, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Rural and Community Health Institute, and Clinical Learning Resource Center.

  Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry will maintain its current visual representation in accordance with the current licensing agreement in place between the college’s namesakes.

• Can we still use the old logo?

  No. Texas A&M Health Science Center, each of its colleges, centers, and institutes will all use logos that depict the institution’s position as a unit within Texas A&M University. It is important that everyone use this new brand architecture in order to maintain consistency across the health science center. We have a three phases in the rebranding process; see the rebrand timeline for details about deadlines.

• What does the new logo look like?

  The new health science center, college, center, and institute logos represent Texas A&M University's brand architecture, while still distinguishing our organization’s distinct identity. There is a main logo for the health science center and a custom logo for each college and center/institute, which can be accessed below.

• Does my college or department have a new logo?

  Yes, each college, center and institute will have a new logo. If your office is not listed on the logo page, you can distinguish your department or division using text in a headline, subhead or within the body copy of content. Department and/or division names should not be added to the TAMHSC logo design. If you need assistance, contact Marketing and Communications.

• How do I get the new logo?

  Visit our Logos Page

• What if we believe a custom logo is necessary but one is not available?

  If your needs are not covered on the logo page, go to our Graphic Design Request page and fill out the graphics request form. Your request will be evaluated by Marketing and Communications, so please include a detailed justification to assist in that evaluation process.

• Does the health science center or the colleges have a new name?

  No, the written name will not change. The institution and college names also will remain the same, but we have a new brand that brings us into visual alignment with the flagship. You will see this through use of a new logo, expanded color options for marketing materials, and new graphic design in some of our marketing materials.

• When must I stop using the old logo?

  You should start using the new logo on July 15, 2013. We encourage everyone to transition to the new logo as soon as possible. As is the case with the overall transition, an undertaking such as rebranding our entire institution is complex and will not occur overnight. In this case, our first major rebrand deadline is Sept. 2, 2013, and the final phase of the rebrand is scheduled for implementation by July 2015.

• What will my letterhead look like? Why can't we use our college or department lockup on letterhead and business cards?

  All stationery (i.e. letterhead, envelopes, and business cards) will fall within the Texas A&M style guidelines. While the customized logos allow information and marketing pieces to focus on a specific discipline, our stationery system will capitalize on the overall strength of the Texas A&M brand and tie us all together. Each department has been offered a stationery “starter kit,” including business cards for all faculty and staff. Contact Marketing and Communications to determine who your department contact is, as letterhead and stationery may already have been ordered for you. You can also download a template for electronic letterhead.

• What should I use for my email signature?

  Even your email signature is an important part of our visual identity and brand recognition, since email often travels outside the TAMHSC and represents who we are as an institution. While it is your email signature, use of the TAMHSC name represents our brand and helps achieve additional visual consistency. Download this template to fill in your contact information for your new email signature.

• Do we have to use special brand fonts?

  As part of the new visual identity, we have adopted the same brand fonts used by Texas A&M University. A brand font is a certain font style used through all of our materials to enhance visual consistency. For all externally focused materials, such as special publications and marketing collateral, use the following brand fonts:

  
  ITC New Baskerville in Regular, Bold, Italic and
  Bold Italic Frutiger in 55 Roman, 65 Bold, 56 Italic, 66 Bold Italic and 75 Black

• How do I get the brand fonts?

  The brand fonts are packaged as Aggie Fonts and they can be purchased for $50 through Texas A&M. You will need to purchase a font package for each computer.

• What if my department can’t afford to purchase the brand fonts?

  Under special circumstances where brand fonts are unavailable, Georgia may replace Baskerville and Arial may be used in place of Frutiger. For online material, you may use Georgia, Arial and Impact.

• What is our brand color? What is the brand color palette?

  Brand Color: Pantone Aggie Maroon
  Brand Support Color : PMS Cool Gray 11
  Brand Color Palette: PMS Colors 422, 7528, 468, 7402, 7503, 4515, 405, 392, 534, 7447, 7408, 4495, 1405, 7498 and 308

• The color palette seems limited. Can we deviate from these?

  A color palette is key in establishing a visual identity. Look at the corporate example of AT&T: their color palette is pretty much limited to blue, orange and white. Limiting? Perhaps. But even from a distance, you can recognize their materials at a glance due to this strict adherence to their color palette. Our color palette was carefully selected to work effectively with the signature color Aggie Maroon™. Marketing and Communications has professional graphic designers on staff who can assist or advise on how to best deliver your message using our color and style guidelines. We have many templates for you to use, but our graphic design services are also free to anyone in the health science center. If we can't fulfill your request for some reason, we can advise on your project and recommend a freelance designer.

• Can I use the Texas A&M mark for T-shirts, promotional items or a student organization?

  Yes. Departments, divisions and programs may use the Texas A&M mark on T-shirts and other promotional items, but must use a licensed vendor. For more information on how to navigate that process or for a current list of licensed vendors contact Marketing and Communications.

  As independent groups, student organizations are not held to institutional brand architecture. In fact, they are encouraged to create their own unique identity. However, the same logo restrictions do apply in that student organizations may not use institution logos as part of another logo. To show institutional affiliation, Texas A&M marks may appear in a separate area from the organization logo.

  If you plan to use the Texas A&M mark on items for sale, you must obtain permission from the Office of Business Development.

If you have any more questions about the new logo or templates you can use, contact Marketing and Communications.