Brand Guidelines
Table of Contents Introduction..........................................3
Identity.................................................20
What is a Brand?.....................................................4 What is Our Brand?................................................5 Why is a Brand Important?...................................6 The Purpose of Brand Guidelines.......................7
Identity Assets........................................................21 Lettermark..............................................................22 Lettermark Usage.................................................23 Shorthand Lettermark.........................................24
Strategy..................................................8 Overview...................................................................9 Brand Positioning Statement.............................10 Brand Positioning: Differentiators....................11 Essence & Clarity Statements............................12 Audience & USPs...................................................13 Messaging................................................................14 Personality..............................................................15
Voice......................................................16 Our Tone..................................................................17 Writing Tips............................................................18 Social Media Tips...................................................19
Color......................................................25 Primary Palette......................................................26 Secondary Palette.................................................27
Typography.........................................28 Overview.................................................................29 Primary Display Typeface..................................30 Sans Typeface........................................................31 Additional Display Typeface..............................32
Graphic Elements..............................33 Overview.................................................................34
Introduction
Introduction What is a Brand? A brand may be described as more than any name or logo. A brand is about an experience that an organization cultivates and a passion that it plants in its audience.
At Green & Growing Education, the brand consists of: The roots of our organization The seeds for our professional growth The stem of our flourishing community The branching of our cultivated relationships The blooming of our embodied personality
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Introduction What is Our Brand? Our brand expresses evergreen professional development, 365 days a year, as we believe that when you're "green" you're growing, and when you're "ripe" you rot. Thus, we strive to empower agriculture teachers to find fulfillment through connection & community that will cultivate their confidence.
At Green & Growing Education, our brand centralizes on personal growth with a recognizable horticulturerelated theme that embodies our community for professional development for agriculture teachers by agriculture teachers.
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Introduction Why is a Brand Important? As humans, we are prompt to make judgments and criticisms about the opportunities we take part in. For these reasons, Green & Growing Education must build our audience through organic, trustworthy relationships and offering valuable programs that empower educators.
Our brand works by growing genuine confidence and true community for agricultural educators from podcasts to Virtual Coffees to the Virtual Germinate Conference. These opportunities and shape the opinions of those we serve.
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Introduction The Purpose of the Brand Guidelines This document is designed to help illustrate Green & Growing Education. Everything within this organization is purposeful, green, and flourishing opportunities for professional development. Furthermore, these guidelines reflect the budding story of our organization that went into fostering our brand. It may serve as a guide for marketing our brand successfully. The components in this booklet come together to guarantee that every encounter individuals have with Green & Growing Education is consistent and conveys our organic narrative. These principles apply to all of our communications and day-to-day operations. If you’re looking for resources, or simply have questions about the brand, please contact us via one of these channels
@greenandgrowingedu @greenandgrowingedu greenandgrowingedu.com greenandgrowingedu@gmail.com
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Strategy
Strategy Overview The strategy of Green & Growing Education sets the groundwork for engaging the minds and empowering the passions of agriscience educators. Its serves as a resource with detailed information regarding marketing and communications. In brief, it outlines the intentionality and brand of Green & Growing Education.
Our Positioning
What We Stand For
Expresses the persona, philosophies, and ideals of Green & Growing Education.
Our Audience
Who We Engage
Encompasses pre-service and current educators searching for life-long learning.
Our Messaging
What We Offer and Why It Matters
Encapsulates our Why and the methods we use to empower agriculturalists and educators.
Our Personality
How We Look, Feel, & Sound
Embodies who Green & Growing Education is including the distinctive attributes and tone.
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Strategy Brand Positioning Statement Our brand positioning statement encompasses our driving principles and Why. This is our collective promise to the community we serve and the green goals we abide by as individuals. Green & Growing Education's statement helps our team work together collectively for a single, authentic message.
Empowering agriculture teachers to find fulfillment through connection & community that will cultivate confidence. Green & Growing Education is an organization by agriculture teachers, for agriculture teachers. Planting a combined few decades of experience into this community of over 2,000+ agriculture teachers from states across the nation harvesting the life change sought for. Green & Growing Education acknowledges the honorable and rewarding work of agriculture educators while striving to promote professional development.
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Strategy Brand Positioning: Differentiators Our brand positioning is motivational yet authentic and has the ability to build an evergreen community. Within this section, we identify several differentiators within the experience of Green & Growing Education. These four roots of our organization allow us to stand apart from other professional development organizations.
How is Green & Growing Education Unique? Affordable, Organic Experiences Green & Growing Education offers affordable opportunities for quality professional development.
Consistent, 365 Days of Development Green & Growing Education provides accessible content for our audiences everyday, 365 days a year.
For & By Agricultural Educators Green & Growing Education was developed by fellow agriscience educators, working alongside those we serve.
Growing Community Environment Green & Growing Education serves as a seed for a developing community of experienced and knowledgeable educators who wish to share their wisdom with others.
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Strategy Essence & Clarity Statements When it comes to telling our story, it’s is beneficial to start with our essence and clarity statements. These articulate the roots of our brand and serve as a foundation for how we speak and act. With these statements, we can effectively and correctly articulate the growing future of Green & Growing Education. Our brand essence harvests all of our components and transforms them into several powerful phrases. These do not serve as official headers, taglines, or slogans for the organization but are a tangible prompt for starting a conversation. It serves as a reminder for the seeds we plant and the interaction we bloom.
Who We Are We are a group of agricultural educators dedicated to fostering growth and mentoring instructors.
What We Do We provide professional development on demand for the convenience of full-time agriscience teachers.
How We Serve We offer experience to grow through podcasts, Virtual Coffees, the Germinate Conference, and more.
Why We Serve We as agricultural educators know the struggles of the job and hope to empower teachers to find fulfillment through connection & community that will cultivate confidence.
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Strategy Audience & USPs Green & Growing Education interacts with a diverse range of educators and organizations. Using User Persona Analysis, we can centralize and clarify our communications and daily operation efforts. With each group interaction, the outreach elements will change based on what we are striving to achieve — like building rapport or interpersonal relations.
Current Agriculture Educators
Pre-Service Agriculture Educators
Other Professional Development Organizations
Current agriculture educators may be described as the primary audience for Green & Growing Education. They may range in experience from first-year teachers to those with decades of wisdom. This particular audience is longing for new, innovative ways to engage students through classroom instruction, methods to develop students' supervised agricultural experiences (SAE's), and finally, how to encourage personal growth among students through FFA.
Pre-service agriculture educators may be described as the secondary audience for our organization. They are the future front-line workers within our profession, and they are seeking ways to enhance their craft. They long for assistance in cultivating their skillsets as well as developing engaging practices. They desire affordable options to learn about the various facets of the profession and enjoy every chance to network with those around them.
Other professional development organizations may be described as an additional audience. They serve as both competitions for Green & Growing Education as well as supportive partners. They are in search of profitable experiences that provide benefits for those they serve. These organizations also seek partnerships to increase their brand awareness with up-and-coming businesses and organizations like Green & Growing Education.
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Strategy Messaging Our messaging includes what Green & Growing Education says and why our ideals matter. The foundational roots from which our communications are grown include authenticity, consistency, and an organic story, regardless of who shares the narrative.
Empowering agriculture teachers
Through Connection
Through Community
To Cultivate Confidence
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Strategy Personality Personality is what makes our brand relatable and personable. Our personality at Green & Growing Education also provides our story with an emotional tie.
Our Roots are...
Our Future is...
Comptent
Dynamic
Intelligent, knowledgeable, and smart
Active, driving, and lively
We are developing experts in the field of agriculture education.
We will be open to growth for the betterment of our organization.
Original
Imaginative
Authentic, genuine, and real
Creative, inventive, and visonary
We are staying true to our personal style and values.
We will be open to ideas to better serve the one's we educate.
Relatable
Inclusive
Appropriate, relevant, and suitable
Comprehensive, embracive, and global
We strive to understand and adapt to our audience's current needs.
We will be open to diverse perspectives and backgrounds.
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Voice
Voice Our Tone The voice of an organization is more than just what is communicated — it's also about how we communicate. It’s the culmination of our tone, language, and the way we form sentences. It’s one of the number one ways our audiences can identify and relate with our brand. It is important to familiarize yourself with our brand’s personality as you create content.
The Tone We Aim For
The Tone We Avoid
Casual, yet Professional
Inauthentic
We strive to be relatable in our tone and convey that we are a professional organization dedicated to supporting agriculture educators.
We avoid straying away from our genuine brand and what we stand for. We stay true and expect nothing but Green & Growing Education.
Informative, yet Approachable
Predictable
We strive to provide knowledge to our audience without getting lost in the technical lingo and jargon.
We avoid repeating the same phrase, content, and ideas. Instead, we strive to be dynamic and adapt to the times and audience.
Welcoming, yet Assertive
Technical
We strive to build an atmosphere that is open to new ideas and perspectives but is also confident in our brand identity and culture.
We avoid being industrial and methodical, and we are instead dedicated to being understandable and hospitable.
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Voice Writing Tips To allow our readers to feel more connected with the Green & Growing Education organization, the content created should powerful, concise, and compelling. Below are several tips to keep in mind as you write.
Make it clear. All writing should be straight to the point, readable, and understandable.
Make it friendly. Our work should be inviting to the reader and make them feel part of our community.
Make it inspirational. Every interaction should be motivational to the audience and leaving them empowered.
Make it impactful. Along with being empowered, all those that interact with our brand should feel more confident, connected, and have a greater sense of belonging.
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Voice Social Media Content Tips Our wide range of audience members communicate through our several social media channels. It’s important to understand the user demographics for each channel, as this translates to engagement with our brand. On this page are high-target audiences and the content type desired by each on every channel.
Podcasts
Current Agricultural Educators Employees within the AFNR Industry Pre-Service Agricultural Educators Prospective Donors & Partners
Current Agricultural Educators Pre-Service Agricultural Educators Prospective Agricultural Educator Majors Prospective Donors & Partners
Current Agricultural Educators Employees within the AFNR Industry Prospective Donors & Partners
Copy Approach
Copy Approach
Copy Approach
Casual
Formal
Image Production Value
Low
High
Casual
Formal
Casual
Image Production Value
Low
High
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Identity
Logo Identity Assets Green & Growing Education uses both the general and shorthand lettermark to represent the organization. These identity assets may only be reproduced from authorized files. They should not be altered or modify for any reason. The Green & Growing Education Marketing Team is responsible for approving the usage of the lettermark in all promotional instances, and must be consulted before any materials are ordered.
The lettermark is reserved for official communications, such as stationery and signage. In addition, it may be used for merchandising, memorabilia, and gifts with approval from the Creative Director, Customer Relations Director, and/or the Green & Growing Education Executive Team.
Our primary identifier on social media is the shorthand lettermark. It must be present on all communications, if the general lettermark is not present. Unless specific permission is granted by the Green & Growing Education Executive Team.
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Logo Lettermark The Green & Growing Education general lettermark is the defining logo and formal representation of our brand. The components include the lowercase "green," "Growing" with an uppercase "G," and the traditional word "Education." The symbolism of the lowercase word "green" symbolizes the start of our audience's journey with Green & Growing Education as they begin to plant the seeds for their future. The representation of the uppercase "G" in "Growing" serves as a reminder of the pinnacle of our journey when we take daily steps as active learners to become better mentors. Finally, the traditionalism of the word "Education" reminds us of the common value in the bond we all share: a passion for education. The lettermark is reserved only for official communications. There may be other instances where the general lettermark is required; however, the lettermark should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Some applications may require special permission from the Creative Director, Customer Relations Director, and/or Executive Team.
Two-Color Version
One-Color Versions
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Logo Lettermark Usage To ensure consistent use of the lettermark, follow the instructions below and avoid the examples below. The Green & Growing Education Marketing Team is responsible for approving the usage of the lettermark in all promotional instances, and must be consulted before any materials are ordered.
Clear Space Ensure that clear space is maintained around the lettermark for legibility and prominence. Photos, text, and graphic elements must follow these guidelines. Use the e's width from the word "green" as a measuring tool, as shown.
DON’T skew, bend, stretch, or rotate the emblem in any way.
DON’T use any colors other than those specified in this document.
DON’T crop the emblem.
DON’T combine the emblem with other graphic elements.
DON’T use drop shadows or other visual effects with the lettermark.
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Logo Shorthand Lettermark The shorthand lettermark encompasses Green & Growing Education's passion for empowering agriculture educators to find fulfillment. The shorthand lettermark serves as a formal symbol of the organization. The components include a lowercase 'g' and uppercase 'G,' which symbolizes the professional development journey. The shorthand lettermark may be used for only official marketing and communications.
Shorthand Lettermark Spacing
Minimum Sizes of the Lettermark
To display the shorthand lettermark effectively, a clear space must be contained, as shown below. The lettermark may be placed on top of photography, but no graphic elements, typography, or other elements may appear inside this clear space.
The lettermark should never be smaller than shown below for print or screen to maintain readability and legibility. There exists no maximum size, but discretion should be used for the size of the logo. It should serve as a complementary element on the page.
0.25” (24 pixels)
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Color
Color Primary Palette Our primary palette consists of seven pastel colors, including evergreen, yellow, terracotta, blue, rose, shortbread, and buttermilk. Green & Growing Education relies heavily on these colors along with the secondary palette to develop color schemes that are natural and refreshing. Evergreen CMYK 1 0 10 73 RGB 41 69 43 HEX 29452b
Rose CMYK 0 26 29 6 RGB 239 172 164 HEX efaca4
Yellow CMYK 0 18 58 3 RGB 248 202 99 HEX f8ca63
Shortbread CMYK 0 11 43 0 RGB 254 227 145 HEX fee391
Terracotta CMYK 0 31 52 9 RGB 231 153 99 HEX e79963
Buttermilk CMYK 0 6 19 0 RGB 255 240 206 HEX fff0ce
Blue CMYK 19 8 0 54 RGB 70 97 118 HEX 466176
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Color Secondary Palette The earthy nature of Green & Growing Education's secondary palette is inspired by the season of winter. It encompasses the rebirth of plants and sprouting roots for the foundation of professional development.
Bisque CMYK 1 0 10 73 RGB 41 69 43 HEX 29452b
Frost CMYK 0 26 29 6 RGB 239 172 164 HEX efaca4
Hazel Wood CMYK 0 18 58 3 RGB 248 202 99 HEX f8ca63
Pistachio CMYK 0 11 43 0 RGB 254 227 145 HEX fee391
Wheat CMYK 0 31 52 9 RGB 231 153 99 HEX e79963
Fern CMYK 0 6 19 0 RGB 255 240 206 HEX fff0ce
Periwinkle CMYK 19 8 0 54 RGB 70 97 118 HEX 466176
Burnt Umber CMYK 19 8 0 54 RGB 70 97 118 HEX 466176
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Typography
Typography Overview The Green & Growing Education brand features a variety of typefaces that portrays professionalism and the authentic community atmosphere throughout communications. The typography section notes the appropriate uses, sizes, and weights.
Primary Display Typeface
Headlines, subheads, body copy, quotes, tags, names
Lora Sans Typeface
Headlines, subheads, body copy, quotes
Open Sans Additional Display Typeface
Short callouts and quotes
Shadows Into Light Two 29
Typography Primary Display Typeface - Lora Lora is a well-balanced contemporary serif with roots in calligraphy. It is a text typeface with moderate contrast well suited for body text. A paragraph set in Lora will make a memorable appearance because of its brushed curves in contrast with driving serifs. The overall typographic voice of Lora perfectly conveys the mood of a modern-day story.
Lora Regular ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz *123456789
Lora Italic ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz *123456789
Lora Bold ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz *123456789
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Typography Sans Typeface - Opens Sans Open Sans is a humanist sans serif typeface designed by Steve Matteson, Type Director of Ascender Corp. It 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.
Opens Sans Regular ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz *123456789
Opens Sans Italic ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz *123456789
Opens Sans Bold ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz *123456789
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Typography Additional Display Typeface - Shadows Into Light Two Shadows Into Light Two is a totally revised and updated version of this popular clean, neat handwriting font. It has a feminine feel with nice rounded edges and curves. It is perfect for adding a personalized touch to your project.
Shadows Into Light Two Regular A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z * 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Graphic Elements
Graphic Elements Floral, Shape, Line, & Paint Elements The graphic elements of Green & Growing Education include floral, shape, line, and paint elements. Each element is used to convey various ideas, including the organization Green & Growing Education and the principles it stands for. The elements may come in a diverse array of colors from the approved palettes. They are shown here using the color “Blue,” but they can be set in any color from the palette that complements the design.
Floral Elements
Shape & Line Elements
Paint Elements
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For more information, visit greenandgrowingeducation.com