BRAND GUIDE Crafted for you.™
Contents
Who we are .....................................................Page 3
History .............................................................Page 4 Voice ................................................................Pages 5 - 7 Logo .................................................................Page 8
Brand Colors ..................................................Page 9
Color Palettes ................................................Page 10
Typography ....................................................Page 11
Combination Fonts, Rules and Icons.........Page 12
Product Imagery ...........................................Page 13
Application Usages........................................Page 14
Final thought..................................................Page 15
2 CONTENTS | BRAND GUIDE
Contact Information: 1750 Tower Boulevard | North Mankato, MN | 507-625-5011
The experience you demand. The trends you crave. We are nationally known for our craftsmanship. Expert letterpress printing, exquisite papers and state-of-the-art facilities have made us a leader in the personalized social stationery industry for decades. But we never rest on our success. Honing our craft and focusing on product innovation are ongoing priorities. Our wedding invitations, holiday cards, all-occasion cards and social invitations are made from the finest papers with attention to trend-setting design. We love our designs, but we offer custom print services for your designs.
WHO | BRAND GUIDE 3
Where we started. Bill Carlson founded Carlson Letter Service as a part-time venture in 1948. By September of that same year, it had become full time and the first wedding invitation was printed. Carlson Letter Service eventually evolved into Carlson Craft and now, more than 65 years later, it is one of the largest wedding and social stationery printers in the country.
4 HISTORY | BRAND GUIDE
Brand Core Values YOU | TREND | TOGETHER Our branding is built around these three core words. As they relate to retailers: You – It’s all about you, the retailer. How you want to do business and how you work with your clients. It’s your choice on what you sell and how to sell it from albums to online options, luxury to budget, wedding to holiday, or even custom print services. Trend – Providing designs, paper, and print process options that are trend-setting and innovative for every market. From budget trademarked items to luxury high end custom printing there will always be options to fit your target customer. Together – We work with you to find the perfect solution to help grow your business. We’ll provide you with the tools and options to help your customers celebrate the memorable moments, big and small, that life has in store.
As they relate to consumers: You - It’s all about you, the consumer. You on paper: your style or your couple style, your vision, sharing you with your guests, sharing greetings with clients, building relationships. Trend - Providing product options that are trend-setting or on trend, based on what “trend” means to you: traditions with a twist or no holds barred Avant Garde, we have it. Together - We work with you to find that perfect invitation for your event, announcement to celebrate something special or greeting card to strengthen relationships. We’ll help you celebrate the memorable moments, big and small, that life has in store.
CORE VALUES | BRAND GUIDE 5
Brand Voice: HOW WE SPEAK TO RETAILERS We speak to our retailers in the voice of a 40-50 year-old woman who is practical with strong values, loyalty and dedication to her customers. She has an entrepreneurial spirit and understands business from the point of view of our retailers. Transparency and communication are very important to her, and she is dedicated to listening to customers and providing solutions. Her motto is “bringing you innovation with old-school values.�
6 RETAILER VOICE | BRAND GUIDE
Brand Voice: HOW WE SPEAK TO END CONSUMERS We speak to our consumers in the voice of a 25-35 year-old woman who is hip, bubbly and full of energetic personality. She is stylish and outgoing, and speaks to the consumer as a knowledgeable and fun older sister who has already planned her own wedding and is ready to share insider tips. Consumers will benefit from her experience, connections and assistance. She is a loyal friend who values service.
END CONSUMER VOICE | BRAND GUIDE 7
Logo Our logo identifies all of our print and online communications. It builds recognition of our brand among consumers and other businesses. The Carlson Craft logo should be used only in the colors and formats displayed below for brand consistency.
Primary logo color is PMS429 and it can also appear in silver foil.
Reverse and black acceptable.
Colored background and photo background ok, as long as logo is in PMS429, white or black only.
8 LOGO | BRAND GUIDE
Brand Colors Brand colors also create company recognition and consistency in print and online communications. Our primary gray PMS 429 is an on-trend neutral that highlights products.
Color Palette Internal and Retailer Brand Colors Primary
Secondary
Secondary
Accent Purple PMS 5185 C | C61 M78 Y50 K47 R76 G48 B65 | #4c3041
Gray PMS 429 C C38 M27 Y27 K0 R163 G170 B174 #a3aaae
Blue PMS 7700 C C92 M62 Y32 K12 R24 G90 B125 #185a7d
End Consumer Brand Colors Primary
Black C75 M68 Y67 K90 R0 G0 B0 #000000
Orange PMS 158 C | C2 M66 Y99 K0 R238 G118 B36 | #ee7624 Teal PMS 7711 C | C97 M18 Y33 K1 R0 G150 B170 | #0096aa
Dark Gray PMS 430 C C55 M40 Y37 K4 R124 G134 B141 #7c868d All text PMS 430, black also acceptable
Secondary Dark Gray PMS 430 C C55 M40 Y37 K4 R124 G134 B141 #7c868d All text PMS 430, black also acceptable
Gray PMS 429 C C38 M27 Y27 K0 R163 G170 B174 #a3aaae
Warm Gray PMS Warm Gray 7 C C43 M41 Y45 K4 R150 G140 B131 #968c83 BRAND COLORS | BRAND GUIDE 9
Color Palettes Within our brand colors, we’ve created palettes for positioning products within the marketplace, from elegant warm gray for luxury to fresh pink for budget. Each album cover has its own color palette, with the Carlson Craft logo in silver foil for unity.
Product Positioning Palette LUXURY PMS Warm Gray 7 C C43 M41 Y45 K4 R150 G140 B131 #968c83
MODERATE PMS 429 C C38 M27 Y27 K0 R163 G170 B174 #a3aaae
BUDGET PMS 5025 C C13 M29 Y17 K0 R220 G184 B188 #dcb8bc
HOLIDAY White
OCCASIONS PMS 7449 C C64 M81 Y50 K52 R67 G39 B59 #43273b
CUSTOM PRINT SERVICES Black C75 M68 Y67 K90 R0 G0 B0 #000000
Album Color Palette WEDDING
20SIXTEEN™
AFFORDABLE STYLE™
CANDLELIGHT BEGINNINGS™
SIMPLE BUT ELEGANT®
THEMES & DREAMS™
WEDDING AND SOCIAL STATIONERY
JEAN M® LOVE + PAPER JEAN M® MIXATION™ JEAN M® IT’S IN THE DETAILS™
POCKETS™
OCCASIONS
BELLA FIESTA™
¡FELICIDADES!™
GRADUATION STATIONERY
MAZEL TOV!™
PERSONALIZED STATIONERY™
SAVE THE DATE (COMING SOON)
Holiday Album Color Palette BUSINESS FAVORITES™
DESIGNER’S CHOICE™
10 COLOR PALETTES | BRAND GUIDE
EXECUTIVE IMAGES™
PERSONALIZED HOLIDAY GREETING CARDS™
REGAL COLLECTION™
Typography The fonts we use say who we are as much as the words printed in them. Times New Roman Italic evokes a strong, traditional feeling that reflects our experience and stability. Source Sans Pro’s modern look symbolizes our dedication to innovation.
Times New Roman - Italic | Use for ad headlines, headers and product titles ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz About Times: Steeped in tradition, the Times New Roman® family has been described as one of the most familiar and successful typefaces in the world – and has been used for just about every typographic application imaginable. Times New Roman is considered an exceptionally legible design that translates well to hard copy and on-screen environments. Source: http://www.fonts.com/font/monotype/times-new-roman
Source Sans Pro Light | Use for titles, headers, body copy
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Also approved for use
Source Sans Pro Light Italic | Can be used for titles, headers, body copy Source Sans Pro Regular | Can be used for titles, headers, body copy Source Sans Pro Semi Bold | Can be used for titles, headers, body copy Source Sans Pro Bold | Can be used for titles, headers, body copy About Source Sans Pro: Source Sans Pro was designed by Paul D. Hunt as Adobe’s first open source typeface family, drawing inspiration from the clarity and legibility of twentieth-century American gothic typeface designs. Source Sans Pro has a more generous width than many other gothics and creates a more pleasant reading texture in longer text passages. It also provides a functional text face for use on screen and in print. Source: http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/source-sans-pro
(accent font coming soon)
TYPOGRAPHY | BRAND GUIDE 11
Combination Fonts, Rules and Icons Using our brand fonts in combination and incorporating icons into the text adds interest and helps readers grasp information quickly and easily. Rules for combination font, typography and icon usage are outlined below.
Combination Fonts Note: The important word in the header/title should be emphasized with Source Sans Pro semi bold with the other word(s) in Source Sans Pro Light. Examples:
WEDDING | LUXURY WEDDING | MODERATE WEDDING | BUDGET PRINT FULFILLMENT
Typography Rules Numbers and Dates: use dashes. Examples: 1-800-xxx-xxxx | 6-15-2018 (additional rules coming soon)
Icons Album
Online
Search
Holiday
Wedding Products
Shopping Cart
Print Fulfillment
Action
Partner with us
Ordering Tool
Trademarked Taglines Consumer and Wedding Market: Crafted for you.™ Custom Print Services: You create. We craft.™ Holiday and Occasions Market: Every season. Every reason.™ 12 COMBO FONTS, TYPOGRAPHY, ICONS | BRAND GUIDE
Favorites
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Product Imagery Consistency in the way our products are photographed leads to brand recognition throughout all our product lines. We use four photography styles with a focus on products, simple backgrounds and minimal props. The style used is dependent on audience and vehicle of message. 1 - Flat lifestyle 3 - Dimensional lifestyle
2 - Flat simple 4 - Dimensional simple
IMAGERY | BRAND GUIDE 13
Application Usages
1750 Tower Boulevard | North Mankato, MN 56003 carlsoncraft.com
Business Stationery Stationery Envelope
Business Card - Front | Back
JOSH KALSTAD Production Supervisor 507-625-0508 jmkalstad@carlsoncraft.com
Crafted for you.™
1750 Tower Boulevard | North Mankato, MN 56003 carlsoncraft.com
Crafted for you.™
Stationery 6 bar
14 APPLICATION USAGES | BRAND GUIDE
Stationery Note Folder
Let’s craft something great together. Even though our large company is recognized throughout the country, we are committed to small business values and personal service. We are dedicated to providing traditional craftsmanship with unique flair and innovation.
FINAL THOUGHT | BRAND GUIDE 15