THINK
PLUS MEDIA Brand Standards & Media Guides thinkplus media & co.
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.� JEFF BEZOS founder and CEO of Amazon.com
CONTENTS 5 foreword 6 about us 8 our brand 9 brand attributes 10 wordmark 12 symbol 14 colors 16 fonts 20 our promise 22 FAQ
FOREWORD At thinkplus, we strive to think bigger. We strive to think in new directions, in news ways of connecting with people everywhere. In essence, we do our best to help businesses communicate with the public in a better way than they could before. Because we at thinkplus are all about communication, we care a lot about messages and appearances, and the design of materials with our logo on them say a lot about who we are and what we do. In this, our brand standards guide, we seek to provide our allies and affiliates solid instruction on what our brand really is and what we stand for.
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ABOUT US Born in Boise, Idaho, thinkplus is an every aspect media and marketing firm for businesses seeking to spread the word. As a collaborative, we seek out and assemble a team of top quality industry professionals that can provide you with anything you need—from marketing systems to web design and everything in between.
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OUR BRAND At thinkplus, our mission is to think bigger. We want to use communication tools to influence the world in a positive way and create marketing materials that are both effective and enjoyable. From that mission, we build every other facet of our corporate attitude, our day to day operations, and our brand. Most businesses agree that a brand is much more than a logo—it’s a way of life; It’s the way that we see and do things. It’s even the ideal that we shape our company around 24/7. When working with our branding materials, be aware of the attributes used to depict thinkplus. We work hard to uphold these values, and would like our marketing materials to reflect the work that we do. These attributes and traits are the things we do to help us think bigger.
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OUR MISSION: To think bigger; to communicate in a positive way and create materials that are both effective and enjoyable.
OUR BRAND ATTRIBUTES:
carefree casual creative unique innovative
adventurous youthful adaptable active unreserved
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WORDMARK What, you may ask, is the difference between a wordmark and a logo? The answer is simple—representation without graphics. While we like the “+” symbol, we feel that it isn’t necessary to represent us in what we do. We believe the name says it all. When working with the thinkplus wordmark, keep the following guidelines in mind for all published materials.
We like these.
thinkplus
think+
thinkbigger thinkgreen
thinkplus thinkplus
We don’t like these.
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thinkplus
thinkplus+
thinking+
thinkPLUS
THINK+
Thinkplus
thinkplus
thinkplus
thinkplus
thinkplus
• Do not capitalize thinkplus or any portion of it. The wordmark should always be lowercase unless referenced in news publications or scholastic essays. All caps styles can be used as a stylistic element, but should not be used on a primary wordmark. • Do not replace or modify the word “think”. You can replace the word “plus” with another word, but the word “think” must remain unmodified and first in order. Do not use more than word to replace the word “plus”. • Do not display the word “plus” alongside the “+” symbol. That would be a double negative, and that’s just not pretty. you may choose one or the other, but not both. • When using varied font styles, ensure that the word “plus” displays more prominently than the word “think”. Although “think” is meant to be a recurring theme in our marketing materials, It isn’t meant to be the dominant element in our logo. Bold or stylized fonts should be used on the word “plus” or other substitutes instead. Don’t used stretched or warped text, though. • When using varied color schemes, use solid shades or single shades in conjunction with black. This deals with the same dominance issue as font stylizing, and applies for the same reasons. When using a color+black combination, always use black for the word “think”. White may be used instead of black on inverted color schemes. • When using a term in place of the word “plus”, ensure that a traditional copy of the wordmark is displayed as well. The traditional logo should be displayed prominently and clearly. By traditional, we mean the word “think” in conjuction with the word “plus” or the “+” symbol.
SYMBOL
The cross symbol means many things in our culture, though a simple shape it may be. At thinkplus, we embrace the mathematical representation associated with addition (though we don’t embrace the math). Through it, we see the joining of two ideas, the growth and unification of individual parts, and the overall feeling of growth. As before, keep the following guidelines in mind when working with the “+” symbol.
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• Follow the clear space/sizing guidelines (illustrated left) on plus symbols. When using a plus symbol on a thinkplus product, ensure that space equivalent to the center of the plus is left in each corner of the symbol. The shape can be as thin as you want, but shouldn’t exceed that thickness. • Avoid using red for symbols--especially solid red. Although we don’t directly ban the use of red—we do still like it, after all—that particular color is too closely related to medical fields to be the best choice for us. If you are absolutely adamant on using red, be tasteful in its application, and shoot for darker, maroon-like shades. • Don’t use the symbol in place of a traditional wordmark. The symbol is a great method of reinforcing our brand and its theme, but the shape is too commonly used to be directly associated with thinkplus. Therefore, they should be used in tandem. Like the bike. • When stylizing the plus symbol, ensure that no effects interfere with thinkplus wordmarks. Style is good; its the element that leads to awesome. Outlines, shadows, glows, textures—anything goes. The only restriction is that any effects applied to the symbol cannot interfere with the thinkplus wordmark, wherever it may be on the product. Ensure that there is enough contrast or separation to keep it easily visible.
C O LO R Color is a beautiful thing, and as lovers of all things beautiful, We chose to embrace them all. thinkplus has no trademarked colors or specific pantones that should be applied to our materials. Use of color should be tasteful in its application. Try to use prominent color schemes (tertiary, complementary, monochrome, etc.) to pull your product designs together. If you need a foundation to work from, we’ve collected the color information for some of our favorite color tints that can be expanded from.
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our favorite green
our favorite blue
our favorite orange
our favorite purple
c 058 m 000 y 100 k 000
c 089 m 067 y 107 k 000
c 000 m 059 y 100 k 000
c 060 m 100 y 005 k 000
r 119 g 192 b 067
r 045 g 096 b 163
r 245 g 132 b 031
r 130 g 042 b 138
l 071 a -40 b 053
l 040 a 001 b -42
l 067 a 040 b 068
l 034 a 047 b -36
hex: #78c043
hex: #2d60a3
hex: #f5841f
hex: #822a8a
pantone: 360c
pantone: 7684c
pantone: 715c
pantone: 2612c
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FONTS Raleway The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
CODE PRO The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
Caviar Dreams The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
Trebuchet MS The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
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Raleway The elegant sans serif font face MADE BY
MATT McINERNEY
FOR THE
LEAGUE OF
MOVEABLE
TYPE
460 GLYPHS NINE STYLES
Raleway Thin Raleway ExtraLight Raleway Light Raleway Regular Raleway Medium Raleway SemiBold Raleway Bold Raleway ExtraBold Raleway Heavy www.thinkplusmedia.us
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Josefin Slab The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
Garamond
The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
PT Serif
The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
Minion Pro
The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow dog.
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Josefin Slab The stoic slab serif font face
Josefin Thin Prepared By Josefin Thin Italic InTYPEMADE conjunction with Danilo Design Josefin Light Josefin Light Italic Founded in 2010 Josefin Regular Josefin Regular Italic Josefin SemiBold GLYPHS Josefin SemiBold Italic Josefin Bold TEN STYLES Josefin Bold Italic
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OUR PROMISE Although we are a bunch of creative-minded people in a creative business settings, we recognize the fact that we have a responsibility to uphold a certain set of standards in our business transactions. We also recognize the fact that we must be committed to staying engaged with the public and using the influence we have in a positive way. As communicators, writers, developers, designers, marketers and generally loud people, we respect our professional responsibility to follow the law and establish policies that support and improve the world around us rather than detracting from it. The things we do in partnership with our clients have a big impact on many facets of life and must be carefully maintained before we can make the positive impact that we hope to make. In light of this, we chose to make a promise to each of our clients and the audiences that engage with our materials (which is just about everybody). These standards are the basic ideas that we built the structure of our business upon, and they are the guarantees that we make for each of the projects that we do from start to finish.
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• Our team will continually include audience members and end users in mind while developing products and strategies so that thier concerns and needs are met. • We will not refuse or prematurely terminate work with clients without due reason. Conversely, we retain the right to refuse any client all or part of our services that we feel violate our ethical beliefs, moral beliefs or policies. • We will not knowingly use information, content, or designs obtained in an unethical manner or from untrustworthy sources, especially copy, illustrations, or photographs. • We will not produce any communications that are unduly manipulative, misleading, or harmful in their effect. • We will work to include all users or potential audiences equally within the scope of our targeted audience. • We recognize that our work contributes to the wellbeing of the general public, and will not consciously act in a manner contradictory to that well being—particularly in regard to health and safety. • We will strive to uphold the credibility and dignity of our clients and contacts by practicing honest, candid and timely communication. • We value the time of our team members and clients alike, and will work to ensure that both parties adhere to proper interactions and follow any policies and contracts that apply to the subject at hand.
Above all, we will keep our original goal in mind: To think bigger, to think in new directions, and to find new ways of connecting to people everywhere.
FA Q Can I put use the thinkplus wordmark on my personal designs? No. the thinkplus wordmark shouldn’t be used on any published materials (whether commercial or not) without express permission from thinkplus.
Can I use a font other than Raleway for the thinkplus logo? If you are referring to thinkplus in a body of text in a professional publication, you may use any font face as long as it matches the copy around it. However, thinkplus products and marketing materials should always use a Raleway font face to display the thinkplus wordmark.
Can I stack multiple versions of the plus symbols in a project or product design? Sure, go nuts. As long as the plus symbols are still recognizable as separate shapes, you can do whatever you’d like. Just try not to get too crazy…there is indeed a such thing as too much of a good thing.
I want to use an image or template for a commercial project. What do I do? While the wallpapers were not designed for commercial use, the textures can be modified and used for any project you desire, as long as it isn’t being redistributed or sold. We do ask that you send us a sample, though.
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Are there any restrictions to the photos and artwork that I want to use for my products? We at thinkplus believe that advertisements don’t need to be “R-Rated” to make an impact. We don’t work with any photos containing nudity, excessive violence or profanity,
Do those restrictions apply to photos I take? Keep in mind that if you provide your own artwork rather than using our photo and design services, we will require an artwork submission form prior to completion.
Can I get some free logo samples before making a deposit? Unfortunately, our policy precludes any product proofs from being released prior to receiving a deposit. In order to commit our time to creating the best products possible, we require clients to be committed to the process as well.
Do you provide printing services? No. We provide proofs from in-house printing equipment, but we aren’t equipped to run full prints. However, we fully prepare all files for production and can recommend some printers in your area.
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