STYLE GUIDE SUPERIOR PRINTING & GRAPHICS
INTRO
ABOUT THESE GUIDELINES This Style Guide is designed to define and “guide” Superior Printing and Graphics’ brand expression to better bring to life what we are visually communicating to the public. Our brand projects our identity and defines how our customers, partners and peers view our printing services. The consistent use of these guidelines will bring a unified message and identity system that communicates clearly and uniformly.
VOICE & TONE
LOGO ELEMENTS
LOGO USAGE
COLOR PALETTE
TYPOGRAPHY
LAYOUT & SPACING EXTRAS
01 02 03 04 05 06 07
D EFIN IN G T ERM S
Voice: Your company’s brand personality described in adjectives. Tone: A subset of voice. Tone shades your voice based on the audience and situation/content type.
01
VOICE & TONE
ONE VOICE
MANY TONES
Our brand’s voice is who we are and is an expression of our agency’s personality. It naturally grows over time, but it generally stays the same from day to day. If we have multiple writers, but no unifying voice, we will have a weak, unmemorable brand that our audience cannot connect with.
When our voice and tone stay exactly the same all the time, its content comes across as insincere and automated. Our tone should be flexible. Take time to adjust your tone based on the content type and/or situation and the recipient’s likely emotional state.
EXPRESSION OF PERSONALITY
SHOW THEM YOU CARE
Gather Content says it best: “Consistency is memorable -As you aim to deliver great experiences for your customers, giving them a consistent encounter can help build loyalty” (www.gathercontent.com).
OUR BRAND VALUES
Fast, Friendly & Professional
01
VOICE & TONE
OUR BUSINESS
OUR ATTITUDE
OUR CONTRIBUTION
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Professional High Quality Experienced Respectful Considerate Efficient Productive Organized Accomplished Systematic Reliable Loyal Trustworthy Safe Specialized Original
Positive Optimistic Pleasant Genuine Energetic Upbeat Alert Ready Balanced Interactive Communicative Willing Cooperative Collaberative Engaged Responsive
OUR BRAND IDENTITY Contemporary, Versatile & Universal
Supports Local Businesses Supports Community Growth On Time Independent Fluent in Languages Innovative in Equipment Modern in Technology Easy Accesibilty Community Involvement Active Online & in Social Media Attentive Customer Service Exceeds Expectations Excellent Service & Quality Fair Price Under Promise, Over Deliver
MOVEMENT IN STACK OF PAPER
Using a piece of paper falling in it’s stack in the Superior Printing Logo is a fun reminder to our community that we are always in production.
02
LOGO ELEMENTS
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
N
G
E RE
Superior Printing and Graphics transitioned to a lighter, brighter color by adding a lime green in the logo. This new color conveys Superior Printing’s personality of confidence and high energy. Lime green is a color closely associated with nature and is thought to promote feelings of liveliness, freshness, and creativity. ME ANI NG S & SY M B O L I S M O F G R EEN Efficient, Clean, Calm, Growth, Renewal, Environment, Agriculture & Vegetation, Sustainable, Balance, Harmonious.
02
LOGO ELEMENTS
FORMAL & DEPENDABLE
Y
E R G
Superior Printing and Graphics included greys in its logo to add dimension and convey a message of conservatism and sophistication. Our company, like the color, is solid and stable, creating a sense of calm and composure, relief from a choatic world. We solve problems and meet the needs of our customers through design and printing. We are dependable and practical. MEANI NG S & SY M B O L I SM O F G R EY Safe, Toned, Stable, Maturity, Responsibility, Conservative, Composed, Neutral, Balanced, Strength, Timeless, Practical, Dependable, Sophisticated, Calm.
02
LOGO ELEMENTS
IDENTIFICATION SIMPLIFIED
R
PE A P
During Copy Court’s re-branding process into Superior Printing and Graphics, it was important to include the paper icon as it clearly represents the services we provide. In contrast to the former logo, the new symbol will make it much easier to use across different platforms to be better identified by the public and by our diverse community. In addition, the movement of one piece of paper falling onto it’s stack in our logo, symbolizes our high energy and fast-paced environment. Our machines are in continual production as well as our employees.
02
LOGO ELEMENTS
HIGH QUALITY & EXCEPTIONAL
P SU
E
IR OR
The name change from Copy Court to Superior Printing and Graphics was very necessary, as we do so much more than just copies. Our company, like the name, stands out from the rest in our quality. Our many years of experience brings us to the top above everyone else and we are the best at what we do. MEANI NG O F S U P ER I O R Better, Greater, Higher, Exceeding, Excellent, Preferable, Remarkable, Above, First-Rate, Expert, Five-Star, Choice, Primary, Premium, Distinguished, Grander, Noteworthy.
CONTEMPORARY, VERSATILE & UNIVERSAL
The Superior Printing Logo was created for the main purpose of being fully functional and easily recognizable. It’s so versatile and comprehensive that in some cases it can be stripped all the way down to the icon itself.
03
LOGO USAGE LOGO
This logo is the original concept for Superior Printing and Graphics and is to be used most frequently. Always try to display this logo first and clearly before proceeding to other logo variations.
LOGO HORIZONTAL
This is an alternate version to the main logo. A horizontal logo is necessary if the area you are working with is narrow or does not have enough space. Pay attention to the area and space you are working with to make sure it’s not too busy or crammed. The horizontal logo is available should you need it.
SUPERIOR
In some rare cases the paper icon might need to be dropped. It is highly recommended that the icon and the header always remain together for more consitent exposure and public recognition.
PAPER ICON
An icon directly represents an idea, concept, operation or action. By seeing the paper icon in itself, one might understand the concept that it represents printing, but not know that it is affiliated with Superior Printing and Graphics. Only through years of exposure can a logo drop it’s written name and still be instantly recognizable. The paper icon by itself should be treated more like a graphical element. In most circumstances, the icon is not to be used in place of the logo especially if the name “Superior Printing and Graphics” has not been visually established to the audience.
03
LOGO USAGE
DO NOT... • • • • • •
Stretch or Distort Apply Distracting Dropshadows Change Company Colors Rotate Pixilate Place on Distracting Backgrounds
DEFINING TERMS
RGB: Stands for Red, Blue, Green. This color model is for the display of images in electronic systems, such as televisions, computers and cell phone devices. CMYK: Refers to the four inks used in color printing; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. SPOT: Any color generated by an ink (pure or mixed) that is printed using a single run. PMS: Stands for Pantone Matching System. A popular color matching system used by the printing industry to print spot colors.
04
COLOR PALETTE
GREY Gray of different shades are welcomed as a secondary color especially in type.
BLACK 90%
BLACK 70%
RGB
CMYK
SPOT COLOR
RGB
CMYK
SPOT COLOR
RGB
CMYK
SPOT COLOR
R = 199 G = 255 B=8
BLACK 50%
R = 25 G = 25 B = 25
R = 127 G = 127 B = 127
GREY
CHARCOAL
GREY
GREEN
C = 22 M=0 Y = 97 K=0
C=0 M=0 Y=0 K = 90
C=0 M=0 Y=0 K = 50
PMS 382 C PMS 381 U
90% Black
50% Black
04
COLOR PALETTE
Full Color
When the Superior Printing grey is being represented in the background, it’s okay to change the greys in the logo to white.
Tint
In some cases, white and grey can be used. As much as possible, include all three corporate colors. One Color. When in doubt, use white when a color logo is clashing with the background.
BACKGROUNDS Choosing the right background color can be tricky. Use these examples as a general guideline on how the Superior Printing logo should be treated. Even though the logo is flexible we still want to keep a clean cohesive look in any type of presentation.
SANS-SERIF TYPEFACE
A sans-serif is one that does not have the small projecting features called “serifs” at the end of strokes in letters. The term comes from the French word sans, meaning “without”. Sans-serif fonts tend to have less line width variation than serif fonts.
05
TYPOGRAPHY
PRAGMATICA EXTENDED BOLD THIS HEADER IS IN BEBAS NUE BOLD HEADERS
All Caps in Bebas Nue or Pragmatica Extended Bold
05
TYPOGRAPHY
TYPE
ALIGNING LEFT
This is an example of the header, the sub-header and the body text all aligned left. This is a good default to go to if you do not wish to use justified paragraphs. You will also notice that the headers and sub-headers are in all caps. By doing this we are reinforcing a cohesive theme that came from our logo.
Pragmatica Extended Bold
HEADER
Bebas Nue Bold
THIS IS A SUB-HEADER
Helvetica Condensed Regular
This is an example of a header in Pragmatica Extended Bold in all caps. The sub-header is Bebas Nue in all caps. The body text is Helvetica Condensed Regular justified with the last line aligned left. A justified paragraph always looks more organized in columns; however, if you are experiencing “rivers� adjust your settings to align left.
Recommended San-Serif Typefaces for Body Text: Helvetica Family Arial Family Tahoma Family
SUB-HEADER A bold header can be used as the main subject line, although is not always needed. In the process of publishing, the appearance is just as important as the message because it sets the tone for the recipient and/ or audience. Finding a balance is key to a sucessful presentation.
EXAMPLES Headers & Body Text
05
TYPOGRAPHY
AVOID...
H e a d e r
• Using Upper-Lower Case for Headers & Sub-Headers • Justifing paragraphs if rivers are occuring • Headers & Body Text aligning on different sides • Widows • Serif Typefaces
This is a sub-header This is an example of what rivers are. When the body text or header is set to justify but the kerning (spacing) is too wide or too tight.
SERIFS
HEADER
This is Minion Pro
THIS IS A SUB-HEADER
These are examples of commonly known serif typefaces called, Times New Roman and Minion Pro. Since our brand is modern, we are only using san-serif typefaces. Did you know the reason we associate serif typefaces as classic ones is because they were the first invented? It has been said that a serif was used to help carve a letter into stone.
This is an example of the header and subheader aligned right while the body text is aligned left. It is best to align both to the left if justification is not being applied. Also try to avoid making widows. This is an example of a widow.
06
LAYOUT & SPACING
TEMPLATES THAT YOU CAN ACCESS
To help Superior Printing and Graphics stay consistant throughout all forms, documents and presentations, there are a number of templates that are available to you on the server. Take time to explore and familiarize yourself with these files and understand the overall theme Superior Printing is striving for.
DID YOU KNOW? The design and layout of your
document can often have as much of an impact as the information being communicated.
NEGATIVE SPACE
06
White space (also called negative space) is a term used in printing for the parts of a page left free of text and illustrations.
LAYOUT & SPACING
HOW TO
KNOW YOU NEED SPACE White space is nice and is not your enemy. Try not to pack every nook and cranny of space with visuals and type. This tends to make your presentation feel overwhelmingly crowded, cause viewers to feel confused or that the presentation is disorganized.
USES OF WHITE SPACE
A visually inviting style can result from several uses of white space: ●●
Ample margins and short lines, with extra leading between lines ●● Blocks of print indented off the left margin with headings outdented ●● Short paragraphs, with space breaks between paragraphs ●● Bulleted or numbered list structures where appropriate
07
EXTRAS
ABOVE
AND BEYOND THE REST We are excited to share our new logo and brand that evokes our company’s vision of a more modern, clean and efficient future. When in doubt whether it be a file type, a typeface in a memo or a design element, please contact the Manager, Steve Montijo, of Superior Printing and Graphics for proper direction.
805.988.0075 | 2540 E Vineyard Avenue, Oxnard CA 93036 | SuperiorPrinting.pro