Freemen’s Brand Book GUIDELINES FOR 2023 ONWARDS
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Mission and aims Who we are and what we are trying to achieve.
How we sound How we talk and write about Freemen’s.
Our branding Brand colours, how to use our logo and fonts.
How we look Use of photos, colours and graphic icons.
EDI Policy Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity at Freemen’s.
Get in touch How to contact the Marketing Team at Freemen’s.
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Our mission and aims Our Mission: We want children at Freemen’s to learn, to lead and to make a difference. Our Aims: We will do this by: •
nurturing a community of learners – adults and children – who are ambitious about what they might achieve in and out of the classroom;
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providing relevant opportunities for pupils to expand their horizons intellectually and socially; athletically and creatively; emotionally and spiritually;
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establishing an environment at Freemen’s where everyone involved in the community is respected, trusted and supported;
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encouraging responsibility and capability; honesty and reliability; pride and passion;
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promoting determination and innovation; flexibility and adaptability; kindness and consideration;
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fostering in our pupils the confidence, curiosity, independence and wisdom to succeed in the next stages of their lives.
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How we sound How we talk about, write about or refer to ourselves is as important as how we present ourselves. Our brand messages are: 1. We are a joyful and generous community. 2. We want you to expand your horizons. 3. We want you to be supported every step of the way. Let’s think about these messages as we talk about the school or when we need to write a letter, document or report. They will help us all set the right tone. Our name We always refer to ourselves as City of London Freemen’s School or Freemen’s. We avoid using CLFS. Keep it simple Don’t use overcomplicated language. Be clear and simple. Avoid jargon It is difficult in schools not to use jargon, but where possible avoid using jargon. If you must use it, think whether you need to explain it first. if using abbreviations, explain those in the first instance. Be friendly If writing, talk to the reader. Use ‘you’ and then when referring to Freemen’s, use ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’.
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Use a subject Always add a subject into the subject line of an email. Think descriptively Entice your audience with more descrptive verbs. We could invite parents to our open day, but it is much more interesting to ask them to ‘explore’ or ‘discover’ Freemen’s. Focus on the experience rather than the detail Focus on the experience of the event or activity rather than documenting everything that happened. Every article or story does not need to start with the date the activty or event occurred. Think more about what the reactions of the students were, what the learning objectives were and how these were met or exceeded.
different ways: photos, video, work. Then try to get the students to write the experience up. We love your voice, but we really, really want to hear from the students. Proof and check spelling Proof all documents, particulalrly any that are being sent out to parents and students. Use the Guardian / Observer style guide if you are unsure of how we spell words e.g. Headmaster.
Don’t speak Where possible, don’t say or write anything at all. Think about how you can document your activity in
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Our branding: colours
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Whole School
Grey
Junior School
Senior School
Sixth Form
Boarding
PANTONE 484 U
PANTONE 447 U
PANTONE 7472 C
PANTONE 561 C
PANTONE 534 U
PANTONE 268 U
FOR WEB #b22527
FOR WEB #4f4445
FOR WEB #008db3
FOR WEB #00594c
FOR WEB #1b5186
FOR WEB #4a2b73
FOR DIGITAL R: 178 G: 37 B: 39
FOR DIGITAL R: 79 G: 68 B: 69
FOR DIGITAL R: 36 G: 179 B: 175
FOR DIGITAL R: 0 G: 89 B: 76
FOR DIGITAL R: 27 G: 81 B: 134
FOR DIGITAL R: 74 G: 43 B: 115
FOR PRINT C: 21 M: 98 Y: 97 K: 12
FOR PRINT C: 61 M: 63 Y: 58 K: 42
FOR PRINT C: 80 M: 0 Y: 2 K: 30
FOR PRINT C: 100 M: 0 Y: 15 K: 65
FOR PRINT C: 96 M: 73 Y: 22 K: 6
FOR PRINT C: 87 M: 99 Y: 22 K: 9
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%
Colour usage These are our brand colours and should be the only colours used in official school documents and presentations. The whole school red should be used for everything relating to the whole school or multiple areas of the school. Grey can be used as an accent colour and should also be used for the body text in documents. The turquoise represents the Junior School, green represents the Senior School, blue represents the Sixth Form and purple denotes the Boarding Community. Each part of the school may use their own brand colour plus the whole school red and grey as accents. For example, the Senior School may use green, grey and red. To add flexibility and variety, the transparency of these set brand colours can be altered to provide more options, as above. On rare occasions, when it is clear that a document or presentation represents one part of the school, but more flexibity in colour is require e.g. Free Minds booklet, then the brand colours may be used to denote cleary defined sections.
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Our branding: logo As you might expect, there are strict rules around the use of the City of London Corporation’s Coat of Arms. These are the acceptable versions of our logo and when they should be used. No other variation of the logo should be used. Minimum logo size is 16mm high. Maximum size is 650mm high.
One colour Black. For use on a white or light coloured background where only one colour is required.
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Two colours Black and PMS Warm Red. For use on a white or light coloured background.
Two colours White and PMS Warm Red. For use on a black or dark coloured background.
One colour White. For use on a black or dark coloured background.
Exclusion zone When using the logo it is important to allow clear space around it. The minimum space around it, marked with the blue dotted line, should measure same as the height of the words. This means the exclusion zone is always in proportion to the logo regardless of size.
The golden rules •
Minimum logo size is 16mm high. Maximum size is 650mm high.
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Never separate the crest and the text.
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The logo should not be ‘boxed’ inside a white or black square but should appear as a cut out against the background.
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Never change the proportions of the logo, don’t stretch it.
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Never miss the line off under the name.
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Our branding: fonts Titles and headings: Scotch Display Medium
ALWAYS use for titles. Usually between 31pt and 72pt. Some designs may need smaller headings e.g. 1/4 page ads. The first three letters of the title should always be underlined.
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz AB C D E FG H IJ KLM N O PQ R STUVWXYZ 123456789
Body copy and subheadings: Raleway Bold, Regular and Italic
ALWAYS use for regular for body text. NEVER use black, only the grey brand colour. Body text font size should be between 10pt and 12pt (never below 10pt).
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz AB C D E FG H IJ KLM N O PQ R STUVWXYZ 0123456789
Subheadings should be in bold and can be in grey or other brand colour. Subheadings can be in Sentence Case or ALL CAPS.
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Quotations, book and film titles should be in italics.
How we look: images The imagery we use is key to celebrating the school, the people within it and the work they do. We want our images to capture all those things we talk about in our mission and aims. We want our images to show what school life is really like, so we have set two styles of photos: School Life and Objects. School life These are reportage style shots of staff and students going about their day-to-day lives at Freemen’s. While they may be posed, they should look as if they have captured a unique moment. The subject(s) in the shot should generally look happy and the context of the picture should be immediately clear, e.g. a cricket match, a music class, boys walking. The focus should be on representing the ‘feel’ of the activity or the event, rather than documenting it. We cannot use images of subjects who do not have permission for their photo to be taken or if we do not own the rights to use a photo, unless the license allows images to be used if accredited and for no royalty. This includes images that are considered to be in the ‘public domain’. Objects These are images of objects around campus (and beyond) that we can use in addition to the school life pictures. These will generally be taken close up and can give another perspective or additional context a webpage, document or presentation.
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How we look: images Image style one: school life
Focus on the ‘feel’ of the activity or event, rather than documenting it. Where possible take wider shots and leave space, so we can put captions over them.
Give the photo a clear context, so the image tells an instant story. No certificate shots! Think unusual angles. 12
Image style two: objects
Think close up.
Try unusual angles.
A great opportunity to showcase work.
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How we look: images What to avoid 1. Staged images Overly staged images that do not tell a story or make the context clear, and that we have all seen many, many times before. this includes: • students with certifcates; • students jumping with certificates; • this does not include formal sports team shots. 2. Images in the ‘public domain’ We should not be using any images that we do not have the rights or a licence to use. Not only is it a copyright issue, but they often do not reflect the look and feel of the images we have described here. If you are not sure about using an image, check with the Marketing Team. This includes Clip Art. 3. Cropping Be careful when cropping images not to crop through peoples heads and bodies or that the picture no longer makes sense. This is also true when adding text boxes to images.
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Using space Space is good. Allow space around the subject of the photo to capture simple, effective images. Embrace the white (or brand colour) space in your documents and presentations to create clear and easy to read documents.
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How we look: icons We have a series of icons in that can be used in documents. These can be used in white or any brand colour. Please ask the Marketing Team for any required icons.
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Equality, diversity and inclusivity Freemen’s is a school and community that welcomes and recognises people from every group in society. We believe that a culturally rich and diverse population benefits all and so, celebrate difference. We appreciate others’ thoughts, successes, beliefs and ambitions, in a spirit of inclusivity and tolerance. We consider everyone to be of equal value and commit to provide equal opportunity and equal support to all. Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity policy applies equally to current and prospective members of the school community, including parents. The policy can be read in full the on the school website.
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Get in touch If you have any questions, comments or concerns, you can contact the Freemen’s Marketing Team by emailing marketing@freemens.org or call 01372 822 410. Templates Branded Word and PowerPoint templates have been created and are available to use. Templates include, headed letter, PowerPoint presentation and posters.
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#FreemensWantsYou WWW.FREEMENS.ORG
