M-CUBED
Brand Book 2016 1
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/McubedMKE @M_Cubed_MKE Description M-CUBED is an initiative to help connect MPS students with the people, resources and skills that they need to go on to college at MATC and/or UWM. With the help of M-CUBED, we hope that the young people of Milwaukee will stay, learn and work to improve our city for the next generation of learners. This initiative requires the commitment of students, educators, administrators, parents, and the greater Milwaukee Community.
Client M-CUBED initiative, Milwaukee Community.
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Table of
CONTENT 4
TS
6 The Logo 12 The Type 18 The Colors 22 The Look 26 The Image 30 The Extras 34 The Team
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The
LOGO 6
01 The logo was a collaboration between students at Bayview High School (BVHS) and UWM. BVHS chose bright colors to distinguish our mark from more traditional, “stuffy� corporate logos we often see. The three sides of the cube in our logo represent of the three levels involved in M-CUBED: Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College, and UW-Milwaukee.
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LOGO + USAGE Please do this. Full color
With background
Greyscale
With type
M-CUBED 8
Please don’t do this. Incorrect proportions
Incorrect colors
Incorrect typeface
Poor quality
M-CUBED 9
CONSTRUCTION +
The logo, as well as most other parts of our brand, is constructed with equilateral triangles.
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+ CLEAR SPACE 1/2 a 2a
2a
a
a 1/2 a
M-CUBED
1/3 a
Consistent scale and clear space are very important with logos. When placing the logo, always keep in mind the triangle from which it is built. Also, don’t forget to leave a half-measure of white space all the way around the logo!
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The
TYPE 12
02 The typography used into M-CUBED is straight-forward, familiar and clean. We wanted to use typefaces that teachers and faculty would have access to on their public computers, so we chose a clean sans serif with a neatly proportioned serif that pair beautifully. Stick to these simple guidelines to keep the language of M-CUBED recognizable and iconic.
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PRIMARY FONT Avenir Adrian Frutiger designed Avenir in 1988 as a more humanist version of the highly-geometric Futura, and believes it is some of his very best work: “It my masterpiece. It was the hardest typeface I have worked on in my life. [...] My personality is stamped upon it.� Avenir is the primary font of M-CUBED because it is clean, well-proportioned, easy to read and versitile. But what really sold us on Avenir as the primary font of this project is that it comes standard on most computers. It is our hope that students, teachers and others involved with M-CUBED will take the time to use Avenir in their correspondence.
Avenir Black should be used for all large headings, any sustained reading or body text should be Book. Medium is used as our logotype.
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LIGHT The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. BOOK The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. MEDIUM The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. HEAVY The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. BLACK The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
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SECONDARY FONT Georgia Matthew Carter designed Georgia in 1993 for Microsoft, specifically making it elegant yet legible when printed small or displayed on low-resolution screens. It’s alternating thick and thin strokes, ball terminals and vertical axis draw from traditional calligraphy. It’s large x-height and low contrast between thick and thin help to make it clear and legible. Georgia is the secondary font of M-CUBED because it works so well in so many environments, because we liked the elegance of the italic families, and because of how well it pairs with Avenir. As with Avenir, Georgia can be found on most standard computers produced in the last 2 decades, especially those made by Microsoft!
Georgia should be used primarily for secondary text areas and sub-headings. Alternate Avenir and Georgia in the page hierarchy whenever possible.
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T
LIGHT The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. BOOK The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
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The
COLOR 18
03 The colors of M-CUBED are vital to the brand. While collaborating with the students at Bayview High School, they expressed their desire for a brand that had bright, fun colors. We experimented with dozens of palettes, and ultimately chose this combination of rich dusty blue, a bright turquoise, and a friendly yellow.
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COLOR PALETTE #F6DC6B
#00BCB4 #F6DC6B
#00607F #F6DC6B 20
RGB 246 // 220 // 107
CMYK 4 // 10 // 70 // 0
RGB 0 // 188 // 180
CMYK 88 // 0 // 40 // 0
RGB 0 // 96 // 127
CMYK 100 // 55 // 34 // 12
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The
LOOK 22
04 These pieces determine how the professional community will perceive M-CUBED. You never get a second chance at a first impression, so let’s make sure that when Milwaukee learns about us, they know we’re serious. Use these templates for all correspondence with the community to make sure that the first impression you give of M-CUBED is positive and consistent.
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STATIONARY + LET Letter head
Business Cards
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TTERHEAD Stationary
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The
IMAGE 26
05 The images associated with M-CUBED are loosely defined, but for a good reason. We understand that each student has a different story, which is why we want to show the imperfect alongside the awesome. Any photos used in association with M-CUBED should be positive in that they show students working hard, having fun, or trying something new--even if they fail.
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IMAGE LIBRARY
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The image of M-CUBED is inclusive, encouraging and empowering. We want to make post-secondary education a realistic goal for anyone with the drive to reach their full potential, and that means alienating no one.
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The
EXTRAS 30
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Finally, our brand that looks great on paper, but we’re ready to apply it to other things. This section lays out the different types of merchandise that we have created. Get some apparel and maybe a few stickers, and show that you are a proud part of this incredible mission to Make Milwaukee Matter!
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MERCHANDISE Stickers
Buttons
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Mugs
T-Shirts
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The
TEAM
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07 These guidelines didn’t come from thin air. They came from five Design and Visual Communications students at UW-Milwaukee, and months and months of late nights and hard work. We loved the idea of M-CUBED from the beginning and we hope we’ve served you well. If you like what you see, please connect with us!
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THE DESIGNERS Several months ago, we were approached by one of the fine folks working on M-CUBED and asked to develop the visual identity of this new iniative. As young designers eager to connect with the Greater Milwaukee Community, we happily agreed. Now, after months of conversation, caffenation, creation, frustration, sleep-depreivation, and lots and lots of collaboration, we have an incredible set of materials to debut. Here’s a bit about the creative team that put a face to M-CUBED.
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Meg Zimont
Betsy Cook
Meg is a creative mind from Kalamazoo, Michigan with a degree in Design + Visual Communications. She is currently doing UI/UX design on an app that will help people with physical disabilities live independently. Since moving to Milwaukee, she has also been involved in several community groups, and is especially interested in finding the intersections between design, social issues, education, and community building through art.
Betsy is a passionate and free-spirited designer living in the frozen tundra of Milwaukee. She finds joy in creating hand-drawn and vector illustrations, stop motion videos and poster designs. These skills were evident during her senior showcase, in which she won the People’s Choice Award. She loves immersing herself into design projects — but also understands the importance of breaking away and absorbing the world around her. She is always open to trying any and all new experiences.
mnzimont.myportfolio.com mnzimont@gmail.com
behance.net/betsyccook instagram.com/betsyccook betsyccook@gmail.com
Colin Kirchner
Shauna Fowler
Sanne Overgaard
Colin is a recent graduate student of the Design and Visual Communications program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an interest in the graphic design and the motion graphic production market. He is an imaginative self-starter. Colin has a strong passion for drawing and constructing illustrations that help push development of ideas to a new perspective. Colin wishes to pursue management of his own production company.
Shauna Fowler is nearly finished with her Bachelors of Arts in media studies and design and visual communication. She loves everything to do with beautiful typography, digital illustration, and branding. Shauna hopes to to follow her passion for sustainable, humanist design at a small scale design firm.
Sanne is a soon to be graduate from the Design and Visual Communication program at UWM. Having spent half her life growing up in Europe, and attending two different universities, one of her greatest strengths is adaptability. She enjoys immersing herself into new cultures, environments, and communities. Sanne is constantly looking for inspiration out in the world with her awesome dog along her side for company. Together they are ready for new adventures to come.
behance.net/colinjkirchner colinjkirchner@gmail.com
behance.net/sbfowler shaunabfowler@gmail.com
sanne.l.overgaard@gmail.com behance.net/sanneovergaard sannelovergaard.wix.com/ portfolio
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