TABLE OF CONTENTS
BRANDING
Branding Defined
n
Branding Madison College: Real world smart
n
Madison College Mission and Vision
n
BRAND ELEMENTS
Tagline Usage
n
Rules for Logo Use
n
Typography
n
Colors
n
PRINT PROJECT TEMPLATES
Template Features
n
Brochure Design Guidelines
n
Photography
n
STYLE GUIDE
Writing Style Guide
n
Quick Reference List
n
Writing for the Web
n
2
3
10
15
2
Branding Madison
College: Real
world smart
The Madison College brand is
summed up in our tagline, Real
world smart. Yet, our brand is much
more than a tagline, logo or mission
statement.
Real world smart is our promise to
provide a high quality educational
experience that prepares students
for success in the real world.
Real world smart at Madison
College is:
n
High value for a low tuition cost
n
Relevant educational
experiences preparing
students for jobs of today and
the future
n
A broad range of offerings,
flexible scheduling and easy
access
n
Top-notch instructors with real
world experience
n
Strong support with small class
sizes and individualized
attention
Using “Real world smart” branding
n
Follow logo and tagline
usage guidelines, relevant
stylebooks and aim for
high quality text and images in
everything you produce for
Madison College.
n
Craft your message “real world
smart.” Keep the brand
uppermost in your mind when
writing or speaking about the
college.
n
Don’t overuse the phrase in
your copy, but do explore
different ways to make the
message clear.
Madison College
Mission and Vision
Our Madison College mission
and vision statements are
encompassed in our branding
efforts.
n
Madison College mission:
Madison Area Technical
College provides accessible,
high quality learning
experiences that serve the
community.
n
Madison College vision:
Transforming lives, one at a
time.
BRANDING
Branding Defined
“A brand is a living entity —
and it is enriched or
undermined cumulatively over
time, the product of a thousand
small gestures”
- Michael Eisner, CEO Disney
Branding has become a hot
marketing buzzword over the
last 10 years, but it’s a concept
as old as the wheel. Here are
some common questions about
branding and why it’s crucial for
any organization to remain true
to theirs.
What is branding?
A brand is more than a logo, a
look or a positioning statement
(slogan). A brand is what all of
those things represent. In other
words, what does “Madison
College” mean to prospective
students? To donors? To the public
at large?
Why is branding important?
A strong brand establishes and
maintains a positive and inviting
image. It tells people who we
are and what they can expect
from us. Our brand encompasses
those qualities we feel make us
stand apart and above of our
competitors.
BRAND ELEMENTS
Tagline Usage
Our tag line, “Real world smart,” is an important
branding element. Consistency is key to our brand
message and to the tagline we use to represent
that message.
n
Place the “Real world smart” tagline in the
lower right-hand side when adding it to your
document. This is flexible, however,
depending on the format of your document.
n
Use Century Gothic font. Type should appear
in black, grey or blue only.
n
Capitalize the “R” in real and lowercase the
“w” in world and “s” in smart.
n
Use an ending period only (do not add
periods or other punctuation between words).
n
When referring to the “Real world smart”
tagline, within text, please set it apart from
regular text using quote marks, a different
font or italics.
Our Logo
The primary logo for Madison Area
Technical College was developed
for the college by Mark Schmitz
of ZD Studios. Mark is a proud
graduate of the college.
The design incorporates our name
and a strong image representing
our ties and contributions to the
state of Wisconsin. The shield was
chosen for its depiction of time-
honored strength and quality, and
the path leads us into the future.
Our logo comes in several
approved versions including
special regional versions, school
versions and versions in both
color and in black and white.
The primary logo is available in
stacked (vertically) or horizontal.
Secondary versions of the logo are
provided to offer design flexibility.
Use only approved primary or
secondary versions of the logo.
Logo usage guidelines protect
and maintain our logo’s integrity.
By following these guidelines,
we ensure a uniform recognition
and awareness of the Madison
Area Technical College identity
throughout our community.
3
Rules for Logo Use
4
Color stacked
Primary logos stacked (vertical)
Black and white
stacked
Color reversed
stacked
Black and white
reversed stacked
Color horizontal
Primary logos horizontal
Black and white
horizontal
Color reversed
horizontal
Black and white
reversed horizontal
Logos in different formats
Logos for Madison Area Technical College have
been created in different electronic formats for
print, web and other uses. They are available for
download from madisoncollege.edu/in/logos-
download. Choose the logo that works best for your
project.
Different file types work best for different
projects.
Print projects
n
Use high quality, high resolution images.
n
The .eps format is the preferred format for print.
n
To see an .eps file, download it and open up
a Word or Publisher document. From there you
can insert the logo into your document to see
it. (insert>picture>from file).
Web and email projects
n
Use low resolution images for quick
downloading.
n
Use either .jpg or .png format (a “lossless
compression” format similar to .gifs) for web or
email.
n
Insert onto your web page using the Drupal
picture button or follow Outlook’s instructions to
insert into your email signature.
n
The .png format allows a transparent
background. On “reversed” images, with no
background behind white text or images,
you won’t be able to see them against a white
background.
5
Fort Atkinson color
horizontal
Regional campus logos
Fort Atkinson black and
white horizontal
Fort Atkinson color
reversed horizontal
Portage color
horizontal
Portage black and
white horizontal
Portage color
reversed horizontal
Reedsburg color
horizontal
Reedsburg black and
white horizontal
Reedsburg color
reversed horizontal
Watertown color
horizontal
Watertown black and
white horizontal
Watertown color
reversed horizontal
Color horizontal
Secondary and text only logos
Black and white
horizontal
Shield color
Shield black and white
6
Go to madisoncollege.edu/in/logos-download to download and see more logos.
Typography
The college has selected Century Gothic as the
primary font family for both headlines and body
copy. Avant Garde is also an acceptable font.
Both offer a wide range of weights and styles, of
which only a few are shown here.
In creating materials for Madison College,
please use these fonts. For body copy in
brochures and flyers, please keep type size at no
smaller than 7 point and no larger than 10 point.
Use your discretion when selecting one, or both
font styles, and remember that clear and legible
communication is always a primary goal.
Century Gothic Regular
Century Gothic Italic
Century Gothic Bold
Century Gothic Bold Italic
Avant Garde
Avant Garde Book Italic
Avant Garde Medium
Avant Garde Medium Italic
Avant Garde Demi
Avant Garde Demi Italic
Avant Garde Bold
Avant Garde Bold Italic
Secondary color palette
Any of the colors in the approved
secondary color palette may be used
in projects for Madison College. Please
use only one secondary color per
project. Screening back the approved
colors offers more variations on these
colors.
In the same project, you may use
the primary colors of the Madison
College logo in addition to your one
secondary color choice or the black-
and-white version of the logo.
The secondary color palette on the
next page is presented in CMYK and
RGB values. CMYK is used in four-
color printing, and each number
corresponds to the amount of blue
(cyan), red (magenta), yellow and
black ink needed to create that
particular color.
The RGB color system was developed
for electronic broadcasting and
includes values for red, green and
blue light. This system is used in Word
even though it was designed for
broadcast display (television) instead
of print.
For the web, we use another
set of color values known as
Hexadecimal. These appear as a
set of six numbers in HTML code
that are actually a group of RGB
values. You can convert RGB
values to Hexadecimal (HTML
codes) using a converter. One
such converter can be found at
javascripter.net/faq/rgbtohex.htm.
Colors
Primary colors
The official colors of the Madison
College logo and visual identity
are two shades of blue, identified
in the printing industry as two blues
in the Pantone Matching System
(PMS) known as PMS 7468 C and
PMS 282 C.
Both of these colors can be used
to match our logo in publications in
text or graphics. They can be used
full strength or screened back to
create lighter versions of the
same colors.
PMS 7468C
PMS 282C
7
C: 100
M: 10
Y: 0
K: 28
C: 100
M: 68
Y: 0
K: 54
R: 0
G: 125
B: 177
R: 0
G: 45
B: 98
Century Gothic Regular
Century Gothic Italic
Century Gothic Bold
Century Gothic Bold Italic
Avant Garde
Avant Garde Book Italic
Avant Garde Medium
Avant Garde Medium Italic
Avant Garde Demi
Avant Garde Demi Italic
Avant Garde Bold
Avant Garde Bold Italic
C: 0
M: 98
Y: 95
K: 0
C: 0
M: 93
Y: 97
K: 0
C: 0
M: 86
Y:100
K: 0
C: 1
M: 77
Y: 99
K: 0
C: 1
M: 65
Y:100
K: 0
C: 0
M: 60
Y:100
K: 0
C: 4
M: 58
Y:100
K: 0
C: 4
M: 46
Y: 99
K: 0
C: 6
M: 32
Y:100
K: 0
C: 6
M: 16
Y: 97
K: 0
C: 7
M: 9
Y: 97
K: 0
C: 7
M: 5
Y: 98
K: 0
C: 89
M: 29
Y: 95
K: 18
C: 84
M: 11
Y: 100
K: 1
C: 78
M: 1
Y: 99
K: 0
C: 60
M: 0
Y: 99
K: 0
C: 45
M: 1
Y: 99
K: 0
C: 35
M: 0
Y: 99
K: 0
C: 87
M: 42
Y: 33
K: 6
C: 84
M: 28
Y: 40
K: 3
C: 78
M: 8
Y: 47
K: 0
C: 70
M: 0
Y: 51
K: 0
C: 57
M: 0
Y: 44
K: 0
C: 44
M: 0
Y: 43
K: 0
C:100
M: 89
Y: 34
K: 26
C: 99
M: 79
Y: 28
K: 12
C: 93
M: 61
Y: 16
K: 2
C: 82
M: 35
Y: 9
K: 0
C: 72
M: 7
Y: 14
K: 0
C: 59
M: 0
Y: 7
K: 0
C: 82
M:100
Y: 30
K: 21
C: 76
M:100
Y: 30
K: 21
C: 63
M:100
Y: 31
K: 18
C: 53
M:100
Y: 26
K: 8
C: 33
M: 99
Y: 11
K: 1
C: 24
M: 99
Y: 12
K: 0
Madison College secondary color palette (in CMYK and RGB color values)
8
R: 238
G: 32
B: 39
R: 238
G: 52
B: 38
R: 240
G: 74
B: 35
R: 239
G: 96
B: 35
R: 241
G:119
B: 33
R: 245
G:130
B: 32
R: 237
G:132
B: 35
R: 239
G:152
B: 33
R: 239
G:177
B: 30
R: 242
G: 205
B: 29
R: 242
G: 216
B: 26
R: 242
G:
225
B: 22
R: 0
G:118
B: 65
R: 8
G:159
B: 73
R: 36
G:179
B: 75
R:111
G:190
B: 68
R:154
G: 201
B: 61
R:177
G: 210
B: 54
R: 15
G:118
B:141
R: 2
G:137
B:147
R: 0
G:170
B:156
R: 57
G:187
B:154
R:107
G:197
B:166
R:146
G: 207
B:166
R: 30
G: 49
B: 96
R: 21
G: 70
B:121
R: 2
G: 99
B:155
R: 4
G:136
B:186
R:17
G:178
B: 209
R:115
G: 210
B: 235
R: 74
G: 33
B: 97
R: 85
G:31
B: 95
R:108
G: 31
B: 96
R:132
G: 35
B:110
R:174
G: 32
B:130
R:193
G: 26
B:129
Template features
We have provided templates to
download in Word for simple, one-
page projects. More projects are
planned. If you have a request for
a specific type of project template,
please contact the Marketing
Department.
Working with Templates
General download instructions for
Madison College templates are
available online at madisoncollege.
edu/in/template-use-and-
guidelines. We’ve built much
flexibility into the templates, but
to maintain our brand identity,
some elements should remain
unchanged:
n
Typeface should remain
Century Gothic.
n
Body type size can be no
smaller than 7 point and no
larger than 10 point; 9 point
type is preferred.
PRINT PROJECT
TEMPLATES
Templates offer an efficient way to
create internally focused or small
quantity brochures, flyers, posters
and other printed material for your
department, event or program.
Maintaining our brand identity and
a consistent look, feel and tone in
our printed publications is a key
concept behind these materials.
Templates in Word, available
at madisoncollege.edu/in/
templates, allow easy access and
customization for departmental
staff. Color copies and folding
is available through Document
Services, and turnaround is
generally less than one week.
Requests for larger quantity,
externally focused, collegewide
marketing projects should continue
to be sent to the Marketing
Department.
Center for Excellence in Teaching
and Learning (CETL) technology
trainers have generously offered to
help answer questions on template
use. Call (608)246-6646 to reach
a CETL team member who can
help you with questions on Word,
Publisher or other software.
9
Using photos from our Flickr
photostream
Flickr is a photo sharing website
that allows access to millions
of photographs. Most require
permission from the photographer
but Madison College has set
up an area on Flickr (called a
“photostream”) that contains
photos already selected and
approved for use in our publications.
Madison Area Technical College’s
photostream on Flickr can be
found at flickr.com/photos/
photosharingtest2010/. Here you will
find high quality photos that reflect
the college brand for use with
our templates and other Madison
College projects.
To find and download photos:
1. Search for photos using the
search box on our Madison College
photostream page. Put in your
program name, topic or other
search terms such as “student”
“lab,” etc.
2. Click on the photo you would like
to use.
3. Above the photo, click on the
“Actions” drop down menu and
select “View all sizes.”
4. Above the photo, you will see all
the sizes listed.
For more information, please see
Template Use and Guidelines at
madisoncollege.edu/in/template-
use-and-guidelines.
Photography
Photographs help pull in your
reader whether he or she is
looking at a brochure or a web
page. At Madison College we
look for engaging, high quality
photographs that go beyond
illustration. They set a tone and
add to the story.
For Madison College photos,
select images that convey our
“Real world smart” brand.
A few tips:
n
Make sure your photo is at
a resolution high enough and
suitable for your project. For
web use, 72dpi (dots per
inch) is the standard
resolution but for print 300dpi
is recommended.
n
Use a photo that has a crisp,
clear focal point with no dark
or blurry areas.
n
Avoid photos taken from far
away. The closer to the
action, the better.
n
Feature people in action.
Show staff or students doing
something rather than posing
for the camera.
n
Look for students and staff
interacting, working together
on a project or engaging
each other in conversation.
n
Select photos that reflect the
diversity of our staff and
student body.
n
Choose photos that show
variety either in college
activities or even in the
different activities within a
program area.
For more tips on selecting photos,
taking good photos and college
resources for photos see Photo Tips
and Resources at madisoncollege.
edu/in/photography-tips-and-
resources.
10
If you include Ph.D. after the name,
do not also use the courtesy title Dr.
(use one or the other).
Academic offices, centers or
departments
Capitalize center or department
only when it is used in the title of a
specific department such as the
Enrollment Center.
Acronyms
When you are using an acronym,
the first reference in the document
should include the full spelled-out
title of the entity with the acronym
in parenthesis after the title. You can
use the acronym for all subsequent
references. For example use Center
for Excellence in Teaching and
Learning (CETL) on first reference
and CETL on all subsequent
references.
Campus names
When referring to the formal
name of our campuses, capitalize
“campus.” For example Fort
Atkinson Campus.
College name
The official name of the college is
Madison Area Technical College.
The short name for the college is
Madison College.
Dashes and hyphens
Make dashes and hyphens
consistent throughout your
document. Use hyphens in
adjectival clauses such as “part-
time teachers” but not when used
as alone such as “He works part
time.” Do not hyphenate titles such
as vice president.
AP style prefers a space before
and after a dash such as “Finding
enough time — a common concern
— is key in today’s environment.”
At Madison College, we also use
dashes without spaces to save
space, but keep it consistent in your
document.
Dates
Dates can appear in any of these
ways as long as you are consistent
throughout your document:
January 4, 2011
Jan. 4, 2011
1/4/2011
4 January 2011
Do NOT add ordinal designations
such as “st,” “th” or “nd.”
Faculty
At Madison College, we refer to
faculty members as instructors
instead of teachers or professors.
Non sexist language
Refer to chairperson instead
of chairman or chairwoman;
spokesperson instead of
spokesman or spokeswoman, etc.
Do not mix singular and plural.
Do not use “they” when referring
to a single subject. Do not say “A
student should phone in if they
need help.” The subject and
reference must either both be
plural or both be singular. Either
“Students should phone in if they
need help” or “A student should
phone in if he or she needs help.”
Numbers
In AP style, we spell out numbers
from one to nine. Use numerals
for numbers 10 and above. This
rule even applies if you have a
mixed list of numbers such as
two goats, three chickens and
14 ducks. If any number is used
at the beginning of a sentence,
however, it must be spelled out.
There are exceptions to this rule so
please see the stylebook for more
information.
STYLE GUIDE
Writing Style Guide
Bachelor’s degree or bachelor
degree? Email or e-mail? Comma
before the and in a series or no
comma? Why does this matter?
Consistency does matter. When
spellings or punctuation are
different from page to page or
even document to document
it not only looks sloppy but can
confuse and distract the reader
from the content. And, when that
happens, the brand message is
weakened.
Madison College has adopted
some of its own style but in general
we use The Associated Press
Stylebook. We’ve included here
some of the more common style
issues but see the AP Stylebook for
a comprehensive guide to writing
style. A few lending copies are
available through the CETL office
or, if you do a lot of writing, you
may want to purchase a copy for
under $25 from apstylebook.com.
Quick Reference List
Below are a few of the more
common style issues as they relate
to Madison College. For more,
please refer to the AP Stylebook.
Academic degrees
Academic degrees should not be
capitalized unless you are referring
to the full formal title of the degree
such as Bachelor of Arts or Master
of Science. For general reference,
use the possessive “s” in bachelor’s
degree or master’s degree but
NOT in associate degree.
If you feel it necessary to refer to
a person’s degree after his or her
name, use B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S. At
Madison College we usually do
not do this unless there is a reason.
11
Time of day (a.m./p.m.)
AP style prefers periods and lower
case times: a.m., p.m. At Madison
College use this or am, pm as long as
it is consistent. Avoid capitalizing AM,
PM. When writing a time on the hour,
a colon and zeros are acceptable,
such as 4:00 p.m. but you can save
space by writing 4 p.m.
When referring to midday use either
12 p.m. or noon, but not both. Same
goes for midnight.
Titles
In AP style, a title that appears
BEFORE a name should be
capitalized. A title that appears
AFTER a name should be set off
with a comma and should NOT
be capitalized. For example: Vice
President Terry Webb; Terry Webb,
vice president.
When using a title in combination
with a department or office,
capitalize the formal name of the
department or office but keep
the same rules for the position. For
example: Vice President for Learner
Success Terry Webb; Terry Webb,
vice president for Learner Success.
When not associated with a proper
name, do not capitalize second
references. For example, use “the
dean said” not “the Dean said.”
United States abbreviation
AP style prefers U.S., not US.
Percent
Spell out “percent” in text. Only
use % in tabular material. This rule
occasionally can be broken for
space reasons but if you do so, be
consistent.
Program/certificate names
The word “program” is not
included in the title of programs
so it should not be capitalized.
Use Accounting program, not
Accounting Program.
Second references
References to departments,
programs, offices, centers or the
college should include the full
title when it appears for the first
time. If you will refer to the entity
again in the same document, we
recommend you do not capitalize
on second reference. For example
on first reference you might say
the Facilities Department but
after that, you can refer to the
department not Department.
Serial commas
In AP style, do not use a comma
in a series before the “and”
unless you need to for clarity. For
example use “books, pens and
pencils.” For clarity, however, you
might use “books and cards, pens
and pencils, and crayons and
markers.”
State of/city of
It is best to just use the state or city
name and not precede it with
“state of” or “city of.” If you feel
you must say “state of Wisconsin,”
do NOT capitalize “state.”
12
Web words and style guide
exceptions
Here are a list of web-related words,
including some exceptions to The
Associated Press Stylebook unique
to Madison College
n
eBusiness
n
ecommerce
n
email
n
username
n
web
n
web-based
n
webmaster
n
web page
n
web server
n
website
n
World Wide Web
Other Commonly Used
Technical Terms
n
desktop
n
file name
n
home page
n
Internet
n
LISTSERV
n
log in, login (Two words
when used as a verb: “log in
to your account.” One word
when used as a noun: “Enter
your login.”)
n
style sheet, CSS, Cascading
Style Sheet
n
WWW (World Wide Web)
For more comprehensive
information, please see the online
Web Style Guide at madisoncollege.
edu/in/web-style-guide.
Please note. This style guide
is a living document. Check
back for changes. We will make
announcements in Madison
College Matters when new material
is added or when there are
important changes.
Writing for the web
Writing for the web can be
challenging. People tend to
use websites to obtain quick
information—grab and go—and
this is very true of the Madison
College website. Web information
must be easy to find, concise and
direct.
When writing for the web, think
economy. How long should your
web page be? Answer: As long
as it needs to be and not one
word more. Generally, keep your
paragraphs to about 50 words
and use bulleted and numbered
lists whenever they will work.
Web users tend to scan for
information. Research shows they
scan in an “F” pattern. They read
the headline and the first one or
two sentences. Then they scan
down the left-hand side and
read the first couple of words.
With this in mind, try to put the
most important and descriptive
words near the beginning of your
sentences.
Headlines and links stand out,
so make them as descriptive as
possible. Help people find the
information they are looking for on
your page easily. Never, ever use
“click here” as your link. Instead
name the link exactly what it is. For
example, do not say “Click here
for more information.” Say “Visit
Today’s Deli Specials list for more
information.”
Remember, clean and concise is
the key.
13
Promote your
classes, programs,
services or events to
students, faculty and staff.
The Promotional Toolkit includes
n
Style and usage guides
n
Logos for print and web
n
Marketing Request Form (for
college-wide and externally
focused projects)
n
Useful tips and marketing
resources from around
the college
n
Downloadable templates for
letterhead, posters,
PowerPoints and name tags.
Bookmark us at
madisoncolleger.edu/in/
promotional-tool-kit-0
Real world smart.
Century
Gothic
Header
SUBHEAD
SUBHEAD
Bestoratum huc rest ri priaede mortiae dum
ocres cons bontelares! Seniquam sua porte,
cursulius cla rehemquast gratu ceris, ortes
nonsupio ublibus ius vervidin
Bestoratum huc rest ri priaede mortiae dum
ocres cons bontelares! Seniquam sua porte,
cursulius cla rehemquast gratu ceris, ortes
nonsupio ublibus ius vervidin
Bestoratum huc rest ri priaede mortiae dum
ocres cons bontelares! Seniquam sua porte,
cursulius cla rehemquast gratu ceris, ortes
nonsupio ublibus ius vervidin
Bestoratum huc rest ri priaede mortiae dum
ocres cons bontelares! Seniquam sua porte,
cursulius cla rehemquast gratu ceris, ortes
nonsupio ublibus ius vervidin
Get the
Word Out!
The Promotional Toolkit
Can Help.
