The Power of Color

Color increases brand recognition by up to 80%.

Color can improve readership by 40%, learning from 55 to 78%, and comprehension by 73%.

Research has reinforced that 60% of the time people will decide if they are attracted or not to a message – based on color alone!

Brands and color are inextricably linked because color offers an instantaneous method for conveying meaning and message without words. Color is the visual component people remember most about a brand followed closely by shapes/symbols.

Primary Colors

Secondary Colors

Usage

One Unified Voice

Plenty of attention is given to Web design, development and content management, but the content is often overlooked. It is important to maintain consistency as we communicate with all of our various audiences. A consistent message is critical because it presents the College as a focused institution with a clear vision of the future.

Thomas College must speak with a consistent voice across all touchpoints including its publications, websites, e-newsletters to advertising. This voice is the embodiment the college’s unique personality and identity.
Your tone may vary as you communicate to different audiences via different media. Social media content might call for a particularly informal tone, for example, while information targeting a graduate student might allow for longer, more complex sentences.

If you were to imagine the college as a person, the tone would refer to the different moods and vocabularies that would shade that person’s speech and interactions with different people throughout the day. But regardless of the situation, the same person would always be speaking. That consistency is our voice.

Thomas College’s voice is driven by its personality, an element of its overall brand identity.

• Adventurous and engaging—eager to pose and answer questions
• Open and affirming—welcoming people and perspectives from all walks of life
• Smart and purposeful—charting a way toward our goals and aspirations
• Transformational and authentic—driven by a genuine commitment to serve the public good
• Uses strong, vivid, purposeful language, including active verbs. Look for verbs tied to physical action, for example: lift, build, spearhead, capture, drive, hone. Look for verbs and adjectives that include some emotional connotation or evoke a strong mental image.
• Is clear and straightforward, without jargon or wordiness. The most concise method of stating something is often the most powerful. Instead of “we are accomplishing improvement outcomes,” use “we are improving.”
• Prefers active voice to passive. “We provide students,” instead of “students are provided with.”
• Avoids cliche and vagueness, instead of finding fresh language and metaphors. For example, the phrase “Our cutting-edge program is pushing the envelope and thinking outside the box,” is built on phrases that have been overused to the point where they are flat and meaningless. There are two ways to revive a cliche or an overused adjective
• Uses first- and second-person language (“we” and “you”) and contractions when appropriate
• Engages the audience in conversation, questioning, and cooperation. Feel comfortable asking your audience questions. And always welcome questions and feedback from them.

Thomas College Logo

The Thomas College logo is essential to our brand. It acts as the primary graphic identifier for Thomas and is the preferred logo for general use. The logo should always be a consistent component in our communications.

Usage

Primary Logo (as shown above) – The primary color of the leaf should be PMS 383C. The Thomas name should be either PMS 425 or White. It is intended to use the white copy on darker backgrounds in order to maintain legibility.

Secondary Logo – The logo can appear in one color for black-and-white and grayscale scenarios only.

Click here for the logo in white.

Requirements

The Thomas College logo should never be recreated or typeset. Only the official logo files should be used in communications.

Department Logos

Each department has a logo that follows the same style.

Alumni and Career Services: Color, White

Center for Innovation in Education: Color, White

Center for Innovation: Color, White

Dining by Sodexo: Color, White

Event and Conference Services: Color, White

Financial Affairs: Color, White

Graduate and Professional Studies: Color, White

Harold Alfond Institute for Business Innovation: Color, White

Health Center: Color, White

Human Resources: Color, White

Information Technology Services: Color, White

Intramurals: Color, White

Lunder School of Education: Color, White

Office of Admissions: Color, White

Office of Advancement: Color, White

Professional and Career Development: Color, White

Physical Plant: Color, White

Presidential Task Force: Color, White

Recreation: Color, White

Residence Life: Color, White

Safety and Security: Color, White

Student Affairs: Color, White

Student Success: Color, White

Seal

The Thomas College seal is reserved for use on our most official communication and events including commencement and communication from the office of the president. It may be used for other purposes with the permission of the communication department. Please contact webdir@thomas.edu or pr@thomas.edu with any questions.

Typography

Inspired by and used in tandem with our voice and tone, our typography serves as a further extension of our brand.

Quatro Slab (zip)

Franklin Gothic (zip)

Resources

Thomas College PowerPoint Template

Faculty and staff may use this resource to create an email signature.

General Thomas College Business Cards:

Athletics Business Cards:

You can join class and meetings on Microsoft Teams with customized backgrounds of various Thomas College scenes. Click the images below to download them to your computer. Then, for a step-by-step guide on how to change your background and upload these images to Teams, click here.

Athletics Background 1
Athletics Background 2
Campus Background 1
Campus Background 2