Introducing the Saint Mary’s College Brand Identity Guidelines
With an eye on the future we’re shaping at Saint Mary’s, we’ve updated the College’s visual identity. That includes an SMC logo to represent all Gaels—in academics, athletics, the arts, and more.
What comes to mind when someone says “Saint Mary’s College of California”? How people see, hear, and experience Saint Mary’s all contribute to the ways they perceive the College. So we want to convey a clear and consistent identity across channels and platforms to support and establish positive recognition of SMC—now and in the future.
With that in mind, Saint Mary’s Office of Marketing & Communications has developed the following guidelines to help all of us promote the Saint Mary’s brand and identity in a way that’s informative, authentic, and effective. It’s important to note that these guidelines are also grounded in work the Saint Mary’s community undertook in shaping the strategic plan for the College, Transformation 2028, which creates a road map for bolstering recognition of SMC as a leading national, Catholic university.
“Our shared goal is to achieve a unified, compelling portrayal of SMC—one that both inspires our audiences and is true to who we are.”
“We want to ensure that we’re telling Saint Mary’s story—visually and in words—in a way that will carry us forward to the future we are building together,” says Christine Hutchins. She is chief marketing and communications officer at Saint Mary’s. “Branding is much more than a logo and a tagline. Our shared goal is to achieve a unified, compelling portrayal of SMC—one that both inspires our audiences and is true to who we are.”
Our People & Place Are Our Brand
It’s the people of Saint Mary’s—including students and alumni, faculty and staff, parents and friends, Christian Brothers and partners throughout the Bay Area and the wider world—who come together to nurture a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive community. Together we shape the Saint Mary’s experience inside and outside the classroom, drawing on a Lasallian heritage that supports an education that is truly transformative. Innovation and imagination fuel our work; they’re a natural part of who and where we are. We share a commitment to meet the evolving needs of our students and society—throughout our region and across the globe.
To provide a clear sense of what we mean when we talk about Saint Mary’s brand positioning—what we are as an institution and what we aspire to be and do—the new guidelines include sections on our brand statement, brand promise, brand pillars, and brand personality.
The brand statement is one that the Saint Mary’s community has already seen rolled out as part of a brand awareness campaign earlier in 2023—on television, billboards throughout the Bay Area, and banners adorning our campus: Inspire. Engage. Transform. We Are Gaels.
The brand promise unpacks how we inspire minds, engage the world, and transform lives. Brand pillars consist of five key themes that capture the fundamental elements of our brand.
- Students come first.
- A bold, creative, & innovative spirit.
- At home in the Bay Area—with a global outlook.
- Welcoming, inclusive, & vibrant community.
- Knowledge & skills to meet the needs of today—and a lifetime.
The brand personality offers some key words that we use to describe the people of Saint Mary’s: bold, curious, community-focused, justice-driven, and passionate. Brief descriptions sketch out the different ways you see these traits embodied in the Saint Mary’s community.
You’ll also find messaging guidelines for how we tell Saint Mary’s stories. These include some basics—a boilerplate paragraph you would include for “About Saint Mary’s” in a press release, for example. It also articulates some important aspects of what makes the Saint Mary’s community so special. We invite you to explore them in depth. Even more, we invite you to take part in telling and experiencing Saint Mary’s story.
Visual Identity—Starting with the SMC Logo
The visual identity guidelines take shape based on the brand pillars and personality. This means you’ll find that sense of boldness, creativity, and dynamic community throughout. Here’s a quick overview of some specific elements you’ll find in the new guidelines when it comes to look and feel.
Saint Mary’s College of California’s logo is the visual expression and the cornerstone of our visual brand identity. To reinforce recognition of Saint Mary’s among audiences wherever they are, we have paired the iconic, internationally-recognized SMC logo with the name Saint Mary’s College of California in a bold and visually striking font.
We want all of our audiences to recognize the qualities that define SMC, and the look and feel of Saint Mary’s branding can help underscore the sense of a vibrant, dynamic, and inclusive community. That’s true for academics and the arts as well as athletics and a tremendous array of student activities.
As you enter the Saint Mary’s campus, you’ll already see banners that welcome visitors and members of the SMC community with the new logo—and the message that speaks to the Saint Mary’s experience: inspiring minds, engaging with the world, and transforming lives. The energy and aspirations of the SMC community are part of what we mean when we say, “We are Gaels.”
Along with the primary logo for the College, we have created a broad range of “lockups” for schools, centers, and more—pairing their names with the SMC logo. For social media, which plays a central role in reaching key audiences, you’ll find the logo, colors, and messaging guidelines shape what we’re doing on each of those channels as well.
Colors
The new brand identity guidelines include an updated color palette, building on our bold blue and red—or Lasallian Navy and SMC Red, as we call them. Secondary supporting colors, representing the diverse hues observed around campus—from the bright yellow Moraga Sun to the deep green Canyon Trees—complement the red and blue while communicating consistency. They capture the uniqueness of different aspects of campus while underscoring a sense of belonging to the Saint Mary’s community.
Patterns
Like the colors, a family of graphic elements and patterns draw inspiration from the geography and architecture that define the Saint Mary’s campus: from rolling hills to terracotta roofs, chapel windows, intricate tiles and mosaics, and the circular seminar table. These are emblematic of the dominant visual elements at SMC. Below is a sampling. Find the full set of patterns in the Branding Identity Guidelines.
Photography and Videography
We have provided guidelines for photography and videography to capture the Gael spirit and how the people of Saint Mary’s create the community. In detail photography, we prioritize human engagement with active poses and lively movement. We also make an effort to offer glimpses of Saint Mary’s behind-the-scenes, capturing the energy and vibrancy of the community.
Typography
We have updated typography to both carry forward the Saint Mary’s brand and to provide greater flexibility and legibility for audiences across a range of platforms. Along with providing new guidance on how to use the fonts Arpona and Avenir for greatest impact, we have added the serif font Bagatela to the SMC suite of typefaces, to give audiences an engaging and readable font in print as well as on digital platforms.
This is just an overview of the guidelines. And it’s important to note that these guidelines are meant to be a living, breathing document that will evolve to the needs of Saint Mary’s. Explore the full guidelines on the web or download a PDF below.
SEE THE BRAND IDENTITY GUIDELINES ON THE WEB
DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE BRAND IDENTITY GUIDELINES
Questions about the SMC Branding Identity Guidelines? Write us.