Logo and branding guidelines
Identity and Branding
We are a brand, whether we choose to be or not. We’re out there—and our members and community are constantly forming opinions about us. Those opinions can be positive, negative or neutral. Those opinions can change over time. The way to put our best foot forward is to be deliberate and consistent with our communication and messaging. We can be most successful in conveying our message by maintaining a unified presence worldwide. We are the standard bearers. Let’s work together to help the world see us as we want to see ourselves.
Is a logo a brand?
“Our logo is a thing—it identifies us on objects and in environments. In and of itself, it doesn’t say a whole lot about the [WIAD or information architecture]. As beautiful or unique as any logo may be, it remains essentially inanimate. Without being placed onto or into something, it has very little meaning. Branding starts when the identifier is placed into an environment. When our logo is placed into positive environments that reflect our goals, values and initiatives, our organization will be well-represented and our desired messages delivered.
Placed into a poor or inappropriate environment, the logo may only serve to misrepresent or confuse our goals, values and initiatives, and may reflect negatively on the organization. By the same token, an environment, action, product or service may be spectacular, but without displaying our identifier it may afford us little or no credit for our efforts.
Our visual identity—our logo and supporting elements—identifies us. It says who we are. Our brand is the activation and manifestation of our goals, initiatives, mission and values. It demonstrates what we are, and why we are. The purpose of our branding program is to evoke an appropriate emotional response from the viewer by embodying—within all our messages and actions —the positive emotional characteristics of the organization.” - excerpt from AIGA Identity Guidelines 2008
Our commitment
World IA Day is a one day event that happens simultaneously across the world.
World IA Day is the flagship event of the Information Architecture Institute, a 501(c)6 organization.
World IA Day is about bringing the information architecture community together. We’re fostering links within the local communities and on a global scale. We’re sharing information, ideas, and research. We’re doing it through unconventional, exciting and engaging IA events each year.
Attendees include information architects, user experience designers, scholars, students, content
strategists, entrepreneurs, business leaders and others interested in learning and discussing IA.
This is open to everyone.
Logos
You may have noticed, our logo has stayed the same over the last couple of years. The essence of the globe remains. Our 2015 global team wanted to create a mark that would best signify the world-wide reach of the event. Perhaps it’s subtle, but the facets are meant to visualize the manner in which we bring order to our endeavors. Additionally, the triangles can be used as design elements throughout our collateral materials, if we choose.
Pure Cyan was used because, on the most obvious level, our continents are connected by water. It's bold and clear, while also being easy to print. We want to keep things practical for our partners worldwide. For full color treatments (on web or for those with access to full color printing), there is an additional palette of complimentary colors.
The typeface, DIN, has a clean, modern feel. Its origins reach back to 1905 and the Prussian Rail System. In 1936 it was adopted by the German Institute for Standardization and in the decades since, has become a favorite with designers who appreciate its lean, geometric lines.
Spacing Guidelines
Color Logos
Greyscale Logos
Inverse Logos
Do not use logos like this
Do not place log on a non-approved color
Do not change the color of the logo
Do not add drop shadows or other effects to logo
Do not reconfigure or rearrange the logo
Do not skew or rotate logo
Do not cut or crop out any pieces of the logo
Typography
Logo typeface
DIN Alternate Bold
Body typefaces
Helvetica Neue Regular
Helvetica Neue Bold
Helvetica Neue Light
Web typefaces
Arial Regular
Arial Bold
Color Palette
How to use our palette
Color usage needs to support and reflect the direct and plain spoken message. A stripped-down palette can create a sense of urgency, forthrightness and a ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ attitude. It serves to keep messaging clear and simple.
Our primary colors are Pure Cyan, Pure Black and Pure White. Cyan evokes a sense of connectedness to the world, while feeling bright and modern. This is ultimately a “two-color” palette, which is meant to make printing for the various location easy and cost-effective. Tints of these colors can be used as-needed.
Grey can be used in a variety of ways and is simply a tint of black, this can also factor into ease of use for printing.
Our secondary palette brings Pure Magenta and Pure Yellow for added punches of emphasis. They are bright and direct, yet familiar. They can have equal weight with Pure Cyan, when needed. These colors should only be used at full saturation.
Finally, the tertiary palette brings in Pure Orange and Pure Green when a full spectrum of color is desired. These colors should also only be used at full saturation.
Primary palette
Pure Cyan CMYK: 100, 0, 0, 0 RGB: 0, 174, 239 Hex: 00AEEF Pantone: 306 U or Process Cyan C
Pure Black CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 100 RGB: 0, 0, 0 Hex: 000000 Pantone: Process Black U or Black 6 C
Pure White CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 0 RGB: 255, 255, 255 Hex: FFFFFF
Secondary palette
Pure Magenta CMYK: 0, 100, 0, 0 RGB: 236, 0, 140 Hex: FF0099 Pantone: 806 U or Hexachrome Magenta C
Pure Yellow CMYK: 0, 0, 100, 0 RGB: 255, 255, 0 Hex: FFFF00 Pantone: Yellow U or Process Yellow C
Tertiary palette
Pure Orange CMYK: 0, 63, 100, 0 RGB: 255, 125, 0 Hex: FF7D00 Pantone: Orange 021 U or Hexachrome Orange C
Pure Green CMYK: 73, 0, 100, 0 RGB: 0, 204, 0 Hex: 00CC00 Pantone: 802 U or 802 C
Grey palette
Any tint between Pure White and Pure Black is acceptable as long as contrast and readability are completely preserved and logo guidelines are strictly adhered to.
Location Usage
Long name example
Spell out location name in DIN Alternate Bold and size appropriately to match logo lock-up. See example for long name above.
Short name example
Spell out location name in DIN Alternate Bold and size appropriately to match logo lock-up. See example for short name above. To avoid location name becoming too large, country name was added.
Imagery
The following examples are suggestions to further convey the spirit of order and universality the encompasses World IA Day. You may want to use imagery in your presentations, signage or websites. Since we do not have an image library to provide, we wanted to make things as simple as possible, while also encouraging individual creativity and playfulness that will best convey the events in your individual location. Most importantly, have fun!
origami-tessellation
striking cityscapes
free geometric vectors
natural patterns
image manipulation
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