Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Why does the University feel it is important to have a visual identity guide?
  2. What steps were taken to get us to this visual identity guide?
  3. What happens if I don't follow the university visual identity guidelines?
  4. How did you decide on the primary mark?
  5. Am I required to purchase New Baskerville, Frutiger and Aachen Regular for everyone in my department?
  6. Where can I buy the university fonts?
  7. How can I order business cards and stationery?
  8. What is Aggie maroon? What does it mean that we have a custom Pantone color?
  9. I don't know how to incorporate the visual identity guidelines into my work, what should I do first?
Q: Why does the University feel it is important to have a visual identity guide?
A: The university has embarked on the ambitious goal of becoming a top 10 public institution of higher education by the year 2020. These visual identity guidelines will help all departments on campus communicate with a unified university identity with all audiences. This will be significant as we strengthen the university's visibility and standing among key external constituents.
Q: What steps were taken to get us to this visual identity guide?
A: In fall 2006 the advertising firm GSD&M conducted a brand audit of the university. The purpose of this audit was to take a university-wide look at all external touch points (print and electronic) and determine how well they represented the university. The result of the audit confirmed the fact that the university's communications were misaligned and did not represent the university in the most consistent and professional way possible.

During the winter of 2006, the university contracted with brand consultants and creative services group RBMM to produce a brand guide for the university. We used the guide they delivered as a starting point for the visual identity guide we have today. The guide we have today was created by an internal group of designers and communicators from across the campus.

Throughout this entire process we have sought input from the campus community and will continue to do so. We want the guidelines to be user-friendly and the most effective it can be for all those that use it.

Q: What happens if I don’t follow the university visual identity guidelines?
A: The Division of Marketing & Communications strongly encourages everyone on campus to implement the guidelines in their everyday work. Dr. Murano recognizes the importance of this effort and has asked for university support and adoption of the guide.
Q: How did you decide on the primary mark?
A: The primary mark is made up of the university logo and logotype. This combination strongly associates the block aTm logo with the words Texas A&M University, leaving no doubt about the identity of the university.
Q: Am I required to purchase New Baskerville, Frutiger and Aachen Regular for everyone in my department?
A: No. These are the primary typefaces for materials that require offset or commercial printing. We recommend Georgia and Arial for other materials and electronic correspondence.
Q: Where can I buy the university fonts?
A: The fonts are available from CIS. Once there, click on the Order Forms for Purchase on the left-hand side of the page. The cost is $45 per machine.
Q: How can I order business cards and stationery?
A: You can access the stationery order site directly from the stationery section within brandguide.tamu.edu or go to http://gsnet.tamu.edu/.
Q: What is Aggie maroon? What does it mean that we have a custom Pantone color?
A: One of the most visible components of a brand is color. Given that maroon is a difficult color to work with, we wanted to simplify this issue as much as possible. Pantone is the industry-standard when it comes to color for graphic artists, printers and retailers. Working with Pantone, we developed a custom maroon now available as a Pantone color. This means that any printer regardless of location can print this exact same shade of maroon bringing a new level of consistency to university communications.
Q: I don't know how to incorporate the visual identity guidelines into my work, what should I do first?
A: Marks — Start using the correct marks in all your communications. Make sure you download the correct files.

Color — Make sure you to use Aggie maroon every time use maroon and incorporate colors from the university color palette.

Ask questions — Don't hesitate to send a question or comment to brandguide.tamu.edu.