Branding Guidelines

The Lake Land College Branding, Graphics & Editorial Standards provide guidelines and resources to bring the college’s brand to life. An accurate representation of the brand in all instances externally and internally creates a cohesive, consistent message about the excellence of Lake Land College.

Please contact Marketing & Public Relations for your marketing and communication needs at mpr@lakelandcollege.edu.

Brand Position Statement

Our Lake Land College faculty and staff create an innovative and supportive learning environment with access to our Transfer, Career and Technical programs, workforce training and continuing education, and personal enrichment opportunities. We are committed to empowering our students and communities to learn, grow and succeed.

Lake Land College Wordmark

Lake Land College’s wordmark fosters brand recognition and recall. The wordmark distinguishes the college as a leader in higher education.

Wordmark Guidelines:

• Acceptable colors:
  • Black on a white background
  • Red on a white background
  • White on a red, black or gray background
• Cobrands are available for apparel and giveaways only.  Requests for a cobranded logo may be submitted to the Director of Marketing & Public Relations or the Senior Designer & Branding Coordinator.

Unacceptable Wordmark Usage:

• Do not typeset the wordmark yourself, even if what you create looks close to the official wordmark.
• Do not change the colors.
• Do not distort the art by stretching it.
• Do not use the wordmark on top of cluttered backgrounds.

Lake Land Lakers Logo

Lake Land College’s Lakers Logo refers to usage of the duck head graphic. It is not to be used in combination with the wordmark.

Logo Guidelines:

• Acceptable colors:
  • Black on a white background
  • White on a red, black or gray background
• Cobrands are available for the Foundation and the Alumni.  Requests for a cobranded logo may be submitted to the Director of Marketing & Public Relations.

Unacceptable Logo Usage:

• Do not typeset the wordmark yourself, even if what you create looks close to the official wordmark.
• Do not change the colors.
• Do not distort the art by stretching it.
• Do not use the wordmark on top of cluttered backgrounds.

Laker Louie Mascot

The official Laker mascot is Laker Louie. The Lakers logo and Louie are two elements of the Lake Land College Branding Guidelines.

Louie is a graphic element and may not be used in place of the Lakers logo wordmark. You may request he be used in a marketing piece as a graphic.

Apparel & Product Ordering

Giveaway items, apparel and merchandise must present a quality image of Lake Land College and the Lakers.

Merchandise and Apparel Guidelines:

• Order merchandise in the colors of red, light gray, dark gray, black and white.
• The wordmark may be used on merchandise in the colors of black, white and red.
• Departments and programs can be co-branded and appear on the front and/or back.
• Guidelines are available for Student Life merchandise.

Thread Colors for the Wordmark on Apparel:

• Lake Land red shirt = black or white thread.
• Black shirt = white thread.
• Dark gray shirt = white thread.
• Light gray shirt = black thread.
• White shirt = black thread.

Giveaway Guidelines:

• Giveaways must be coordinated and approved by Marketing & Public Relations.
• Acceptable colors are black, white, dark gray, light gray, silver, and Lake Land red.
• Co-branded logos for programs and departments are acceptable upon request.

Color Palette

The primary color palette is used for overall institutional identification. Lake Land red, black, and cool gray are the college’s primary colors.

Fonts

Lake Land College uses Minion Pro as a serif font and Avenir as a sans serif font.

Font Guidelines:

• Typeset the most important words in Minion Pro Bold with secondary words in Avenir in headlines and titles.
• Place headline text in all caps.
• Set body copy text in Avenir in 12 points or higher in print.
• Specialty fonts can be used for materials that promote special events as designated by Marketing & Public Relations — however, anchor the specialty font text with Avenir and Minion Pro fonts.
• The words Lake Land College should always be presented in Minion Pro or Avenir when specialty fonts are used in a piece.

Unacceptable Font Usage:

• Do not underline or italicize text.
• Do not use WordArt.
• Do not use text in other colors outside of black, gray, white or Lake Land red.

Email Signatures

Please access the Email Signature Setup folder in the S drive for step-by-step instructions on how to build your signature.

Business Cards & Nametags

Business Cards and Nametags

Business cards and nametags can be ordered through the Laker Print Shop digital storefront. They are printed in the Laker Print Shop.

Editorial Guidelines

Lake Land College follows a modified version of the Associated Press Style (AP) for all print and online materials.

Tone and Focus

Our voice is approachable, friendly, knowledgeable, confident, assuring, honest and clear. Our focus is student-centered, so statements should be positive and in an active voice.

Narrative Voice

Since we have a student-centered focus and culture at Lake Land College, all materials addressing current or potential students will use the first-person or second-person narrative voice.

Other Mechanics

• Use “associate degree” (note there is no possessive).
• Use the abbreviations a.m. and p.m. Omit the “:00” if the time falls at the top of the hour.
  Examples:
  9 AM to 5 PM is incorrect.
  9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. is incorrect.
  9 a.m. to 5 p.m. is correct.
• Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Spell out when using alone, or with a year.
  Examples: Jan. 5; January; January 2012.
• Refer to room numbers following a building with a comma and the word “room.” Do not capitalize the word “room” in the middle of a sentence.
  Example:
  Webb Hall, room 081
  Room 123 in the West Building is officially known as the Farm Credit Room.
• Omit zeroes after a decimal or colon.
  Examples:
  1. “The basketball game will begin at 2:00 p.m.” is incorrect.
  2. “The basketball game will begin at 2 p.m.” is correct.
  
  1. “The cost of the course is $103.00 excluding fees.” is incorrect.
  2. “The cost of the course is $103 excluding fees.” is correct.
  3. “Tuition and fees were $103 for the spring semester. The board voted to increase the fees by $21.80 effective for the fall.” is correct.
• When referring to something that can be counted, use “more than” rather than “over.” The word “over” generally refers to spatial relationships.
  Examples:
  1. “Over 1,400 students attended the event.” is incorrect.
  2. “More than 50 attended.” is correct.
  3. “The plane flew over central Illinois.” is correct.