UW Medicine Strategic Marketing & Communications has been working over the past year on updating the UW Medicine brand with a fresh visual look. We will also have a new tagline to distinguish our brand from other local health systems.
We will be launching a new Brand Resources website in July to support this transition. Stay tuned for a separate announcement with the go-live date, which will mark the official start of the new brand.
In the meantime, the following information will help you get ready to be a brand ambassador!
Q: What are the new branding elements?
We will have a new color palette and new fonts. Our primary color will be purple to take advantage of the strong UW brand equity. The gold color that is part of the current palette will be discontinued.
Our new fonts will also align with the UW brand. We will use Encode Sans for headlines and Open Sans for body text. These fonts will be used on all materials that are part of a brand campaign and on materials that you can order from Creative Communications, our UW in-house design agency.
We will provide instructions to download these fonts on the brand website. Because we recognize that these fonts may not be currently installed on your computer, we are also creating branded templates in Calibri, which is available as a standard font in Office 365 and other software programs.
Q: What resources will be available on the new website?
The website will be a toolkit for creating branded materials.
- It will have an updated Editorial Style Guide, logo standards and guidelines for using the new tagline.
- It will have examples and design specifications for business cards and envelopes that can be ordered from Creative Communications.
- It will enable you to download logos and templates for email signatures, letterhead, PowerPoint presentations, fact sheets, agendas and much more.
Q: What should I do with my existing branded materials?
It is not necessary to discard any branded materials, but you should use the new brand elements for future orders. If you don’t want to wait, you are welcome to upgrade to the new brand look as soon the website launches.
Q: What should I do if I need to order branded materials now?
We suggest that you order the minimum quantity needed for the next four to eight weeks.
Q: How will I get new business cards?
The process for ordering business cards is unchanged. We will let you know when the new templates are available at Creative Communications.
Q: What about signage?
It is not necessary to change any current signage to incorporate the new brand elements. Any current signage that is due to be changed and all future signage should use the new brand elements. If you have questions about signage, please contact the UW Medicine Strategic Marketing & Communications office.
Q: When can I use the new tagline?
Guidelines for using the new tagline will be published on the Brand Resources website when it launches in July.
