REPORT TO: Cabinet DATE: 25 th September 2008 LEAD OFFICER: Dilwyn Price CONTACT OFFICER: Rachael Gill [email protected]01492 574574 SUBJECT: Corporate Style Guide 1. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT To introduce a Corporate Style Guide for Conwy County Borough Council to improve the Authority’s branding, thereby raising awareness of its work and services and ensure consistency in its public presentation. To provide recommendations on how the Style Guide would be best introduced and implemented across the Authority. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2.1 It is important that Conwy Council’s corporate promotion, image and branding are clear and consistent to reinforce the personality, quality and character of the Authority and the services we deliver. 2.2. The visual identity helps to promote awareness of the Council and it is important that the brand is clearly understood and consistent standards are maintained. 2.3 The guide is designed to provide direction for the use of the corporate logo and id strip and develops a coherent design framework that can be applied across all communication materials produced by, or on behalf of any of our services. 3. RECOMMENDATION(S) 3.1 The Authority formally adopts the Corporate Style Guide and a professionally commissioned version is introduced in a controlled and planned manner. 3.2 The style guide is made reference to during corporate induction and that training is available to practioners who will need to work with it very closely. 3.3 The logo is professionally redrawn and coloured to the original specification and that electronic and hard master-copies be held centrally abcde AGENDA ITEM 13ii Page 17
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To introduce a Corporate Style Guide for Conwy County Borough Council to improve the Authority’s branding, thereby raising awareness of its work and services and ensure consistency in its public presentation. To provide recommendations on how the Style Guide would be best introduced and implemented across the Authority. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.1 It is important that Conwy Council’s corporate promotion, image and branding are clear and consistent to reinforce the personality, quality and character of the Authority and the services we deliver.
2.2. The visual identity helps to promote awareness of the Council and it is important that the brand is clearly understood and consistent standards are maintained.
2.3 The guide is designed to provide direction for the use of the corporate logo and id strip and develops a coherent design framework that can be applied across all communication materials produced by, or on behalf of any of our services.
3. RECOMMENDATION(S)
3.1 The Authority formally adopts the Corporate Style Guide and a professionally commissioned version is introduced in a controlled and planned manner.
3.2
The style guide is made reference to during corporate induction and that training is available to practioners who will need to work with it very closely.
3.3 The logo is professionally redrawn and coloured to the original specification and that electronic and hard master-copies be held centrally
abcde AGENDA ITEM 13ii
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and be available upon request. 3.4 That the recommendations of Shaping the Future to establish a corporate
team responsible for marketing is implemented and that this team would:
• offer a design service, guidance, advice and project management service to all Services;
• provide effective links with external designers working closely with the print manager to ensure the most efficient use of financial resources;
• ensure consistency is maintained in all corporate promotion, image and branding by being the central point commissioning all corporate design work.
• provide training to departments who require support. 4. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
4.1
It was recognised as part of the Corporate Assessment and Improvement Process (CAIP) that more work was needed to promote the work of the Council. Several key areas of development were identified as being essential if the Council is to ensure that improvements in working practices are implemented. It was recognised that we needed to encourage all stakeholders to be “Proud of Conwy”. One key development that was identified as a management tool to help improve consistency of image and message was the need for a Corporate Style Guide.
4.2 Conwy County Borough Council’s brand is a powerful asset. It’s who we are, it’s how people recognise us and most importantly, it’s about how people remember and relate to us. Consistent branding is a critical part of building and maintaining our identity. It is essential that we do this so that:
• awareness is raised of our wide range of services • residents can clearly identify the County Borough Council at work • residents know how to access our services • residents can clearly see what they pay their council tax for • we clearly signal that all services originate from one organisation • our brand values are communicated consistently and often • we improve the public’s perception of what we do and why we do it • we attract and retain staff helping ensure a “Proud of Conwy”
ethos. 4.3 The Conwy logo is the crucial element of our branding. Over the years
it’s appearance has altered, whether this is as a result of inadequate guidelines for its use, new technology or changing fashions is unknown, however, the logo has changed significantly and of particular concern is the variation in colour. This is very evident if you start to compare the logo across the Authority, its size and colour varies tremendously.
4.4 Conwy County Borough Council Services do not have a Style Guide to ensure consistency and are often unclear on what to do because of the
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lack of such a guidance tool 4.5 Services are producing a wealth of information to our customers. This
information in the main is presented in quality leaflets / booklets etc however there are inconsistencies in style and approach.
4.6 A number of services have staff with skills to present information to a high quality. Their understanding of design and presentation, together with clear directions to print units, ensures that the service is able to communicate effectively with its customers. However, not all services have access to such staff.
4.7 It is essential that the guidelines be implemented by all services to ensure clear and consistent promotion, image and branding across the Authority. It is also essential to consider that undoubtedly many staff hours are wasted as well as budget by the fact in many cases people who are not from a marketing/design background are trying their best to produce materials with little or no support. Central co-ordination and resource will provide a more efficient service. This resource could also centrally co-ordinate other key activities such as; Events, Advertising, Internal and External Communications. Centrally co-ordination of these activities will also ensure a more consistent approach to the way the Authority operates.
5. CONSULTATION
5.1 Style Guide has been presented to QAT. Views from service users who are all ready involved in marketing activities have been sought to ensure that they are engaged with the development process. The Style Guide has also been presented at a lunch time seminar to Senior Managers and key staff.
6. CORPORATE SUPPORT/COMMENTS
7. DRIVERS AND IMPLICATIONS
7.1 Links to Corporate Priorities/Plan –
Corporate Improvement Priority: (PC1) 7.2 Assessment of impact on the Community Strategy, Equalities and
Sustainability The implementation of a Corporate Style Guide helps promote a more sustainable approach to marketing information. Having a central team will ensure that the issues such as DDA, Equalities and Bilingualism are always high on the agenda.
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8. REASON(S) FOR RECOMMENDATION(S)
8.1 To ensure that Conwy County Borough Council has a consistent approach to corporate promotion, image and branding. To ensure that efficiency savings are promoted in the areas of marketing across the Authority.
9. S.E.T. COMMENTS
Minute 590 21st August 2007 – Recommendations Agreed.
BACKGROUND PAPERS LOCATION WEBSITE INFO.
Draft Style Guide – copy attached.
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August 2008
ConwyCorporate Style Guide
Draft
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Introduction 1Logo guidelines 2
Logo types/formats 2.1Coat of Arms 2.2Colours 2.3ID strip 2.4Minimum logo size 2.5Background colour 2.6Partnership logos 2.7Points to remember 2.8
General guidelines 3Communicating clearly 3.1Language guidelines 3.2Accessibility guidelines 3.3Corporate typeface 3.4Use of pictures 3.5Working with external designers 3.6Working with others 3.7
It is important that Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC) produces clear and consistent
publications, as these will help establish the personality, the quality and the character of
the products and services that we deliver.
The visual identity helps to promote awareness of the Council, thus it is important the
brand is clearly understood and consistent standards are maintained.
This guide provides direction for the use of the corporate logo and ID strip and develops it
into a coherent design framework that can be applied across all communication materials
produced for the public.
All publications should be recognisable as belonging to Conwy, and should include proper
use of the Conwy logo and other graphic elements.
1 IntroductionWhy do we need a corporate identity or brand?
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Our corporate logo and Coat of Arms are
supplied in a number of master artwork fi les
and are not to be altered in any way. The
logo needs to be sent out as an image, for
example jpeg or pdf. Do not use the logo
that appears in the drop down font menu on
your pc.
The Corporate Communications and
Customer Services Team will be able to
advise on which format is required.
2.1 Logo types/formats
2.2 Coat of Arms
2 Logo guidelines
How to use the logo correctly
The Coat of Arms will normally be used on
Councillors’ offi cial stationery and formal
documents.
Use of the full colour version is preferred
whenever possible but a greyscale version
is also available (both pictured).
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2.3 Colours
When printing in colour, CCBC’s corporate
colours must be used when reproducing the
logo. The correct colours are:
Pantone 569c Green
This is one of the 2 primary colours used in
the CCBC logo.
As a full breakdown the colour is made up
from:
Cyan (C) 94%
Magenta (M) 0%
Yellow (Y) 56%
Black (K) 18%
Pantone 265c Purple
This is the second of the 2 primary colours
used in the CCBC logo.
As a full breakdown the colour is made up
from:
Cyan (C) 56%
Magenta (M) 56%
Yellow (Y) 0%
Black (K) 0%
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2.4 ID strip
The ID strip must be used on the cover of all our public documents, leafl ets, posters, fl yers
and adverts. The only exceptions are partnership documents, stationery and recruitment
advertisements.
The ID strip must be treated as a single unit, which can be proportionately increased or
decreased in size according to the publication.
The ID Strip must be at the bottom of the page and can appear with either a corporate
purple or corporate green wave in colour documents or a black wave on monochrome
documents. No other information is to be placed in the strip.
Examples of correct use of the ID strip
Examples of incorrect use of the ID strip
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2.5 Minimum logo size
The recommended minimum size for the logo is as follows:
2.6 Background colour
Paper size Paper measurements Minimum logo size
A6 105mm x 148mm 25mm x 16mmA5 148mm x 210mm 25mm x 16mmA4 210mm x 297mm 25mm x 16mmA3 297mm x 420mm 36mm x 23mmA2 420mm x 594mm 51mm x 33mmA1 594mm x 841mm 72mm x 46mmA0 841mm x 1189mm 102mm x 66m
Whilst the logo should generally be placed on a white background, if the logo appears on
a coloured background then colours that don’t ‘hide’ the logo must be used. If the logo
appears on a photograph then a faded area must be put around the logo.
Examples of incorrect use of background colour
Example of use of logo on a photograph
25mm
16mm
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2.7 Partnership logos
When our logo appears with other logos, it should have a ‘space’ or ‘control fi eld’
surrounding it. Logos and text should not intrude upon this space. This allows the logo
space to ‘breathe’. It is recommended this area should be no less than 3mm when the logo
is being used at its smallest size and must try to stay proportional as the size increases.
The ID strip is not to be used in partnership publications (that is, publications produced in
partnership with other Authorities/organisations/agencies).
Example of correct use of ‘space’ or ‘control fi eld’
Example of incorrect use of ‘space’ or ‘control fi eld’
Space
Space
Space
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2.8 Points to remember
Consistent and correct use of the logo •
and ID strip is important. Always use
the artwork supplied by the Corporate
Communications and Customer Services
Team.
The proportions of the logo and ID strip •
should be maintained and not distorted
in any way.
The logo should never be taken apart •
and reconstituted in any way.
Never change the colours of the logo.•
Never replace the typeface used within •
the logo.
Never reproduce the logo smaller than •
the minimum size.
The ID strip is not to be used in •
partnership publications.
The ID strip only needs to appear on the •
front page of multiple page documents.
Examples of incorrect use of logo
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3 General guidelines3.1 Communicating clearly
We are committed to improving communications throughout the Authority to ensure that
all written communications produced by us should be written in plain language. All our
publications must be written in clear, easy to understand, accurate Welsh and English and
appropriate to the audience. Do not use abbreviations or jargon.
At least one member of staff from each service has been trained by Plain English
Campaign. New documents and revised documents for the public must be checked by a
trained member of staff, then sent to Plain English Campaign for a Crystal Mark before
being printed and published. More information on Plain English and Cymraeg Clir is
available on the intranet - http://intranet/plainenglish
3.2 Language guidelines
All material published by us and intended for the public shall be bilingual and, as far as is
practicable, both languages will be included together within the same document, rather
than published as separate Welsh and English versions.
In all material intended for the public, the size, quality, legibility and prominence of all
English and Welsh text will observe the principle of equality of both languages. More
information on the Welsh Language Scheme is available on in the intranet -
http://intranet/welshlanguagescheme
3.3 Accessibility guidelines
To make sure information is clear and easy to read, Arial 12 point font should be used.
This will make information more accessible and ensure a consistent corporate style. Plain
English/Welsh should be used when writing content for a publication.
All publicly available documents should carry a prominent notice, in at least point 14,
stating: “This document can be provided on CD, electronically or in large-print and can be
translated into other languages, contact ....................”
We have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments to ensure blind and partially
sighted people can access our services. 14 point font should be used when older or
visually impaired people are the target audience or a key constituent group of the target
audience.
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3.4 Corporate typeface
The corporate typeface for all documents is Arial.