Laurier Visual Identity Presentation Book

Wilfrid Laurier UniversityVisual Identity ReviewPresentation Notes

Scott Thornley + Company

2 W I L F R I D L A U R I E R U N I V E R S I T Y / V I S U A L I D E N T I T Y R E V I E W / S C O T T T H O R N L E Y + C O M PA N Y I N C .

W I L F R I D L A U R I E R U N I V E R S I T Y / V I S U A L I D E N T I T Y R E V I E W / S C O T T T H O R N L E Y + C O M PA N Y I N C . 1

Wilfrid Laurier UniversityVisual Identity Review

It makes me happy knowing that my school – the placewhere I have spent four years of my life and put in all thistime, effort and love – is trying to finally prove that it’s aheavyweight, and will prove it. Matt Crombeen, 4th year Kinesiology student

Listening with interest to the faculty, staff, administration, students and alumni

during 16 interviews in Brantford, Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo – and

reviewing the feedback provided online via the visual identity review website

and Facebook – it’s crystal clear that Matt isn’t alone in his passion for Laurier.

It transcends all of the human and physical elements of place, and lives on in

the lives of most of the people we interviewed. It could be said that everything

that follows Matt’s time at Laurier – and that of most Laurier students – will be

powerfully shaped by the time spent here. And, if this is so, Laurier will have a

subtle impact on everyone that Matt encounters.

Multiply that experience by the number of students who have attended Laurier

over a century and it’s easy to suggest that Canada has been profoundly

impacted by a university in southwestern Ontario that most Canadians have

never heard of.

The ownership our stakeholders have for the Laurier brand is inspiring; so it’s not

surprising that “inspiration” features so prominently in the language of the University.

Nor is it surprising that there were such strongly held opinions about specific

aspects of the branding (the colour red, the water droplet “Molson’s Canadian” leaf,

for example). It would be worse, far worse, if there was apathy about it.

Where the Laurier logos are concerned, the only expression of real passion

was for the Golden Hawk. The typeface of the “Laurier” wordmark failed to

inspire the same fiery commentary. There’s nothing unusual about that; most

people wouldn’t know the difference between Palatino and Times Roman.

Whereas the Hawk is a predator rendered in confident strokes that demands

to be respected by friends and feared by rivals.

This presentation will reveal STC’s deep respect for tradition at the University

while boldly focusing on the future. Laurier deserves no less.


Current Laurier Brand

There hasn’t been an institutional ethos about beinggood, about being excellent... I think we do really goodthings and we don’t talk about them. Deborah MacLatchy, Ph.D.

Dr. MacLatchy’s observations refer to the academic reputation of Laurier

historically, or perhaps more specifically, to the university’s habit of being

low-key about its successes. Academic excellence is regularly one of the top 5

reasons students choose Laurier, but Laurier has not had a tradition of being

vocal or clear about what it stands for, and what it does exceptionally well.

If anyone were to wonder what impact that has on the manifestation of the

brand, look no further than the opposite page

Confident brands are authentic reflections of organizations, and they are

immune to the plethora of branding sins Laurier has committed over time.

Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Oxford and Cambridge maintain authority over the

deployment of their brands because, in part, they couldn’t imagine not doing

so. But at Laurier, Branding Guidelines were published for the University Seal

only, there were no guidelines for the wordmark.

The irony is that the universal affection members of the Laurier community feel

for place has inadvertently led to the brand being interpreted at will –

encroached upon and presented without consideration for the primacy of the

brand itself! It is a sure, albeit unintentional manifestation of the lack of

confidence that permeated the history of the school.

In this Visual Identity Review, STC has worked hard to establish the graphic

authority and rightful place of the Laurier brand going forward. Branding is

strategy. Strategy is branding.* It’s not a matter of creating guidelines that

are inflexible, it’s about protecting the vision and mission and values of the

institution the brand represents.

*Roger Martin, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto


Tradition and Prestige

Throughout the interviews, many people expressed pride in the Laurier Seal;

and yet, like the wordmark, its application appears to lack consistency.

It is critical that the Seal complement the newly refined Laurier brand, even

if they are never seen side-by-side. And, as the Seal will often stand alone,

it will require some refinement to graphically enhance its strength, particularly

at small sizes.

In a nutshell, the brand is the strategy; and if our strategy going forward is

to be known for excellence, the brand must be the first and consistent signal

of that commitment.

Assessment of the current Seal graphic:

Eternal flame could look more like a flame,particularly in smallerversions.

The white ring around theoutside is too wide andseparates the banding.

The scroll could be moreopen and flowing.

Purple/gold scroll could beextended to ensure stripinghas symmetry.

By not taking the scrollwider, there is a largenegative space of blue ring.

Scroll typography –white on yellow – can be challenging to read in a small rendering.

Subtle refinement to thebook will make the ruleswork better in smallrendering.

The heart and crosscould be larger in the flower to read in small usage.

Shield top could use shoulders so smallerrenderings have strength.

The three leaves in the innershield could be larger sothey are not as overwhelmedby the red field.

Wilfrid Laurier Universityfont on ring has serifs thatare thick and thin, whichmakes it difficult to readwell in small settings.


Refinement of the Seal

WILF

RID LAURIER

UNIVERSITY

VERITASOMNIA

VINCIT

WILF

RID LAURIER

U

NIVERSITY

VERITASOMNIA

VINCIT

Refined

Original


Taglines

Successful taglines are always simple in form, but seldom in meaning.

They are informed by the organization’s vision and mission and, in that

respect, are the child of both. The brand’s essence, tone, and attributes

also inform the tagline.

One of the other distinctions of a great tagline is its relationship to

the poetic form. It is often necessary to abandon grammatical rules

(like e.e. cummings) in favour of texture or a deeper meaning. And it is

usually best to use words as frugally as possible. Another way to consider

a tagline: imagine it as the shortest and most memorable way to declare

an organization’s vision.

NIKE. Just do it.

Apple. Think Different.

Sony. Like.no.other.

Salk Institute. Where cures begin.

Christopher Reeve Foundation. Go Forward.

The Royal Conservatory. The finest instrument is the mind.

Rotman Institute of Philosophy. Engaging Science.

Columbia Motor Neuron Center. Moving lives.


Brandon University Be You. Brock University For bothsides of the brain. University of Calgary Invest inyou. Carleton University Canada’s Capital University Dalhousie University Inspiring Minds. University of

Guelph Changing Lives Improving Life. Lakehead

University I think for myself. Laurentian University

Learning. It’s in our Nature. University of Manitoba

Get More. Do More. Be More. McMaster University

Inspiring Innovation and Discovery. University of

Northern British Columbia Canada’s Green University University of Ontario Institute of Technology ChallengeInnovate Connect. University of Ottawa Canada’sUniversity University of Regina Realize. It starts withyou. St. Francis Xavier University Canada’s PremierUndergraduate Experience. Saint Mary’s University

One University. One World. Yours. University of

Saskatchewan Do you think outside the classroom?We do. Université de Sherbrooke Welcoming theWorld. University of Toronto Canada’s answers tothe world’s questions. Trent University Live YourEducation. University of Waterloo Everything youdiscover at Waterloo belongs to you. University

of Western Ontario Make a difference. University of

Windsor Thinking Forward. Simon Fraser University

Thinking of the World. University of Winnipeg

YOU of W, where YOU matter most. York University

Redefine the Possible. University of Toronto

Scarborough Tomorrow is created here.


Laurier’s institutional proposition, Inspiring Lives of Leadership and Purpose,

while not understood to be a tagline, is considered by some familiar with it as

if it were. At six words (11 syllables) it would be pushing the limits of tagline

recall. In a search of 13 interview transcripts, the line came up only three times

(excluding the Agency’s reference to it in the introduction).

And when they did mention it, people usually stumbled on the order

of the words.

STC has approached the task with the view that Inspiring Lives of

Leadership and Purpose is the succinct form of the university’s vision

statement and a briefing for a possible tagline. In other words,

we envision taking the spirit of that statement and crafting something

shorter and more impactful.


BrandEvolution


No journey is a straight line; the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary became

Waterloo Lutheran University that became Wilfrid Laurier University – weaving

their way through a century. What is consistent, and what was echoed over

and over in the interviews, is the ethos – the spirit – of Laurier.

Yes, there were issues around the “Molson’s Canadian” leaf, the colour red

that appeared to be crowding out the official second colour of gold. But there

is loyalty and a commitment to the University that runs deeper than affection

– people have committed their lives to Laurier’s past, present and future.

With Laurier entering its second century, STC is aware of this respect for the

past, and in this presentation will offer a clear option for a branding solution

that will see Laurier into the future. The birth of a new brand, without the

alignment of stakeholders, achieves little more than confusion. Therefore, STC

has spent considerable time reviewing the apparent competing interests of

campuses, departments, and brand users throughout the University whose

alignment will determine the success of this endeavour.

We have attempted to simplify usage while at the same time protect the brand.

Again, the strategy is the brand, the brand is the strategy – the University as a

whole must be paramount in all considerations. Every execution must respect

that, wherever you find yourself – in Waterloo, Brantford, Kitchener, Toronto or

at another potential future location such as Milton; or, in the School of Business

and Economics, Music, Kinesiology, Communications Studies, Social Work, or

Science – you are at Laurier. Indeed, you are Laurier!

The Leaf. While the interviews were split on whether to have it or not, most

people complained about the leaf’s similarity to a beer label. However, a

complicating factor is that the current red leaf was meant only to be a graphic

element for use on select online and print materials and was never intended to

be an official element of the visual identity. It was therefore never introduced

formally to the university community; instead it simply started to appear.

A powerful case for a Maple Leaf can, however, be made: Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 7th

Prime Minister of Canada, gives Laurier a unique claim on our national symbol.

And, for a school with ambitions to be known nationally and internationally,

but that is currently known primarily in South Western Ontario, the leaf adds

a gravitas to your name.

And so, I now present to you, an evolved identity for Wilfrid Laurier University


Logo

LAURIERInspiring Lives.



LAURIER

LAURIER

LAURIER LAURIER


Inspiring Lives.

Inspiring Lives.

LAURIERInspiring Lives. Inspiring Lives.Inspiring Lives.


Stationery

Sample Brantford Letterhead

Dear John Sample,

Matrimonii imputat Medusa. Quadrupei corrumperet saetosus concubine, utcunque catellimiscere cathedras, quamquam quadrupei insectat fragilis umbraculi, semper Aquae Sulisconubium santet ossifragi.

Vix pretosius cathedras iocari concubine. Apparatus bellis agnascor lascivius rures. Oratoriiocari parsimonia suis, quamquam fragilis cathedras imputat catelli. Chirographi celeriterdeciperet oratori. Suis insectat rures. Pessimus adlaudabilis quadrupei amputat Caesar.

Medusa fortiter circumgrediet pretosius rures. Vix adfabilis umbraculi miscere quadrupei,utcunque pessimus parsimonia catelli praemuniet lascivius concubine.

Parsimonia matrimonii circumgrediet rures, quod lascivius apparatus bellis senesceret catelli.Concubine vocificat cathedras, etiam catelli praemuniet satis saetosus matrimonii, ut umbraculimiscere concubine. Pompeii imputat zothecas. Rures corrumperet aegre parsimonia umbraculi.Pessimus utilitas chirographi suffragarit concubine, utcunque Octavius verecunde fermentetpretosius syrtes, quod suis iocari plane utilitas fiducias.

Gulosus oratori insectat parsimonia matrimonii, etiam umbraculi circumgrediet pessimustremulus chirographi, quod optimus utilitas matrimonii neglegenter insectat aegre adlaudabilisquadrupei, semper Pompeii incredibiliter celeriter suffragarit saburre. Umbraculi pessimusinfeliciter corrumperet oratori. Adfabilis quadrupei praemuniet aegre perspicax catelli. Concubinesuffragarit bellus rures. Adlaudabilis quadrupei spinosus deciperet fiducias. Incredibiliter fragilisapparatus bellis pessimus neglegenter circumgrediet vix quinquennalis umbraculi, quodconcubine vocificat fiducias. Chirographi imputat umbraculi, iam pessimus pretosius concubinelucide circumgrediet fiducias, et Aquae Sulis insectat suis, ut cathedras imputat perspicax rures,iam tremulus quadrupei vocificat plane utilitas suis, et fiducias amputat saburre, etiam agricolaeneglegenter senesceret parsimonia apparatus bellis. Agricolae deciperet umbraculi, iamsaetosus matrimonii circumgrediet tremulus umbraculi, etiam incredibiliter pretosius concubineoptimus lucide suffragarit saburre.

Regards,

Kevin Klein

BRANTFORD ! Waterloo ! Kitchener ! Toronto

!" George Street, Brantford, Ontario, Canada N"T #Y" T $%&.!$'.(##( x)))) F $%&.!$&.#%#! wlu.ca

WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITYW



Sample Business Card – Front

Sample Brantford Envelope

Sample Brantford Business Card – Back

LAURIER wlu.caBRANTFORD ! Waterloo ! Kitchener ! Toronto

KEVIN KLEIN External Relations Coordinatorkklein*wlu.ca T $%&.!$'.(##( x$!$" F $%&.!$&.!#)!

WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITYW

!" George Street, Brantford, Ontario, Canada N"T #Y"

Inspiring Lives.


WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY W

!" George Street, Brantford, Ontario, Canada N"T #Y"


Applications


An identity is never seen in isolation, always in context, whether as

a business card or a poster, personalized and branded emails, or a

website. STC has applied the logo to a variety of collateral that will

demonstrate its readability, graphic integrity, and impact. Rigorous

testing at this stage also reveals more of the identity’s personality

– is it lively, adaptable, intelligent and energetic? Does the mark

embody Laurier’s vision and mission when applied to a variety of

graphic and electronic collateral? Will it reflect and represent the

institutional proposition, Inspiring Lives of Leadership and Purpose?

We believe it will.

This first application is a concept for a full-page ad that would run

as an introduction to the new identity.


Inspiring Lives.


Waterloo ! Brantford ! Kitchener ! TorontoWILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY

wlu.ca

WHAT’S IN A LEAF? At the heart of it thisnational symbol honours our namesake, SirWilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister ofCanada. That alone is a unique claim amongCanadian universities. But look closely.LAURIER’S Maple Leaf is a microcosm ofconnectivity and support—every veincontributing to the health of the whole. The beauty and simplicity of the Maple Leafcan only be realized through this commonpurpose of nature. And so it is at LAURIER—faculty, sta!, students and alumnicommitted to a common vision: To Inspire Lives of Leadership and Purpose.

Full-Page Newspaper Ads

Documents

Laurier Visual Identity Presentation Book