The University Style Guide is a resource for anyone who represents the institution. It outlines best practices for sharing content that clearly and consistently supports the university’s brand.
This guide is meant to be a fluid document, updated often to reflect current usage and changes on campus. We welcome comments and suggestions to help us keep it current, relevant, and useful."
This guide has been produced and maintained by the Office of Communications and University Relations.
The Style Guide includes:
- Name: How the institution should be identified
- Slogan: The meaning behind "Own Your Future"
- Typography: Standard typefaces used in print and digital communications and collateral
- Color: Official color palettes for print and digital collateral
- Graphics: The official university logo and other graphic identifiers
- PowerPoint: A branded MS PowerPoint template that meets federal accessibility requirements
- Email Signature: A generative tool to produce email signatures that meet accessibility requirements
The Style Guide does not anticipate every possible use of university assets. The Office of Communications and University Relations can advise and assist with designs.
Name
"SUNY Old Westbury" is the preferred name of the university for most references to it. "State University of New York at Old Westbury" is the full name of the university. It is appropriate to use this in situations that establish an obligation against or entitlement of the university, such as a contract, situations in which the audience is likely not familiar with SUNY, such as the advertisement of a vacant position at the university, or situations in which formality calls for reference to the full name of the university, such as some reports within SUNY.
Avoid names other than these. Communication from the university ought not include legacy monikers, such as: "the College at Old Westbury," “Old Westbury College,” or "SOW" except in historical references.
Additionally, informal references such as “SUNY OW” or “OW” should not be used in official campus publications and presentations that are used to communicate with off-campus stakeholders (i.e., prospective students, parents, alumni, donors, etc.).
Slogan
What do we mean by "Own Your Future"? Developed through focus groups with the campus' students, faculty and staff and finalized in early 2015, the Old Westbury slogan was crafted to represent:
- The dream and drive of our students to set their own direction, to be what they believe they can be and not what someone tells them to be.
- The empowerment and education at SUNY Old Westbury ensures through the active, yet intimate, learning community developed and supports by its faculty, staff, alumni and friends.
- An active challenge to our campus and its students - don't let the world happen to you, take ownership, use your intelligence, commitment and drive to become leaders in our respective communities and to create a more just and sustainable world.
Typography
Official University Fonts
Caslon, Corbel and Century Gothic are the font families used routinely for institutional communication in print and display. These are used throughout the university’s recruitment publications and in institutional communications. SUNY Old Westbury’s logo features a combination of Century Gothic and Caslon.
Because of limitations on the university’s ability to make the Caslon font families available, particularly for online use, Georgia may be used as a stand-in and may also be used for print in the absence of Caslon. Additionally, Corbel and Century Gothic can be used interchangeably if necessary.
If all other fonts are unavailable, and ONLY if all other fonts are unavailable, SUNY Old Westbury has designated Times as a substitute for Caslon and Trebuchet as a substitute for Corbel and Century Gothic.
Athletics Font
Fonts related to the campus’ Athletics marks may NOT be used outside of Athletics, with the exception of the Spirit marks made available to the campus for use.
Non-varsity sports clubs may NOT use Panther icons or the specialized fonts used in support of Athletics other than those available as Spirit marks.
Color Palette
Color is an essential part of ensuring an iconic visual identity, and consistency of color usage across all mediums ensures a recognizable brand for SUNY Old Westbury.
SUNY Old Westbury’s official school colors are green and white. SUNY Old Westbury has developed a related palette of secondary and accent colors to complement its official colors.
Colors must be used consistently. Referring to the CMYK, RGB, HEX and Pantone (PMS) values provided on this page will eliminate guesswork. CMYK and PMS are used exclusively for print, while RGB and HEX values are used for digital applications.
Each of the palette's colors is defined in the CMYK, RGB and Hex color models within this page.
Primary Colors
These are the core colors that define the brand and should dominate most designs. Use the primary colors as the basis for most pieces.
Official Green
PMS: 357U
CMYK: 80, 0, 100, 56
RGB: 0, 99, 37
Hex: #006325
White
PMS: None
CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 0
RGB: 255, 255, 255
Hex: #FFFFFF
Black
PMS: Process Black
CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 100
RGB: 0, 0, 0
Hex: #000000
Secondary Colors
These colors support the primary palette. Use secondary colors for subheadings and other complementary elements that add depth without overwhelming a given design. Under no circumstances should any of them become the predominant color for a school, center, institute or department.
Dark Cyan
PMS: P120-15-A
CMYK: 87, 0, 13, 52
RGB: 0, 126, 108
Hex: #006980
Dark Cream
PMS: P11-3
CMYK: 12, 21, 53, 0
RGB: 225,196,136
Hex: #e1c488
Accent Colors
Accent colors are used sparingly to draw attention to specific elements, like buttons, icons or infographics.
Fuego
PMS: P160-8
CMYK: 35, 0, 100, 0
RGB: 178, 210, 53
Hex: #b2d235
Gamboge
PMS: P14-16
CMYK: 0, 36, 100, 14
RGB: 219, 152, 21
Hex: #db9815
Digital Color Contrast Guidelines
Color combinations must pass WCAG AA contrast ratio requirements; testing can be completed using a tool such as WebAIM's Color Contrast Checker. To ensure an accessible contrast ratio for normal text (less than size 14pt), the following recommendations must be followed:
- Primary Green: Use with white text only
- White: Use with dark text only
- Black: Use with white text only
- Secondary Dark Cyan: Use with white text only
- Secondary Dark Cream: Use with dark text only
- Accent Fuego: Use with white text only
- Accent Gamboge: Use with white text only
Power Point Template
Our SUNY Old Westbury-branded PowerPoint presentation template is created to support you in delivering your message and visual identity in a professional and cohesive manner, ensuring consistency and brand alignment across all presentation platforms. This template as constructed also meets federal acccessibility requirements.
The Power Point template can be obtained via the Brand Asset Download Center. The download center can be accessed through the “Communications” card within the Service Hub available in the ConnectOW Portal.