When adhered to correctly, naming units provide a way for colleges, departments, centers, and institutes to have a greater sense of identity, increased recognition, and easier application on promotional items and other materials. Each unit uses the university brand fonts and should be used consistently. Do not separate the naming unit's sections in any way, and do not pair with fonts other than what is prescribed in this policy. Naming units must always be endorsed by the Wichita State University institutional logo.
Naming unit structure
Wichita State University’s naming unit structure is the combination of these two elements:
Descriptor
The first part of the college, department, center, or institute name is called the descriptor. Although all names are very different, this first section is typically descriptive in nature to the organization.
Klavika Regular Small Caps is used for this part. Always use this font style first in the unit.
Emphasis
The second part of a naming unit is emphasized to highlight the unique quality of the organization. Klavika Bold Small Caps is used for this part and should always appear last in the unit.
Together the descriptor and emphasis make up the naming unit. This font style combination is reserved for the naming units only. All naming units should be used with this styling consistently to preserve an special appearance for organizations within the university.
Helpful tips
Tips
- Naming units are built into the branding template files, you can find them at wichita.edu/brandtemplates
- Branded templates are set up with:
- Naming unit format
- WSU yellow ink
- WSU logo
- Klavika font
Example
How to use naming units
The naming units are designed to be flexible in order to best fit an application while providing the greatest visibility of that organization. Always use the prescribed fonts in the manner described by this policy. Parts of the naming unit should never be separated or used with any other fonts.
Single line
When space allows for the naming unit to reside on one line, use this option.
Left-justified
When the application allows for a left-justified naming unit, use this option. The line breaks at the change of font style from Klavika Regular to Bold.
Centered
When the application allows for a centered naming unit, use this option.
The naming units are designed to be flexible in order to best fit an application while providing the greatest visibility of that organization. Always use the prescribed fonts in the manner described by this policy. The different parts of the naming unit should not be separated or used with any other fonts.
Font
To set up your naming unit, you will first need to download the correct font package. The Klavika Font Family is under license by WSU. For a copy of the fonts, contact Strategic Communications.
Specifics
When setting up a naming unit, type size and line spacing should always be the same.
When to line break
When dealing with a long naming unit, you may need to break the name into three lines. The goal is to keep the overall shape like a rectangle.
Which word to emphasize
Use this rule to choose the correct word or words to be emphasize with the bold font style; Only emphasize words that are essential to the name or the organization. Often, these words are the core of what the organization is.
Do
- Use the department signature as a unit logo
- Keep the department signature as simple as possible
- Spell out the full name of the unit
Don't
- Don't show too many levels of hierarchy because it will be more difficult to recognize your unit
- Don't use a tagline in your unit signature because it is not part of your unit name
- Don't use acronyms in your unit signature because many people won't know what they mean (even if you're confident your current audience will)
- Don't change fonts, font sizes, or colors because the department signature pattern should stay consistent
- Don't move elements around or change alignment because we already designed horizontal and vertical versions to fit different layouts
- Don't use other logos with a department signature because it dilutes your unit's message and can confuse users
Naming units require endorsement of Wichita State University's primary institutional logo. The primary Wichita State institutional logo should always appear in proximity to the college, department, center, or institute. When endorsing a college, department, center, or institute, the primary Wichita State institutional logo should be placed at the bottom of the application and below the name of the organization. The primary Wichita State institutional logo will follow standard brand policies.
Disciplines serve to provide clarity in that particular area of academics for a the college, department, center, or institute it is associated with. Each unit is designed in such a way to build consistency and familiarity among all disciplines. These units should not be altered or reconfigured in any way. Disciplines should be used sparingly and only in proximity to the college, department, center, or institute's name unit associated with it.
Naming units and disciplines are designed to be flexible in order to best fit an application while providing the greatest visibility for that particular organization. Always use the prescribed fonts and graphics according to naming units and disciplines policies described in the visual identity standards.
