How we look St John Ambulance 2012 Produced by Creative Services 020 7324 4205 creative-services@sja.org.uk
Overview St John Ambulance is a huge, multi-faceted organisation. There are many different aspects to our work. While this is something we can be extremely proud of, we need to make sure that we present ourselves to the outside world as a single, unified organisation and as part of the same brand. To be successful in this, it s crucial that all communications materials we produce all use the same visual style. So how do our materials look? For an uncluttered, modern look and feel, we use lots of white space, together with the basic building blocks of our brand identity: Our logo Colour palette Approved fonts Page layouts Photography Illustrations. Overall, whatever we produce should be instantly recognisable as us. 1
The main St John Ambulance logo The principal St John Ambulance logo is black on a white ground, and comprises the text St John Ambulance alongside the roundel graphic. 3D positive This logo, to be used in preference to any other variant of the logo where possible, is known as the 3D positive version of the logo (the 3D referring to the sheen effect on the roundel). We also have a 3D negative (white on black) version of the logo. Where the logo is to appear very small, or print quality is not high (eg. a small recruitment ad in a newspaper), positive and negative versions of the logo in 2D (meaning that the sheen effect on the roundel is not present) are also available. 3D negative The logo has been designed to be used in print on both a white or black background. Any exceptions to this must be approved by Creative Services. 2D positive If you re unsure which version of the logo to use, contact Creative Services. 2D negative 2
Logo placement The main St John Ambulance logo should always appear at the top right of a publication (which for these purposes could refer to a poster, a display stand, an advertisement, or the front cover of a multi-page document). The space (or exclusion zone ) around the logo should always be a minimum of the height of the letter m in Ambulance. Please see the following page for more information on the exclusion zone and size of logo. The space to the left of the logo should always be left entirely clear whenever possible. Positioning the logo correctly The positive logo should always be used on a white ground, and the negative logo on a black ground. The logo should never appear on a coloured background, or on a photographic background. Equally, the logo should not be reproduced in any colour other than black or white. Do not isolate the words St John Ambulance Training Do not add sub-brand Do not isolate the roundel St John Ambulance Do not change the typeface The logo should not be stretched in any way, and separate components of the logo (such as the roundel) should not be used in isolation. Do not compress or stretch Do not place the logo onto a coloured background 3
The exclusion zone Calculating the exclusion zone Format Z measurement The exclusion zone is an invisible protection area surrounding the logo, indicated by the rule around the logo. Never position any other type, matter or graphic device within the pre-defined exclusion zone. The exclusion zone can be calculated by taking the X height of the letter m in the word ambulance in the logo. This calculation can be applied to all versions of the logo. Size of the logo Stationery Letterhead 50mm Compliment slip 50mm Business card 35mm Press release 50mm Fax 50mm Literature A3 85mm A4 60mm A5 45mm 1/3 A4 (DL) 45mm For bespoke sizes, you can calculate the size of the logo: For specified printed formats, the pre-defined logo sizes must be adhered to. Consistency of logo size helps to maintain a strong visual language. The table opposite shows the specific logo sizes for use on stationery and literature. Z should equal 28% of the width of the document. 4
Alternative versions of the logo As well as the main St John Ambulance logo, we have a secondary version with The difference. device attached. This logo can only be used with permission of Creative Services. It should only appear at the bottom right of a publication, and should only be used where messaging around the difference is explained in the text (see the Our voice section for more information on using the difference ). Think of this variant of the logo as a sign-off to the preceding content. Rules pertaining to backgrounds and exclusion zones are the same as those for the main logo. Again, the space to the left of the logo should always be left entirely clear where possible. Other versions of the logo include a centred logo and a horizontal version of the logo, as shown: The centred and horizontal versions of the logo are very rarely used. They should be used solely where the standard logo is not suitable (the horizontal logo is suitable for the spines of slim publications, for example), and only with the approval of Creative Services. EXAMPLE ONLY EXAMPLE ONLY 5
Partnership logos Where St John Ambulance needs to be recognised as a supporting organisation on someone else s publication, which has been designed in accordance with the other organisation s corporate identity and design style, then the standard St John Ambulance logo should not be used. Instead, a partnership logo should be used, with prior approval of Creative Services. Partnership logos comprise the standard logo, plus text such as In partnership or Providing first aid advice, and should be positioned at the bottom left or right of the partner organisation s publication. Where a secondary organisation needs to be recognised (for example, as a project sponsor) on a St John Ambulance publication, their logo should appear at the bottom left. 6
The colour palette The main colours used by St John Ambulance are black, white, and green. Where possible, the background colour for any publication should be white, with green used to highlight headings, or as a text block (see the Layouts section for more information). The St John Ambulance corporate shade of green is Pantone 3425. Where green is being used, solid 3425 is the preferred option, although tonal variants of this green (in 10%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% tones) can also be used as secondary tones. The St John Ambulance green and its tonal variants are illustrated below, along with their corresponding Pantone numbers, RGB and CMYK values (used by desktop publishing programmes, designers and printers to create the exact colour), plus hexadecimal codes (used when designing a website). For suggested combinations of colours and tonal variants (along with examples), see our full design guidelines. In extremely exceptional scenarios (such as on a website where attention needs to be drawn to a particular button, or in a lengthy editorial publication where sections of the document have to be more clearly differentiated), secondary shades of purple and blue can be used. In 99% of cases, however, the core colour palette should suffice. Please contact Creative Services if you require more information on using this secondary palette, or if you have any other queries on colour. 7
Approved fonts The approved font (or typeface) used by St John Ambulance in its documents is Frutiger. This font is also known as Humanist 777, and is available on all St John Ambulance PCs. Combinations of Humanist Regular, Bold, Light and Italic are acceptable, although please avoid using Black Condensed. Where possible, the default font size for the body text of a publication should be 10 or 11 point, although this may vary depending on the size of the artwork. The minimum text size that should ever be used is 7 point, and only where absolutely necessary. The only other font that we use is Arial. This should only be used, however, where the document is to be edited by those outside of St John Ambulance, who may not have Frutiger/Humanist 777 on their own computers. An example of such a document would be an application for employment, or a PowerPoint presentation due to be displayed on a non-sja computer. Text (including headlines and titles) should never be aligned centre. Always align the text to the left or to the right of a page or layout. Examples of typefaces Humanist 777 Black abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Humanist 777 Bold abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Humanist 777 Light abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Arial Regular abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Arial Bold abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 8
Layouts The key elements of our layouts are as follows: The logo Title/header text blocks Image blocks Columns of body text. General pointers: As a rule, the principal version of the St John Ambulance logo should always appear at the top right of an advert, poster, a display stand, or on the front of a publication (see The logo section for more info). Try to keep as much white space as you can on the page, allowing the design to breathe. The default design for a one-page layout is to have a large, portrait format rectangular image block positioned slightly off-centre, about a third of the way up the page, with a right-aligned title text block below it, slightly overlapping the image block. Note that title text blocks are always positioned off-centre, often bleeding off the edge of the page. A title text block is the only element that should intrude upon the image block. Please do not place a logo over an image block, or cut off the corner of the image block with a column of body text. 9
Design templates A range of grid-based InDesign templates are available for the use of professional designers and external agencies. Templates include posters, postcards, A5 and DL leaflets, newsletters, certificates and magazine layouts. To obtain these templates, please visit the download resources section of the brand site, or contact Creative Services. 10
Examples Examples of page layouts show different interpretations of the guidelines yet maintain a consistent graphic language. Give your students the skills to save a life Research shows that seven out of 10 students wouldn t know what to do if someone they knew was injured, and yet the majority say they would like to learn first aid. As the nation s leading first aid charity, St John Ambulance believes that every young person should have the chance to learn vital life saving skills. Our training will provide your students with the knowledge and confidence to be the difference between a life lost and a life saved. Expert, flexible first aid training We have developed our new Learn the difference programme to offer school staff the flexibility to choose the training option that s right for their students, and fit it around the demands of a busy school day. The programme, which is suitable for young people between the ages of seven and 15, is delivered by our dedicated schools trainers. The team offers dynamic, practical, fun and interactive first aid training, while also helping your school meet National Curriculum requirements for Science, PSHE/Citizenship and PE. We also offer courses for students aged 16 and over - please contact us for further details. All training is competitively priced, and run on a not-for-profit basis. Our trainers are equipped with extensive first aid knowledge, are experienced in working with young people, and have been fully CRB checked. Unfold this leaflet to find out about the different options available as part of the Learn the difference programme. First aid in an emergency A step by step guide, with additional advice for those looking after young children 11
Advertisements <Job title> <Job title> <Job title> Nothing is more tragic than a life lost needlessly. The design, size and format of advertisements will be determined by the publications in which they are to appear and the amount of information they need to communicate. At St John Ambulance, the nation s leading first aid charity, we give people the vital skills to be the difference between lives lost and saved - and you can help us do this. <body copy> Copy should be edited to a concise length. Impact can be created in both colour and black and white. Copy is set in upper and lower case and ranged left. The wording for each advert should start with the copy in the sample opposite. 00,000-00,000 per annum London, EC1 Closes 00 <month> For application details, visit sja.org.uk 12
The difference design grid This grid system has been developed in order to accomodate the version of the logo that incorporates The difference device. This version of the logo is placed at bottom right, rather than top right. InDesign template files have been created for all formats included in this section of the guidelines. When creating artwork you should always use one of the master template files. Materials that are intended to support the campaign should relect the press ad visual style where possible. General rules are as follows: Using square/rectangular photos, either surrounded by white space, so no full bleed, or bleeding off the edge Featuring copy on solid blocks of green or grey Surround all elements, including the logo, with lots of white or black space Include the logo+device in the bottom right of the layout. 13
Examples of The difference layout First aid. Are you responsible? St John Ambulance 2010 Charity no. 1077265/1 Using bikes means we can get there in those first, crucial few minutes You can be the difference between life and death. For information about volunteering with one of our Cycle Response Units, visit sja.org.uk or call 08700 10 49 50 First aid can be the difference between life and death. That s why the law requires workplaces to have a minimum number of trained first aiders. Still, four out of five businesses admit there are times when a first aider isn t available. Is yours one of To book a first aid course, call 0844 770 4800 or email midlands-region@sja.org.uk Quote MID03 when booking and receive a 10% discount* *Applies to new bookings only; offer ends 31 July 2011. 14
Imagery The images that we choose for our materials are just as important as the words they allow the audience, at a single glance, to get a feel for what St John Ambulance is all about. Follow the pointers below to make sure that the imagery you use is powerful and helps to strengthen our brand. 15
Photography St John Ambulance photographic style is, for the most part, documentary or reportage in style. Photographs should tell the story of a particular moment and appear spontaneous as opposed to staged. For this reason, please avoid images where the subjects are clearly posed and looking straight into the camera. The exceptions to this rule are photographs of event such as awards ceremonies, for example, when used to illustrate a news story. We use a mix of colour and black and white photographs - although for communications conveying a weightier message around life or death, the latter is often preferred. In order to further a sense of drama, as well as encouraging the viewer to feel as involved in the action as possible, we tend to crop photographs quite tightly, as opposed to leaving a lot of dead space around the action. Please note that: uniforms featured in photographs must be the correct and most up to date Service Delivery Uniform where medical treatment is being provided in a photograph, this must be in line with correct clinical procedures any vehicles shown must be feature the correct approved vehicle livery. 16
Photography Our technical specifications for any photographs we use in print are that they must be at least 300dpi a resolution high enough to ensure professional reproduction. We have an extensive library (located in the Downloads and resources section of this site) from which you can select photographs, as well as access to a stock image service, should you require something not in our approved image bank. If you have any queries about the suitability of photographs that you wish to use, please contact Creative Services. For advice on hiring a photographer, commissioning a shoot or taking your own photographs, please see the Working with us section of the brand site. 17
Illustrations Please contact Creative Services if you wish to use illustrations in your materials, as we can advise on the suitability of the images you wish to use. Never use clip art illustrations, as they make a publication look amateur. We can provide first aid illustrations on request. Protocols often change, and it s vital that you have the most up to date, approved illustrations. Please contact us for the latest versions. 18