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The LMU visual identity system contains graphic marks, wordmarks and combinations that form lock-ups. Add in the university color palette and the logo options expand even further.
In most cases, the best choice is the LMU primary logo. It is the most prominent mark in our visual system and the one that will most quickly and clearly identify us to audiences we are trying to attract.
When targeting audiences that have strong familiarity with LMU, the acronym lock-up is encouraged. It is a goal of our comprehensive brand initiative to build greater recognition of the name, LMU. Using the acronym lock-up with captured audiences will give it wider exposure and start building equity in our shortened, more colloquial name.
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A small number of logos are initially available for download to encourage widespread use of the same core visuals. Over time, we will build equity in the elements of our identity system. We will be able to utilize varied arrangements of those elements and still clearly communicate our brand.
Sometimes, a different logo lock-up arrangement is needed for a constraining application, such as pen imprint or a name tag. LMU Marketing and Communications is your partner in navigating other options and getting you the file type you need.
However, it is never okay to assemble a unique logo lock-up using pieces of different available files. This practice fractures our visual system, causes audience confusion and ultimately deteriorates our brand.
If you don’t see the logo you’re looking for, ask for help.
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One of the most functional and important features of the LMU visual identity is its brand architecture system. The brand architecture is a prescription for how every LMU organization, department, program, center and affinity group locks up with our core visual identity.
Many department logo lock-ups have already been developed. Check with your closest Marketing and Communications colleague to access or request your lock-ups.
We expect an initial high demand for custom department logo lock-ups. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery from the time you submit your request.
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The LMU social media system is designed to be cohesive while still providing user flexibility and visual variety. Social media brand standards provide tools and guidance for establishing profile graphics to ensure LMU brand consistency across the university’s accounts on the most critical platforms and channels.
Customized social media profile images for LMU organizations, departments and programs are created to spec by Marketing and Communications by request. We expect an initial high demand for custom social media profile images. Please allow 3-4 weeks for delivery from the time you submit your request.
Read more about LMU-branded social media tools.
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The backbone of the LMU identity is an organization of graphic marks that visually synthesize the university with its sub-brands into one coordinated brand system. The correct mark choice for your communications needs is determined by the audience you are trying to reach and the author/origin of the communication.
The Athletics Mark is devised to build support and awareness of our Division I sports programs. It is not to be used in place of the LMU primary logo by academic units or administrative areas of the university that lack a specific Athletics goal or purpose.
When promoting an initiative with a goal of raising school spirit, academic and administrative units can consider using the spirit mark and spirit mark lock-ups.
The spirit mark is a secondary mark for LMU Athletics. Over time, it will come to be associated with our Lion pride across the institution. It is the mark in our visual identity system that most directly connects the university to its Athletic programs.
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Seals are powerful symbols of academic reputation. In LMU’s visual identity system, the university seal, known as our ceremonial mark, is elevated for ceremonial purposes only. Sample applications include diplomas, academic regalia, honorary degrees and communication at the highest levels of the university.
The primary LMU logo is the shield, the mark that extracts from the full seal. The vast majority of logo applications — from the university business package to primary signage on buildings and vehicles to email signatures — will feature the shield primary mark.
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The former university seal was used most often in academic communications. Certificates, trophies and plaques, event invitations, signage and other academic-related announcements were common applications.
In the new identity system, the best replacement for these uses is the primary logo lock-up. Building from the shield mark extracted from the university seal (our ceremonial mark) and combining university wordmarks, the primary lock-ups retain all of our most mission-critical messaging.
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No, the shield may not be used separately from its lock up with the university's name or acronym at this time. As we build awareness and recognition for LMU is this visual program, we are exercising care to identify with clarity the university with our graphic marks. In all applications, the primary lock-up or the acronym lock-up should be used.
As we activate our visual brand in the world, a goal is to build enough equity in our graphic marks that they become instantly recognizable as LMU. But this takes time, and the university won’t be able to test for several years if the audiences we are trying to reach recognize us in our graphic marks without clear LMU attribution associated with them.
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It is a goal of the university brand initiative to generate and increase awareness of the name LMU. The acronym marks will help build brand equity in our shortened, colloquial name. Because the awareness of LMU is not as strong as it is for Loyola Marymount University, acronym lockups should be used with audiences that already have some familiarity with the university.
Appropriate audiences for acronym lockups with Loyola Marymount University include faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, prospective students who have expressed interest in LMU, the local community, and the regional California area.
The acronym lockup is available to download for immediate use in accordance with LMU graphic standards.
If you have more questions about logo choices and which option is best for your project, contact your Marketing and Communications affiliate.
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The most innovative aspect of the LMU identity system, the spirit mark was inspired by the 500-year-old Jesuit seal.
Spirit marks are often adopted by sports fans, students, and alumni/student organizations to inspire pride and loyalty in non-academic contexts. The LMU spirit mark is designed as a fully integrated visual element in the identity system. It is an ownable and differentiating icon that is unique to LMU.
The spirit mark is used in less-formal applications with the goal of building and encouraging school spirit. It is used by student organizations and to promote LMU student programs. The spirit mark is also a secondary logo for LMU Athletics programs.
The spirit mark and spirit mark lock-ups are available by request for use in accordance with LMU graphic standards.
If you have more questions about logo choices and which option is best for your project, contact your Marketing and Communications affiliate.
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Logo downloads are available in a few file types to meet your needs.
Use the PMS version of the logo when professionally-printing in spot colors.
- LMU Crimson: PMS 207
- LMU Blue: PMS 2185
- LMU Black: PMS 6
Use the CMYK-color version of the logo in four-color litho and digital printing.
- LMU Blue: C100 M38 Y17 K2
- LMU Crimson: C22 M100 Y84 K15
- LMU Black: C60 M60 Y40 K100
Use the PNG file of the RGB-color version of the logo for general office use—memos, flyers, meeting agendas, and other digital communications. PNG files are cross-platform and Microsoft Office compatible.
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The LMU typography palette brings consistency and design sophistication to all university communications. Three typefaces — the sans serif Metric and the serifs Lyon and Lyon Display — combine to address layout applications, from the wordmarks in the visual identity system to the vast array of print and digital publications the university produces.
You do not need to have Metric or Lyon installed on your computer to make full use of the visual identity system. All logo lock-ups are saved as outlined art files, eliminating the need for typefaces to render them.
There are some digital templates, such as electronic letterhead and PowerPoint presentations, with text customization options that require a typeface local to your computer. In those cases, there are template file alternatives that utilize LMU-equivalent typefaces. The equivalent typefaces for LMU’s typography palette are Arial in place of Metric and Georgia in place of Lyon and Lyon Display. Arial and Georgia are known as system fonts, and they are common among all computer users, whether you use a Mac or a PC.
Arial and Georgia are also the recommended typefaces for letters on university stationery, and all other locally produced office communications.
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The LMU business package, completely redesigned in the new visual identity, features more than a dozen options for your communications needs, from business cards and letterhead to several envelope choices to notepads and routing slips.
Orders are placed and fulfilled through LMU Campus Digital Graphics. The online ordering system is accessed through MyLMU in the Quick Links menu.
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There is a lot of internal excitement and interest in the new print stationery system and we expect a very high volume of orders now that it is available. Expect to have to wait longer than usual to receive fulfilled orders. We anticipate an average of 3-4 weeks for delivery as we address the needs of the entire university. Once the initial volume is addressed, normal processing times will be about half that. Depending on the size of the order, a typical stationery request can be filled in about two weeks.
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Print stationery supplies should be be restored as they run out and as budgets allow for replacement, with the goal of printing new stationery items by the fall 2019 semester.
Visual identities at universities and other sizable organizations take years to fully complete. The university community is encouraged to exercise good judgment in replacing print materials, prioritizing pieces that reach external audiences.
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For the most part, business package print costs have not risen in the new visual identity system. The one exception is the business card. The standard business card template features a two-color design on the back side. The cost to print this new, two-sided card is approximately 30% higher than the previous identity.
Single-sided, two-color business cards cost about $60 to print a quantity of 100, so the additional expense of the back-side design is overall nominal. All the same, the back side of the business card is optional. If your budget is constrained, you may opt out of printing the second side and you will experience no stationery cost increase in the new system.
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Yes, the LMU business package is printed on Classic Crest Recycled Bright White, made from 100% recycled fiber.
Classic Crest Recycled Bright White is one of the highest quality and most environmentally-friendly paper stocks available. It is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an organization whose mission is to promote and enhance well-managed forests through credible certification that is environmentally responsible, socially acceptable and economically viable.
LMU’s business package has been printed on Classic Crest Recycled Bright White since 2003.
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The suite of LMU print publication templates will be updated in the new visual identity by the beginning of May. The new layouts will utilize the visual marks and lock-ups as well as the new color and typography palettes.
In the mean time, we will continue to replace logos and colors in our materials as the need for new print initiatives arise. If you have questions about initiating a print project in the new visual identity, contact your Marketing and Communications affiliate.
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Logos and identities are typically the first experience our audiences have with us. They need to communicate very quickly who we are and what we stand for. They need to be memorable so that over time, they help create a direct, positive association with LMU. Visual identities accomplish these important objectives much more effectively when organizations use them consistently.
Historically, a handful of LMU programs and initiatives have sought visually distinct logos and identities, in part to meet needs not addressed fully in the previous identity, which was active from 2003-18. This practice describes an “old” LMU. The LMU brand initiative is all about us coming together as a university and projecting a clear and consistent message as we work to raise overall reputational awareness. With the launch of our new visual identity system, all university sub brands will fold into a comprehensive brand architecture, and every school, college, program, center, functional unit and initiative will lock into it. The architecture will help us break through a crowded higher ed landscape and send a strong, powerful, lasting message that lifts the entire university.
We are a diverse community of people, programs, initiatives, stories and needs. Opportunities for internal marketing differentiation will be explored and revealed in messaging tactics as well as the powerful photography and images with which we associate.
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In 2018, LMU convened a Visual Identity Implementation Committee to inventory, assess and prioritize logo transition projects. Representative of all areas of campus, the committee is the first point of contact for all significant projects. Read about the Visual Identity Implementation Committee, its charge and its membership.
We are a big organization with three campuses and our old logos are everywhere. Fully transitioning to the new system will take time and priority will be given to projects that address areas where the university faces external audiences. The Visual Identity Implementation Committee was assembled to ensure LMU addresses change in a coordinated and logical way.
You can help by identifying necessary logo upgrades on our campuses and sharing them with the committee member assigned to your area. To facilitate a comprehensive process, all contracts related to signage, environmental graphics, interior decor, vehicles, custom furniture and other identity upgrades that are submitted to the Office of Risk Management will be diverted to the committee.
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In 2017, LMU launched a comprehensive brand initiative, completing the largest market research and perceptions study in university history and crafting a brand platform to position us in a competitive higher education marketplace.
At the culmination of this phase of the brand initiative, it became clear that the current LMU visual identity system, launched in 2003, would not meet the needs of our future brand aspirations. In addition to appearing dated and worn, it did not function in today’s communications landscape that is dominated by small screens and digital applications. The 2003 identity also lacked cohesion, with several disjointed elements, including the university seal and important sub brands such as Athletics and Loyola Law School.
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Marketing and Communications set out on a visual identity redesign initiative in January 2018, hiring Pentagram, one of the world’s foremost and accomplished identity design firms. We spent months researching symbols, icons and images. We explored color and typography extensively. We delved into our history to glean insights into the ways the university has visually identified itself over more than a century.
In August, the identity project team presented a proposed, comprehensive new system to the university Cabinet at the Senior Leadership Retreat. With unanimous support, the Cabinet directed the team to introduce the proposed identity to the university community for feedback during the fall semester.
Marketing and Communications presented the identity proposal to all key LMU audiences, stakeholders and constituencies, including academic, religious, staff, student and alumni leaders; faculty chairs; coaches; boards and councils; and the community of faculty, staff, students and alumni. Feedback was also collected through an online survey during the month of October.
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Marketing and Communications collected, cataloged and tracked feedback throughout the fall semester. Feedback submitted online through the survey mechanism was tabulated and reviewed daily. Comments posted in social media — including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, ProBoards and others — were also reviewed daily. Loyolan coverage, both in print and online, was examined. The community gave more input and comments in person at presentations, open forums and meetings. Even direct emails, phone calls, texts and person-to-person conversations were captured. The goal was to collect as much data as possible to ensure everyone’s voice was heard.
The logo project team entered a refinement phase with Pentagram based on common concerns raised in the feedback period. Every survey and comment was read and taken into consideration. A feedback report and suggested refinements were presented to the Cabinet in November and the Cabinet voted unanimously to move forward with the visual identity.