Brand Guidelines
V1.0
Welcome to the Narrative 4 Brand Guidelines! Our brand is how we present our organization and work to the world – a look and feel that can help our community feel "at home" and familiar.
The following guidelines exist to help you use our brand elements consistently and effectively. This helps us communicate in a harmonious way and helps others recognize our work.
Logo
The Narrative 4 core logo is composed of a logo mark and a wordmark together. This should be used in as many cases as possible, space permitting.
Using the logo mark by itself is also acceptable, especially when working with less space.
The primary colors to apply to the logo are purple and dark blue. Secondary colors can be applied in special circumstances.
Clearspace
Space equal to the size of the N4 logo mark should be kept on all sides of the logo. This ensures the logo is not crowded with any other elements within a composition.
Don'ts
Avoid changing or distorting any part of the logo. This is important for brand integrity. Here are some examples of what NOT to do.
Circles & Rings
We use the round shapes of circles and rings as core brand elements. These symbolize many parts of our make-up: community, global reach, unity, continuum, and shapes that are as foundational as our stories.
Circle
Arrangements
The circle is most often used to create backgrounds and layouts – with a wide range of arrangements. Feel free to vary the placement and the options of a full circle or partial circle.
Use only one circle per arrangement, to avoid the look of bubbles.
Here are some suggested ways the circle can be applied in both portrait and landscape layouts.
Note: Using a circle is not always required for all layouts. Using a framed photograph or an empty background other options. See the "Our Building Blocks" section for more details.
Samples
Rings
Rings are the smaller cousin of the circle – another layer intended to provide depth and some pop to the design.
Here are 3 types of rings you can use:
Applying
a Ring
Rings should be a minimal but useful part of a design. They should be placed as an design element on the edge of a circle or photo frame – or used as an element to overlap various sections and tie them together.
Note: If you have one photo frame in your design you should apply a ring. If you have multiple photos you dont need to apply multiple rings to all photo frames.
The ring should be sized roughly 20% or less of the frames or other background elements.
We suggest using accent colors for a ring, to help it pop out from the design. Other colors are also allowed as long as there is a high level of contrast to the background color.
Samples
Color Palette
Our color palette is a balanced collection of three levels:
Bold Primary Colors / Soft Secondary Colors / Bright Accent Colors.
The palette as a whole reflects our values of Courageous, Caring, Passionate, and Curious.
See each level below for color codes and guidelines on when and how to use.
Bold
Primary Colors
Our primary colors should remain one of the most recognizable elements of our brand. These should most often be the dominant colors in a design as they represent Narrative 4.
Application
• Use individually or in pairs.
• Use as background colors.
• Use for text on light backgrounds.
N4 Violet (core brand color)
HEX #663398
RGB 102 51 152
CMYK 74 95 0 0
Deep Navy
HEX #1D1D38
RGB 29 29 56
CMYK 83 71 39 41
Classic Blue
HEX #216AC0
RGB 33 106 192
CMYK 85 59 0 0
Softdrink Red
HEX #EE4343
RGB 238 67 67
CMYK 0 89 76 0
Soft
Secondary
Colors
Our secondary colors are used as neutrals to balance and contrast the bold primary colors.
Application
• Use as alternate background
colors.
• Use for text on dark backgrounds.
Beach Beige
HEX #F6E9D9
RGB 246 233 217
CMYK 5 7 11 0
New White
HEX #FFFFFF
RGB #255 255 255
CMYK 0 0 0 0
Frost Light Blue
HEX #E8F5FF
RGB 232 245 255
CMYK 8 2 2 0
Bright
Accent
Colors
Our accent colors are meant to be used as passionate splashes of color throughout the brand. These add joy and excitement and can draw a viewer's attention.
Application
• Use for secondary design
elements like circles or rings.
• Only use one at a time.
Fern Green
HEX #4FB68C
RGB 71 180 140
CMYK 68 4 59 0
Popcorn Yellow
HEX #E9CA47
RGB 233 202 71
CMYK 10 17 85 0
Carrot Orange
HEX #F39556
RGB 243 149 86
CMYK 1 49 73 0
Color Proportions
For variety, you can choose to lead with a lighter color palette, a darker color palette, or a mix. Here are the general proportions of color use that will help you find the right balance.
How to choose a color palette
Web: When designing for web either a light or dark color palette can work. If you plan on having a lot of text on screen using a lighter palette makes reading smaller copy easier on the eyes.
Print: When designing for print use a light color palette using the secondary colors as your background colors in order to reduce the use of too much ink incase people need to print at home.
Selecting
Colors
The main rule for color is to use colors that provide plenty of contrast between dark and light. Use this guide to consistently come up with a good color mix.
Note: Don't use too many different colors at once. Instead, focus on using an effective mix and use different combinations to create variety in your designs.
Typography
Our brand typography is made of two primary fonts intended to be used in conjunction.
The serif and sans-serif combination has artistic and literary roots while being readable
and easily used for both digital and print materials.
When the primary brand fonts are not available, the more common alternate fonts are permitted.
Primary Fonts
Austin News is our primary serif font used for headlines, large type, and occasions to make bold statements. Use only Medium and Semi-bold weights
Headline Font
Body Copy Font
GT America is our sans-serif body font it is meant to be used for supporting copy and long-form paragraphs. Use only Regular and Medium weights.
Alternate
Fonts
Our alternate fonts are to be used when our primary fonts are not available. Common use cases may be in Microsoft or Google applications.
Georgia is the alternate for Austin News serif cases.
Helvetica is the alternate for GT America sans-serif cases.
Type Hierarchy
It is suggested that type hierarchy be kept to up to 3 levels using the respective fonts as sampled here. This ensures clear organization and legibility when using multiple layers of information.
Favor left-aligned type as a default. Center aligned is also allowed when necessary.
Color in
Typography
When applying color to typography always aim for legibility through contrast within your color choices. This guide helps you select and make sure the colors you choose not only fall within the brand guidelines but also maintain legibility on the forefront.
Note: Avoid having large amounts of copy on dark backgrounds as it becomes hard to read.
Typography
Don'ts
Icons
Our iconography style is filled-in icons with negative space lines. Choose from the icon library, or feel free to design original new icons in the same style for special cases or when necessary.
Icons can be used as quick communication visuals or to create lists across both digital and print applications.
Photography
Photography is a vital element to the N4 brand that brings an essential human touch. Our style can include portraits or candid shots and should focus on authentic emotions, presence, and connection. Tight or medium zoom levels are favored, as is medium-to-high contrast and saturation. Use of color and black and white photography is permitted.
It is of utmost importance to celebrate wide representation, diversity, and inclusion in the photos that are selected.
Framing
Framing is key element of brand they help maintain consistent crops for photography application. Frames should always be used intentionally to highlight a subject or a few subjects.
Our 3 framing options are:
• Full bleed to the edge of the
design
• Square with a surrounding
margin space
• Circle with a surrounding
margin space
Frame
Arrangements
When applying photographs in any frame option, focus on ensuring they are used symmetrically in the design and that the placement feels thoughtful and functional.
Here are general guidelines to follow when our frames to portrait and landscape layouts:
Samples
Photography
Don'ts
• Don't use photos with extreme
angles
• Don't colorize photos
• Don't use photos without a
clear subject in the frame
• Don't use photos that are overly
staged
• Don't use pixelated photos
• Don't use photos that are
out-of-focus
Our building blocks
We use these 5 core building blocks to develop layouts and designs that reflect the Narrative 4 look and feel and effectively communicate our messages. The following steps are meant as general guidance on how to put all the elements together. This is intended to be a jumping-off point, so feel free to get creative with construction while also keeping overall brand integrity in mind.
Step 1
Select a frame or circle to start building the layout
Step 2
Insert text using a clear hierarchy that will not crowd the design and will effectively convey the message.
Step 3
Choose a mix of primary and secondary colors for high contrast and legibility.
Step 4
Finally, if desired, add a ring to connect elements and bring an accent color.
Design Samples
