In this episode of Ten with Ken, host Ken Steele sits down with Dorita Pentesco, Director of Marketing & Recruitment at Niagara College, and Carmen Serravalle, Vice-President Creative at STC Storytellers, to discuss the “refresh” launched this month of the 15-year-old Niagara College brand.

NC’s circular “blue button” logo was originally introduced in 2009, and was immediately embraced by staff and students – who suddenly started buying and wearing branded clothing. The unique shape lent itself to external signage, buttons, and even application to the butt end of beer kegs at the campus brewery. People on campus have a powerful affinity for the NC button, proudly embracing the “I am nc” slogan. Many on campus “bleed blue” – so any changes to the existing brand identity needed to be carefully considered.

There were, however, technical considerations like legibility at small sizes and by screen-reading software, and a desire to simplify the wordmark and render it in a more friendly, less corporate way. So STC rounded the corners of each letter individually, “taking the edges off” the former logo, subliminally shifting its impression. They also introduced more blues and greens to the NC colour palette, reflecting the waters and vineyards of the Niagara region. And introduced a new typeface, Work Sans, to add more “heft and confidence” to headlines and materials.

The most obvious addition to the NC brand universe are a series of hand-drawn circles, which reflect the logo but in a hand-crafted way that emphasize collegiality, friendliness, and even the hands-on learning experience for which NC is renowned. The circles are being used as an accent, to draw attention to parts of images, and make a great pattern for branded clothing and merchandise. The brand refresh also introduces a new tagline, “That’s ncLIFE,” which NC has started using “almost like a punctuation mark” to sum up the energy and student experience.

Consider joining Eduvation’s MarCom or CMO Circles, for access to other branding studies like this, and to engage directly with Dorita, Carmen, and other CdnPSE marketers from across the country. For more information, see http://eduvation.ca/cmo/

Check out STC Storytellers’ portfolio of work for other higher ed clients at https://www.stcstorytellers.com

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