The SoWashCo Schools Brand
You’ve grown up and live in a world filled with brands. In a day’s time, you see, hear and experience hundreds of brand messages. Some are memorable. Others are not. The very best communicate to you personally as authentic, distinct expressions of what makes a brand meaningful and significant in your life.
The SoWashCo Schools brand identity reflects and amplifies the vibrant, welcoming nature of our school district. Visual and verbal elements work together to convey the energy and appeal of our schools, using just six words to extend an invitation and inspiring call to action — Be seen. Be heard. Be bold. Every day, our brand grows stronger as students, families and staff make SoWashCo Schools and programs an even more vital part of our communities.
Questions?
Communications and Community Relations
info@sowashco.org
651-425-6209
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Logos | Tagline | Messaging | Naming | Typography | Colors | Accessibility | Photography | Patterns | Moodboards | Schools
The logo for South Washington County Schools is a distinctive, energetic wordmark that lets us market and promote South Washington County Schools as one community. It communicates on two levels simultaneously. Verbally, it conveys the name many people already use when they talk about the district — SoWashCo. Visually, in its full color expression, it shows many elements coming together to form the name in much the way our cities and townships collectively form the foundation for our district.
The colors in the wordmark come from SoWashCo schools. Note that there are two options in terms of its shape — a vertically stacked version and a horizontal logo — to accommodate different space demands. The horizontal option uses initial capital letters to communicate how people say the name — SoWashCo. The logo can be used on white backgrounds, dark and colors specific to our schools.
The tagline communicates in a way all students can relate to. Note that when it’s used as a complete statement — Be seen. Be heard. Be bold. — the first words are capitalized, and each part ends with a period for emphasis. In some cases, such as the three-part poster
series shown on page 25, lowercase -b’s without end punctuation can be used for a more casual effect.
Here are approved names for each school in our district. In some cases, there is a full name and an abbreviated version. The full name should be used in instances such as email signatures or return addresses. Check with our communications team if you have questions.
District
South Washington County Schools
Abbreviated = SoWashCo Schools
Programs
Next Step - no abbreviation
SoWashCo Community Education - no abbreviation
Elementary Schools
Armstrong Elementary School - AES
Bailey Elementary School - BES
Cottage Grove Elementary School - CGES
Crestview Elementary School - CES
Grey Cloud Elementary School - GCES
Hillside Elementary School - HES
Liberty Ridge Elementary School - LRES
Middleton Elementary School - MES
Newport Elementary School -NES
Nuevas Fronteras Spanish Immersion - NFSI
Pine Hill Elementary School - PHES
Pullman Elementary School - PES
Red Rock Elementary School - RRES
Royal Oaks Elementary School - ROES
Valley Crossing Elementary School - VCES
Woodbury Elementary School - WES
Middle Schools
Cottage Grove Middle School - CGMS
Lake Middle School - LMS
Oltman Middle School - OMS
Woodbury Middle School - WMS
High Schools
East Ridge High School - ERHS
Park High School - PHS
South Washington County Alternative High School - SWAHS
Woodbury High School - WHS
An important element in an effective, vibrant brand identity system is typography. Used consistently, typography conveys an added visual dimension to print, digital and multimedia communications. This set of typefaces best represents the feel of the brand and should be used across print, web and video applications.
Primary Font Families
Gotcha Gothic
Use for headlines in both print and web applications.
Poppins Bold
Use for subheads in both print and web applications.
Poppins Regular
Use for body copy in both print and web applications.
Secondary Font Families
For digital applications when the primary typefaces are not available.
Franklin Gothic Bold
Use for headlines in emails, Word docs or PowerPoint files only.
Century Gothic Regular
Use for body copy in emails, Word docs, or PowerPoint files only.
Color is an integral part of brand identity. Consistent use of the color palette will not only reinforce the cohesiveness of the brand but also communicates feelings and emotions to your audiences. SoWashCo Schools’ color palette combines colors from its schools. Bright, energetic colors are balanced by more neutral tones. All can be used at 100 percent, 50 percent and 20 percent opacity to create striking, inviting communications.
Brick
HEX #BB0000
RGB 187, 0, 0
CMYK 18, 100, 100, 10
PMS 7621 C
Apple
HEX #FF0000
RGB 255, 0, 0
CMYK 0, 99, 100, 0
PMS 485 C
School Bus
HEX #FFC800
RGB 255, 200, 0
CMYK 0, 21, 100, 0
PMS 7548 C
Sand
HEX #BB974F
RGB 187, 151, 79
CMYK 27, 38, 81, 3
PMS 465 C
Forest
HEX #005B2B
RGB 0, 91, 43
CMYK 91, 37, 100, 35
PMS 7484 C
Grass
HEX #429843
RGB 66, 152, 67
CMYK 77, 17, 100, 3
PMS 7738 C
Sky
HEX #00ADC7
RGB 0, 173, 199
CMYK 75, 10, 19, 0
PMS 3125 C
Pacific
HEX #0244A4
RGB 2, 68, 164
CMYK 100, 84, 0, 0
PMS 7686 C
Midnight
HEX #031839
RGB 3, 24, 57
CMYK 99, 87, 44, 58
PMS 296 C
To create an accessible digital presence in accordance with American With Disability Act (ADA) guidance, color combinations
should be limited to those listed here. Printed documents also should follow these standards. The goal is keeping text accessible to individuals with visual impairments by meeting contrast minimums between the size and color of the text and the background. These combinations apply to all text, including presentations, infographics, charts, tables and text on top of images. The Web Accessibility Initiative provides additional information.
Text Color, All Point Sizes
WHITE
FOREST PACIFIC MIDNIGHT
MIDNIGHT
SCHOOL BUS WHITE
MIDNIGHT
MIDNIGHT
WHITE SCHOOL BUS
SCHOOL BUS SAND GRASS SKY WHITE
BRICK FOREST PACIFIC MIDNIGHT
Text Color, If > 14 pt Bold
SCHOOL BUS
WHITE MIDNIGHT
BRICK
FOREST PACIFIC
SAND SKY
WHITE
FOREST PACIFIC
SAND SKY
APPLE
APPLE GRASS
candid
photography
The SoWashCo brand identity system incorporates candid, full
color photography of students, staff and volunteers engaged in daily activities. The people in the photos aren’t posing but rather caught in the moment in a more informal way. The overall effect is showcasing the energy and interaction of a school day or extracurricular event. Actual photos from SoWashCo schools
are preferred. If stock photos are necessary, they should be in the
same style.
Please note that parents must opt- out if they do not want their students to be photographed for any school district purpose.
Patterns provide even more flexibility within a graphic identity system. Often used as backgrounds and color fills, they work with other visual assets to create striking new combinations. These patterns are approved for all media, and you can zoom and crop as needed as long as you don’t stretch the artwork horizontally or vertically.
brand examples
Here are examples of the SoWashCo
brand identity system in action, an
email newsletter and a poster series.
Opportunities for creating strong,
effective communications are endless.
