What is brand framework?
SAIT's brand framework is the strategic structure that defines how our brands are organized, related and presented to consumers.
The SAIT brand – and our reputation – has taken years to build. We are a large institution formed by different units that tend to serve distinct parts of our audience. Our core brand is the umbrella that ties up all these units into one single and coherent family. Anything we communicate or create falls under this brand umbrella.
Some rules must be followed to ensure our audience can identify and make sense of who we are. Abiding by the following rules is to your benefit, helping you leverage our established reputation in the community and avoid confusion. We want to make it easy for people to recognize any information from SAIT – including all of its schools, departments, units and groups.
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Core brand
Our core brand is all of the elements we use to communicate consistently and coherently to our audiences. We build awareness and familiarity with SAIT using our logo, key messages, tone of voice, brand colours, fonts, imagery and intentionally selected graphic elements in our communications. Most SAIT groups should be using the core brand elements in their materials – it gives your area credibility while leveraging and reinforcing our established visual identity in all SAIT materials, especially those that are external facing. Remember we are OneSAIT.
Examples of core brand use
Do use lockups on:
- sponsor recognition
- merchandise and swag (if size and space allows)
- documentation
- course outlines
Don’t use lockups on:
- ads or external marketing
- social media posts
- stationery and business cards
- posters
By adjusting your layout to core brand plus school name, you have the flexibility to adjust the hierarchy to emphasize a focal point – whether it be the headline, school name or in the message itself. Check out the core brand examples for how to incorporate the SAIT logo while identifying your school. Please only use one lockup on your material. If there is collaboration between schools, identify that in the message while using SAIT's core logo instead.
Contact brand.questions@sait.ca to request your lockup files. Please do not create your own. If you believe your academic area requires an official lockup not listed here, please connect with us for a discussion at brand.questions@sait.ca.
Approved lockups
Lockup examples
Sub-brand logos
A sub-brand is a distinct brand within SAIT’s brand framework. It targets a specific audience or market segment while maintaining a connection to the core brand.
To reinforce this connection to the core brand, sub-brands share some visual or conceptual elements and are unique in other elements:
- They must use the word ‘SAIT’ within the logo.
- They must also keep some elements from the core brand in the logo, such as institutional fonts or colours.
- Sub-brand logos are intentionally designed so they can be used alongside the core brand or stand alone.
- When creating materials, designs must follow SAIT's brand voice, font and photography guidelines.
- The secondary colour palette may expand, but the core colour palette remains within SAIT's primary colours.
- Graphic elements may not include currents, however ownable graphic elements may be created to support the distinct look and feel of the sub-brand.
Sub-brands are approved, designed and distributed by or in partnership with the Marketing department. If you believe your initiative fits these criteria and you require a sub-brand, please contact brand.questions@sait.ca.
Examples of approved sub-brands
Associate brand wordmarks
An associate brand is closely linked to SAIT but operates with a higher degree of independence than a sub-brand. Associate brands have specific uses within SAIT, including time-bound events, campaigns, semi-independent activities and venues, anniversaries and more.
When used for external audiences, an associate brand wordmark must be used alongside the core SAIT logo, either beside it or elsewhere within the piece.
Associate brands are more than a logo. They should adhere to certain brand criteria to maintain their connection to the SAIT brand while having some flexibility to appear visually distinct:
- The wordmark can use any font, including a SAIT font or other font.
- No icons can be incorporated into the wordmark, however the shape of the wordmark can be modified to make it ownable, rather than simply a font.
- When creating materials, designs must follow SAIT's brand voice, font and photography guidelines.
- The secondary colour palette may expand, but the core colour palette remains within SAIT's primary colours.
- Graphic elements may not include currents, however other graphic elements may be considered to support the distinct look and feel of the associate brand and can be inspired by SAIT's core graphic elements.
Approval for associate brands is required before proceeding with design at brand.questions@sait.ca.
Examples of associate brands
Brand partnerships
There are specific rules when partnering with other brands. When pairing SAIT’s logo with partner logos, maintain balanced spacing and clear hierarchy. You must use the spacing guidelines to determine the minimum space between logos.
Co-branded materials must undergo an approval process by both brands to ensure consistency and adherence to brand standards. You may use a divider between two logos, but it’s not mandatory. If there are three or more logos, no divider should be used. If two or more academic units are working in partnership, use the primary SAIT logo only – do not use more than one lockup.
It is important to note that SAIT no longer changes elements within its logo to advocate for equity-deserving initiatives or movements, such as Pride. We now show our support by aligning our logo in a partnership format where appropriate.
All third parties must fill out a trademark license agreement to use the SAIT brand or logos. This helps us avoid situations where the core brand is used in ways that might misleadingly imply the endorsement of entities or activities over which SAIT has no control.
Examples of paired brands
Examples of independent brands at SAIT
Questions?
Send us an email: brand.questions@sait.ca.
Oki, Âba wathtech, Danit'ada, Tawnshi, Hello.
SAIT is located on the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of Treaty 7 which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Îyârhe Nakoda of Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney.
We are situated in an area the Blackfoot tribes traditionally called Moh’kinsstis, where the Bow River meets the Elbow River. We now call it the city of Calgary, which is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta.