Our brand must reflect the quality and effectiveness of the College’s products and services, every underlying process, and all systems within the College community. The messages (ideas) that Penn Highlands conveys, both verbally and visually, must represent the College concisely in order to elicit the proper meaning to all members of our community.
Our brand serves many purposes. It lends to the cohesiveness of the imaging and messaging that advocates the strengths and values of the College’s services and programs. It also fosters true understanding and helps prevent any confusion with outlying brands or misrepresentations of the College.
The College brand builds credibility, trust, loyalty, and pride. It also generates positive impressions and feelings… unifying the entire organization. When used effectively, it can increase enrollment, create top-of-mind awareness and brand recognition, increase utilization by employers of the College’s business-related services and programs, and aid in generating financial donations.
A brand is a cluster of ideas that, if successful, is evoked by many things, including the name, logo, font, photography, and more. Brands thrive in the minds of people. The Pennsylvania Highlands brand not only supports the mission and strategic plan of the College; it is what people mentally package as Pennsylvania Highlands Community College.
Penn Highlands Community College is an economic leader that positively impacts the lives of those throughout the region; our messaging must represent this. Since 2018, five specific messages have been chronically inherent in our brand: affordability, transferability, flexibility, quality, and relevancy.
“Discover You” Tagline
In mid-2018, to add significance and relevancy, the College focused on tagging our external messaging with the phrase “Discover You”. This moniker is designed to show our audiences a sense of hope and optimism about their futures. It is meant to be a call-to-action that can fit any of our messages or audience members.
Whether you are a high school student trying to determine your future path, an adult student trying to go back to college to rediscover a new career, or you are already a successful person just trying to test how far you can go intellectually, Penn Highlands will help you discover your strengths and your weaknesses. Penn Highlands will help you surpass your limits, and ultimately find your true potential. What is college really? It is a place where self-discovery is at the foundation of everything you do. Discover what your future holds, discover what you can achieve for you, your family, and your community… discover you at Penn Highlands Community College.
Graphic Style
Every single piece, both internal and external, plays its part and must adhere to the graphic style of the Penn Highlands’ brand.
What is graphic style?
It is the use of logos, typefaces, and colors to create a clearly recognizable image for an institution. Graphic style standards are necessary for organizations in order to build and communicate a clear institutional brand for its target audiences.
A successful graphic style will help the College develop strong name recognition by defining a “look” for all materials that audiences instantly identify as Penn Highlands Community College. This does not mean that all materials must look exactly alike. It does mean that they must all clearly belong to the same family, with wordmarks, logos, typefaces, and colors used consistently.
Graphic Style Application
Publications and materials governed by our graphic style include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Recruitment brochures
- PowerPoints and other presentations
- Departmental program information
- Publications to alumni, donors, and other external audiences
- Official websites and social media outlets
- Periodical magazines, annual reports, and newsletters
- All advertising vehicles
- Promotional videos and CDs
- Stationery and business cards
- Banners and posters
- Promotional items
- Signage
Examples of materials not governed by our graphic style include the following:
- Academic papers or academic presentations
- Articles written for academic journals
- Internal reports, memos, and forms
- Letters and other business correspondence (must be on official stationery)