NIU Branding

2.1 NIU Brand Standards

To present a consistent, unified image and reinforce NIU's branding and marketing initiatives, all division, college, school, department and special information web properties must clearly identify their relationship with the university.

Web properties must adhere to NIU's Communication Standards for Institutional Brand Identity (PDF).

To ensure compliance with brand standards, documents uploaded to an NIU website may need to first be reviewed by the Clearinghouse. This pertains particularly to documents intended for a large audience with available access over an extended period of time. Exceptions for temporary or limited-audience documents may be granted.

2.2 Use of NIU Logos and Trademarks

NIU Logo
Figure 1. NIU Logo

All NIU websites should include the following elements, which are included in NIU's standard templates:

  • The NIU logo, implemented according to the university's graphic standards.
  • The logo must link to the page determined by the site's template.
  • Copyright information as follows: © 2xxx Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University. All rights reserved.
  • The full name of the university – Northern Illinois University – must appear somewhere on every web page.

The NIU shield and department name that appear at the top of a webpage do not constitute a departmental logo and should not be used elsewhere. The website banner must match the sub-brand, if applicable. Consult with University Marketing about any questions you have about sub-branding.

Use of the Huskie Athletics logo on sites other than niuhuskies.com is prohibited without written consent from Intercollegiate Athletics, or its designee.

No university trademarks may be altered or manipulated in any way or merged with or placed directly against any other logo.

2.3 Use of Third-party Advertising and Logos

As a .edu domain, third-party advertising is prohibited on NIU's website. Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications may grant an exception for partnerships existing between third parties and NIU. In such cases, links and/or logos may be placed on the NIU website. They must be removed when the partnership is terminated.

Event sponsorship logos are permitted after being cleared by Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications and must be taken down once the event/sponsorship has ended. A third-party logo must be supplied by the sponsor and must be a high-quality image. Low quality or unofficial logos will be removed.

If the use of a third-party logo is required for contractual or accreditation purposes, or to recognize an institutional accolade, contact the web team at webcommunications@niu.edu for assistance in placing it on your site.

NIU decorative elements designed by Creative Services are allowed on the corresponding website’s homepage or in the left column on relevant pages (only as needed).

 

Contact Us

For more information about web support and development, contact: 

Holly Nicholson
Still Hall 110
815-753-6692
hnicholson@niu.edu

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