Before You Finish

On This Page: Checklist | Aligning with the NYU Visual Expression

Once your project is complete, here are a few things to check before publishing your content or sending your communication.

Checklist

Check for visual alignment. Is the logo used correctly? What about the fonts, colors, and graphics? Scroll down for examples of correct visual brand alignment. You may want to revisit the Designing in Our Style section.
Check the messaging. Does it sound like NYU and align with one of the NYU brand pillars? You may want to revisit the Story Creation Worksheet (PDF: 83 KB) to check your content.
Revise. Use the NYU Editorial Guide to apply our house style. If possible, it is ideal to have another person read your content. A second reader helps catch errors, and they also bring another perspective to your content, which can help make it more inclusive.
Make sure it’s accessible and inclusive. You can revisit our print and digital accessibility guidelines as well as the guiding questions for the creation of inclusive content.

Support Services

In addition to the brand guidelines and toolkits, NYU also has many support services that can help you develop or create your projects.

Submit Your Work and Feedback

Have you applied the NYU writing and design styles in your marketing and communications efforts? Do you have feedback regarding the brand guidelines? We’d love for you to share your work and thoughts with us.

Please send your work or feedback to brand@nyu.edu.

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Aligning with the NYU Visual Expression

Strongly Aligned

Strongly Aligned Design Plain Text

The city grid graphic is used as a background in light gray on the left, and an image of a New York City street is on the right. An Ultra Violet line divides the two components.

The NYU Violet and Ultra Violet headine, “A graphic system built from our urban spirit,” is set in all-caps Gotham Black. The placeholder body text below it is set in Gotham.

The NYU short logo in NYU Violet sits at the bottom-left corner of the design near an Ultra Violet circle encasing a white check mark.

This design strongly aligns with our brand because it:

Uses the NYU logo correctly.
Uses NYU Colors. This design has NYU Violet in the logo and type, Ultra Violet in the type and path, and light gray in the city grid graphic.
Uses NYU’s primary typeface, Gotham. Multiple weights of Gotham are used for the header and body text in this design.
Uses the city grid graphics correctly. The city grid is used as a background.
Is accessible. The city grid behind the text is light enough that it does not interfere with legibility.

Aligned

Aligned Design Plain Text

The background is a black fill, and an image of a New York City street is on the right of this design. The city grid is absent. An Ultra Violet line separates the two components.

The headine, “A graphic system built from our urban spirit,” is set in a condensed sans serif font. The placeholder body text below it is set in Gotham.

The NYU short logo in white sits at the bottom-left corner of the design near an Ultra Violet circle encasing a white check mark.

This design aligns with our brand because it:

Uses the NYU logo correctly.
Uses NYU colors. This design uses black as a primary color, NYU Violet as a secondary color, and a hint of yellow as an accent.
Uses Gotham alongside a non–NYU brand font.
Does not use the city grid. Which is perfectly fine. The city grid does not have to be used in every design.
Is accessible.

Not Aligned

Not Aligned Plain Text

The city grid graphic is used as a background in yellow on the left, and an image of a New York City street is on the right. A blue line divides the two components. The edges of the city grid are visible behind the text and it is scaled down too much, making it hard to read the text on top of it.

The headine, “A graphic system built from our urban spirit,” is set in a sans serif font (a style of type without serifs) in dark orange. The placeholder body text below it is set in a serif font.

The NYU short logo in dark orange sits at the bottom left corner of the design near a red circle encasing a white “X.”

No NYU fonts or colors are used throughout this design.

This design does not align with our brand because it:

Does not use the logo correctly. The logo should be NYU Violet.
Does not use any NYU colors. The entire NYU color palette does not have to be used in every design, but some violet should always be present.
Does not use any NYU fonts or approved alternatives. Mercury does not have to be used in every design, but Gotham (or an approved alternative font) should be incorporated in some way.
Uses the city grid graphic but does not use it correctly. Never use the city grid in its entirety or with enough space around it to view the edges.
Is not accessible. There is not enough color contrast between the text and graphic, making the text hard to read.

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