Printed Materials
University Creative Production is the preferred source for University printed materials. If you choose to work with an outside printer on a project, you must complete and submit the off-campus printing and merchandise approval form to receive approval.
Exemplary Publications
If you would like to produce a viewbook, brochure, poster, flyer, job posting, newsletter or other types of publications, please contact the Graphics Team in Creative Production at 507-389-1181. The team can design and produce publications for you or support you in your own production.
Graphic Design Services
Graphic artists are available to design materials for all members of the University community through Creative Production. They are able to guarantee adherence to the Graphic Standards of any pieces they create. Their professional services are billed at a rate of $60/hour.
Contact the Graphics Team in Creative Production at 507-389-1181. The team can design and produce publications for you or support you in your own production.
Covers, Front Pages and Posters
If your publication is being printed in color, the cover, front page or poster should preferably contain both the University's purple and gold, but must at least contain our purple.
The University's horizontal logo must appear at the full width of the printed area, either at the top or the bottom of the cover, front page or poster, unless you have and use a logo/wordmark that already includes the University name.
If you would like to develop a poster template, please contact the Graphics Team in Creative Production at 507-389-1181.
Copy
Wherever appropriate, the University theme of "Big ideas. Real-world thinking." that is captured by the University's vision, should be incorporated into copy.
Text for publications should preferably be set in the Futura font. If that is unavailable, use Arial or a similar san serif font. The Trajan font is reserved exclusively for the University's vertical and horizontal logos. Fonts that are nearly identical or quite similar to Trajan (such as Minion) should also not be used.
All publications copy should follow the Associated Press Style Guide. Additionally, Minnesota State Mankato prefers the use of “first-year student/s” instead of “freshman/men" in all publications.
Photographs
Photographs can be downloaded from the University's Image Library for use in print and electronic communications. Clients should look there first for images. If a second choice is needed:
- Contact Creative Production at 507-389-1181 to see additional images.
- Use stock photos selected by Graphics Team designers in Creative Production through their stock photo subscriptions.
- The use of clip art is not advised. Market research shows that images of our campus and its people are more persuasive to our target audiences.
It is critical that all members of the Minnesota State Mankato community respect and follow all copyright and trademark laws and have permission to use any images, information or other original works in their materials. Be sure to either purchase rights to, establish the fair use of, or otherwise obtain approval from the copyright or trademark owner(s) prior to using resources obtained outside the University.
Required Statements
By law, the following Required Statements must appear on all publications, with capitalization and punctuation as shown below and with department name and contact information inserted accordingly.
Required statements must be readable; the following specifications are intended to maintain that readability on all publications:
- The type size must be no less than 6 point.
- The type must be set in Futura or Arial, regular or bold only (no light versions).
- Use 100 percent solid color in high contrast to any background color present (for example, black on white or white on black); do not use screens or a percentage of a color. Avoid low contrast colors like black on purple or white on gold.
Event invitations and publications must use the following statement (which includes the second sentence from above):
Correspondence
The business cards, letterhead and envelopes available from Creative Production are the only acceptable official print correspondence materials. All print correspondence from the University must be printed or copied onto official letterhead.
Letterhead that is photocopied or printed from an email template is not acceptable for any University correspondence.
The following are available from Creative Production:
- customized University letterhead and envelopes
- customized business cards
- notecards and invitations
- half-sheet memo pads
Folders
All University employees are strongly encouraged to use the official Minnesota State Mankato folder, which was designed to work with all University publications, materials and presentations. Folders are available through Creative Production. Specific-use folders should include purple and gold as the dominant colors and one of the approved University logos on the cover.
Forms
All forms must have the University's full logo or horizontal logo somewhere on the form.
Certificates
The University has an [JPG] offical certificate design (92 KiB) that should be used for all certificate needs. Blank certificates are available through Creative Production, which can also personalize the content.
Badges
Plastic name badges can be purchased through the MavCARD office in Centennial Student Union, and peel-off name badges are available through University Stores.
Presentations
All faculty and staff are urged to use a downloadable template for your PowerPoint presentations. This template captures the "look" that has been embedded in other forms of visual communication for the University.
