Chancellor Gary S. May
Chancellor Gary S. May

Chancellor May points to SiteFarm as a way to meet campus branding standards

October 31, 2017

Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors 

Re: UC Davis online and physical brand representation 

Dear Colleagues, 

Soon after my arrival at UC Davis, I requested that Strategic Communications conduct an audit of the physical and online branding of our various divisions, centers, institutes, colleges and schools. I was interested in learning how consistently our UC Davis identity was used and how visibly it was displayed. The audit revealed some adherence to UC Davis brand standards and some cases where we are not representing ourselves as UC Davis entities. Through the audit, we identified two primary causes of poor brand representation: 

  • Inattention to or independence from brand standards 
  • Outdated or poorly maintained branding 

Through this memo, I’m directing all UC Davis units to have clear and approved UC Davis signage/branding on buildings, in print materials, and online.

Fortunately, we have tools to help with greater consistency. One tool is IET’s new SiteFarm content management system (CMS). It will make all sites current and fall within the standards of the campus home site. It’s easy to maintain content on SiteFarm and technical updates are made automatically. You can learn more about it at http://sitefarm.ucdavis.edu

Strategic Communications already partners with Repro Graphics in executing identity work for campus entities. You can learn more about the standards and get contact info for Repro at http://marketingtoolbox.ucdavis.edu/visual-identity/logos/signatures-all.html. If your physical space needs to be updated, you’ll need to involve Strategic Communications and Campus Planning. For more information, please contact marketing@ucdavis.edu. 

Most of your communicators have teamed up with Strategic Communications as part of the audit to review branding marks, websites and physical spaces. Together, they’ve identified new ways to accommodate unique brand issues of our Centers and Institutes into a more flexible identity system. In the process, they’ve created guidelines together. These guidelines can be adopted immediately and used on every platform, from social media to physical spaces. 

As a public institution, our various constituencies want to know how we contribute to the broader UC mission of serving as a teaching, research and public service enterprise. By making use of a clear, approved and visible UC Davis identity, we are reminding them about what we do, our reach, and our impact. 

Best regards, 

Gary S. May
Chancellor

Read the official release (pdf)

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