New Trinity College Brand Standards Guide and Refreshed Logo

Trinity College has developed a new Brand Standards Guide to promote a consistent and unified brand voice across the College’s communications, marketing and support materials. The guide includes a collection of tools and visual elements available to create clear and consistent communications. It outlines the technical framework for our visual identity and graphic standards around logo usage, colour palettes (primary, athletic and secondary), typography, graphics and applications.

Why does Trinity College need brand standards?

Over the years, various forms of the Trinity College logo were created ad hoc by members of the Trinity community for different uses and applications. At least 15 different versions of the official and unofficial “logo” and “shield” were being used (see image below), including a version of the reverse/white logo on this website. There were also no guidelines in place regarding logo usage and standards.

In order to create a strong visual identity for our brand, the Trinity College logo was standardized so that there is only one official logo. The Trinity logo was not redesigned; rather the most commonly used official logo formats formed the basis for the refreshed logo.

As in previous versions, the Trinity logo honours our heraldry by showcasing the Trinity College shield (a primary element of the Trinity College Coat of Arms) and using the blue and gold colours from the Arms. The heraldry symbols of the College have not been changed.

The refreshed logo includes the same elements as previous versions of the official logo, but it has been updated with a contemporary presentation of the wordmark “Trinity College” to reflect the Trinity College of today. Positioned below the wordmark is the “University of Toronto,” which establishes the College’s long-standing connection to U of T.

The Trinity College shield is a highly valued aspect of the logo that embodies the school’s prolific history and heraldic connection. The Trinity community proudly identifies itself through the shield, which is the primary element of the Trinity College Coat of Arms (blue and gold). On the right half of the shield is a golden stag on a blue field (the arms associated with Bishop John Strachan’s family), while to the left, the crosier and key in saltire above the dove and below the royal crown are the arms of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto. To see the two shields marshalled side by side in the Trinity arms associates the College closely with its founder and the Diocese of Toronto. The two elements of the logo (shield and wordmark) must always appear together.

Along with blue and gold, red and black have an important role in Trinity’s history (red and black originated for student athletic purposes in the College’s early days) and continues to be a part of Trinity’s brand colours.

Trinity College staff and faculty will receive additional information about the new Brand Standards Guide, the phased rollout plan, and how to access files and templates. The new logo must be used for new branded College produced materials created as of June 25, 2018.

Trinity partner/affiliate centres and U of T counterparts can request a copy of the new Trinity College logo by sending an email to: communications@trinity.utoronto.ca.

The guide will continue to be updated to support the development of new applications where visual identity and brand standards should be applied, such as signage, merchandise and the website. This website is currently in the process of being redesigned (for November 2018) – currently, only the Trinity College logo has been updated on this site.

As it will take some time to replace all branded College materials with the new Trinity College logo, we would appreciate your help in identifying items that contain one of the previous logos. Please email communications@trinity.utoronto.ca with a hyperlink to the website/webpage or attach a photo (include where the photo was taken). Printed materials can also be dropped off at the Trinity College Porters Lodge (attention Communications & Public Affairs).

If you have one of the previous/old versions of the Trinity College logo or shield, please delete the file from your computer.

If you have further questions, please contact: Trinity College Communications & Public Affairs at communications@trinity.utoronto.ca or 416-978-2654.

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