Logo | NCL Brand Guidelines

The centre of our brand identity and representation of the NCL community.

Created in-house and reflective of its people, relationships and community, the NCL logo symbolises a two-way relationship between the college and the community.

Designed as a fully responsive logo, we can ensure our image can be maintained across every channel, allowing our brand identity to adapt with the digital environment.

We are very proud of our new identity, so please follow these guidelines to ensure it always looks its best. If you are ever unsure of how to use or apply the NCL logo, please email brand@nclan.ac.uk

The design of all public facing material bearing the NCL logo will require sign off by the Brand and Communications team before it can be distributed. More information is available from the design and print process page.

Parent Logo.

Our brand logo identifies NCL as a whole.

The logo consists of two elements: the written words and the starburst icon. The two elements shouldn't be separated or altered when representing the College with a logo, except when the starburst graphic alone is being used in either of the following instances or approved by the Brand Manager:

as a profile picture for a NCL social media account
as a pattern in one of the ways outlined in our guidance for using the starburst as a pattern.
if you do not have enough room for the full logo

This logo is a carefully created piece of locked artwork that should not be altered in any way.

Default logo for all brand material.

Logomark.

Our logomark is a shorter version of our logo.

Use the logomark on its own only if you do not have enough room for the full logo or in cases when the NCL brand has already been established.

While the icon can exist without the wordmark, the wordmark should never exist without the icon.

Use of the logomark should only be applied once permission has been sought by emailing brand@nclan.ac.uk.

NCL Parent Logomark

Campus and sub-brands.

The College’s campus brands are closely tied to our main corporate logo. NCL recognised campuses are:

Broadwood Campus
Coatbridge Campus
Cumbernauld Campus
Kirkintilloch Campus
Motherwell Campus

In addition, our campus nursery Cumbernauld has been included within our campus brand family.

The Students’ Association identity is currently being developed in partnership with our students.

Sub-brand logos outside of the permitted variants for our recognised brand family can dilute our identity and cause audiences confusion about the origin or authenticity of publicity materials.

If you have questions about brand family or how to represent an area of the College, please email brand@nclan.ac.uk

Clear space.

Clear space, or negative space, is the area that surrounds the logo that is completely clear of any other graphical element. This helps the logo stand out from the rest of the elements on the page and ensures legibility, even at small sizes.

As a general rule, the more clear or negative space around the logo, the better.

At a minimum, there should be clear space equal to the height of the circular logo mark on all four sides of the overall logo. Using an element from the logo as a unit of measurement ensures enough clear space at any size.

Example of clear space in practice.

Scale.

Maintaining optimal and minimal logo sizing is vital to the legibility of the mark and overall brand recognition.

In order to maximize legibility, try to use the largest size (within reason). In some circumstances, it may be acceptable to use the minimum size.

Never reproduce the logo smaller than the minimum size listed on this page. The minimum height is .75" for print applications and 50px for digital applications.

The logo must always be legible.

Placement.

Contrast is key when considering placing the logo on any background.

It is important our logo should be legible. It should also make a clear, strong statement when used. If there is not enough contrast between the logo and the background, the presence of the logo is weakened.

The logo may be placed on photographs, textures, and patterns as long as there is enough contrast for the logo to be visible.