brand

One councilKCC branding guidelines

This document provides brand guidelines for all KCC communication activity, including print, online and digital media.

One brand

Contents

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Why is branding important? 4KCC use of the brand 5Our values 6 Our brand principles 6Who should use it? 7Who should not? 7Contact information 8

Our logo 10Endorsements 13Our typefaces 14Colour palette 15

Stationery 17Email signatures 18Addresses 18PowerPoint 19

Co-branding 21

Producing new brands 24

Part AThe KCC brand

Part BThe KCC logo and ourvisual identity

Part CDesign, templates andstandards

Part D - Co-branding

Part E - Appendix

Part A

The KCC Brand

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The KCC brand

Our brand is everything we stand for. It is one of our most valuable assets, recognised and trusted countywide as a council that performs excellently.

The Local Government Improvement and Development Agency suggest:

“A strong brand for council services is essential to improve satisfaction, build relationships and trust with local people, and help people understand what the council tax pays for. And crucially, the formal expression of the brand should match customers’ actual experience of the council.”

For the purposes of this document, when we refer to ‘brand’, we include:

1�our values and beliefs - this should form the foundation of everything we do1�our corporate identity - the visualisation of our brand (our logo, colours, design, etc)

Consistent use of our brand will help the public make a clear association between the money they pay in council tax and the many council services they receivein return.

By following these guidelines we can develop a strong, consistent brand we can be proud of. If you are using external contractors or designers, it is yourresponsibility to make sure they have a copy of these guidelines and apply them correctly.

Any infringement of these guidelines will be raised formally and addressed by Corporate Management Team.

Why is branding important?

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All services provided by, or on behalf of, Kent County Council must use the KCC brand

Consistent use of our identity will:

1 unite us as one organisation1 strengthen our brand 1 help the public make a clear association between the money they pay in

council tax and the many council services they receive in return.

In the past, we have been too quick to devalue the KCC brand byproducing new identities for services, directorates, projects andpartnerships. This weakens our brand and must be avoided.

Some of the examples used throughout this guide exist as a result of ourprevious approach to branding and will continue. However, new logos willnot be permitted unless there is an appropriate business case for theirproduction - this must be approved by the communications team.

See appendix 1 for information on creating new brands.

KCC use of the brand

One council?

The KCC brand

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Our values

Our organisational values are currently being developed by HumanResources.

Our brand principles

Organisations that use the Kent County Council (KCC) brand must:

1�share values in line with those of KCC (see opposite)1�not bring the council or its brand into disrepute1�be politically impartial in their communications at all times1�use KCC’s corporate identity only as set out in this guide1�maintain high quality standards of production1�have prior written consent (see page 8 for contact details)

We will consider all requests which are consistent with our reputation andvalues, and contribute towards delivering the three ambitions set out inour medium-term plan, Bold Steps for Kent:

1�To help the Kent economy grow1�To put the citizen in control1�To tackle disadvantage

The KCC brand

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Who should use it?

The general rule is:

Use of the KCC brand is restricted to council services provided by, or on behalf of, Kent County Council

Examples of this include libraries, care providers and road repair crews.However, there are some important exceptions. It is reasonable for thefollowing to use the KCC logo:

1 Organisations, projects or initiatives to which we have given funding, grants or resources (see page 21 co-branding and endorsements).

1 Charities that KCC formally1 supports.

Organisations using the logo must agree to abide by the brandingprinciples on page 4.

Exception Schools are not required to use the KCC brand as they are self-managedinstitutions accountable to governing bodies.

Who should not?

Organisations that are providing a service to KCC (for example,construction firms, design agencies, training houses) must not use theKCC logo, except where it is used on hoardings around developers’ sites,when it must only be used in accordance with these guidelines.

Action will be taken against any organisations using the KCC logoinappropriately to gain an unfair competitive advantage.

1 There are two types of charity categories: formal and informal support. Formal support includes those charities to which KCC provides direct financial support and partnerships agreed by

Members (e.g. Kent Children’s Trust, Help Fund, AgeConcern and Home Start). Informal support is where no direct KCC funding or financial support is given (e.g. Macmillan Cancer Research,

Comic Relief, and Remembrance Day).

The KCC brand

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Contact information

Getting our branding right is important, so we are always happy to help. If you have any questions, please contact the communications team.

Mike Harris

Kent County CouncilCounty Hall Sessions HouseMaidstoneKent ME14 1XQ

Call: 01622 696059Email: [email protected]

The KCC brand

Part B

The KCC logo and ourvisual identity

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The KCC logo and our visual identity

There is only one Kent County Council, and there is only one KentCounty Council logo. The original artwork for the logo must always beused and applied in accordance with the guidelines. The artwork isavailable from the communications team (see page 8 for contact details).

The logo consists of:

1�the background block of red or black1�the horse1�the words Kent County Council1�the line.

For websites, only the red version should be used.

The black and white version of the logo shouldonly be used where colour printing is not available.

Logo colour

In partnership publications only, where colour choice excludes Pantone185, and where black would be inappropriate (e.g. where a column ofsponsors’ logos are all reversed out of blue), it is acceptable for the KCClogo to be reversed out of any dark colour (as long as it is clearly visible,and no other image or text encroaches).

Our logo

Outside of this guide and unless directed by the communications team, thelogo should not be:

1�recreated from scratch1�distorted1�stretched1�dismantled 1�added to 1�tampered with.

The horse, words and line are always reversed-out of the coloured block(white on black or red). Under no circumstances are they to be presentedin any colour other than white.

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10mm

10mm

10mm10mm

Exclusion zone

The logo stands alone. There should be no encroachment from text orother images, except where specified on page 13.

An exclusion zone or ‘clear space’ should be maintained around the logoto make it stand out and improve its impact.

A4 or bigger

A5 or smaller(and online)

5mm

5mm

5mm5mm

Logo size

20mm

A6/A5 1/3A4

A4

A3

A2

25mm

35mm

45mm

To make sure the logo isalways legible, it should be20mm in height or biggerat all times.

Minimum sizes for theKCC logo in differentsized publications areshown opposite.


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Positioning

The logo should appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the page,wherever possible. This may not be possible on all occasions. For example,on websites and display stands. In these situations, please contact thecommunications team (see page 8).

Publication title


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Endorsements

There will also be times when KCC is asked to endorse campaigns,projects or organisations. It is important the relationship between KCCand the organisation using the logo is clear.

For this reason, we have produced a set of endorsement logos which mustbe used.

Funded by… for all projects or initiatives paid for in full by KCC

Co-funded by… for all projects or initiatives with equal financial contribution from all partners

Supported by… where KCC has provided resources (e.g. staff time) or partial funding to projects or initiatives

Sponsored by… for all projects or initiatives given financial support from KCC, but not organised by KCC, in return for in kind support (e.g. advertising)

In partnership with… where KCC has entered into a partnership agreement for projects or initiatives where KCC is not the lead organisation, but has contributed eitherfinances or resources

Approved provider… for organisations who are contractually obliged to provide services to members of the public on behalfof KCC

Funded by Co-funded by

Supported by Sponsored by

In partnership with

Approved provider


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GillSans

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ





Arial


Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz


abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz


abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Our typefacesAll KCC communications - publications, letters, websites - must use one of two agreed typefaces: Arial and GillSans.

The fonts must be used at size 12 or larger.

Arial should be used for all online materials and generalcommunication activity such as letter writing and email.

GillSans is our preferred font for printed publications. Arial mayalso be used.



Colour paletteWe have our own unique colour palette. Consistent use of this colour palette helps make our identity easily recognisable. No other colours should be usedunless agreed by the communications team.

All KCC communications - publications, letters, websites - must use the following colour palette:

White

Black

KCC Red - Pantone 185 CC - 0M - 100Y - 100K - 0

15

KCC Grey - Pantone Cool Grey 9 CC - 0M - 0Y - 0K - 50

KCC Grey - Pantone 422 CC - 0M - 0Y - 0K - 30

Part C

Design, Templates and Standards

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Design templates and standards

Standard corporate stationery should be ordered by contacting CountyPrint on 01622 605368. Under no circumstances should other corporatematerials be produced, or other stationery be used. Corporate stationeryshould not be amended in any way.

Letterheads

Stationery

Merchandise

For all merchandise – lanyards, clothing, mouse mats – that will use theKCC logo, please contact the communications team (see page 8 forcontact details).

Business cards

Complimentslips

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The purpose of your email signature is to provide clear contactinformation. The easiest way to make this information clear across thecouncil is to make it consistent.

Signature layout example

NameJob titleTeam or departmentKent County CouncilInternal: XXXX XXXXExternal: 01XXX XXXXXXMobile: 07XXX XXXXXXwww.kent.gov.uk/yourwebpage

This example is clear, concise and easy to read. It should be used as a basisfor all KCC email signatures.

Guidelines

Here are some guidelines for setting up your email signature.

Use: black, size 12, Arial font

Avoid: italics, varied colours, artwork and pictures

Email signatures

When communicating with the public and partners, it is important we areconsistent. For that reason, please use the KCC standard address layout.

NameJob titleTeam or departmentKent County CouncilAddressTelephoneEmailWeb address

Addresses


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We have created a template that you should use when producing yourPowerPoint presentations to make sure we are using the brandconsistently and professionally. This is available on KNet.

PowerPoint


Part D

Co-branding

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Co-branding

Partnership working

KCC also works with partners on projects or initiatives. For example,district councils producing the council tax leaflets. In this situation, theKCC logo should be used along with the logos of participating partners2.The relationship between partners should be clearly defined by thebranding. Below are three approaches to partnership working and howbranding should be applied.

KCC lead: KCC brand guidelines should be followed, while including partner logos appropriately (see below)

Joint partnership: a single design should be agreed (accounting for accessibility) while including all partner logos equally

Third party lead: lead organisation’s branding should be used, while including the KCC logo

2 No more than 5 logos should be used on a front cover. If there are many supporting organisations, these should be included as a list elsewhere, preferably the back or inside front cover.

KCC often works in partnership with other organisations. In theseinstances, KCC and our partners must be credited fairly and appropriately.

Our approach to partnerships can be categorised in two ways: partnershiporganisations and partnership working.

Partnership organisations

This is where KCC comes together with partners to create an‘organisation’ or entity. For example, Gateway.

In this situation, it is reasonable that this new organisation may require aunique brand, but it is not always essential. This must be approved byKCC’s communications team (see page 8).

Co-branding

Other logo Other logo

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For guidance on when you should use the KCC logo in partnership situations, see the Partnership branding flow chart below.

Partnership flow chart

Co-branding

Part E

Appendix

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Producing new brands

We are one council. Therefore, the creation of new brands for services,teams, projects, campaigns and initiatives is not permitted, unless a businesscase is presented to, and agreed by, the communications team. See page 21for partnership exceptions.

Campaigns, projects and initiatives

These must follow KCC’s brand guidelines unless otherwise directed oragreed by the communications team.

Team/service branding

Teams/services are only permitted to create and use their own brand if itis essential to remain externally competitive in a commercial market andwhere generating income is a key strategic objective.

However, these brands must not be used internally.

For example, Adult Education, Commercial Services and A KentishCeremony are all examples of KCC services that are competing in acommercially-driven external environment where competitive edge can begained through the development of a strong, unique brand.

While these services are permitted to use a unique brand, this must beaccompanied by the KCC logo. This must be applied as set out in ourpartnership guidelines on page 21.

All other services (such as those below) must use only the KCC identityas set out in this guide.

Teams, services and internal groups (such as those below) are notpermitted to create new, or use existing, logos for internal use.

Appendix

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KCC branding guidelines

This document is available in alternative formats and can be explained in a range of languages. For details please call 01622 694044.

brand

Documents

brand guidelines

strong brand

consistent brand

kcc brand consistent

brand principlesorganisations

brand contents2why

kcc use

kent county council