Guidelines

Stationery guidelines

University stationery is standard for all offices, departments, units, and university research centers, unless otherwise prescribed in this manual. These designs feature the reconfigured vertical version of the official university logo and are available for download.

Desktop printing

Two-color templates provide an attractive alternative to one-color when printing letterhead, envelopes, and mailing labels on desktop color printers. These templates print equally well in one color. University faculty and staff may download customized letterhead and envelope files.

Commercial printing

Whenever possible, stationery (letterhead, envelopes, and business cards) should be produced with a maroon shield and all other elements should appear in black as shown. In the case of one-color printing, stationery should be printed using the 60-percent black shield logo with black ink on 20 lb., 25-percent rag bond, white. The approved maroon, PMS 208, can be substituted for black.

University Printing Services keeps stationery package formats on file. To order preprinted stationery, please contact University Printing Services at printing@vt.edu or 540-231-6701.

Letterhead: administrative units

Administrative units and research centers
The official university logo appears at the top left of the letterhead as shown. Note that no additional unit logotype is used in conjunction with the university logo in these instances.

Specific areas (i.e., office, center, or department names) should appear in 8.5 pt. Arial bold with 10 pt. leading above the building address and other contact information printed in 8 pt. Arial regular with 10 pt. leading. When space permits, keep the address on one line. Virginia is spelled out. Telephone and fax numbers, email address, and Web URLs follow. The university’s general URL—www.vt.edu—or department-specific URLs may be included if desired.

Named professorships can appear in place of the department name. Personalized stationery, however, is not permitted.

The official university tagline, Invent the Future, always appears in the footer at the bottom of the letterhead along with the formal name of the university and the equal opportunity statement. No alterations or additions to this information are permitted unless specifically prescribed elsewhere in this manual.

Letterhead: colleges and other brand extensions

Letterheads for colleges, the Graduate School, and other brand extensions combine official brand extension logotype with the university’s logo. Alterations or substitutions are not permitted. College- and other brand extension-specific formats are available for download.

Specifications for the address block and formatting at the bottom of the letterhead are consistent with the administrative format guidelines.

Other brand extensions
Non-college brand extensions are unique organizational entities that have their own organizational structure and have been designed so that they do not report to any college. For that reason, these entities have their own special identity within the university.

Several university-level institutes are among the brand extensions, including the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science; Fralin Life Science Institute; Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment; Virginia Bioinformatics Institute; and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. The National Capital Region is also a brand extension.

Because they have a unique, university-wide role in helping Tech achieve its research initiatives, entity-specific logotype has been developed for their use on traditional visual identity vehicles, such as letterheads, business cards, websites, and publications.

Adherence to other visual standards will apply, and brand extension identities must be subordinate to the university identity. The university brand identity will remain the primary identity for each entity.

For a complete listing of brand extensions, please refer to the brand architecture section.

Business cards: administrative units and brand extensions

Administrative units and research centers
The official university logo appears at the top left of the business card as shown. Note that no additional unit logotype is used in conjunction with the university logo in these instances.

Specific areas (i.e., office, center, or department names) should appear in 8 pt. Arial bold with 9.6 pt. leading above the building address and other contact information printed in 7.5 pt. Arial regular with 9 pt. leading as shown. When space permits, keep the address on one line. Virginia is abbreviated in zip code format. Telephone and fax numbers, email addresses, and Web URLs follow. The university’s general URL—www.vt.edu—or department-specific URLs may be included if desired.

A secondary business card version is permitted for people whose names, titles, or department names are too long to fit the preferred format. Printing Services provides guidance and setup for all business cards.

Colleges and other brand extensions
In keeping with the letterhead treatment, business cards for colleges, the Graduate School, and other brand extensions combine official college or entity logotype with the university’s logo. College and other brand extension logotype appears on a single line on cards. Alterations or substitutions are not permitted.

Formatting specifications and design options are otherwise consistent with the administrative business cards.

Commercial printing
The preferred business card features the shield in maroon with all other elements appearing in black, as shown, on 100 lb. cover, Mohawk Options, true white, smooth—an environmentally sound paper stock. One-color versions may be printed in black ink or the approved maroon, PMS 208.

To order business cards, please contact Printing Services at printing@vt.edu or 540-231-6701. External commercial printing must conform to the university’s approved template formatting. Desktop printing of business cards is discouraged.

Envelopes and mailing labels: administrative units and brand extensions

Administrative units and centers
As shown in the sample, the university logo dominates the return address area. Below it, the office, center, or department name appears, followed by the campus mail code in parentheses. The city, state, and zip code follow on the next line.

A third line may be used only when necessary, but avoid encroaching on the U.S. Postal optical character reader (OCR) area, which measures 2 3/4" from the bottom edge of envelopes. Arial regular, 8 pt. with 9.6 pt. leading is standard.

The university tagline, Invent the Future, appears in a 20 percent screen of black, 13 pt. Arial bold italic, with very loose kerning as shown.

Colleges and other brand extensions
In addition to the administrative design features, envelopes for colleges and other brand extensions combine official college or entity logotype — on one line — with the university’s logo. Other alterations are not permitted.

Exemplary Departments
Departments that earn the distinct designation as “exemplary departments” may include this designation on the back flap of their envelopes for up to five years after receiving the exemplary department award.

Desktop printing
For desktop printing, college- and entity-specific formats are available for download by the university community. These two-color formats print equally well on black and white printers.

Commercial printing
Using 24 lb. white wove bond, envelopes are printed with a maroon shield and other elements in black. In one-color printing, use either black or approved maroon PMS 208.

To order, contact University Printing Services at printing@vt.edu or 540-231-6701.

Others

Mailing labels
A downloadable mailing label template for desktop printing is available.

Email signature
For all university employees: Arial or Franklin Gothic font with the university’s logo or official non-university or college brand extension logo. Name, professional designations, and title should be in bold.