It’s in our name — and in our nature.
North never wavers.
NMU partnered with Ologie, a nationally renowned branding agency, to refine its messaging and create a cohesive brand platform for the entire community, including prospective students, alumni, current Wildcats, Marquette residents, and Upper Peninsula citizens.
Working closely with Ologie, the NMU core team included representatives from Alumni/Foundation, Admissions, Institutional Effectiveness, and University Marketing and Communications. The partnership began with an in-depth discovery process, which involved reviewing existing brand materials, conducting interviews with key stakeholders, distributing a community-wide survey, and hosting an on-campus workshop with Ologie, among other activities.
This webpage outlines the outcomes of this collaborative process and serves as a guide for effectively implementing the new brand strategy and messaging platform.
What Is a Brand?
Our brand is an enduring platform that articulates the Northern Michigan University story, our unique point of view and the experiences we create. Most of all, our brand helps us tell a consistent, authentic story to our audiences across all our communications. These guidelines define and describe the various elements of our brand, and they work together to bring the brand to life. As we determine the stories we tell and how we tell them, we can rely on the guidance in these pages to inspire our work.
Sections
Messaging Strategy
Essence
Our brand essence is how we want to be thought of in the minds of our most important audiences. It’s not how we express ourselves externally; it’s about what we want people to remember when they walk away.
Positioning
As an elaboration of the essence, the positioning statement can serve as a point of pride and a source of identity.
Messaging
The message map creates a hierarchy to articulate what we say and why it matters, consistently and compellingly. It outlines the key ideas we need to communicate (but not the exact words to use in materials).
Audiences
We need to understand and prioritize who we’re speaking to and establish goals for each audience, so we can best engage them with the brand.
Personality
Our personality traits set the tone for how we convey our messages. They answer questions like: How do we make people feel when we interact with them? How would they describe us? By staying true to these characteristics, we can create materials with greater resonance and emotional strength.
Voice & Tone
Brand Narrative
The narrative is an inspirational source for our storytelling. At the highest level, it sets the tone for our brand, and exemplifies a human voice for our messaging. It can help keep us consistent and make our stories believable, even as we go out and share our personal experiences.
Something draws us to Northern Michigan University.
Calls us up to this point on Lake Superior, like a beacon.
An opportunity, an experience, just waiting for us to arrive.
And so we head North.Inspired by the beauty and spirit that surrounds us here, we immerse ourselves in the perfect environment to test our minds and try our hands.
Guided by this community of scholars, mentors and friends who show up for us in every way, we set a course of action for our futures. And we stay true.We explore fields that fill us with wonder.
We find insights and unearth solutions that show us we’re on the right track.
We uncover new territory, new ways of thinking and walks of life to push us outside our comfort.
And through it all, we feel it: a constant reminder that this is what moves our lives forward and leads this region onward, Northward.
We take North with us.Wherever we go, Wildcats always find a way to uplift those around us.
Whatever the journey, we lead out in front and welcome others in.
Working together to weather any storm — with an iron will and an uncommon warmth.Because at NMU, where we are and who we are, have always been one and the same.
It’s in our name — and in our nature.
North never wavers.ALWAYS NORTH
Northern Michigan University
Visual Language
Typography
When it’s used thoughtfully, typography becomes a powerful brand tool that can add visual meaning to what we say. Our typography communicates clearly and cleanly, with enough flexibility for a wide range of situations.
Colors
Our color palette is purposeful and restrained, with NMU Green and NMU Gold as the official colors for the university. It’s critical to match these colors faithfully when reproducing the marks and our materials. When using our palette, we rely primarily on NMU Green and NMU Gold for layouts, with black and white for copy. Secondary colors and neutrals are used to support the visual brand.
Photography
Photography plays an important role in our communications because it tells our story visually. Although our words are compelling, images go further to offer powerful proof of what we say.
Our images tend to fall into three categories: Academics, Experiential and Environmental. In all three, we strive to capture the experience that the university creates for our students, from classroom moments, to wide-ranging experiences, to the learning opportunities that our natural environment provides.
Graphics
Border Patterns: Border patterns have been created that evoke natural elements of the Northern Michigan and Marquette region. Adding them to our communications helps tie them further to the true spirit of this place, while also making our communications instantly recognizable and relatable to our audiences.
Woodcut Illustrations: Woodcut illustrations speak to our programs and environment, while also providing context to our stories and adding character to layouts.
