Below, are answer to your common questions to help you in your effort to implement the USC brand. If you have identity questions related to your academic or administrative unit, please get in touch with your USC Brand Ambassadors. The Brand Ambassadors are your contact point for questions you might have about logo usage and brand compliance.
Please make sure you use a usc.edu email, not a personal one (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, AOL). Only staff, faculty and student workers for a USC entity are allowed to download the USC marks and logotypes.
If you have a med.usc.edu email, you may not be able to download it through Shibboleth from Google Drive. Contact your Brand Ambassador at Keck Medicine of USC.
If you cannot find an answer to your USC branding or identity guidelines question on this site, please contact the Brand Creative team at identity@usc.edu or the brand ambassador for your academic or administrative unit.
Please review our “How to Request a Logotype” here.
Please visit here to download our brand fonts. The Adobe Caslon Pro font is available through USC Adobe Creative Cloud enterprise license.
Please contact the Senior Business Officer for your division. All Senior Business Officers have been trained by Purchasing to order stationery and they will help fulfill your request.
First, please review our signage policy here. Once your have a mock-up of your sign, contact one of our USC Signage Committee members for approval.
Please review USC’s policies for “Use of Third Party logotypes” here.
Please review USC’s policies for “Co-branding” here.
Athletic marks are the official symbols of the USC Athletic Departments for it’s sports teams. These marks, including the SC interlock, can only be used by the USC Athletic Department. All other USC entities are restricted from using the mark(s).
The SC interlock is a USC Athletic mark and can only be used by the USC Athletic Department. All other USC entities are restricted from using the SC interlock.
For the Keck Medicine of USC graphic identity guidelines, please visit https://brand.keckmedicine.org.
For questions, please email Health System Marketing and Communications at identity@med.usc.edu.
Contact the USC Dornsife Office of Communication at communication@dornsife.usc.edu for more information on obtaining USC Dornsife logotypes, including those for departments, programs, institutes, centers and offices, as well as electronic letterhead.
Our office handles presidential communications and initiatives through the USC Communications office. We are unable to work on projects outside of this group. You can also reach out to your brand ambassador who can either assist you or connect you to a design resource.
Yes, the seal can be used alone. Please remember that the seal is restricted for use in formal (ex. formal certificates) and Presidential communications only.
If you are a student organization, please contact salogos@usc.edu for approval.
Academic and Administrative units cannot create their own logotypes and must request an official USC logotype lockup here.
USC Cardinal (PMS 201) and USC Gold (PMS 123) are the official school colors and should not be substitued for similar colors. Please review our ‘Colors’ page for further guidance on other colors that are also possible to use, sparingly or as accents.
USC’s brand identity is one of our most valuable assets. Recognized worldwide, it immediately connects us with the hearts and minds of our audience. The visual elements of the USC identity create a distinctive look that, when applied consistently across all media, make it easier for our audiences to connect with our messaging. These elements consist of marks, logos, typography, colors and imagery. Benefits of the uniform application of these elements are immediate recognition and credibility that leverage the value associated with the USC brand. So, explore, learn, download and apply, and if you have any questions, we’re standing by: identity@usc.edu. Fight On!
Yes, and any person or entity who wishes to use the official USC marks and logotypes must adhere to the USC brand identity guidelines.
There is no exemption process.
USC Administrative and Academic letterhead is reserved for faculty and staff and its use is restricted to official university business. Please contact the Senior Business Officer for your division. All Senior Business Officers have been trained by Purchasing to order stationery and they will help fulfill your request.
Please check here to download your Academic logotype. If you cannot find your logotype, please check with your brand ambassador to locate subunits, programs and centers which are not available to download directly from this site.
The current brand identity was designed by Pentagram Austin in 2010.
The offcial USC marks and logotypes cannot be altered in any way.
Please contact the identity team or your brand ambassador who can help you obtain updated materials.
If you are trying to match our brand colors PMS 201C and PMS 123C on uncoated paper you will note that we always match to the coated (C) version of the Pantone color. That means that all printers MUST match to the coated Pantone chip of that color. Approved printers know this and should not make the mistake of using the uncoated PMS chip to match.
If you do not match your color to the coated chip, you will get your Gold will look orange and your Cardinal will look too dark.
The designer should create the file using the PMS C (coated) color. If the designer is printing in CMYK and not using Pantone colors, they must use the approved CMYK color combinations for the brand colors. When the designer goes to the printer, they should take the Pantone COATED chips with them to match to the coated color.
