The Brand Book
Storytelling is at the center of LSU’s mission to be recognized as a Top 50 research university. The stories we tell with We Build Teams That Win communicate the proof of our successes and how the university is advancing Louisiana, the country, and the world. Our stories should celebrate the power of teamwork to accomplish something extraordinary that can’t be done by one person alone. Our various communication teams across the university must also align as a cohesive team to tell a complex but consistent story of LSU and maximize our brand’s impact at the national level.
HOW WE TELL OUR STORY
Our storytelling formula is simple. Every story should clearly identify a problem, challenge, or unmet need. Ideally, the story includes data about the problem to emphasize the urgent demand for a solution. When possible, a person from outside the university affected by the problem should be featured to humanize the issue and paint a larger picture. Once the problem is established, we demonstrate how LSU's winning teams of students, faculty, researchers, staff, or strategic partners are providing a solution. The players involved in the solution should always be introduced, along with any personal connection they might have to the issue at hand. The research and/or solution they've developed should be explained in a way that’s thorough but easy to understand. Finally, the story should demonstrate the impact of the solution in a way that makes our audiences feel the work we do is positively affecting their lives and communities in real ways.
STORYTELLING EXAMPLES
For example: Globally, 2.3 million children died in 2023 in the first 20 days of life, with approximately 6,500 newborn deaths every day, and Louisiana's infant mortality rate is higher than the national average. That’s why a team of faculty and student researchers from LSU have developed a temperature-detecting hat for infants and are developing other wearable technology that monitors other vital signs. The new technology will help keep infants safe and alleviate the stress of new parents.
This is only one example of the amazing stories driving LSU’s national prominence — the foremost outcome of our strategic framework. Below, you'll discover the tools and guidelines needed to best tell these stories across as many mediums and channels as possible. Additionally, download the full storytelling framework for detailed information about our brand areas of focus, the types of stories we should be telling, the ideal tone and language, strategies for discovering stories across campus, audiences, and more. This framework helps standardize our stories and align storytelling across the university.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is one of our most important channels for telling LSU's stories. When posting content related to We Build Teams That Win, the hashtag #WBTTW should be used along with words such as "team" and "win" in accompanying copy to build a connection between the hashtag and tagline. When possible, images of academically high-achieving students and faculty should be given an "athletic" treatment to capture a similar winning aesthetic to our sports teams, representing our students and faculty as all-stars. Graphics should be bold and eye-catching to increase the opportunity for engagement and impressions.
VIDEOGRAPHY
Video stories are at the center of our storytelling strategy. Videos have the power to engage with our audiences in a way no other medium can. They bring our stories to life by showcasing the key players involved in the university's success as well as the people and communities we're helping. Video stories should prioritize teams working together. The visual style should focus on group shots and/or sequences of individuals performing various tasks that convey an overall narrative of a group effort. Videos should generate a feeling of excitement with a fast-paced, athletics-style visual treatment that is bold and captivating. Videos should be a condensed length to make a succinct point using the problem + solution + impact formula and include action shots set where the subjects are in their element (e.g., working in a lab or other appropriate environment).
VISUAL IDENTITY
The look and feel of our brand is just as important as the content within the stories we tell and how we tell them. The visual identity of We Build Teams That Win sets the brand apart from other brands and creates an intentional and cohesive toolkit for anyone at the university to tell LSU's story. The guidelines and resources below will help every story told at the university feel part of a larger consistent narrative, but they will also elevate your stories with a character and style that boldly declares what LSU looks like in the world.
THE MARK
When using the mark for We Build Teams That Win in Louisiana, for the World, it should be used as the artwork provided and should always appear with the LSU logo. The full tagline must be used in all advertising regardless of audience with the exception of ads with limited space such as small digital ads or billboards.
If the tagline is used in copy, it should be written out word for word as formatted in the previous sentence. The tagline and mark should never be altered, and alternate taglines or campaigns should never be used in conjunction with We Build Teams That Win.
The full tagline must be used in communications with Louisiana legislators, partners and prospective partners, parents of current students, and current students. We Build Teams That Win may be used on its own when speaking to prospective students and prospective parents.
CO-BRANDING FOR PARTNERS
We Build Teams That Win in Louisiana, for the World should be used as the artwork provided and should always appear with the LSU logo.
Signatures or other logos may not appear in a lock up with the logo or in place of the LSU logo.
COLOR
PRIMARY COLOR PALETTE
LSU Purple and LSU Gold are recognizable as brand-specific colors and should be first choice considerations when selecting color for your project.
Unless printing in one color (black ink), black and white should not be used without a primary brand color — LSU Purple or LSU Gold — to represent the brand.
SECONDARY COLOR PALETTE
The expanded palette of secondary colors are intended to enhance and lend flexibility to the LSU brand. They may not be used without LSU Purple or LSU Gold to represent the brand, and they may not overpower (appear in larger quantities than) the primary brand colors. They should be used as accent colors.
PATTERNS
ARCHES
Based on the many arched colonnades in the original historic campus at the center of LSU, this repeating pattern is a visual celebration of academic achievements and wins.
SCOREBOARD
The scoreboard pattern is used to shine the stadium spotlight on the innovative, academic, and creative genius our faculty and students achieve in the lab, the classroom, and through industry partnerships, as well as the competitive spirit our student-athletes bring to the field. There are two variations of the scoreboard pattern to give options across various applications: one tight and one loose.
ROOF TILE
The red clay tile roofs of the LSU campus are unique to our environment and representative of the interlocking collaborative effort that takes place daily in the classrooms and labs they house.
NEON
Neon applied to tiger stripes or text is a recent trend added to bring edge and color to the brand. The neon serves as a light source when “s-portraiture” portraits are used to feature faculty and students. The neon application might help your designs connect with younger audiences or, conversely, highlight current or cutting-edge research accomplishments.
TYPOGRAPHY
Forza is the primary brand font for LSU. Forza visually taps into the vibe of LSU athletics and allows us to capitalize on the widespread brand recognition that athletics provides. Forza is reminiscent of what you might see in Tiger Stadium or University Recreation. The squared off shape of the letters in Forza is a great compliment to the LSU wordmark and serves as a spirited and stately academic version of the Geaux Font. In addition to being the primary brand font for LSU, this is also the primary font used in the current implementation of the We Build Teams That Win campaign in market.
Proxima Nova is the support font for LSU. Proxima Nova is a versatile sans-serif font that can work for anything from headlines
to body copy. It can be pushed and manipulated to work in various ways — or it can
simply be used for utility. Use Proxima Nova in print and on the web.
Please note: there are alternate versions of Proxima Nova available that are appended
with the letters A or S. Do not use Proxima Nova A or Proxima Nova S.
Sinter is the accent font for LSU. The numbers in Sinter are a more stylized and spirited option for highlighting bold
facts and big wins that can be quantified in numbers.
Sinter is also available as a webfont and should be used in place of Forza when specifying
a webfont for digital applications.
Lindsey Signature is an accent font for the We Build Teams That Win brand. This accent is reminiscent of an autograph given to a fan or a handwritten scorecard. Use Lindsey Signature to identify a researcher or student by name or to highlight their role on a team. This font is intended as a light emphasis to add character and personalization to a design.
EXAMPLES
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography for We Build Teams That Win should prioritize images showcasing groups of people as teams. Action is at the center of the concept, so imagery should portray subjects involved in an activity related to solving a specific problem rather than an emphasis on portrait shots. The tone should be confident and aspirational.
