Visual Identity Guidelines

Site Navigation

A consistency of look and navigation helps the entire university communicate clear, consistent, and more effective messages. Therefore, in order to assist campus web developers, web design recommendations, graphic elements, and style sheets are provided below. The goal is that these elements (web-ready logos, fonts, common navigation bars, footers, etc.) will assist existing departments, offices, and groups create or modify their sites to "feel" similar to central university web pages.

A minimal but prominent common navigation bar

A red/gray common navigation bar at the top of the page is the recommended primary common element among all Ohio State service sites and department/college web pages. It's a minimal primary element that reasonably attempts to tie together thousands of web pages under decentralized control. To maintain consistent usage across the university, please do not modify the navigation bar beyond customizing it with the name of your department, college, school, office, or program.

(HTML, CSS and graphics for the common navigation bar available on the Web Resources site )

Ohio State navigation bar

Service sites:

Service sites (administration pages) are encouraged to use the html templates provided on the Web Resources site.

(http://www.osu.edu/news)

News and Information

College/Departmental level:

The Ohio State logo or your logo with college, department, or unit distinction should appear somewhere on your web site. Below are some examples of acceptable logo placement. Contact Creative Services at (614) 292-8178 for assistance in developing your college, department, or unit logo.

http://internationalstudies.osu.edu/

International Studies

http://ehe.osu.edu/

Education and Human Ecology

http://vet.osu.edu/

College of Veterinary Medicine

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/entomology/main.asp

Department of Entomology

Other elements:

Logo
Minimum logo height: 54 pixels
Don't resize a bitmap version of the logo

Web-ready logo available on the downloads page. (This format is not to be used for print applications. Use this form to request a logo in an acceptable format for print.)

Additional web resources available on the Web Resources site.

Text hyperlink to the Ohio State home page:
<a href="http://www.osu.edu" title="The Ohio State University homepage">The Ohio State University</a>

Metatags:
Keywords tag should include: The Ohio State University, Ohio State, OSU. Description tag must reference the university as well as the specific office, department, or program. Example: "The Women's Place at The Ohio State University."