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08 — Putting it together

Putting it together

The same system flexes from a presidential note to a student postcard. Turn secondary color, script type, and big graphic elements up or down with the audience.

Informal to formal

You already have the tools. The question is how far to push them.

Informal

we radiate

  • More secondary color.
  • Sharpie and shorter, bolder lines.
  • Stained glass and radiating graphics at a larger scale.
  • Current students and prospective undergraduates.

Formal

Grounded, we radiate.

  • Brown, gold, white, and little else.
  • Prestige palette when the room is the president’s office or a high-dollar ask.
  • Type stays in Span and DM Sans. No script.
  • Graphic elements crop down to a thin accent.

What the guide demonstrates

The back of the book shows viewbooks, a postcard, social stories, display ads, emails, a landing page, an MBA brochure, and a DNP one-sheet. They demonstrate the language. They are not live facts or finished campaigns. Take the structure, then write the real proof.

Viewbook and brochure

A platform headline, one promise, a short proof list, and a human line. Stats support the promise. They do not replace it.

Postcard and stories

One idea, large type, a single next step. “Don’t just shine anywhere. Radiate everywhere.” is the shape, not a required line.

Display ads

Two states often work better than one sentence. “Radiate integrity.” then “Apply now.” Or “Because we’re grounded in empathy…” then “We radiate care.”

Email

A short hook, a human opening, one update, and a way to reply. The sample voice is warm and specific, not a metaphor in every paragraph.

Landing page

The same hierarchy as a print piece: headline, promise, proof, action. Dial the voice up at the top and get more functional as the reader goes down.

Presidential and donor work

Move toward the formal end. Prestige color, the prestige logo, and language about lending light rather than a student-casual script.

Before you ship

  1. 01 Name the audience and the single message.
  2. 02 Check the message against the core value proposition.
  3. 03 Pick a headline pattern, then make sure the rest of the copy is not all light and radiance.
  4. 04 Confirm the logo: right signature, right colorway, primary background, official file.
  5. 05 Confirm type: Span, DM Sans, Sweet Sans Pro, Sharpie only if the tone earns it.
  6. 06 Run color pairs through the matrix. Logos never sit on secondary color.
  7. 07 If there is a gradient, brown or gold is in it.
  8. 08 Put a real proof point and a real call to action on the piece.
  9. 09 Read it aloud with the voice checklist.

Still unsure? nicki.kollar@valpo.edu · 219.464.5170