UIF Style Handbook

We’ve created this handbook to help you express who you are as a Fellow and who we are as a community. Like many things in our world, this is a prototype. It evolved from a Google drive containing a few logos, and we imagine it will transform over time with your feedback. Our hope is that the guidance here will help you tell your UIF story in fabulous new ways.

Please share your feedback here.

In addition to this handbook, we’ve also created a UIF “store” for you, where you can download the designs we’ve used on t-shirts, stickers, hoodies and more. Check that out here.

Contents:

  1. Who we are
  2. Logo
  3. Colors
  4. Fonts
  5. Visuals
  6. Logo downloads
  7. Co-branding
  8. Content: writing to embody UIF values, and text about UIF and your role

1. WHO WE ARE

We are a movement

We want to help others

We are a family

We are bold

We take risks

We strive to be inclusive and equitable

We are always learning, adapting and improving

In all the work that we do, we try to exemplify these traits, and we hope you do as well. We also try to reflect these in how we communicate with our UIF brand, both through visuals and words. Below are some helpful hints about how you can use the UIF brand to communicate your efforts at your school.

This is our logo. We like it! To us, it represents the connections between all of us, as well as the impact that a single person can have on a community.

In order to maintain the cohesiveness of our movement, the logo needs to look the same whether it’s used on our materials or on yours. Please do not modify the logo. 

You may use the bug (the design in front of the text) as a secondary design motif only if the full logo is used in a primary location. The only place where the logo text is used alone is on the front of our classic UIF t-shirt (which we designed before we had a logo). You’ll see examples of the bug as a design motif below on this page.

3. COLORS

Primary: Black and White 

From the first days of our program, we’ve been drawn to black and white to represent who we are. The combination is eye-catching and powerful, and it serves as the perfect backdrop for other colors to shine (much like how we want each of you to shine in your roles as Fellows).

Secondary: Anything Bright!

For secondary colors, we like to use primary colors in our designs, as well as bright, neon sticky note/highlighter colors. You are welcome to use whatever colors you like best to highlight UIF’s bold black and white!

4. FONTS

Open Sans: We use this one the most, and it’s the font in the UIF logo. It has lots of variations, some of which you can see here.

Contrail One: We like to use this as a title or accent font.

We also like to use a sprinkling of handwritten fonts as throughout our designs, as they show a personal touch. You can find lots of different handwritten fonts for free online, but one of our favorites is Permanent Marker. All of these are free Google fonts!

5. VISUALS

These are the types of photos and illustrations we use most often to represent the culture of the UIF program, both in our program materials (worksheets, stickers, agendas) and marketing materials (website, social media, handouts). We suggest that you keep these mind as you create materials and share visuals at your schools, in order to show that we’re a cohesive movement.

Dots and/or lines connected (like the UIF bug)

Paper airplanes

Prototyping supplies (sticky notes, markers, low-res materials)

Community and family

Hand-made or hand-drawn elements

Active, engaged learning (people don’t always have to be smiling, but they shouldn’t look bored!)

6. DOWNLOADS

LOGOS

Styles: Black, white and gray versions of the full logo and the bug

File types: eps, jpg and png

Download the collection

GEAR DESIGNS

Want some UIF stickers or hoodies? Visit our UIF “store” to download and print designs that we’ve used on shirts, banners, stickers, and more.

7. CO-BRANDING

We’re still figuring out how to best connect your school’s graphic identity with ours. If you’re interested in creating a unique design that combines your school’s logo with the UIF logo, email laurie@universityinnovation.org so we can brainstorm together.

8. Content

How your writing can embody UIF’s values

Get personal
Use stories and memories to connect with your audience.

Put your heart on your sleeve
Don’t be afraid to share feelings, failures and struggles.

Lift up others
Give kudos to others you’ve collaborated with, and whose help has made your success possible.

Be honest, and be yourself
Write what you want to say, not what you think other people want to hear.

Phrases that exemplify UIF

This a glorious mix of phrases created by our program team, by Fellows, and by members of our community:

  • We believe students can change the world. The time is now. (from our UIF manifesto)
  • Do epic sh*t (originally a sticker distributed internally by Microsoft employees, adopted with permission by Fellows)
  • Start with love (spoken by Nadia Gathers in an ignite)
  • Yes, and…! (a classic stoke that we teach at the Meetup)
  • How might we…? (you know this prompt from defining problems in design thinking)
  • Limits don’t exist for innovators (written by a Fellow on a paper airplane)
  • Creativity starts with compassion (written by a Fellow on a paper airplane)
  • Embrace ambiguity (we just really like this one)

Text you can use about our program

If you need text to use in articles, social media, websites, and more, here’s how we describe our program:

The University Innovation Fellows program empowers students to become leaders of change in higher education. Fellows are leading a global movement to ensure that all students gain the attitudes, skills and knowledge required to navigate a complex world. These student leaders from schools around the world create new opportunities that help their peers develop an entrepreneurial mindset, build creative confidence, seize opportunities, define problems and address global challenges.

Fellows are creating student innovation spaces, founding entrepreneurship organizations, hosting experiential events, and working with faculty and administrators to develop courses. They serve as advocates for lasting institutional change with academic leaders and represent their schools at national events.

The University Innovation Fellows is a program of Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). The program was created as part of the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter), a five-year National Science Foundation grant (2011-2016), and became part of the d.school in July 2016.

Text you can use about your role in our program

Fellows who are current students
You are a University Innovation Fellow at *your school name*. You are a member of the University Innovation Fellows program.


Fellows who have graduated
You were a University Innovation Fellow at *your school name* from *training date* to *graduation date*.

Once a Fellow, always a Fellow. But it makes sense that on LinkedIn and in your resume, you might indicate an end-date to your role so that it doesn’t appear as though you’re still at your school. In writing you might say something like, “Juan Doe served as a University Innovation Fellow at Awesome University until 2018 when he graduated with a degree in Engineering. He continues his work in innovation at the Awesome Company.”


Faculty champions
You are a University Innovation Fellows faculty champion at *your school name*.


Schools
*Your school name* participates in the University Innovation Fellows program.
OR
*Your school name* has students in the University Innovation Fellows program.

Referring to your role in professional/social media

Résumé/CV

University Innovation Fellow, *Your school name*
Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), Stanford University
*Semester/year trained – present/last semester involved*

Team Coach (uiguide)
University Innovation Fellows Program, Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), Stanford University
*Year*

Speaker and Facilitator (Fab)
University Innovation Fellows Program, Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), Stanford University
*Silicon Valley Meetup/Eastern Hemisphere Meetup, month, year*

LinkedIn

Title: University Innovation Fellow, *Your school name*
Category: Experience
Company: University Innovation Fellows (http://www.linkedin.com/company/university-innovation-fellows)

Facebook

Title: University Innovation Fellow, *Your school name*
Company: University Innovation Fellows (http://www.facebook.com/universityinnovationfellows/)