Imagine for a moment that you are representing Carnegie Mellon University at a presentation table or booth at a recruitment fair, an exhibit, professional conference or some other event. Now imagine your frustration when prospective students, business people or alumni don't approach you or just walk past because they didn't notice or distinguish the Carnegie Mellon name or look among all of the other colleges or companies also on hand.

Now put yourself in the position of a prospective student, alumnus or donor who receives information from Carnegie Mellon. One day they go to the mailbox and find a magazine, a newsletter, an invitation, a personal letter and a brochure. Each has a different logo. Some include the name of Carnegie Mellon right on the cover. Others don't mention it except on the return address. Yet one is from a college, another from the alumni office, a third from the admission office or annual giving office, a fourth from a research program and a fifth from a career center or a student program. All are from one university—Carnegie Mellon—but the recipient might not figure that out for quite a while. And, he or she might wonder why one part of the university doesn't know what the other half is doing.

Finally, try clicking through the university Web site. We've heard from many students, prospective and current, who are a bit dismayed and disappointed to encounter so many radically different looks and navigation structures on our Web pages, not to mention how difficult it can be to find all graduate programs at once, or get a comprehensive list of career networking opportunities or programs for minority students or women. Each page tells part of the story, but very few pages present a comprehensive and connected insight into the university.

These are just a few of the real issues that have led to the development of a consistent identity program for Carnegie Mellon.

The pages that follow tell you more about the elements of the Carnegie Mellon identity system, provide guidelines for when and how to use these elements in your own communications and products, and even offers artwork and examples to help you envision how the identity system can work for you.

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