The visual identity program plays an important role in shaping Carnegie Mellon's the institutional image. The more consistently the graphic elements are used, the stronger the visual identity. The stronger the visual identity and use of consistent nomenclature, the greater the awareness and recognition of the university.

The "formula" for building and maintaining recognition:

Consistency • Frequency • Repetition

Over a Sustained Period of Time
Consistency
Carnegie Mellon must commit to a consistent name and treatment of its name. We must limit the number and type of variations that are permitted. We must curtail the number of competitive logos that are created under the university umbrella.

Frequency
We must use the Carnegie Mellon wordmark every chance we get, on all brochures, invitations, postcards, letterhead, envelopes, souvenirs, merchandise, uniforms, signs, vans and trucks, clothing, Web pages, napkins and paper cups, athletic fields, displays, name tags and on and on and on.

Repetition
We must use the Carnegie Mellon wordmark over and over again. No matter how familiar we become as "senders," we must remember that our audiences are bombarded by other names and marks and must be reminded of ours.

Sustained over time
We cannot give in to the temptation to drop our logo and start over. It takes decades to build equity in a name, logo or brand. To start over wipes out years of value and sets us back more than we can afford. That's why the current identity system draws from the letterforms used in the original 1986 logo system. In this way, we can benefit from the established recognition of our name.


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