Communicator Resources

NC State Brand

Brand Assets
NC State University has a variety of brand assets available for download. From logos to icons, color palettes, email signatures and stationary, we have you covered.

Brand Colors
You may bleed Wolfpack red, but can you find it in a Pantone color guide? Keep your communications on brand by familiarizing yourself with our color palette.

Brand Imagery
Our imagery should be big, bold, vibrant and make a statement. Our photography should reflect the energy and momentum in our work. Learn more about the visual side of our brand.

Brand Typography
NC State’s primary typeface is Univers. Discover how to use typography to advance the brand.

Editorial Style Guidelines
NC State’s editorial style is rooted in The Associated Press Stylebook with slight alterations specific to our brand and university.

Logo Guidelines
The NC State “brick” logo is the heart of the NC State brand. It should be used on all core communications. Learn what guidelines apply.

Overview of the NC State Brand
NC State’s brand helps set us apart from our peers. Learn the basics behind the NC State brand and see how it originated.

Voice and Tone
At NC State, we speak boldly and purposefully. Find out how to reinforce the NC State brand through a single established brand voice.

Tools

Advertising Opportunities to NC State Audiences
Interested in advertising to members of the Wolfpack such as faculty, staff, students, alumni and athletic supporters? This list, while not exhaustive, provides some advertising possibilities that reach your desired audiences.

Billboard Digital Signage System
Billboard is a system for displaying digital signage on computer kiosks and web-enabled digital screens across campus. It’s often used by units and colleges as a way to internally communicate a message, promotion or campaign. Log in with your Unity ID to get started.

Branded Video (B-Roll)
University Communications and Marketing provides on-brand video footage for use in your marketing efforts. This b-roll can be used as supplemental footage to help tell your NC State story. Need help producing a full video? We can do that, too.

Campus Newsletters Database
Packed with information about the e-newsletters published by colleges and units across campus, this inventory includes everything from audience data to distribution frequency and metrics. Feel free to add/edit your newsletters at any time. This tool is available to all campus communicators, whether you’re looking to share your news with relevant audiences outside your own network or develop new connections within the university.

Email Generator
The NC State Email Generator — provided by University Communications and Marketing — makes it easy to execute your email marketing strategy with on-brand emails. The system uses WordPress to generate email code so you can avoid clunky built-in editors provided by Bronto and MailChimp. There are free and paid versions depending on the complexity of your marketing needs.

Event Calendar
The University Event Calendar on ncsu.edu is managed by University Communications and Marketing. Want to submit your upcoming events? Log in with your Unity ID to get started.

Event Planning
Planning a high-level university event? University Special Events and Experiences is here to provide guidance and support every step of the way. Putting together something smaller? Check out their handy tips and tools, useful for events of all shapes and sizes.

Event Signage
University Communications and Marketing has podium signs, a step-and-repeat backdrop and campaign-branded banners that can be borrowed for events.

Font Licenses
We retain a limited number of font licenses for NC State’s primary typeface, Univers. These licenses are distributed at the discretion of University Communications and Marketing and available to key communicators on campus. To inquire about a license, contact ncstatebrand@ncsu.edu.

NC State Photos
Formerly known as PackPix, this repository of NC State imagery is accessible to all NC State employees through their Unity ID. High-resolution versions are available for download. Sort and search images using specific tags or browse by category.

Promotional Items
Want to order branded swag for your college, department or unit? There are many vendors that work across campus, but remember: you should only be working with licensed, approved vendors who have completed the proper process with Trademark and Licensing. You can find a list of approved vendors ready to take your order in MyPack Portal’s MarketPlace.

Newswire
The NC State Newswire is a free campus service provided by University Communications and Marketing that aggregates news stories from across campus and makes them easy to find, share and republish. Campus communicators can republish stories from the Newswire on their own websites or contribute stories to the Newswire for other units to distribute. Request an account and start sharing content by emailing csthomp2@ncsu.edu

Photo and Publicity Release Form
When photographing or filming anyone for university marketing purposes it is advised that you get a model release signed.

• Model and Publicity Release Form: English
• Model-only Release Form: Spanish

Qualtrics Survey Tool
NC State’s Office of Information Research and Planning provides Qualtrics — a dynamic survey software tool — to all faculty, staff and students. Simply sign up for an account. Don’t forget to register your surveys before you send them.

Recording Studio
University Communications and Marketing has an on-site recording studio. If you need to record radio ads and voice-overs — or need a sound-proof room with recording equipment — contact adnorri2@ncsu.edu.

Stationery and Business Cards
Branded letterhead and business cards can be ordered through NC State’s MarketPlace vendor system via Office Depot. Log in to MyPack Portal, start a requisition through MarketPlace with Office Depot and select Print + Copy. From there, select Brand Identity; you can order what you need from there. Available items include business cards, letterhead, memo pads and envelopes.

The Bulletin
The Bulletin is NC State’s internal faculty and staff email newsletter. New employees should automatically begin receiving the newsletter in their email each Thursday. If you have an item that you would like to share with the campus community, contact phsmith@ncsu.edu.

Policies and Guidelines

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidance
Review UComm’s guidelines and best practices for NC State communications and marketing professionals using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Contracts
Communicators often use services that require the signing of an agreement or contract; however, only authorized persons are allowed to sign contracts on behalf of the university. If a transaction involves signing a contract, the contract must be submitted to NC State Procurement and Business Services. This includes purchases of less than $5,000 and goods or services that are provided for free. As a communicator, do not sign contracts without prior review by Procurement and Business Services.

Drone Policy
Unmanned Aerial Systems, or UAS, offer great potential as tools for research and teaching. Regulation 10.10.09 establishes a framework for identifying, managing and mitigating risk when using UAS. This framework ensures our compliance with all state and federal laws and regulations, and serves to further NC State’s institutional goals and objectives. Visit OIT’s website for more information about the rules, policies and procedures surrounding drone usage on campus.

Equal Opportunity and Cost Statements
All printed materials paid for with state money must include the university’s official equal opportunity statement and a cost statement. They may appear in the most convenient spot on your print materials and can be as small as 6-point type. This is a state of North Carolina statute.

• Equal Opportunity Statement:
  NC State provides equal opportunity and affirmative action efforts, and prohibits discrimination and harassment based upon the following, which is considered by NC State to be a “protected status”: a. race; b. color; c. religion (including belief and nonbelief); d. sex, including but not limited to (i) pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, (ii) parenting and (iii) sexual harassment; e. sexual orientation; f. actual or perceived gender identity; g. age; h. national origin; i. disability; j. veteran status; or k. genetic information. NC State also prohibits retaliation based upon a person’s engagement in a protected activity.
• Public Document Cost Statement:
  (quantity) copies of this public document were printed at a cost of (cost $ or ¢ ) per copy.

Filming on Campus
Any outside entity interested in filming or photographing on campus must work with University Communications and Marketing to secure a location agreement. This location agreement grants the third party permission to film on campus per NC State’s filming guidelines and procedures. Approval requests must be submitted before filming.

Go Links
There are plenty of link shorteners online, but only one link shortener is branded for NC State. Any person with a Unity ID can use the Go Links system to generate custom or randomly shortened links for sharing.

Survey Approvals
If you are an NC State communicator and want to send a survey to members of the Wolfpack, you’ll need to register first. NC State regulations require that all surveys are registered through the Office of Institutional Research and Planning to help prevent survey fatigue and ensure quality data.

Purchasing and State Bid Process
If you plan to make a purchase of $5,000 or more, it must go out on state bid. NC State’s Purchasing Department can assist with your bid requests, including printing and promotional items.

Trademark and Licensing
Our Trademark Licensing unit protects NC State’s trademarks, service marks, logos and symbols. Remember, units buying promotional items and merchandise must use a licensed vendor. Learn the rules.

Professional Development and Networking

StateComm Listserv
University Communications and Marketing manages a Google Listserv designed for sharing ideas and information among NC State communicators. This moderated Listserv also serves as the membership roster for periodic StateComm meetings held on campus. The Listserv email is group-communicators@ncsu.edu.

Trainings and Workshops
Whether you want to learn the ins and outs of the NC State brand, deep-dive into our web products or build up your communications skills, experts across UComm are here to help with frequent trainings.

Social Media

Official NC State Channels
Unsure if a social media account is officially sanctioned by a college, department or unit? Check out our list of official channels to connect and discover other accounts.

Social Media Policy
This website establishes procedures for launching social media accounts for an NC State unit and obtaining official university recognition. Learn the ins-and-outs of managing accounts in accordance with existing campus and state policies.

Register Your Social Media Account
All official NC State social media accounts must be registered with the university. Follow the directions on this page to register your account.

Social Media Hub
NC State’s Social Media Hub — part of University Communications and Marketing — is home to social media experts from various colleges, departments and units across NC State. State-of-the-art software and training allows our specialists in the hub to effectively leverage social media for the benefit of the NC State brand. To learn more about the Hub, contact mnelliso@ncsu.edu.

News

Experts Database
Need one of NC State’s experts to speak with the news media? Try our experts list. The searchable database features hundreds of authorities across various disciplines who have agreed to share their expertise with the media.

NC State News
NC State News is the central news portal for NC State news. Explore breaking news, feature stories and reports from the forefront of education and research.

In the News
Want to see where NC State has been mentioned in the local, regional and national news? Check out our recent feed.

News Tips and Story Ideas
Have a story idea? Share it with us. The sooner you bring us into the process, the better we can address your communications or media needs. Contact newstips@ncsu.edu with your ideas.

TV Studio
NC State University has a television studio facility located in the Butler Communications Building. The studio can be used for interviewing faculty and staff for broadcast television purposes. To make arrangements to use the studio, contact NC State News Services at (919)515-8387 or (919)515-3470.

Web

Bootstrap
University Communications and Marketing provides an NC State flavor of the Bootstrap front-end coding library. The library gives developers a jumpstart when creating an on brand theme. It automatically includes NC State’s web fonts, brand color palette and more.

Utility Bar
The brand utility bar helps identify websites as being part of the university’s ecosystem. That bar also includes links to useful resources on campus and a prominent search box. The search box will return results from all campus websites. It can also optionally include results for only the site on which it is embedded.

Wolficons
Branded equivalents of many common user interface icons are available through the Wolficon library. These icons can be freely used on university websites and other digital properties. If an icon is needed that is not part of the current set of Wolficons, requests can be made at go.ncsu.edu/ucomm-dev-request.

Email Templates
University Communications and Marketing provides free access to an Email Generator service. This service is mainly used to create individual emails to be sent with email senders such as MailChimp and Bronto. However, the service can also be used to generate HTML email templates that can be imported into other systems that send automated emails.

Web Platform Documentation
University Communications and Marketing maintains a documentation site that includes information for users of UComm web platforms and services.

Web Development Requests
Requests of and help tickets to the UComm web development team can be made by using a centralized form. This form helps route requests to the most appropriate individual(s) within UComm.