Branding Guidelines

 

 

OUR PURPOSE

Agora Speakers International is a worldwide nonprofit association of passionate volunteers devoted to helping people develop their public speaking, communication, critical thinking, debating and leadership skills.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

“Agora empowers you to become a brilliant communicator and a confident leader who will actively build a better world”

MISSION STATEMENT

• The mission statement cannot be modified in any way, except:
  • To translate it to a different language.
  • To replace “Agora empowers you” with “We empower you” where appropriate in materials, provided that the Agora Speakers International logo is also displayed.
• No text may be added to the mission statement.
• All parts of Agora Speakers and all affiliate clubs share this single common mission.

MAIN COLOR PALETTE

RED	HEX Web safe: CC3300 RGB: 206, 60, 23 CMYK: 13%, 90%, 100%, 3%

 

YELLOW

HEX Web safe: FF9900 RGB: 247, 175, 15 CMYK: 2%, 34%, 100%, 0

 

DARK PURPLE

HEX Web safe: 660033 RGB: 86,15,59 54%, 99%, 46%, 47%

 

WHITE

BLACK

SECONDARY COLOR PALETTE

HEX Web safe: FFCCCC RGB: 249,215,207 CMYK: 1%,17%,13%,0%

HEX Web safe: FF6666 RGB: 244,124,96 CMYK: 0%,64%,62%,0%

HEX Web safe: cc3300 RGB: 204,60,23 CMYK: 14%,90%,100%,4%

HEX Web safe: 993333 RGB: 160,53,59 CMYK: 26%,90%,75%,19%

HEX Web safe: FFFFCC RGB: 244,242,212 CMYK: 4%,2%,19%,0%

HEX Web safe: FFFF99 RGB: 247,233,154 CMYK: 4%,4%,49%,0%

HEX Web safe: CC9933 RGB: 209,149,42 CMYK: 17%,43%,100%,0%

HEX Web safe: 996633 RGB: 151,107,30 CMYK: 34%,54%,100%,18%

HEX Web safe: CC99CC RGB: 204,178,214 CMYK: 18%,31%,0,0

HEX Web safe: 666699 RGB: 118,82,133 CMYK: 62%,77%,22%,4%

HEX Web safe: 003366 RGB: 21,65,110 CMYK: 99%,80%,32%,18%

HEX Web safe: 333366 RGB: 53,28,77 CMYK: 88%,98%,37%,37%

LOGO PRESENTATIONS

Full Horizontal Format		Square Format
Full horizontal format.		Square format that can be used only for digital media where a square logo is required (icons, applications, etc.)

Simplified Horizontal Format
		Only allowed for physical merchandising materials where the size of the logo and the resolution of the target material makes it impracticable having fine detail. In these cases, the width of the logo must be no greater than 5cm.

LOGO SPACING AND SIZING

Logo Spacing		Minimum Sizes
Always leave a spacing of at least the size of the letter “S” around the logo, as shown.		Print 2cm   Web 128px

 

LOGO VARIATIONS

The following variations of the logo are allowed. All of them can be downloaded from the Brand Portal

Grayscale over clear background

Color over dark background

White over dark background

 

LOGO DON'Ts

The logo should not be altered in any way. Especially don’t do the following:

Don’t change any elements		Don’t change the colors		Don’t customize the text
Don’t apply effects		Don’t change the aspect ratio		Don’t rotate or skew
Don’t place on low contrast backgrounds		Don’t place on colors not on the palette		Don’t place elements over or under the logo
Don’t combine the logo with other elements		Don’t use the logo as a background		Don’t separate the components of the logo
Don’t translate the logo		Don’t use low res or scanned versions		Don’t use on photos that hinder legibility
Don’t print in metallic inks

 

LOGO DON'Ts

To avoid confusion with official Agora Speakers accounts, the following usages of the logo are not allowed:

• As a profile picture, avatar or cover picture (regardless of whether it represents a physical person or an organization such as a club)

Not Allowed

 

• The logo cannot appear, without prior written permission, in combination with a non-club logo, unless it is in the context of a listing of sponsors, meeting venues or similar auxiliary meeting-related organizations, and these are clearly labelled as such. In this last case, the logo of the club(s) or events being sponsored must appear as well, and there must be no confusion as to the fact that it is the club/event the one being sponsored, and not Agora Speakers International

Allowed	Not Allowed

FONTS

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRQR STUVWXYZ	The main font is CapitalisTypOasis. It consists only of uppercase characters, with no diacritics.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRQRSTUV WXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuwxyz 01234567890[]()!?={}*/&%\ áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùñÑäëïöüçÇ	A secondary font American Garamond BT which is a full UNICODE font

 

CUSTOM MATERIALS

Agora Speakers International allows clubs a lot of flexibility in the use of brand material and digital assets in order to create their own logos, certificates, rewards, stationery, even merchandising, and to produce all the materials locally or order them from the provider the club finds most appropriate.

Custom Materials can be created for their use in clubs, events (such as conferences, contests, etc.) , geographical areas (e.g.: leaflet of all clubs in a city), language groups (e.g.: German Speakers), etc, but cannot be created by members for personal use (e.g.: a custom-designed business card for the use of one or more unrelated members).
In this guide for the sake of brevity we will refer generically to all of them as “club” materials, and the name and logo of the club, event, geographical area, language group or similar will be referred to as “club name and logo”.

 

CUSTOM MATERIAL TYPES

Derived Materials		Non Derived Materials
Derived Materials are items created by modifying the official templates, or that incorporate parts of the digital assets of Agora Speakers International (e.g.: parts of the logo, parts of the mission statement, the font and color scheme of Agora’s name, etc.) For example: These parts make this logo a «derived» one		Materials created from scratch. A Non-Derived material may still use Agora Speakers International elements, as long as they are used unmodified. For Example: The logo is used unmodified

 

CUSTOM MATERIALS – GENERAL RULES

• Must comply with the bylaws.
• Can only be created and used by clubs.
• Must be related to the mission of Agora Speakers International.
• Affiliation with Agora Speakers International must be displayed.
• The usage of the Agora logo must comply with the Brand Guidelines.
• The author of the material will be solely responsible for any IP claims by a third party against it.
• The club name and/or logo must always be present, must be no smaller than Agora’s, and must always be significantly more prominent than any other logos present.
  (In order to avoid people thinking that a custom material developed by a club is an official Agora Speakers International material).
• Clubs can produce them locally, or order them from any provider they consider appropriate.
• If contact information is present, the contact information of the club and the contact information of Agora Speakers International must be clearly separated, and at least the website address of Agora Speakers International must be present (www.agoraspeakers.org)

For Derived Materials, additionally:

• No Intellectual Property rights may be asserted or claimed on any derived material
  This means, for example, that if you create some business cards or logos for your club using Agora’s digital assets, you cannot copyright or trademark them.
• Agora Speakers International cannot be associated with ideologies, religions or worldviews.

 

DISPLAYING AFFILIATION

Affiliation with Agora Speakers International can be displayed by including the Agora Speakers logo, and optionally a word combination such as “affiliated with” or equivalent. The club name and/or logo must not smaller than the logo of Agora Speakers.

Incorrect	Correct

 

DERIVED LOGOS

Agora Speakers International encourages clubs to create club logos derived from the official logo

 

The derived logo may not include any elements from other recognizable logos or symbols of any kind.

Not Allowed	Allowed

 

The derived logo may not include any elements from other recognizable logos or symbols of any kind.
(Regardless of the legal situation of the other logo, and even if you’re the legal owner or are authorized to use it. “Symbols” here refers to abstract symbols associated with some sort of worldview (political, ideological or religious) or associated with a different organization. It does not refer to physical entities that have achieved symbolic status such as the Eiffel tower as a symbol of Paris, or the Eagle as a symbol of the US, or Don Quixote as a symbol of Spain)

Allowed	Not Allowed

 

Affiliation with Agora Speakers International must appear in all communications

Incorrect	Correct

 

STATIONARY

Elements that must follow an official design

In order to maintain worldwide consistency of the brand and club presence, there are a few items that must be used as designed (including their sizes). These are marked as “required” in the Brand Portal. As of this version of the guide, they are:

Club Banner

Clubs can produce these elements locally, or buy them from any provider, as long as the quality and materials are similar.

This requirement does not mean that every club must have a banner. Instead, it only means that if a club wants to have a banner, it has to use the official design and size.

Other Elements

For all other elements not marked as “required” (such as: business cards, flyers, leaflets, etc.) clubs have complete flexibility in using the suggested templates in the Brand Portal, tweaking them, or designing new ones altogether, with the following limitations:

• The design must follow the Brand Guidelines and rules for creating materials
• The design must make it clear that it is a communication or stationery created by a club, and that is not an official publication by Agora Speakers International

 

PUBLICATIONS

Publications by clubs

Clubs can create all types of publications (books, magazines, brochures, etc.), in any format (digital, print, audio, etc..) provided that:

• The design must follow the Brand Guidelines and rules for creating materials.
• The title and design does not cause confusion with an existing official Agora Speakers International publication.
• No content is reproduced from other publications (including Agora Speakers International publications) without prior written approval.

Allowed	Not Allowed
	Title conflict with an official publication Design conflict with an official publication Unrelated to our mission

 

AWARDS

Awards are any token of recognition given by a club to a person (not necessarily a member) or other organization.
These include, for example:

Certificates		Pins		Ribbons		Trophies
Medals		Digital Badges

 

AWARD - TYPES

Official Awards

Official Agora Speakers International Awards and Certificates must follow the exact design present in the Brand Portal.

Official Awards, Certificates and other tokens of recognition can only be granted when the officially set criteria for receiving them have been met. Some of them can only be granted by Agora Speakers International.

 

CUSTOM AWARDS

Clubs can create their own certificates, awards, ribbons and other tokens of recognition, and grant them as they wish, provided that:

The award is given for actions related to the mission of Agora Speakers International and consistent with its bylaws. The award is non-discriminatory (meaning that any member can opt for it) The award does not have any economic compensation attached to it. The design complies with the Brand Guide The award does not replace or overlap an existing official award. There’s no confusion that the grantor of the award is the club and not Agora Speakers International. There cannot be any text or design suggesting that Agora Speakers International endorsees these awards or certificates.

 

CUSTOM AWARDS - DOs

Allowed
(Certificates are used as an example, but the rules apply to all types of awards)

 

CUSTOM AWARDS - DON'Ts

Not Allowed
(Certificates are used as an example, but the rules apply to all types of awards)

Unrelated to the mission of Agora Speakers International		Agora Speakers International appears as if it was a co-grantor		Discriminatory		Violates neutrality rule
Does not follow the Brand Guide regarding logo usage		No affiliation shown		Overlaps an existing official award		Does not follow the Brand Guide for custom materials (slide 18)

 

MERCHANDISING

Clubs are allowed to create and produce locally their own merchandising materials, under the following conditions:

Merchandising containing only the Agora Speakers International logo

• The design must follow the Brand Guidelines and all rules concerning design of materials.
• Must either be given out for free, or for a price less than or equal the cost of the product delivered to the club selling it. There cannot be any additional «handling», «design», «shipping» or any other type of fees.
• Must be delivered in person by a member, either at club meetings or at events, fairs, etc.
• Cannot be shipped and/or sold outside of the city where the club is located.

Merchandising containing club logos

• The design must follow the Brand Guidelines
• Can be sold at prices above the production price, provided that the difference is used exclusively for the same purposes allowed for club funds.
• Can be sold and shipped worldwide

 

MEMBERSHIP CARDS

Clubs are allowed to create and produce locally their own membership cards, name tags, and similar, provided that:

• The design must follow the Brand Guidelines.
• The club name and/or club logo must be present.
• The design must make clear that it represents membership in the club.
• The design must not suggest that it is an official membership card of Agora Speakers International

Allowed	Not Allowed

 

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Page aliases: brand_guidelines