Branding

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Branding is serious business. Companies spend big dollars on building a brand and then maintaining it. When we say Brand we’re generally talking about:

• Logo
• Official colors
• Fonts
• Tone and language

Think of McDonald’s: their logo changed appreciably in decades. Every McDonald’s, no matter its location, Paris, Tennessee, or Paris, France, is marked by the same Golden Arches™.   Why? So the restaurant is instantly recognized by consumers who will know what to expect based on previous experiences in other McDonald’s. This is called “continuity of experience.”

AMBUCS also has a Brand. Each of our chapters represents this Brand. Therefore, each chapter should strive to use the same (or as similar as possible) colors, fonts, tone, and language. Similar to the McDonald’s example above, a person from Enid, OK should instantly recognize the work of a chapter in Danville, IL. Consistent use of AMBCUS branding gives the public a clear idea of who we are and what we do in our various communities around the country. Each chapter is unique in its execution of the AMBUCS mission, but that mission is the same for us all – inspiring mobility & independence.

Use of the National AMBUCS Logo.  It is important that nothing you produce appears to be coming from the national organization. For examle…

If you are creating it for your chapter (trailer, signage, tshirt, brochure),  be sure to always use your chapter logo. However, if you need them, you will find AMBUCS and Amtryke logos with or without taglines on flickr. If you need a different format or size, contact ARC. Please use with caution.

Chapter logo. If you don’t have a chapter logo, contact ARC for a basic one or reach out to a local designer and have one made for you. Check out fiverr.com if you don’t already know of a resource.

TIP: When you resize a logo on the page, hold down the shift key so it maintains its aspect ratio (doesn’t get too skinny and tall or wide and squished). This works for any kind of image.

Colors. Both AMBUCS and Amtryke use the colors of the American Flag.

In printing and graphic design, there are different ways colors can be represented. They include:

PMS: The Pantone Color System, or PMS, is a standardized color matching system,  devised to help printers and designers to specify and control colors for printing projects. The Pantone Color System allows you to specify colors that cannot be mixed in traditional CMYK

RGB: The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors

CMYK: refers to the four ink plates used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black).

Hex: A hexadecimal way to represent a color in RGB format by combining three values – the amounts of red, green and blue in a particular shade of color.

We are using a few accent colors (non-official colors):

Font. The National AMBUCS preferred font is Arial as it is easy to read and compatible with most applications. Your chapter may should feel free to use whichever font you like as long as it’s easy to read.

AMBUCS is always uppercase when talking about the organization or your chapter. Don’t leave off the S. The possessive form is AMBUCS’.

Use Ambuc or Ambucs when you are talking about a member or several members.

Use Chapter. Never club. See why in the Governance section.

AMBUS is a nonprofit charitable organization, not a civic service organization. Each chapter is a subsidiary of the national nonprofit charitable organization.

Amtryke. There is no uppercase T. Please use the updated (2018) logo and tagline.

No need to use the ® symbol when you mention AMBUCS or Amtryke in print.

Tone and Inclusive Language.  Consider the AMBUCS mission in any communication, marketing, or public relations materials. Strive to be upbeat, empowering, and inclusive with your tone and language.

We must be respectful when speaking of and to the people we serve. We recommend using the the principles of the least dangerous assumption.

1. Everyone has different abilities and talents. No two people are exactly alike.
2. You can’t judge a person’s whole future success based on one score, like an IQ score. There’s way more to a person than just one test score.
3. People learn best when they feel valued when they have some sort of meaning in their life.

Always put the person first and the diagnosis or disability second, even when the sentence structure gets a bit awkward. Never a Downs child or a disabled person.  Always a child with Downs syndrome or a person with a disability. Say diagnosis, not disease. Consider not mentioning the diagnosis when not relevant or just once rather than repeatedly. If you can, try to avoid labels altogether. You may want to talk about challenges (muscle weakness, trouble gripping) rather than stating the diagnosis. When in doubt ask the child, parent, or adult recipient what they’d prefer. Indeed, the standard for what is and is not acceptable changes over time and people have differing opinions. We must make the effort to stay updated on what is and what is not acceptable to the population we are serving otherwise we may inadvertently contribute to marginalizing their important individual experiences.

AMBUCS as an organization has many unique terms. New members may feel as if they are learning a new language. Check out this helpful AMBUCS Glossary.