Brand Guide

The Thompson Rivers University brand is a collective effort to better reflect who we are and all that we stand for. Our tagline—Find Your TRU—is as much about who we are and what we do as faculty and staff of TRU, as it is about our students.

But beyond a tagline, a brand consists of the characteristics that those who know us well—and those who don't—use to describe us. Our brand is an expression of TRU’s unique personality. Our history. Our identity, in the minds and hearts of all those we serve and the world at large.

No single phrase or image sums it up. We may evoke it with colour: a landscape-inspired teal. A serious—but not stuffy—dark blue. We illustrate it as much in our choice of font as our choice of words. It’s in the feel of our photography. The design of our website. These elements all arise from our brand model, which defines our reason for being and what we promise to offer as an institution, so we can most effectively tell our story.

Shaping our brand

We all talk about TRU, whether through an ad, an article, a brochure or report. In a presentation to a group of prospective students, or to colleagues at an international conference. In a conversation. And each time we communicate or interact, someone comes away, in turn, with an impression to talk about.

This, what the wider world says about TRU, becomes our brand. Shaped by who we are and how we articulate it as we connect with all those we serve.

The guidelines on the following pages are intended to provide direction for TRU faculty and staff to use the elements of our brand to tell our story consistently, compellingly and with confidence. Tools to inspire, rather than rules to follow rigidly. As we apply the brand to the stories we tell, making decisions along the way, our brand will evolve, and so will these guidelines.

However, because consistency and clarity are so important to establishing our brand, we ask that you familiarize yourself with these guidelines and follow a few basic principles:

• use the TRU logo correctly
• speak in the brand voice and adapt your tone to different audiences
• follow the TRU Style Guide
• stick to brand colours
• use high quality photography

As we apply the brand, what we know to be TRU—purposeful, empowering, collaborative, open and visionary—is what others will say about us.