American Red Cross

Official Websites

• https://www.redcross.org
• https://www.redcross.org/brand
• http://www.redcross.org/brand

Brand Guidelines

2014

Brand Summary

Mission

• To empower people to make a difference in times of need, leaving them with hope and possibility, and to deliver care and compassion through the American Red Cross.

Core Values

• uplifting
• empowering
• inviting
• personal

Target Audience

• Anyone and everyone who wants to assist in the mission, including those who help and those who are helped by the American Red Cross.

Personality Traits

• uplifting
• empowering
• inviting
• personal
• accessible
• respectful

Visual Identity Overview

• The visual identity features a suite of logos (button, classic, flat disc), a clear and balanced color palette with primary, secondary, and neutral colors, and a typographic system using Akzidenz-Grotesk for information and Georgia for voice. The brand emphasizes clear space, minimum sizes, and color proportion to maintain consistency across materials.

Categories

Brand Voice

• Georgia Regular family is used for storytelling, expressing opinions and calls to action.
• Regular for heads, subheads and body copy. Bold or Italic for emphasis.
• Upper-and lowercase. Sentence case, NOT title case.
• Preferred: Red Cross Gray
• When necessary: Red Cross Black
• Use sparingly: Red Cross Red White Secondary colors
• Georgia is a system font and should be available on any Mac or PC.
• How we talk is as important as what we talk about.
• Uplifting. The work we create will often be highly emotional, but never with a focus on the devastation, destruction or disaster. We want to leave people with a feeling of hope and possibility. We want them to feel that they can make a difference through the American Red Cross.
• Empowering. We are a brand that relies on people-both the people we help and those who embody the Red Cross and deliver on our mission. We want everyone to feel empowered to be a part of this network, to help us make a difference in times of need.
• Inviting. We are open and accessible to anyone and everyone who wants to assist us in our mission. We are not intimidating or directive.
• Personal. Our care is selfless, not self-serving. We treat every person we help and everyone who helps us as an individual. We want them to feel care and compassion every time we interact with them. We are not yelling our message from the rooftops. We treat every individual with respect.

Brand Imagery

• Logo files are available at redcross.org/brand. Required 2x clear space is indicated by blue lines. 1x=height and width of one arm of the cross.
• The button logo was inspired by a vintage pin as an engaging symbol of enthusiastic participation. It is a personal, grassroots and unique expression for the Red Cross. Use this logo in any of its three forms for most printed marketing and communications materials as well as television, Web and email.
• The classic logo should be used in disaster situations, corporate materials, exterior building signage or when the marketing-oriented button logo is not appropriate.
• Use the flat disc logo when you have a dark background or printing restrictions preclude using the button logo. (Note that the white circle behind the cross must be present, so this is not suitable for white backgrounds).
• Print minimum sizes: .275 inches (~7 mm)
• Digital minimum sizes: 26 pixels
• Clear space minimums (shown above with blue lines) are built into the logo files.
• As long as minimum size requirements are followed, the button can be separated from the wordmark and scaled on its own. Remember to include the wordmark in the viewing area.
• Primary: PMS COOL GRAY 11, RED CROSS RED (PMS 485), BLACK, WHITE
• Neutral: LIGHT GRAY (PMS 22252), MED GRAY (PMS 252P)
• Secondary: KHAKI (PMS 4535), SAND (PMS 7530), GOLD (PMS 130), SAFETY GREEN (PMS 360), FOREST GREEN (PMS 364), LIGHT BLUE (PMS 290), SKY BLUE (PMS 542), CLASSIC BLUE (PMS PROC BLUE), MIDNIGHT BLUE (PMS 7692), DEEP RED (PMS 7622)
• Color proportion: Although individual pieces may vary, notice that the cumulative effect keeps the overall brand color balance.

Color Palette

• Primary PMS COOL GRAY 11 CMYK: 0/0/0/70 RGB: 109/110/112 HEX: 6D6E70 RED CROSS RED (PMS 485) CMYK: 0/100/100/0 RGB: 237/27/46 HEX: ED1B2E BLACK CMYK: 0/0/0/100 RGB: 0/0/0 HEX: 000000 WHITE CMYK: 0/0/0/0 RGB: 255/255/255 HEX: FFFFFF
• Neutral LIGHT GRAY (PMS COOL GRAY 1) CMYK: 0/0/0/10 RGB: 215/215/216 HEX: D7D7D8 MID GRAY (PMS COOL GRAY 6) CMYK: 0/0/0/30 RGB: 159/159/163 HEX: 9F9FA3
• Secondary SAND (PMS 7530) CMYK: 0/8/21/32 RGB: 180/169/150 HEX: B4A996 KHAKI (PMS 4535) CMYK: 0/4/30/11 RGB: 226/215/172 HEX: E2D7AC GOLD (PMS 130) CMYK: 0/30/100/0 RGB: 236/183/49 HEX: ECB731 SAFETY GREEN (PMS 360) CMYK: 58/0/80/0 RGB: 142/192/108 HEX: 8EC06C FOREST GREEN (PMS 364) CMYK: 65/0/100/42 RGB: 83/123/53 HEX: 537B35 LIGHT BLUE (PMS 290) CMYK: 25/2/0/0 RGB: 196/223/246 HEX: C4DFE6 SKY BLUE (PMS 542) CMYK: 62/22/0/3 RGB: 86/160/211 HEX: 56A0D3 CLASSIC BLUE (PMS PROC BLUE) CMYK: 100/10/0/10 RGB: 0/145/205 HEX: 0091CD MIDNIGHT BLUE (PMS 7692) CMYK: 100/45/0/45 RGB: 0/75/121 HEX: 004B79 DEEP RED (PMS 7622) CMYK: 0/97/89/45 RGB: 127/24/27 HEX: 7F181B
• Color proportion Although individual pieces may vary, notice that the cumulative effect keeps the overall brand color balance.
• Colors Preferred: Red Cross Gray When necessary: Red Cross Black Use sparingly: Red Cross Red White Secondary colors

Typography

• Akzidenz-Grotesk Standard family is used to clearly and objectively communicate information.
• Georgia Regular family is used for storytelling, expressing opinions and calls to action.
• Regular or Bold for heads and subheads. Regular for body copy. Bold or Italic for emphasis.
• Regular for heads, subheads and body copy. Bold or Italic for emphasis.
• Upper-and lowercase or ALL CAPS. Sentence case, NOT title case.
• Upper-and lowercase. Sentence case, NOT title case.
• Preferred: Red Cross Gray
• When necessary: Red Cross Black
• Use sparingly: Red Cross Red White Secondary colors
• When Akzidenz is unavailable in digital situations, use Arial. In addition, use Arial in external, customizable pieces. Akzidenz should be available on Red Cross computers. If not, email brandid@redcross.org.
• Georgia is a system font and should be available on any Mac or PC.

Logo Usage

• Logo files are available at redcross.org/brand. Required 2x clear space is indicated by blue lines. 1x=height and width of one arm of the cross.
• The button logo was inspired by a vintage pin as an engaging symbol of enthusiastic participation. It is a personal, grassroots and unique expression for the Red Cross. Use this logo in any of its three forms for most printed marketing and communications materials as well as television, Web and email.
• The classic logo should be used in disaster situations, corporate materials, exterior building signage or when the marketing-oriented button logo is not appropriate.
• Use the flat disc logo when you have a dark background or printing restrictions preclude using the button logo. (Note that the white circle behind the cross must be present, so this is not suitable for white backgrounds).
• Print minimum sizes Digital minimum sizes Clear space Clear space minimums (shown above with blue lines) are built into the logo files. [ .276 inches (~7 mm) ] 26 pixels Separating button graphic and wordmark As long as minimum size requirements are followed, the button can be separated from the wordmark and scaled on its own. Remember to include the wordmark in the viewing area. ■ American Red Cross □ .06 inches (~1.5 mm) + American Red Cross _□ 6 pixels

Tone And Messaging

• How we talk is as important as what we talk about.
• Uplifting. The work we create will often be highly emotional, but never with a focus on the devastation, destruction or disaster. We want to leave people with a feeling of hope and possibility. We want them to feel that they can make a difference through the American Red Cross.
• Empowering. We are a brand that relies on people—both the people we help and those who embody the Red Cross and deliver on our mission. We want everyone to feel empowered to be a part of this network, to help us make a difference in times of need.
• Inviting. We are open and accessible to anyone and everyone who wants to assist us in our mission. We are not intimidating or directive.
• Personal. Our care is selfless, not self-serving. We treat every person we help and everyone who helps us as an individual. We want them to feel care and compassion every time we interact with them. We are not yelling our message from the rooftops. We treat every individual with respect.

Brand Values

• Uplifting. The work we create will often be highly emotional, but never with a focus on the devastation, destruction or disaster. We want to leave people with a feeling of hope and possibility. We want them to feel that they can make a difference through the American Red Cross.
• Empowering. We are a brand that relies on people-both the people we help and those who embody the Red Cross and deliver on our mission. We want everyone to feel empowered to be a part of this network, to help us make a difference in times of need.
• Inviting. We are open and accessible to anyone and everyone who wants to assist us in our mission. We are not intimidating or directive.
• Personal. Our care is selfless, not self-serving. We treat every person we help and everyone who helps us as an individual. We want them to feel care and compassion every time we interact with them. We are not yelling our message from the rooftops. We treat every individual with respect.

Visual Style

• Logo files are available at redcross.org/brand. Required 2x clear space is indicated by blue lines. 1x=height and width of one arm of the cross.
• The button logo was inspired by a vintage pin as an engaging symbol of enthusiastic participation. It is a personal, grassroots and unique expression for the Red Cross. Use this logo in any of its three forms for most printed marketing and communications materials as well as television, Web and email.
• The classic logo should be used in disaster situations, corporate materials, exterior building signage or when the marketing-oriented button logo is not appropriate.
• Use the flat disc logo when you have a dark background or printing restrictions preclude using the button logo. (Note that the white circle behind the cross must be present, so this is not suitable for white backgrounds).
• Print minimum sizes: .275 inches (~7 mm)
• Digital minimum sizes: 26 pixels
• Clear space minimums (shown above with blue lines) are built into the logo files.
• As long as minimum size requirements are followed, the button can be separated from the wordmark and scaled on its own. Remember to include the wordmark in the viewing area.
• American Red Cross: .06 inches (~1.5 mm)
• American Red Cross: 6 pixels
• Primary: PMS COOL GRAY 11, RED CROSS RED (PMS 485), BLACK, WHITE
• Neutral: LIGHT GRAY (COOL GRAY 1), MID GRAY (COOL GRAY 4)
• Secondary: SAND (PMS 7530), GOLD (PMS 130), SAFETY GREEN (PMS 360), FOREST GREEN (PMS 364), LIGHT BLUE (PMS 290), SKY BLUE (PMS 542), CLASSIC BLUE (PMS PROC BLUE), MIDNIGHT BLUE (PMS 7692), DEEP RED (PMS 7622)
• Color proportion: Although individual pieces may vary, notice that the cumulative effect keeps the overall brand color balance.

Additional Properties