groupthing is an initiative

owned, managed and developed

by The Reading Agency.
As such, we work within
The Reading Agency guidelines.

This document is a
reference to help us
apply our visual identity 2-3  ur logo / the parts /
O
the ‘lock-up’ / the minimium size /

appropriately on both the exclusion zone

print and screen. 4-6  ur colours / print colours /

O
screen colours / what the technical
terms mean / examples of use /
black (mono) / white (white out) /
using background colour
What’s the difference between a logo
and a visual identity?
7 Don’ts / examples of incorrect usage
Our logo is the mark that we use as a
badge that identifies us.
8-9  ur typeface / what it is / where to buy
O
Our visual identity is the full palette of
visual materials that we use, it / how to use it / the history of the logo
including colours, typefaces (fonts),
typeface / the secondary typeface
patterns, and logos.

10  ur pattern / what it is / what to use on

O
5 colour print, 4 colour (process) print
and screen

11  upplied files / decison tree to ensure

S
we use and supply the appropriate file
from this disk

12-17 R
 eference / cyan / yellow / magenta /
green (PMS 7488) / white (knock out) /
black (mono)

this is page  of 17 groupthing

 Our Logo
Our logo is composed of three elements. These are contained in a ‘lock-up’.
This ‘lock-up’ can include any of the faces that replace the ‘o’ of our name.

groupthing
1. Our name 2. The strapline

3. The faces

Together they form the logo ‘lock-up’

Logo

‘Lock-up’

Strapline

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 Our Logo
Our logo has a recommended minimium
size to ensure legibility.

45mm 30mm

There is a recommended minimum size at which the logo should be

reproduced. Going below the minimum size will make the text difficult to
read, and therefore compromise the effectiveness of the logo.
Minimum recommended size for our logo is 45mm wide with the strapline
and 30mm wide without the strapline

Our logo has an exclusion zone around it to stop other elements

interfering with it, visually. The exclusion zone is the height of the
lowercase g. We should avoid putting other logos, photographs,
graphic elements and type within this area.

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init aliquisi tem vulput aciliquisisi tat.Wis ea ad
dolorperat. Duis atem veleseq uisisl ulla feuis
adignibh eui bla faciduis nonsectetum in et
lorperat. Ut ad doloreet landipit in ulla consequ
ametue consectet, vulla acilit velendre dolorer
cidunt dolor ipit pratet, commy nos del dolummy
To od duissi. Tet loborero dunt non et esectem ent
la feuguer ostrud tie magnim quis nullute dolor sit
verat. Put adio digna faci essim incilit nonsenim
vendrer suscin utpatum modolorerci te veros

this is page  of 17 groupthing

 Our colours
Our identity is built on a palette of five colours. Cyan, Magenta,
Yellow, Green (PMS 7488) and Black.

Print colour references:

stationery / signage / brochures
leaflets / laser / inkjet printers
NB to utilise the full range of
colours we will need to print
itmes on a five colour press.
If that isn’t feasible then we will
omit the Green (PMS 7488).
Process Cyan Process Magenta Process Yellow Green (PMS 7488) Process Black
C 100 M 0 Y 0 K 0 C 0 M 100 Y 0 K 0 C 0 M 0 Y 100 K 0 n/a C 0 M 0 Y 0 K 100

Screen colour references:

Powerpoint / email / websites
E-flyers / Myspace / Facebook
interactive white boards
NB because different screens
emit different qualities of light,
the colours will vary in
appearance from screen to screen.
R 0 G 173 B 239 R 236 G 0 B 140 R 255 G 255 B 0 R 151 G 206 B 139 R 35 G 31 B 32

23 1F 20
Web safe 00 AD EF EC 00 8C FF F2 00 97 CE 8B

Pantone™ Colours Process colour (CMYK) Web safe (RGB)

These are specific colour references from the
Pantone Matching System (PMS). Pantone™ is
the industry standard on colour selection and
is used as a reference point by all printers and
sign makers.
Using this technology will ensure complete
consistency in colour across all communication.
This is the colour system used for printing.
Known as Process colours, there are four
standard printing inks – Cyan (C),
Magenta (M), Yellow (Y) and Black (K) –
that are mixed together to make almost any
colour combination.
The colour mixes are defined in terms of
percentage tints of each Process colour.
Computers, televisions and any other
light-emitting displays use a colour
spectrum mixed from three colours – Red (R),
Green (G) and Blue (B).
The internet has adopted a standard palette
of colours that can be easily mixed from the RGB
spectrum; these are known as Web safe colours.

The bright colours are

These elements are applied to these elements.
always reproduced There are colour examples
in black on the next page.
G

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 Our Colours

In every instance we use the logo we ensure the colour

used for the ‘o’ of groupthing matches the colour used on
the strapline.

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 Our Colours
Our logo also works in black (mono) and white (white out).

We can also use the logo on simple background colours.

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 Don’ts

Do not use backgrounds that lack contrast with the logo. The logo needs
Do not use the logo on complicated backgrounds. to be clearly visable.

Do not change the typeface. Do not change the relative size of any of the elements.

Do not stretch the logo. Do not compress the logo.

Do not change the colour of the type. Do not change the relationship between the elements.

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Our typeface is is called Din. We use two weights: regular and bold.
It is widely available and can be
purchased from:
www.fontshop.com/fonts/
downloads/fontfont/ff_din/
ABCDEFGHIJKL
MOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijkl
mnopqrstuvwxyz
12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
!@£$%^&*()+
This is 8pt type over 10pt leading
(tracking value 0) and it looks like this
when set as body copy.
Magna feugait, qui blam, core vel erat ut
ullam exer ilit veliqua mconsent la con
elendio nsequisi eu feuisi.
Im dolor iuscipis adignisi.
Ip elendre minci te consecte tismod
delesequat aci tet aliquis molobor
perostrud ex ex eu facidunt wisis do ercil
ulla consequi blan volor sum elesent
nosto commy nonullamet nos dolore
modolor peraesto odipisl iriusto er ipis
nulla feumsandre dolore vullandipit
la commy num dit atis dionsequisis
dolorem in et nonsed tincil erostisi.
Lor suscin eugiamcon velit velestrud
modolessecte venibh et praesecte
magna ad diat lortie velis at. Ut volese
min ex etueros ad tio et dignissit, con
hendit ing euipisi bla feugiat wissit vel
euipis eugait veril dolor accummolent
adigna feugait alit adigna faccummod
dolor suscidunt wis ad euisi.
Ugait nullupt atinci tat dio odio od tin eu
facidunt verci bla feugiat. Duis autem
dolorer si.
Cum euis dit nulput lam vel euissim dit
nim dolore feugait nonse euismodigna
feugait velitSusto esequamet,
quipsum nonse te consed moloreet, sit
vullaoreros nosto et do od molore feu
this is page  of 17
We use italics in both weights to distinguish
certain words, titles, names, foreign words,
for emphasis and words produced as
sounds. We do not italicise punctuation.
We use the regular weight for copy and the
bold weight for headers and to ensure that
groupthing stands out in paragraphs.
groupthing never has a capital G, even when
used at the start of a paragraph.
Our minimium typesize is 8pt over
10pt leading.
This is 10pt type over 12pt leading
(tracking value 0) and it looks like
this when set as body copy.
Magna feugait, qui blam, core
vel erat ut ullam exer ilit veliqua
mconsent la con elendio nsequisi
eu feuisi.
Im dolor iuscipis adignisi.
Ip elendre minci te consecte
tismod delesequat aci tet
aliquis molobor perostrud ex ex
eu facidunt wisis do ercil ulla
consequi blan volor sum elesent
nosto commy nonullamet nos
dolore modolor peraesto odipisl
iriusto er ipis nulla feumsandre
dolore vullandipit la commy num
dit atis dionsequisis dolorem in et
nonsed tincil erostisi.
Lor suscin eugiamcon velit
velestrud modolessecte venibh
et praesecte magna ad diat lortie
velis at. Ut volese min ex etueros
ad tio et dignissit, con hendit ing
euipisi bla feugiat wissit vel euipis
eugait veril dolor accummolent
adigna feugait alit adigna
faccummod dolor suscidunt wis ad
our typeface
We adjust the letter spacing if it improves
readability. For example, in headlines, some
pairs of letters create awkward space, so
the space between them needs adjusting.
Expanding or condensing the space between
characters is known as kerning.
In Adobe packages we use the term
tracking to describe the adjustment of
groups of letters in a block of text. We
can use it to make text more open or dense.
On groupthing text we usually set the
tracking to the default setting. Below are
a number of visual guides for body text.
On the next page are a couple of visual
guides for headings.
This is 12pt type over 14pt
leading (tracking value 0)
and it looks like this when
set as body copy.
Magna feugait, qui blam,
core vel erat ut ullam exer
ilit veliqua mconsent la
con elendio nsequisi eu
feuisi.
Im dolor iuscipis adignisi.
Ip elendre minci te
consecte tismod
delesequat aci tet aliquis
molobor perostrud ex
ex eu facidunt wisis do
ercil ulla consequi blan
volor sum elesent nosto
commy nonullamet nos
dolore modolor peraesto
odipisl iriusto er ipis
nulla feumsandre dolore
vullandipit la commy
num dit atis dionsequisis
dolorem in et nonsed
tincil erostisi. Lor suscin
groupthing
 our typeface

This is a heading it is set at 24pt over

28pt leading (tracking value 0)

This is a heading it is set

at 36pt over 40pt leading
(tracking value 0)
The typeface used on our
logo is North Bergen
We have a secondary
North Bergen is a typeface
designed by Pablo A. Medina
typeface that we use
for occasional pull
in 1996.
Pablo A. Medina designs

quotes, facts, figures,

and teaches in New York.
He grew up between
Washington DC and New
Jersey where he skateboards
and listens to the Clash.
fun and our strapline.
North Bergen is named after
the Northern New Jersey
This typeface is called
Bokka, we use the
town. It is modelled after
the lettering painted on the
wall of a magazine store on
Bergenline Avenue.
‘Shadow’ version.

We never write the word

groupthing in Bokka.

this is page  of 17 groupthing

 our pattern

Our visual identity toolbox contains a pattern that we use as a graphic element where appropriate. There are three versions of the pattern on
our visual identity disk for specific applications:

5_colour_print_pattern 4_colour_print_pattern 5_colour_screen_pattern

This uses cyan, magenta, yellow and This uses cyan, magenta and yellow. This uses cyan, magenta, yellow and green.
green (PMS 7488). To print this pattern To print this pattern with black type This file has been reduced in size to allow it to
with black type we will need to print on a we will need to print on a four colour display quickly when used on screen. Do not
five colour press. (process) press. try and print from this file.

this is page 10 of 17 groupthing

 Supplied files

The logo is supplied in various file types which suit different applications. We can use this decision tree to ensure that we are using and/or
supplying the appropriate file.

in_house_jpg print_tif print_vector_eps screen_png

Use on documents to be
produced/printed in house. Do
not supply these files to printers
or design suppliers.
Use for leaflets and posters.
Supply these files to printers and
design suppliers.
Use for printing at any size,
without any loss of quality. Before
supplying to a printer or design
supplier ensure that they accept
Adobe Illustrator eps files.
Use these files for websites.
Supply these files to your website
designer. Do not try and print from
these files.

G
Once you have decided which
file type is appropriate for the
application choose colour

G
Cyan Magenta Yellow Panton Green Black White

G
Choose which face to use

Jake Sue Sam Lucy Zoe Simon

Ralf

Shaun Kate Martin Rose Mike Chris Ali

G
Use and/or supply that file

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 Cyan

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 yellow

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 magenta

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 green (PMS 7488)

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 black (mono)

this is page 16 of 17 groupthing

 white (white out)

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