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Brand execution guidelines

Apparel and merchandise standards and guidelines

Merchandise (including clothing, hats and other apparel), along with promotional items, falls into the categories branded merchandise and fashion merchandise. Trademark Licensing approves items for resale and promotional items. 

The ASU Brand Council, who approve on-campus use of marks, is a small working group that deals with trademark and licensing issues and often reviews art work submitted by units for apparel and giveaways. The ASU Brand Council consists of Enterprise Brand Strategy and ManagementOffice of General CouncilAthletics and the Trademark Licensing office.

 

Branded merchandise

  • May carry the ASU logo or signature.
  • Is generally restricted to the primary and secondary colors in the ASU color palette.
  • May not be created in distressed, camouflage or other nontraditional styles.
     

Fashion merchandise

  • May not carry the ASU logo or signature, but may carry Sparky as a decorative element.
  • May carry ASU and Arizona State University as long as the font used is distinctly different from Neue Haas Grotesk, the university brand font.
  • Carries the university name, abbreviation (ASU) or any of its recognizable marks; may not contain offensive language or images, or any content that endorses behavior in violation of the ASU Student Code of Conduct.
     

Apparel and merchandise (including promotional items and ad specialties)

  • All ASU groups and companies using ASU trademarks must use licensed vendors whether items are for resale or not.
  • Any sponsor logos or acknowledgments that will appear on items should appear with the graphics to be submitted.
  • Altering marks is discouraged as it may negatively impact their integrity and dilute the value of the brand.
     

Approved vendors

Manufacturers of any products and providers of any services using or in connection with any ASU logos and trademarks must be licensed by ASU.  

View approved and licensed vendors for ASU

 

Embroidery standards

Size requirements

Due to current embroidery technology limitations, the current minimum reproduction height requirement is 5 mm (or ~.2 inches). In order to avoid tweaking, resizing or stretching of the logo, standards have been created to ensure the highest quality of stitching and that the brand is presented in the best dignified manner. Every logo on a shirt represents the university and the values of the institution. When a unit logo does not meet the minimum reproduction height requirement, the vertical version of the logo must be used. The Print and Imaging Lab has developed a solution for checking whether a logo meets these requirements and provides the best option to the vendors once determined. The widest a logo can be embroidered without trailing onto the side of the shirt is 4.25 inches wide. The minimum width is 3.5 inches. 

If a unit wants to use the horizontal version of their logo, but the logo does not meet the current minimum reproduction height requirement, then screen-printing would be the recommended option. This minimum reproduction height requirement is much less for screen-printing, thus allowing units to use the horizontal version of their logo.

How to order

  1. Search for a shirt or polo from either catalog #1 or catalog #2.
  2. Once you have identified a specific item from the catalog, please fill out the apparel quote request form and reference the model number of the product. The ASU Print and Imaging Lab will process your request and reach out with more information.
     

Approved polo and logo color combinations

To make your polos and embroidered materials look their very best, a set of color combinations has been established. Any color combination not pictured below is restricted.

Please note: Due to limitations with the materials, units may embroider their official unit name in gold lettering. This is approved for embroidery purposes only and cannot be used in any other instances. The Print and Imaging Lab is responsible for creating these modified unit logos and providing them directly to the vendor. Logos should not be directly modified by the vendors or the units.

Unacceptable polo and logo color combinations