A bold and confident treatment of the University’s crest. Simplified to just the one colour, and as the very extensive and thorough guidelines remark, Oxford is probably unique to have a colour named after it. The importance of the using Oxford Blue across media is stressed throughout the guidelines, though Pantone 282, doesn’t quite have the same romance.

Belt buckle

The encircling belt is a device designed in 1993 to encircle the coat of arms of the University. It appears that a buckle is used in scottish heraldry to signify allegiance to a particular clan, but I cannot find if that is the case here! It’s a distinctive unusual device and stands out very well when compared with the usual generic heraldic devices.

Fancy name for a square

The logo is refered to as the quadrangle in the guidelines, but name aside, it works well as a unified device. The sans serif family Foundry Sterling is used for ‘the university’ providing a useful contrast with the Bolder and classical ‘Oxford’ which is a custom drawn rendering. The attention on the terminals and serif brings what could be a staid and mundane classical serif gently into a more modern setting.

The use of the belt device in the top right corner, balances well with the wordmark below, particularly well connected by the bottom of the belt aligning with the ‘of’. It makes the quadrangle feel like a stamp, and that is the way it is used across the university’s publications.

There is a wide version for when space is limited , but it does not have the same internal tension, and balance.

Tagged : English , Crest , Brand Guidelines , Blue , Uppercase , Serif , Russell Group , South East , Science and Engineering South (SES)

Read the Wikipedia entry Visit website Read the brand guidelines