Anatomy
Shield – Our logo’s iconography is based on the university’s official seal. The open book represents knowledge and discovery, the globe signifies the university’s worldwide reach and responsibility, and the crest of Lord Baltimore is emblematic of the university’s commitment and connection to its community. These elements are framed in a shield that is a shared visual among all our schools and divisions.
Wordmark – The wordmark is a custom letterform and cannot be replicated by typing the letters.
Logo – The shield and wordmark are collectively known as the logo. The wordmark may never be used by itself without the shield. However, it is permitted to use the shield as artwork.
Divisions
There are 10 divisional logos that combine the university or division-specific shield with the Johns Hopkins name and the division name. In unique circumstances where divisions had distinct original graphics prior to our 2013 rebrand, those graphics were incorporated into their division-specific shield. Division logos all utilize the same shield shape and logo architecture to position ourselves as one shared university.
Interdisciplinary Collaborations
For centers, institutes, and programs spanning multiple divisions, an interdisciplinary logo can be created. It pairs the university shield and the Johns Hopkins name with the name of the interdisciplinary entity.
All requests for an interdisciplinary logo must be sent to University Communications, which will seek approval from the Provost’s Office and, if approved, create the logo. These logos cannot be created by another office. To request an interdisciplinary logo, please contact us.
Unit Treatment Lockup
All divisional institutes and centers as well as academic and administration departments are part of our shared university brand. It benefits all our interests to present a clear and consistent association with each other and the institution through our unified logo architecture. As such, individual unit logos are not permitted.
When it is strategically necessary to include your unit name in close proximity to the university logo, all organizational units are required to use our official unit treatment lockup. For this use case, we pair a line to separate the logo from the unit name. The unit lockup is commonly used for internal team premiums, such as branded shirts for the Security or Events team of a specific division.
Uniformity
All unit lockups combine the Johns Hopkins University logo with unit names, according to set conventions. All fonts, colors, size and spatial relationships are based on a template and must not be altered.
- Do not create lockups outside the standard template or embellish a lockup in any way.
- Units may choose to include their full unit name or drop the prefix when a more concise form of identification is useful. For example “Department of Mechanical Engineering” can be shortened to “Mechanical Engineering.”
- Generally, it is not recommended to include “Office of” or “Department of” unless strategically necessary for clarification.
- Units should not include any references to “Johns Hopkins,” “JHU,” in their names to avoid duplication with the logo.
- Unit treatments cannot include acronyms, all caps, ampersands, special characters, contact information or taglines.
Where and when to use it
In many contexts, it is more appropriate to use our standard Johns Hopkins University logo in your design and present the name of your unit in prominent type. For example, on a website header or a report cover where space allows prominent inclusion of your department or center name in the header or title of the report, the unit treatment would likely become redundant and unnecessary.
Keep in mind that our brand guidelines offer a magnitude of tools to foster flexibility and creativity in your communications. From accent colors to typography combinations, photography and key messages, the success of this adaptability relies on having a shared foundation to draw from.
- Merch – When space allows, the formal unit lockup can be used on merchandise for internal merch and giveaways. More specifically, the unit logo should only be used in instances where the merch is being given to employees or students within your department or unit. For giveaways geared toward the wider JHU community (all students, employees outside of your department, etc.) it is best practice to use the primary Johns Hopkins University logo on your merch.
TIP: Ask yourself—as an employee from another unit, would you want to receive a giveaway with the University Communications lockup on it? What would you actually use or wear? It’s likely that the Johns Hopkins University logo will be most appreciated on your giveaways. - Standardized Templates – Don’t use lockups on university stationery, email signatures or campus signage. Use official stationery, signature and signage templates that account for unit names in standard fields to maximize legibility specific to those contexts.
Enterprise
The enterprise logo is reserved for instances when University Communications needs to represent the combined interests of Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine. This logo is not available for download, as all instances of use must be approved by University Communications. For information about Johns Hopkins Medicine identity guidelines, please refer to brand.hopkinsmedicine.org.
