Guidelines to ensure the Software Sustainability Institute brand is represented consistently.
The following guidelines will help you express our brand and convey the Software Sustainability Institute, its key strengths and reputation, to the best advantage. The following were designed to help you present a consistent, coherent and clear image that will support and enhance the status of the Institute.
Key message
The Software Sustainability Institute is a national facility for building better software. We help researchers to introduce software into their research or improve the software they already use. The Institute’s vision is to create a world where software is treated as a first-class citizen and is sustainable, enabling better research. Our strapline reads “Better Software, Better Research.”
Values
The Institute has a position of national responsibility, so we conduct our work professionally. However, we present a friendly, informal persona, which appeals and makes us approachable to our target audiences, at the same time that it distances us from competitors who have adhered to conventional academic practices.
We believe that community-based solutions are effective and cost-efficient, so we promote collaboration within the research community.
We are highly innovative and are keen to use new approaches in all aspects of our work.
We believe that content is king. Badly written content litters the internet, and we do not want to contribute towards it. All content that is published under the Institute’s brand will be reviewed and edited to conform to a quality standard.
Visual identity
Our livery is red (C15 M100 Y100 K0 for print materials, or R210 G35 B42 / HEX #D2232a for online purposes), which is quickly identifiable and not used by any of our competitors. This, together with black and white colours, should be used in all of our publicity materials, including, but not limited to, the website, printed and online designs.
Logo
There are two main versions of the Software Sustainability Institute logo. The main version contains the Institute’s exploded doughnut design and the full name of the Institute:
The second design contains only the exploded doughnut and the web address, as such it is smaller than the main logo and can be used when space is premium:
The former should be used in preference to the latter.
The Software Sustainability Institute logo must only be used as a single graphical unit. It must not be adapted, re-coloured, or modified in any way other than uniformly re-scaling the logo to fit the intended usage.
Two official logo “colours” are available to use: a full-colour version for use on white and light-coloured backgrounds, and a white version for use on dark backgrounds.
We also have a black version for use on white backgrounds and only when black and white printing is allowed. The black version should not be chosen over the full-colour version.
Both bitmap and vector versions are available for all logos.
Editorial style guide
Refer to our A to Z: Editorial Style Guide to ensure copy written for the Institute brand is consistent across our online and printed platforms.
Reports
Before publishing your report, please send a draft copy of the report to the Communications Team or directly to Selina Aragon.
Reports published by the SSI or SSI-affiliated should include a cover using our unmistakable red (C15 M100 Y100 K0 in print, R210 G35 B42, HEX #D2232a) with the title in the centre and the SSI full logo in white. If there is a specific funder backing the project or there are other collaborators which contributed to the report, then their logo should be included too.
Template for reports covers (.docx). Please download from Drive before editing. If you have any issues with the downloaded version, contact the Comms Team.
Preferred fonts for reports are Helvetica and Arial, and the colour scheme of the report’s body should be black and white.
Citing the Institute’s work
If you have worked with us, we’d appreciate it if you would acknowledge the support and assistance you’ve received. This helps our funders to see the work we have done with all our partners and collaborators. Read our guidance on how to cite us.
Funding
We are funded by the seven councils that form UKRI. In official documents and outreach materials, the following acknowledgement should be included:
The Software Sustainability Institute is supported by the UK’s seven Research Councils through Grant EP/H043160/1, Grant EP/N006410/1 and Grant EP/S021779/1.
Any questions about our brand guidelines should be directed to the Communications team at info@software.ac.uk