Overview

In 2017, the Office of Communications and a College advisory committee worked with the international design firm Pentagram to create a new Amherst College wordmark, monogram, and Mammoth logo; to update the College seal; and to establish approved sets of typefaces and colors. These assets and their usage guidelines comprise the College’s Visual Identity Toolkit (VIT).

Whether you’re producing social media graphics, an event poster, a website, or other materials, using our Visual Identity Toolkit will result in a strong visual identity, ensuring that your audiences will recognize your communication as coming from Amherst College. 

Send questions about Amherst logos to commassets@amherst.edu.

For questions about stationery, contact Campus Print & Mail at (413) 542-2528 or printandmail@amherst.edu.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do I need to follow visual identity guidelines?

A: Amherst College is a single institution that offers a variety of programs of exceptional quality in the liberal arts. Given this diversity, it is necessary to establish a set of guidelines that position the College’s identity under one unified set of standards.


Q: May I create my own custom logo for an academic unit, department, program, institute, center, or office?

A: No. To keep the College’s visual identity strong and unified, and to ensure that no department appears to be unsupported by the College or otherwise marginalized, our Visual Identity Toolkit prohibits the use of logos outside of our approved system. 


Q: May I create an official Amherst logo by typing “Amherst College” or an academic unit’s name in the Tiempos font?

A: No. The approved Amherst monogram and wordmark, as well as Amherst departmental logos, have been carefully and uniquely designed by identity specialists, with specific letter spacing and other characteristics that cannot be replicated by simply typing them. The College’s graphics files are available to download. Please email commassets@amherst.edu for assistance. 


 Q: May I use the seal by itself without the wordmark?

A: Yes, in limited applications, the seal may be used as a graphic element. However, it should never be used as the only representation of the College.


Q: Are the typefaces Tiempos, Soho, and Setimo available for free?

A: Licensing restrictions prevent us from distributing these three typefaces for free, but we have additional typefaces within our Visual Identity Toolkit that you can use for free. See the typography page for details.


Q: Where can I get approved artwork in order to be in compliance with the Amherst Visual Identity Toolkit?

A: See information for vendors and members of the public. Members of the Amherst community, please see Academic & Administrative Identity or Athletic Identity.


Q: Can I hire a freelancer, student, or other person to create logos or designs for our department use?

A: Before you hire any designer, please contact the Office of Communications for guidance. Logos created outside of the College’s Visual Identity Toolkit are not considered official Amherst logos and may not be used on the College website or other College collateral. If you are in need of design work for your department, you are invited to submit a design request to Communications.


Q: Can I use colors outside the official Amherst palette?

A: Amherst College logos must be rendered in purple, white, or black (with some exceptions approved by Communications). In general, we encourage the use of the Visual Identity Toolkit palette for department collateral and promotional communications, to more clearly identify them as coming from Amherst College. We realize that departments need to use other colors sometimes. For example, affinity colors (such as LGBTQ+ rainbow flag colors) are used as needed by the College’s resource centers. But in designs where Amherst colors work just as well as non-Amherst colors, we ask departments to use Amherst colors.


Q: Can I run a student design contest?

A: If you would like to use student-created design work, please contact Communications for guidance. Students’ designs can be creative and fun to use on informal materials, such as t-shirts or social posts. But it wouldn’t be appropriate to hold a contest to create a department logo. Please let us advise your department on how best to use (and not use) your students’ work. 


Q: Who owns the copyright to Amherst artwork?

A: Amherst College is the copyright owner by origination or assignment of any representation of an Amherst mark. Please contact Amherst Trademarks and Licensing at trdmarks@amherst.edu if you have further questions about ownership of copyrights. To request a license, please fill out the trademark and licensing form.


Q: How do I order letterhead, envelopes, and business cards?

A: Contact Campus Print & Mail at (413) 542-2528 or email printandmail@amherst.edu.