City of Hope this week began rollout of its new visual identity, positioning and messages. As City of Hope moves toward the next century with a strategic plan to significantly expand research, treatment and educational programs, the organization also is preparing for the most ambitious fundraising campaign in its history.

Leaders are updating City of Hope’s brand to make its visual identity more consistent with the institution’s character and accurately convey the organization’s far-reaching plans and mission. Designers created the new identity to reflect the partnership of science and compassion that makes City of Hope unique. The new logo forms the cornerstone of City of Hope’s visual identity. Inspired by the Spirit of Life® fountain, the new logo is meant to embody hope, optimism and unity, while its accompanying contemporary font expresses streamlined innovation. Leaders selected the logo’s blue color to reinforce modernity.

“The brand is more than a logo. The brand represents who City of Hope is, what we stand for and why we are different,” said Brenda Maceo, senior vice president of communications. “Practically speaking, it’s the way we describe ourselves to patients and donors, the content and look of our publications — even the manner in which the phone is answered.”

To help staff understand the many components of the new brand, the Communications Department developed a style guide, which is posted on the intranet. The guide explains key elements of the initiative, including a positioning statement that provides clear directions on how to describe City of Hope to those outside the institution.

The guide also includes what communications staff call “brand values” — characteristics that help define the organization — as well as key messages and an updated visual identity, including the logo.

A set of frequently asked questions, or FAQs, accompanies the online style guide. This list of answers to commonly asked questions will help employees with everyday work needs, including the correct design of letterhead, business cards, templates and promotional items, as well as proper logo usage, e-mail signature and compliance.

These are just a few of the questions:
• Should letter copy read “City of Hope” and not “City of Hope National Medical Center?”
• City of Hope uses a new font — Whitney — but how is it installed on computers? How can Whitney be set as the default font in Word, Excel and PowerPoint?
• How can users resize the logo while keeping it proportionately accurate?
• Which logo items get discarded, and when? What should be recycled?
• How do employees change their e-mail signatures? What is the e-mail template, and where can employees get the wordmark (the words “City of Hope” in their proper font) to put in their e-mail?

Despite the changes, faculty and staff can expect to see some items with the previous logo remain at City of Hope. Several so-called “legacy” items, such as the Spirit of Life fountain and The Spirit of Life Awards, will remain in use, as they are important to City of Hope’s heritage, Maceo said.

For more information about the new brand at City of Hope, visit www.coh.org/branding or e-mail questions to brandquestions@coh.org.