MICA's new logo, officially launched on April 1, 2007, was designed by Abbott Miller of the internationally recognized design firm Pentagram. Working with Abbott was senior designer Kristen Spilman, a 2005 graduate of MICA’s MFA in graphic design, and a member of Abbott's team in his Baltimore studio.
Why "MICA"?
The logo marks the culmination of a seven-year evolution of Maryland Institute College of Art’s nomenclature system towards valuing the acronym, MICA, as the College’s primary identifier. MICA was founded in 1826 as The Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, and has been known by a number of different names, including its official business name: The Maryland Institute. Many alumni, as well as long-time faculty, staff, and friends, still refer to the College as "the Institute," or even "the 'Tute." While MICA embraces its long, varied, and rich history, and the wonderful memories of those who knew it when its size and scope of offerings were different from those of today, the move to embrace "MICA" as our primary name is a reflection of usage among current students, faculty, and staff, and of how we are known nationally. With the College’s accreditation and awarding of bachelor’s degrees in the mid 20th century, its name—Maryland Institute, College of Art—reflected our movement towards becoming one of the top colleges of art and design in the country. The comma was dropped after a 2000 research project which also confirmed the acronym as one of three options in the official nomenclature system: Maryland Institute College of Art, the College, MICA. The new logo recognizes that MICA’s name recognition has broadened enough to allow us to simply be "MICA."
About the New Logo
- The logo uses letterforms based on industrial and commercial graphics from the time of MICA's founding. Rendering the acronym with historical letters in a modern way reflects MICA's unusual culture, balancing tradition and innovation in its curriculum and physical campus.
- The full signature of the institution, Maryland Institute College of Art, is set in a sans serif font, Griffith, designed by Chauncey Griffith in 1937. Griffith was the design director of Mergenthaler Type, whose founder, Ottmar Mergenthaler resided in Bolton Hill, the neighborhood that is home to MICA's campus.
- The rules between the letters offer a visual reference to the architecture of the College's two most visible buildings: the 1907 Main Building (National Register of Historic Places) and the 2003 Brown Center, a crystalline glass structure which sits directly across Mount Royal Avenue from Main. The logo's rhythmic lines echo the juxtaposition of the classical Italianate structure (Main) and the linear geometry of the building designed by Charles Brickbauer (Brown). The angled line specifically recalls the distinctive "prow" of Brown Center’s facade.
- The colors of the branding system are drawn directly from MICA's campus: the oxidized green of historic copper railings and details, and the brown and slate colors of stone and brick.
- The logo is executed in two versions: the main logo features solid letterforms, and a secondary version incorporates a graphic pattern that alludes to the profusion of ornamental architectural patterns on MICA's campus.
Logo Guidelines
The new graphic identity program for Maryland Institute College of Art provides a succinct graphic expression of the MICA acronym, which has evolved through general usage as the College’s primary identifier among its various audiences.
The identity consists of the logo (acronym with its associated rhythmic lines), the signature (Maryland Institute College of Art), the lockup (acronym + signature), and a decorative pattern that works in conjunction with the acronym for expressive applications of the logo.
MICA's Graphic Identity Standards and Guidelines explains rules of usage and scale, specifies colors for print and electronic formats, and summarizes key applications. If you have questions that are not addressed in this document, or if you need logos in electronic format, please contact MICA’s Office of Communications.
Logo Samples
These samples are for informational purposes only. For assistance in determining which logo to use, please contact the Office of Communications, which will supply you with the proper electronic file.
The Solid Logo
The solid logo should be used in contexts where the simplest or boldest possible expression is needed, including situations where it will be seen with other logos (such as a listing of institutions or sponsors of an event), on the spine of a publication, or as a simple application on t-shirts or merchandise. The Solid Logo may be reproduced in black, white, or the preferred color palette (PMS 470U for the letters and PMS 424U for the rules).
The Pattern Logo
A patterned version of the logo is available for more expressive applications, including t-shirts, portfolios, vehicles, or merchandise. It is not appropriate on formal institutional communications (stationery, contracts, business correspondence) or when the scale or medium will not allow effective reproduction of the pattern (such as on an e-mail signature). Like the Solid Logo, the Pattern Logo may be reproduced in black, white, or the preferred color palette (PMS 470U for the background and PMS 564U for the pattern).
Lock-Ups
Lock-ups include the MICA logo (either solid or patterned) and the full name of the College (also known as the signature). The two-line signature aligned flush left to the letter “I” in the logo is the preferred lockup and should be used whenever the width of the logo measures at least 1.25”. For lock-up files designed for use at smaller or larger dimensions, please contact the Office of Communications.
For MICA Staff
Postal & Print Operations began distributing letterhead with the new logo on Monday, April 2, 2007. Old letterhead is being collected by Postal & Print Operations and should not be used.
In addition, MICA offices should replace any word processing templates for producing memos and other documents that include the old "swoosh" brand and replace these with the MS Word templates for memos and fax cover sheets.
We will have a full style guide for using the logo and provide electronic files of the logo for community use. We have been very fortunate that Pentagram was willing and able to design the many, many, many applications for the logo, small and large (from banners to mugs and t-shirts to letterhead and the podium sign for Falvey Hall to the use of the logo on the Web site). They and we have used that process as a way of testing the logo in a wide array of uses, and this process informs the guidelines for using the logo.
Document Formatting
The memo templates offer as their default font the approved font and margins for MICA memos, selected for the best possible visual interaction with the memo masthead logo. We ask that you use Garamond 11 pt as the default font and font size for all documents created for MICA letterhead and memo templates.
Download the margin sample for MICA Letterhead.
Download the margin sample for MICA 2nd Sheet Letterhead.
Download the margin sample for MICA Monarch Letterhead.
How to Use the Templates
Please replace all existing "swoosh" memo formats your office may be using with the templates, which include the new MICA branding. Below are some tips and important info regarding these files:
Macros
Some of the templates contains macros. When they are opened in Word, they may warn that there are macros. The user should choose "Always trust macros from this source," "Always trust macros from this publisher," or "Enable macros," depending on their version of Word. These files are safe to use, and are the official format for all MICA memos.
Interface
These memos are in Tab'n'Type format that allows the user to quickly tab between fields and type information. The "from" field will automatically fill with the username from the computer where they are loaded, and the current date. You can simply overtype to replace the name or date.
Installation
If you double-click on any of the templates, a new document will be produced without opening the original. You can also copy the template into the Office Templates folder and access it using Word's File/New command. If the macros do not run correctly, you should also try copying the templates to the template folder and using them from there. To do this, you should follow these steps:
- Open the Microsoft Office templates folder. If you are unsure about the location of this folder, consult the steps below "Finding the Microsoft Office Templates Folder".
- Copy the files. You may find it convenient to create a "Client Name" folder and copy all the templates there. This folder will show up as a "Client Name" tab in the File/New dialog.
Finding the Microsoft Office Templates Folder
- Open Microsoft Word
- Choose Word's Tools/Options menu command
- Click on the File Locations tab
- Click on "User templates"
- If you cannot see the entire path to this folder in the window, click on the Modify button. Cancel out after recording this information.
- Open the folder shown in the "User templates" path.
Special Needs
If you have specific things you are working on that require the logo, please send a list of those requests to the Office of Communications, and we will work to address your needs. Please note that the process of successfully implementing a new graphic identity for the College requires that we all work together to adhere to the guidelines for most effective use of the new designs. This means that MICA will be centralizing design of all official MICA stuff — from nametags and parking stickers to giveaways — and we are asking that all College departments come through Office of Communications for the design of these items.
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