The easiest way to ensure that your club or organization looks great and adheres to these standards is to get our office involved early.

We can help suggest designs to match their intended material and location—for example, what works for embroidery might not work as well for screenprinting.

These guidelines help to ensure that incorrect or inferior materials don’t harm Bowdoin’s reputation, or endanger our legal claims to these protected marks.

Once your designs are approved, we will provide you with the necessary files to share with your vendors, artists, or manufacturers.

PERMITTED MARKS

In order to give you plenty of options and maximum flexibility, student groups have more relaxed rules than other campus programs or services.

Your club or organization may use any of the marks below, as long as they are unaltered and used correctly.

USING CUSTOM OR UNOFFICIAL MARKS

In a community as creative as this one, there will always be artists and designers who want to create custom logos and marks for their group. If you want to use a custom mark for your group, there are just a few rules to keep in mind. Logos or merchandise that violate these guidelines may have to be reprinted, at cost to you.

• Do not infringe on the names, likenesses, or trademarks of other companies, colleges, groups, or organizations.
• Do not use official Bowdoin marks in combination with your own design without explicit prior approval from the Office of Communications.
• Do not reference illegal activities, drugs, or alcohol.
• Never mock, insult, or impersonate another person, team, club, school, or program.

WORDMARK BOXED

• Do not recreate the wordmark using type or graphics programs—always use the original files provided.
• Do not change the color of the wordmark, or allow other colors or photos to show through the letterforms.
• Additional spacing and sizing guidelines are available upon request.

WORDMARK UNBOXED

• Do not recreate this mark using type or graphics programs—always use the original files provided.
• Do not crop the wordmark, add additional text, change its color, or distort it in any way.
• Do not use this mark as a substitute for text, for example, within a sentence or headline.

ATHLETIC TYPEFACE

• The athletic typeface is a custom set of all caps letters available through the Communications office.
• Do not attempt to recreate or approximate this style using unapproved fonts.

ATHLETIC TYPEFACE, ARCHED

• Only the word “Bowdoin” may be arched. This arched text combines with other words in the straight style.
• No other words should appear in larger type than the word “Bowdoin”.

SCARF SPIRIT BEAR

• Do not add anything to the marks, such as hats, other clothing, or pasted-on items.
• Do not change the color or design of the scarf.
• Do not let background colors show through—the Polar Bear’s head and scarf stripes must always be solid white.

SWEATER SPIRIT BEAR

• Do not change the bear’s sweater or outfit.
• This bear usually leans only on the Bowdoin B, but can lean on the most significant word in a title. Just ask, and we can help your group understand the options.

FULL POLAR BEAR WITH “B”

• Do not stretch or distort the mark.
• Do not alter the colors or apply other graphic elements.
• Do not crop or rotate the mark.
• The Polar Bear always leans only on the Bowdoin “B.”

MEDALLION POLAR BEAR

• Do not allow the background color to show through—the Polar Bear’s head must be solid white.
• Do not use the medallion in place of letters or numbers.
• Do not rotate the medallion or add additional elements.

PAW PRINT

• The paw print should only be used in black or white.
• Do not outline the paw print, or fill it with photography.
• Do not use the paw print in place of letters or numbers.
• Do not add letters or numbers on top of the paw print.

THE BOWDOIN “B”

• The “B” is never combined with the wordmark or seal.
• Do not attempt to type, recreate, or redraw the “B”—the correct file will be provided to you.
• The Bowdoin “B” should only be used in black or white.

Interested in more detail?

The Office of Communications and Public Affairs website includes additional guides for:

• color and typography
• and the Polar Bear mascot.