Framework for Brand Expression
We Partner in Many Different Ways
Partnerships span these areas:
- Financial—monetary support
- Operational—infrastructure and platform/project management
- Outreach—recruitment and participant support
- Intellectual Property—research or original content
- Assets—data or other assets
Be Generous and Acknowledge Transparently
Our work with partners is essential to scale our collective impact together, from local to global conservation outcomes. Acknowledge the leadership and contributions of others, and clarify the role and contributions of the Lab.
Think About Information Hierarchy
What is the most important thing a visitor needs to know when they land on a webpage? Ensure users can easily access and use the information while elegantly acknowledging lead partners and other contributors.
Three categories for brand expression depending on the nature of contributions. Use the links or scroll down for guidance on each category:
Support and Contributions on Lab’s Platforms
Use with: A product or project that is holistically managed by the Cornell Lab, and is made possible in part thanks to financial support, outreach collaboration, data, or other assets from a partnering organization.
Guidance
Use the Lab’s branding with the Lab’s logo featured most prominently to signal our primary responsibility for managing the project or platform.
Option 1 (recommended)
The supporters, partners, and/or contributors may be represented with their logos in a call-out section at the bottom of the page directly above the footer, with category headers to indicate their contribution (e.g., Supporter, Cam Host, Founding Partner)
Option 2
If there are two or fewer partners, another option would be to put “supported by…” under the project title followed by partner logos. The size of the supporting partners’ logos should be no more than 70% the width of the Cornell Lab logo.
Support and Contributions on Partner’s Platforms
Use with: A product or project that is holistically managed by another partner and is made possible in part by contributions from the Lab.
Guidance
By default, the Lab’s logo should not be used on third-party products, but the Lab may be credited in text. Ask the partner to credit the Lab with the following: “Supported by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.”
Use of the Lab logo is acceptable if the Lab has confidence in the quality of the end product and believes that recognition of the Lab would be mutually beneficial. In this case, explanatory text should note the Lab’s specific role or contribution.
The Lab should provide current logo artwork and guidelines regarding use of color and minimum sizing to the partner organization, and should review the usage of our logo.
In general, feature the Lab’s name and logo rather than a project name. If a project name is important to include, use it only in lockup with the Cornell Lab logo. In text, use the naming convention: Cornell Lab | [Product Name].
The Cornell University and CALS logos should not be used.
Intellectual Property Partnerships on Lab’s Platforms
Use with: Offerings that the Lab develops and holistically manages, with key features made possible thanks to IP contributed by individuals.
Guidance
These products, initiatives, and experiences are holistically managed by the Lab with the widest scope of responsibilities, and should follow the Lab’s brand guidelines for design elements, color palette, fonts, and voice.
The Cornell Lab logo should be featured most prominently to reflect the Lab’s primary responsibility for the project overall.
Individuals from partnering institutions who contribute intellectual property (IP) or content for core features should be listed along with their affiliation in text only on the project’s landing page. This should be placed in an “acknowledgments” section at the bottom of the page above the footer. Logos and additional information about the IP contributions can be included on a partnership page.
Intellectual Property Partnerships on Neutral Platforms
Use when: Intellectual-property contributors collaborate on a joint project that is not considered the domain of any one organization.
Guidance
Individuals who contribute intellectual property are listed along with their affiliation in text only, or in association with their institutions’ logos. If highlighting a Center of the Lab, use the Cornell Lab logo lockup.
Co-Leadership on Lab’s Platforms (Tiered)
Use with: Offerings that the Lab develops and holistically manages with the widest scope of responsibilities, along with partner groups who lead regions or communities.
Guidance
These products, initiatives, and experiences should follow the Lab’s brand guidelines for design elements, color palette, fonts, and voice.
The Cornell Lab logo should be featured most prominently to reflect the Lab’s primary responsibility for the project overall. Lead partner logos, and explanation of their role if needed, should be clearly and visibly placed, while ensuring users can easily see key information and calls to action.
Partner logos may be featured near the top of the home page, or near the bottom if too numerous to do so at the top for usability reasons. When many partners must be featured, another option is to provide a prominent link to a list of partners and their logos.
Additionally, seek to acknowledge partners prominently on the specific landing pages that reflect their domain of responsibility, contributions, or audience reach.
On international eBird pages, the eBird name and a Lab sapsucker icon may be used in place of the Cornell Lab logo when served as regionally customized pages outside the U.S. Projects managed by the Yang Center for academic and collaborator audiences may use the Yang Center logo with inclusion of the Lab’s name or logo according to guidelines (to come).
Co-Leadership on Lab’s Platforms (Not Tiered)
Use with: A product, initiative, or experience of the Lab that is holistically and jointly co-managed by the Lab and partners.
Guidance
If joint products, initiatives, or experiences should be viewed as offerings of the Lab, they should carry the Lab’s branding (e.g., design elements, color palette, fonts) to support expectations of audiences, funders, or partners.
Co-leading partner logos, including the Lab’s, should be given equal weighting and prominence to indicate their joint role in holistically managing the project with widest scope of responsibilities.
Co-Leadership on Neutral Platforms
Use with: A partnership in which the Lab and other leading organizations share the widest scope of responsibilities more or less equally.
Guidance
These products, initiatives, and experiences should be neutrally branded rather than expressing the brand of the Lab or other partner (e.g., should not use any one partner’s color palette or logo).
Recommendation: Recognition should be given to the Cornell Lab by including the Lab logo in a graphic logo wall at the bottom of a webpage. Whenever possible the logos of all partners should be consistent in size and all be one-color or all be in color. The Lab should provide current logo artwork and guidelines regarding use of color and minimum sizing. If possible, the Lab should review the usage of our logo.
