THE MUSSAR INSTITUTE STYLE SHEET

For our leaders, staff, faculty, and key volunteers who represent TMI to others

Logos

Our logo has two parts: the icon and the title. It is elegant, symbolic, and clean.

Uses: Use the full color logo on white backgrounds and either the white or black logos on non-white backgrounds. Do not use the logo on colored backgrounds or screened less than 100%.

Colors: Purple: Hex Code # 542e91; Yellow: Hex Code #ffcb05

White Space: Give the logo "air". It should stand alone on the line or in the space.

Size: Our logo needs to take up the right amount of space. It should not "scream" at you - too large, neither should it be too small. It should support the rest of the page or image. There are no absolutes here.

Download: Right-click to download the images.

Main Logo: Full Color. Stacked. Clear background. Tag.

White Logo: Stacked. Clear Background. Tag.

Black Logo: Stacked. Clear Background. Tag

Main Logo: Full Color. Horizontal. Clear background. Tag.

White Logo: Horizontal. Clear background. Tag. (It's there!)

Black Logo: Horizontal. Clear background. Tag.

Design Colors

Aside from logos, colors are used as accents. All type is either black or gray. In general, if you use an accent color, it should be repeated elsewhere on the page. Avoid several different colors on a page or in a document.

Basic Letterhead Header

The Icon should be no more than 1 inch tall. Position the right side of the icon to end in line with your text, about 1 inch from the left of the page. Use either A or B. For Page 2, make the header smaller. Approximately 70%

Text Styles and Usage

Headers

Font: Roboto, Monserrat, Open Sans. On a Mac: Ariel, Sanserif, Helvetica. You may also use Playfair Display, or on a Mac: Libre Baskerville, or Georgia.

Colors: Black, Dark Gray (#545454), Purple (#542e91)

Case: All Caps or U.C./L.C.

Italics: Italicize Hebrew in titles, not course titles. Do not italicize holidays or names in titles.

Body

Font: San Serif Typeface: Roboto, Monserrat, Open Sans, Arial, or (Mac)Ariel, Sanserif, Helvetica. In print only, it is an option to use a serif font such as Times Neue Roman or Cormorant Garamond.

Colors: Always black or dark gray (#545454). The text color is never purple, yellow, blue, or any other color.

Style: Straight font. Sanserif whenever possible. Do not use bold, caps, or change the size of the letters when emphasizing. These choices stop the reader's process and make it more difficult to read. Trust the reader to get your point.

Italics: Italicize course titles when within a paragraph. Italicize transliterated Hebrew. Italicize middot, middah, etc., when not used in titles. Do not italicize Mussar or Names or Hebrew names of Holidays.

Tone: Our tone is warm, welcoming, clear, intelligent. Especially for screens, keep the writing extremely sparse. Say just enough to be understood.

Case: Capitalize Mussar. Do not capitalize individual middot or the words middah or middot.

USE OF IMAGES; GENERAL DESIGN

Graphic design is artwork that is meant to communicate. It is not a decoration or work of fine art.

Most of the graphic design at TMI is production style: meant to be eye-catching, to help drive the messages, to be done quickly and efficiently, and not meant to last over years. The designs that will be referenced for years, are given much more time. I.E. courses in Tovuti, course pages.

If you are creating works for TMI, please:

Avoid the use of lines or frames around images.
Use drop shadows sparingly.
Use gradients sparingly, or never. Never is better.
Use our logo colors sparingly.
If you use one color on a page, use it at least one more time.
Do not use more than 3 colors on a page, except in images.
Watch justifications - don't mix up center, left, and right justifications without good reason.
Every design/element choice should be done with a reason, not just because you like it.

Examples and Other Items

EXAMPLE OF A LINK (NON WORKING)

Links: Background: Use either logo color, #ffcb05 (yellow) or #542e91 (purple). Fonts: Use black on yellow; white on purple. All caps. Slightly round the edge (2-3 px) if possible.

Email Signature: This is a small-size file, 200 X 80 px. Let Deb Pinger know if you would like a larger file. Email providers have particular specs.

Challenges and Choices transparent background