Fonts & Typography
Making the right typographic choices plays an important role in building brand consistency across print and digital communications. Our brand fonts provide a variety of weights for both lowercase and uppercase type setting.
As a general rule, text should be left-aligned. For Instagram posts or stories, left alignment works particularly well when paired with supporting imagery or graphics, creating balance and professionalism.
Leading, or line spacing, can be set automatically to start, then reduced visually in the case of titles, or increased slightly for body text in order to ‘lighten’ the page and improve readability.
Brown Pro
Primary Font
Brown Pro is central to PCA’s brand and should be used, when suitable, across all touch points, including web content, presentations, merchandise, and signage.
We use the Light, Light Italic, Regular, and Bold weights.
Reach out to the admissions team if you need the Brown Pro font files.
Degular
Secondary Font / Prioritize for Social Media
Degular is a variable, all-purpose font used for header content in print and digital communications, notably for advertisements and social media content.
We use the Light, Regular, Semibold, and Black weights alongside their italic counterparts.
You can activate Degular to access the appropriate font weights from Adobe Fonts if you have an Adobe Creative Cloud license.
For social media usage, headers should be 100–200pt Degular Black and body text should be Degular Regular 35–40pt with -10 kerning.
Quinn Text
Workhorse Font
Quinn is a legible serif font used for body type in editorial design, be it print or digital, such as handbooks and guides, downloadable forms, and legal documents.
We use the Light, Regular, Bold, and ExtraBold weights alongside their italic counterparts.
You can activate Quinn Text to access the appropriate font weights from Adobe Fonts if you have an Adobe Creative Cloud license.
Headline: Degular Semibold, 28pt
Body Text: Degular Regular, Semibold & Semibold Italic, 12pt
Prioritize using a single font and differentiate text through variations in weight or italics if necessary, rather than combining multiple brand fonts within the same communication.
Headline: Degular Black, 27pt
Body Text: Brown Pro Light, 11pt
Of course, brand fonts can be mixed to create visual texture and interest. When doing so, keep additional body text styling such at italicizing, bolding, and underlining to a minimum.
Pull quotes should always be in Quinn Text Italic.
Unacceptable Font Usage
Body text should never be set in all uppercase.
Don’t stretch or distort typefaces.
Don’t use unapproved fonts or weights.
Don’t use excessive styles like shadowing and outlining.
Don’t overcrowd text; allow breathing room for the layout.
Margins and Guides
Margins & Columns
In InDesign, go to Layout in the top menu, then select Margins & Columns. Ensure that there is enough padding around the edges of the document so text is not squished up against the edges or running off the page.
For example, 36px around all edges provides sufficient padding, or margin, for a square 1080px by 1080px Instagram post.
Guides
To maintain structured layouts, all content should be created using a grid system. To create one in InDesign, go to the top menu and select Layout, Create Guides. Always Fit Guides to Margins so as to not ignore the exterior margins you’ve created.
Color Use in Typography
Align text color with your department colors.
Core Brand
HEX #FD462B
Summer
HEX #FFF000
Photography, Fashion Film & Photography, Photography & Image-making, Film
HEX #28A0FF
Fashion Design
HEX #F789E3
Fine Arts, Drawing, Transdisciplinary New Media
HEX #FF9600
Foundation
HEX #9BABFF
Interior Design
HEX #4BE1F5
Communication Design, Design for Social Impact
HEX #B2E030
Incorrect Color Use
Avoid using department-specific colors for other disciplines to maintain identity.
Avoid using multiple colors in a single block of text; stick to 1-2 complementary colors.
Don’t use low-contrast pairings (e.g., Yellow on White).
Don’t use a gradient within text.
Text on Plain Colored Backgrounds
Red, Lavender, Pink, Blue, Orange, Green = Paired with white text
Yellow, Turquoise = Paired with black text
