Video Branding & Style Guidelines

• Overview

Videos can be powerful tools to help communicate key messages to audiences. Video is increasingly becoming a central part of our everyday landscape of communication, and it is becoming more visible as people share it on digital platforms. However, you must ensure the correct use of the formal university or school or centre logo with appropriate background control.

• Contact

Contacts the Office of Corporate Affairs and work together to ensure that communications bearing the UTM name and brand marks are consistent with the overall style and branding guidelines for the university. Please contact either office for assistance on branding or other matters related to the creation of videos, presentations or other interactive medium.

• Before You Begin Your Project

It is your responsibility to obtain all necessary permissions including performances, branding, trademarked goods and logos, use of intellectual property, imagery, sound recordings and any other copyrighted material which will form part of the final video production. Permission must be obtained from the original copyright owner / material provider.

The Office of Corporate Affairs will be able to provide assistance with obtaining the necessary media release forms, as well as any consents needed to ensure compliance with individuals’ privacy. Good public relations practices should be observed to ensure that the wishes of any individual who does not want his/her image used are honored. Media releases are needed from individuals who are not students, faculty or staff of the university. This includes members of the community who are depicted and identifiable during outreach events.

When capturing images or footage of individuals or small groups of people in public places, it is a best practice to politely inform any potential subjects who may appear in the images that resulting images could be used for promotional purposes. On-campus spaces such as the lobbies of buildings and UTM Health centre considered private property and require the necessary consents from subjects appearing in film or photographs. When in doubt — if any individual who is not a member of the faculty or staff is identifiable — obtain consent.

• Proper Permissions and Credentialing for Film Crews and Vendors

Please contact the Office of Corporate Affairs prior to scheduling any media, film crews or video vendors to perform services on the premises of UTM or any related university properties. Crews must receive temporary credentials and IDs and have an official escort prior to any work in campus buildings.

• Representing the UTM Brand in Your Video Project

UTM is a trusted brand. It is important that elements composing the visual identity for UTM are consistent.

• Visual Identity / Branding

– Opening Slide

Videos should contain an opening slide with the logo of UTM or title of the feature accompanied by the appropriate university’s logo. A template with either a white background featuring the full color positive logo or a black/dark grey background featuring the full color reverse logo is recommended.

– Closing Slide

The closing slide is your opportunity to have your audience take action. Would you like them to call to make an appointment or to receive more information? Or would you like them to follow you on Twitter? The style of the closing slide should mirror that of the opening slide and contain the following elements:

• Department or Division
• Contact telephone number or appointment line
• Location(s) in text (if applicable)
• The appropriate UTM logo – Please download UTM logo from: https://brand.utm.my/project/use-of-logo/

• Apparel

In support of the branding and communication efforts of UTM, individual(s) are asked to wear decently.

• Best Practices and Recommendations

– Length

The maximum recommended length for video features is between one and three minutes. Educational videos may be longer, however, but special consideration should be given to developing a structure and format that encourages users to continue on through the video segment.

– B-Roll footage

The Office of Corporate Affairs can assist you with supplemental footage of many common UTM elements such as the exterior of buildings, an aerial view of campus and generic footage of activities related to the campus.

– Music

Music With the assistance of your selected video consultant, you may choose to use music to enhance your work and create a story that is engaging, inspiring or energetic. Please make sure the music is free from copyright issue.

– Technical Requirements and Specifications

There are many configuration settings available to you when producing video for the web. Most settings depend on where and how you will use the video. Your video and/or web team should serve as the experts on determining the specific settings for the video for your website.

As a general rule of thumb, we recommend that you limit your video to a maximum of 10MB per minute and ensure that you encode your video for Internet Streaming (“Fast Start”) so your video will begin playing almost immediately.

– Resolution

All video elements including text should be legible at a minimum 400 x 300 resolution. This is to ensure readability on mobile devices. Landscape (16:9 aspect ratio) is recommended for all video.