Brand Guidelines

1. Download Assets

Media Education Lab and sub-brands Logo System
Figtree Font Files
Phosphor Icons Set

Please make sure you respect the usage licenses of all assets. If you have any questions, please email us at info@mediaeducationlab.com.

2. Market Research

2.1. Organization Analysis

The Media Education Lab is an online community that advances the field of digital and media literacy education through leadership development, scholarship, and community engagement.

Unlike other Media Literacy Organizations (NAMLE, ProjectLookSharp, Center for Media Literacy, Media Savvy Citizens, Media&Learning, MediaSmart, BFI, IREX, MIL Alliance at UNESCO, MediaLiteracyNow) we provide leadership building and a sense of community.

In a simple statement, we want to become the the go-to resource for leadership and pedagogy in media education and media literacy.

2.1.1. Assumption

Issue: There are significant personal and societal consequences to uniformed and irresponsible media participation that is increasingly ubiquitous.

Needs: Solutions like regulation or automation are not able to keep up and support emotional and social intelligence, critical thinking, and technical skills needed to navigate and participate in today’s media ecosystem.

2.1.2. Problem Statement

Media educators do not have enough/accommodating support that:

Focuses on equatable and inclusive practices for a diverse range of learners;
Considers contexts important to analyzing and producing media;
Keeps them abreast of constant changes in the media ecosystem.

2.1.3. Statement of Organization Purpose and Identity

We are a community of media educators (community-based and K-16) who focus on supporting and learning from each other, currently led by Renee Hobbs.

2.1.4. Goals for Impact

Provide highly used resources (training, teaching materials, media production, research/reports/white papers) to support DEI and best practices of media literacy education (MEL is the go-to resource for teaching material in media education).

2.1.5. Secondary Goals

Maintain and grow as a community (as we ourselves become a DEI organization) - Grow and maintain a diverse (in many senses of the word) community of educators who contribute to the media education practice by co-learning from their unique areas of expertise, identity, and lived experiences.
Advocate for PD in media education

Just to clarify: The MEL main goal is to advance the practice of media education by training and creating educational materials. As secondary to support that that goal, producing professional videos/podcasts, advocate for ME and conducting research to inform our practices.

2.2. Competition Analysis

Membership organizations:

NAMLE (Twitter, Facebook, TredMicro, TikTok)
UNESCO MIL
IREX (USAID)
ACME (Project Censored)
Chicago Learning Exchanged (MCArthur Foundation + McCormick + Chicago Trust fundings)
Connected Learning (MCArthur Foundation fundings)
International Media Education Association
EAVI (European Association for Viewers Interests - Media literacy for citizenship
Media Smart
(AML) Association for Media Literacy of Canada
Australian Media Literacy Alliance
The Media Education Association (UK)
Media Education Foundation

Media Literacy Services:

Center for Media Literacy (grants and personal donations)
Convergence Design Lab (grants(
Bournemouth University's Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP)
News Literacy Project (Google, Apple,
The Center for News Literacy (previously, MCArthur Foundation and private fundings)
Center for Information and Media Literacy (Temple
I am not the media
American university’s Center for Media & Social Impact
USC Civic Media Imagination Project (MCArthur Foundation fundings)
MediaLiteracyNow

PD Organizations:

KQED Education
PBS TX
PBS WHYY (Philly)
PBS WGBH (Boston)
I Speak Media

Curriculum Organization:

Common Sense media
ProjectLookSharp
Participate

Media Production Ed Organizations:

YR Media
Educational Video Center NYC
Education Development Center
PBS Student Reporting Lab
Women’s Audio Movement (WAM)
The Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change

2.3. Target Analysis

Media Educators as a whole.

More specifically it is divided into:

Teacher (Elementary & Secondary)
Librarians
University/College Professor
Graduate Students
Researches
Policy Makers/Administrators

3. Brand Strategy

3.1. Voice

Website: The website centralizes all the content generation belonging to the parent brand and all sub-brands.

Social Media: New content should be promoted with social media posts directing users to the Website.

Email Marketing: Email is the most direct form of communication with our base. We can use email to promote new content directing users to the Website as well as sharing curated content from partners and others in Newsletter form.

3.2. Tone

Academic: As an educational organization we have a responsibility to communicate with an objective, unbiased, fact-based tone.

Accessible: Whenever possible we should avoid technical jargon in favor of layman's terms that everybody can understand.

Consistent: We should maintain a common tone in all brand and sub-brand communications for a cohesive storytelling.

3.3. Keywords

In no particular order:

Diversity
Leadership
Connection
Learning

3.4. Creative Concept

"Elevating People"

Similar to the Keywords, but more expressive and distinctive, the Creative Concept is a word or phrase that represents the desired emotional response from the target public when interacting with the Brand.

Unlike a Slogan, a Creative Concept is not necessarily developed for public use, although it can be used publicly. Its primary purpose is to be used internally as a mantra to guide the creative process when sketching a Logo, copywriting a slogan, designing an ad, or when developing any other type of Brand Communication. This ensures that all elements of the Brand will convey a consistent message.

3.5 Brand Architecture

The Media Education Lab is parent to a diverse family of sub-brands.

MeadiaEd Forum
MediaEd Institute
MediaEd Club
MediaEd Graduate Symposyum
MediaEd Podcast
MediaEd Research Jam
Journal of Media Literacy Education
Youth Media Reporter
Media & Value
Grandparents of Media Literacy
MediaEd Certificate
MediaEd Videos & Podcasts
MediaEd Blog
MediaEd Partners
MediaEd Consulting
MediaEd PD
MediaEd Talks
MediaEd Workshops
MediaEd Graduate Programs
MediaEd Dialogues
MediaEd Textbooks
MediaEd Articles
MediaEd Leson Plans
MediaEd Impact
MediaEd Index

4. Visual identity

4.1. Typography Selection

4.1.1. Primary Family

Figtree

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The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog

Figtree is the preferred typographic family for all text corresponding to the Media Education Lab brand and sub-brands.

Figtree is a clean yet friendly geometric sans serif font for usage in web and mobile apps. It's light-hearted and crisp when used for text, yet still retains some punch when used in uppercase – perfect for buttons and short labels. The thicker weights have a distinctly friendlier character, great for headlines of more personable brands.

All font files are available to download for free in Google Fonts.

4.1.2. Fallback Family

Verdana

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The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog

Unfortunately, email clients can't display custom typographic families which are not included in the base font files from the computer or mobile device operative system. Hence, all email newsletters should be formated with the text set in Verdana.