WESTERN HOMELESS OUTREACH

BRANDING
GUIDE

BY:
KATHRINE BRASETH,
EVAN KEEN, JILLIAN
POWERS

WELCOME TO OUR BRANDING GUIDE

The purpose of Western Homeless Outreachs (WHO) branding guide is to provide a
unified understanding of the club to students, members and the community at large.
This guide is to be shared amongst club officers to maintain a consistent image for
Western Community Outreach.
This guide is here to help current and future members of
WHO understand the mission of our club while simultaneously providing guidelines
on our policies when it comes to branding. Our goal is to have WHO be as prominent
in Whatcom County as possible. In order for this to be achieved WHO must have brand
consistency, which this guide will provide.

ABOUT WESTERN COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Western Homeless Outreach is an Associated Students club on Western Washington
Universitys campus. WHOs central mission is to build relationships between Western
students and Bellinghams disenfranchised population by engaging in community
service. There are around 10 members who attend weekly meetings on Monday nights
at 6:30 p.m. in Bond Hall 114. The club was founded in 2011 and holds a quarterly
event in the Viking Commons called, Be Our Guest which invites students to share
their leftover meals with those in need. WHO also facilitates an event named
Distribution where clothing, food, and basic toiletries are given to the homeless in
Bellingham.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction and Purpose.1
Origins and Timeline..3
Brand Position...4
Brand Personality.5
Brand Voice.6
Brand Assets..7
Branding Guidelines.8
Acknowledgments11

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
This guide is not fully comprehensive. This branding guide requires collaboration as
time goes on and WHO continues to flourish. Feel free to expand this branding guide
to fit WHOs needs.
Feel free to contact us at any time.
whowwu@gmail.com.

ORIGINS
Western Homeless Outreach was established in 2011. Since our inception we have had
weekly meetings and quarterly events benefiting Bellinghams disenfranchised
population, while simultaneously educating Whatcom county on the issues revolving
around homelessness.
Since 2011 our club has grown exponentially and we have provided a myriad of events
and fundraisers in an attempt to help this population. As of now we have 10 full time
members and frequent volunteers.

TIMELINE
This timeline is meant to be updated as our club expands.
2011 Western Homeless Outreach is established at Western Washington
University.
2012 First club meeting.
2012 The first Be Our Guest event was hosted.
2012 First fundraising for distribution event began.

BRAND POSITION
Western Homeless Outreach is an Associated Students club of Western Washington
University. Our club hopes to impact the disenfranchised population of Bellingham and
Whatcom County in general, while educating students on homelessness.
By holding fundraising events for distribution of goods to the homeless or inviting
community members for a free meal on Westerns campus, our club hopes to positively
affect the lives of the disenfranchised. Club leaders and members can be found
brainstorming ways to help the homeless at most meetings, or on campus fundraising
at bake sales.
The club seeks to educate students on homelessness and diminish the myths and
assumptions people typically carry. In order to put our hopes into reality we invite
Western students to join us in discussion and make an impact, big or small, on
someones life.
We hope for each member to feel welcomed, accepted, and heard at each meeting.
Coming to a meeting we want an environment where people can be comfortable to
share their ideas and ask questions on common homelessness misconceptions. Bringing
students together to rethink homelessness and help those in need is what we are about.

WHAT WE STAND FOR:

o Education on Homelessness
o Campus engagement towards those in need
o Community and campus involvement

Our brand assets completely echo this position.

BRAND PERSONALITY
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This club is about educating students and helping those in need.

The branding guide specifically is intended to help others grasp who we are and what
importance we have being at Western. If someone is unfamiliar with our club, we hope
this helps them understand our organization better.
We as a club aspire to change what people think about homelessness, and educate on
common misconceptions. Through discussion and outreach Western Community
Outreach dedicates itself to topics such as:
o
o
o
o
o

Homelessness
Common homelessness myths and facts
Community engagement
Campus to community outreach
Outreach to Homeless shelters and poor communities

If Western Homeless Outreach were to be have three words to describe us, we would
say we are:

o Educational
o Positive
o Enlightening

BRAND VOICE
Homelessness is a serious problem in Whatcom County. Since this is such a large issue
we want to approach our branding and tone as serious. The last thing we want is to
make light of this situation with bubbly words and branding.

When branding events for Western Homeless Outreach make a point to not take this
situation lightly as we are communicating not only to Whatcom County but to our
disenfranchised homeless population as well.
While we are dealing with a serious topic our voice should strive to be multi-faceted.
Yes, the topic is a dramatic one but we want to get more members so we should try to
have a welcoming voice as well as a serious tone.
While this is a challenge we must incorporate this serious tone with that of a
welcoming one that makes people want to be a part of WHO.
Weve included an example of our club voice with our Radio PSA that was recorded in
the spring of 2016:
We cant ignore this problem any longer. Hello, Im Evan and on any given night in
Whatcom County there are over 500 people with no place to call home. We at Western
Homeless Outreach strive to provide a helping hand to this disenfranchised
population. Without the help of students like you the service we provide for this
population couldnt be done. To find out what you can do to provide help in our
community visit our Facebook page. Western Homeless Outreach, our door is always
open.

BRAND ASSETS
Two different fonts are used to represent Western Homeless Outreachs style and personality.
A Serif and Sans Serif that is consistent in representing the serious yet light-hearted undertone
of our club.

This is Century Gothic

This Sans-Serif font is to be used for all titles and headings for any and
all Western Homeless Outreach materials. When using this font it must
always be bolded to represent the seriousness of the issues WHO
encounters. This font must also be used with the logo and tagline to
create consistency and easy identification of WHO material and
affiliations.

This is Georgia
This Serif font is to be used for body paragraphs and any subsequent writing that is not a title,
heading or tagline. Georgia is easily recognized and represents a light-heartedness that our
club emulates. This scholarly but inviting font represents our clubs mission of educating
students on issues of homelessness and reinstating our tagline that our door is always open.

Black: #000000
The color black is used as the base color for Western Homeless Outreach and can
be identified by the black door. This creates a simplicity to the logo and an easy visual to what
WHO offers.

Western Homeless Outreach

Blue: # 0957C3

This pantone shade of blue is used as the title color for Western Homeless Outreachs logo.
This sky blue color gives a sense of trust and reliability to our image.

GUIDELINES

This is our logo. It must be used in all print materials affiliated with Western Homeless
Outreach to keep consistency and easy identification of our brand. This logo must be used in
promotional materials, public service announcements and any other printed material dealing
with our club. The colors used must be black #000000 for the door and blue 0957C3 for the
title of our club. The use of other colors is prohibited.

The tagline Our Door is Always Open may be used with the logo when appropriate. The
tagline may also be used without the logo, only in affiliation with Western Homeless Outreach.

Our logo may NOT be used upside down, sideways or anything other than right side up.

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THANK YOU
Please adhere to these guidelines, as they will help create consistency and brand awareness as
Western Homeless Outreach continues to grow and evolve on Western Washington
Universitys campus.
This guide will continue to evolve as our club grows and consistency will allow for seamless
changes while maintaining our brand image. We hope this branding guide can be of the utmost
help for all Western Homeless Outreach materials.

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