Typography
Colorado State University employs four font families as part of its core brand identity. These fonts are primarily used for marketing purposes.
1. Vitesse, a modern slab serif font for headlines, for purchase at Typography.com.
2. Proxima Nova, a versatile typeface that can be used in everything from headlines to body copy. Proxima Nova is for purchase at MyFonts.com, but also included in Adobe Creative Suite subscriptions.
3. Elena, a distinctive serif font that works well in large blocks of body copy, for purchase at ProcessTypeFoundry.com.
Purchasing Fonts
Marketing & Brand Management no longer handles typeface license distribution. Please follow the links above to purchase on a department basis.
Vitesse
Vitesse is Colorado State’s headline font and should be used strategically to emphasize key messages. It’s a modern, clean, slab serif font with slightly rounded asymmetrical characters that echo our Ram’s Head logo. Vitesse is a distinctive type face and creates an easily recognizable look for the University.
Vitesse
Suitable for: Shorter blocks of copy such as headlines, pull quotes, single words, and subheads. Not suitable for: Long lines of body copy.
Recommended weights: Vitesse looks best in its Light weight. Avoid using Thin. When legibility is a concern, use other weights as appropriate.
Proxima Nova
While Vitesse is a very distinctive font that is ultimately used in headlines, Proxima Nova is Colorado State’s versatile all-purpose font. Stylistically, Proxima Nova is a hybrid, combining humanistic proportions with a somewhat geometric appearance.
Proxima Nova
Suitable for: Any number of applications – from subheads to body copy. Not suitable for: Distinctive headlines.
Recommended weights: Use the full range of Proxima Nova weights, depending on the application. Marketing & Brand Management recommends using Proxima Nova Regular in body copy and Proxima Nova Bold or Black in headlines.
Legacy Fonts
In the absence of the University fonts identified above, Minion and Helvetica Neue are acceptable replacements. These fonts pair well with our headline font, Vitesse.
Font use in the context of visual brand language documents
While other typefaces, such as those identified in college visual brand language documents, may be used in headlines, external communications, such as advertising, should carry the look of the ‘State Of’ campaign and use Vitesse. Check with your college’s communications office to see if your college or unit has a VBL document.
For questions, please contact branding@colostate.edu.