OMBL Brand Kit

Defining the Look & Feel of OMBL

Branding matters.

Why does Branding matter?  Volumes have been written about the importance of Branding for an organization.  Is it simply putting a logo on everything? Is it using consistent fonts and colors?  Is it merely a way for the community to recognize the organization? Why focus on Branding?

One of our big goals for establishing the brand of OMBL is that it gives a consistent look and feel to everything we do. We want to be instantly recognizable with everything we do from websites, printed material, name badges, apparel, race weekend promotions, etc. When someone sees a poster, our goal is that they immediately identify it as OMBL. When they visit our website, it’s instantly recognized as OMBL.

Our branding communicates who we are, how we work, and what people can expect from us. It communicates quality and excellence without using those words. It lets people know that we’re BOLD. We’re consistent. We are professionals intent on bring quality and excellence to everything we do.

Branding is NOT slapping a logo on everything.  That’s “Logo-ing” and although the OMBL & NICA logos are important brand assets, branding goes much deeper.

Read on to learn more about the specific visual guidelines we use to help define the OMBL Brand.

Website photo
OMBL Poster
Fee Image
OMBL Name Badge

Logos & NICA Brand Guidelines

OMBL Blue

OMBL Brand Colors

Color is one of the most easily identified components of a brand.  OMBL uses four main colors: a dark blue, light blue, orange and pure white. 

When using the OMBL colors, use either the hex-code or RGBs for the actual colors.  Color pickers can vary based on the quality of the display and the unique differences in how we all see color. For example, Dean is a more than a little bit color blind with green and grey colors!

In most instances, our primary color is dark blue while light blue is our secondary color.  Orange is used as an accent color.  White is used most often as a “primary” color in designs using a dark background.

Colors are used to provide cohesion to our designs across our brand assets. Our standard look is bold.  This is achieved with a dark blue background, large white text, consistent use of orange to accent borders and buttons (all buttons on our website are orange).

Choosing a Font

Just like with color, using fonts consistently through our designs can provide a cohesive brand appearance.  Appropriate usage of our font families guides the reader through information by providing a visual hierarchy of what’s most & least important.

Our fonts are also chosen because they provide visual contrast. San Serif fonts combined with Serif fonts tend to be more visually engaging.  They’re just different enough to catch the readers attention whether they realize it or not.

OMBL uses 3 main Fonts throughout our print and written materials: Montserrat, Baskerville & Helvetica.  

Montserrat is our “H1” or main header font. It is a San Serif font that gives a clean look.  Most typically used in bold in contrasting colors with the background, most OMBL titles and banner text utilize Montserrat.

Our secondary or “H2” font is a serif font, Baskerville.  Think of baskerville as a decorative font.  This font is most often used throughout our designs as a sub-header, sub-title or tag-line text used in conjunction with Montserrat. As Baskerville is a secondary font, it is typically smaller, in a secondary color.

Body text is usually Helvetica.  This is a common font used in modern designs that is easy to read and familiar to the user.  Body text is most often used either in white on a dark background or dark (either dark blue or black) on a light background.

Montserrat

Baskerville

Helvetica

Color

Choose colors with great intention.  Great design is an intentional choice, well executed.

If you aim for a bold design, choose more striking colors; dark blue contrasts really well with pure white.

If you’re ‘decorating’ or ‘accenting’ a design, light blue or orange make excellent choices.

Font

Choose your font with the same attention to intention as with color. Be consistent with headers, subheads and body text to give the reader a sense of comfort.

Be mindful that fonts provide a visual hierarchy to a piece, guiding a reader through the information you’re trying to convey.

 

Size

Sizing elements is a key means of making it more or less important. The eye is drawn toward larger fonts, larger images, etc.

Designs that utilize elements of different sizes are more visually engaging.  Large with small, complementary on the page and playing off each other is the goal.

 

Contrast

The fourth significant design element we use to define the OMBL Brand is contrast.

Contrast provides visual interest that engages the reader.  Two or three items that live in the same universe but aren’t too similar make it work.

Our brand identity is BOLD because we take an intentional, assertive approach to contrast. 

 

Putting it all Together...

The image at the left is a simple example of a typical design element for OMBL that combines our colors and our fonts, while varying size & building contrast.

“Ohio Mountain Bike League” is in our primary H1 font, Montserrat, bold, sized larger than subtext in white on dark blue background.

“More Kids on Bikes in Ohio” is secondary in all regards: it uses Baskerville in the light blue secondary color, not bold, sized smaller than the primary text.

The orange line is simply a decorative element that provides a separation between the primary & secondary text and uses our orange accent color, providing visual interest and contrast.

By combining these elements thoughtfully and in differing configurations, OMBL designs are one cohesive thought.