Our brand is an asset—to be cultivated and protected. It's a feeling. It's a perception. It's the culmination of each individual element of our college that is experienced by someone. Embraced as a whole, our brand equips us to authentically show our work and tell our stories in ways that leave lasting impressions.
These resources and guidelines were designed to assist the CFAES community to effectively and consistently build and protect the college and university brand through visual communication.
Brand Narrative
CFAES is part of a brand—the Ohio State brand—which is recognized internationally.
CFAES’ brand identity reinforces that we are one college with a common mission: We sustain life.
Our brand identity is more than just a logo. Between how we look, what we say, and how we say it, we create a style that represents what we stand for and what we have to offer. And because of this, our brand identity must be authentic, meaningful, and inclusive.
CFAES Narrative
Through CFAES communications, we want individuals—alumni, donors, partners, friends, legislators, and clientele—to know and recognize who we are. We also want them to know about the great work we do through teaching, research, and outreach. To do that, we must be consistent in how we communicate about who we are.
CFAES is a community of researchers, educators, staff, students, and partners solving critical world issues on two campuses (Columbus and Wooster). As Ohio State’s cornerstone college, we are continuing our legacy of collective learning and innovation. Committed to the land-grant mission, we have unprecedented research opportunities; a need to prepare future scientists and leaders; and a mandate to broaden and refine our extension, engagement, and outreach efforts. The work we do is of paramount importance: We sustain life.
We are a large, diverse college supporting 10 academic units, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), Ohio State University Extension, and two-year degree programs offered by Ohio State ATI.
OARDC is CFAES’ research enterprise. It is part of a national network of experiment stations with research conducted at the Columbus and Wooster campuses, nine agricultural research stations, four field labs, and a BSL-3 research facility. In existence since 1882, the experiment station was named OARDC in 1965 to reflect its overall mission and programs.
OSU Extension is CFAES’ outreach and engagement arm. Extension personnel share the knowledge of CFAES faculty and staff as well as the resources of the college with citizens in all of Ohio’s 88 counties. Extension personnel also bring people and ideas together to solve problems and improve Ohioans’ quality of life.
ATI, located on CFAES’ Wooster campus, is an associate degree-granting program within CFAES. Students participate in a curriculum that includes general and basic studies, hands-on experience, and a paid industry internship. Students also can take their core, general education courses at ATI and then transition to the Columbus campus to complete their bachelor’s degree. ATI offers 32 programs of study and is the largest institution of its kind in the United States.