Branding & Design Guidelines

While branding is more than a logo, branding County services with a consistent identifier increases public awareness of what we do, builds confidence in County government and, ultimately, increases support for County services and programs. The use of a uniform countywide brand helps to increase the public's awareness of the wide variety of services offered by Miami-Dade County. On May 11, 2004, the Board of County Commissioners adopted a "refreshed" County logo as the official County brand.

The Miami-Dade County identity program is based on the single principle that there is only one purpose for the published material issued by Miami-Dade County - to communicate facts, services and ideas. While we have many excellent departments providing exceptional service, we must not lose sight of the fact that these are County services, and must endeavor to promote and clearly identify all of the many services the County provides.

As per the Miami-Dade County Branding Policy (County Network Only), the Communications and Customer Experience Department (CCED) must approve all branding and creative development that represents or illustrates the County image or services offered by our departments.

Campaigns, Design Services & Branding

The Communications and Customer Experience Department (CCED) Creative designs, develops and executes campaigns and provides comprehensive creative graphic design. We also ensure that the design and branding reflect policies and procedures.

Accessibility/Branding Review

The County's digital domain must follow County branding and accessibility best practices, to meet the needs of all audiences, build public trust, maintain high search engine rankings and protect our County from legal liability.

Basic Elements

The basic elements of the County's graphic identity include:

Logo
Typography
Official colors

To maintain this graphic identity, it is essential that these elements are never modified and that they are always used in accordance with the approved standards in this manual.

This guide specifies the editorial and graphic standards for Miami-Dade County. It sets forth the principals that help Miami-Dade County achieve four necessary and sometimes difficult-to-reconcile objectives:

A Miami-Dade Countywide editorial style that ensures consistency and accuracy in internal and external communications
A distinctive and unifying institutional identity that reflects the image and character of Miami-Dade County and that is consistent throughout the range of publications and among all audiences
A level of production excellence that will satisfactorily convey to audiences Miami-Dade County's standard of quality
Maximum economy with each dollar of our respective publishing budgets

The official County logo must be displayed on all County public information and promotional material, and particularly County assets, e.g., facility signage, other signage and vehicles. The logo must not be altered or recreated in any way. This includes its proportions, fonts and color applications as outlined in this guide.

Adherence to Miami-Dade County's identity program is critical to projecting a cohesive image.

The official Miami-Dade County logo is shown on this page. This version of the logo is to be used on all Miami-Dade County publications including, but not limited to websites, social networks, brochures, annual reports, magazines, newsletters, forms, letterhead, signage, vehicles, business cards and advertising. No logo may be used in place of or in addition to the Miami-Dade County logo without the approval of the Director of the Communications Department.

The Miami-Dade County brand is recognized locally, nationally and internationally.

Usage

The logo may ONLY be used in one of four ways:
- Miami-Dade County Logo Guidelines
Color

The Miami-Dade County logo is a three-color graphic and is the preferred version to be used whenever possible for communication materials, including print advertising, television advertising, collateral materials, direct marketing and electronic media.

Communications may, in its discretion, use color palette variations if doing so does not detract from the material or diminish the County brand.

Placement and Display

The Miami-Dade County logo must be used on all publications.

If the piece is a self-mailer then the return address must appear exactly as it does on standard County envelopes. Remember that the logo is a brand or wordmark. It should not be used as the central visual element of a publication and should not replace photography or illustration as visual components

Quality Control

To ensure high-quality reproduction, our logo should always be reproduced from the approved digital artwork. Once furnished to a printer or downloaded on your computer, these logos should never be altered in any way.

Co-Branding

Resolution No. R-643-04 provided for departmental co-branding under limited and specific circumstances. Those circumstances, to be approved by the Director of the Communications Department, respond to the needs of those departments with a statutory need to be readily identified (e.g. public safety departments). In those cases, the "exempt" departments must co-brand their logo with the County logo in all printed materials, both internal and external. In all cases, the County logo shall appear along with the exempt department's logo. The exempt departments may only utilize the approved templates that reflect this co-branding. Contact the Communications Department at 305-375-2836 with questions or for assistance on co-branding.

Exempt Departments
- Aviation
- Corrections and Rehabilitation
- Fire Rescue
- Police
- Seaport
Special Brands

The following programs have been approved for special branding as they operate within a competitive marketplace:
- All Golf Courses
- Deering Estate at Cutler
- EcoAdventures
- Filmiami
- Fruit and Spice Park
- Miami International Cattle Show
- Zoo Miami
The use of the Official County Seal is restricted to official, formal or commemorative use (i.e., checks, plaques).

Its use for invitations and printed materials is reserved for use by our constitutional officers (the Office of the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners) in their official, formal communications.

By their nature, seals are usually complex in design and, therefore, are not effective for quick recognition and easy duplication. The seal may be rendered in a single color, black or gold, or may be rendered in a foil stamp or embossed. It may also be printed in its four-color form.

Usage

The seal may only be used in one of three ways:
- Miami-Dade County Seal Guidelines
No other colors, shades or screens may be used.
An important part of creating a professional image is the standardized use of typography. Fonts have been selected for readability and ease of use.

Use the Arial font family on all official correspondence, public and employment notices, electronic communications and press releases.

The other approved fonts may be used on vehicles, signage and other County assets. For assistance, email [email protected].