Introduction
A Shared Visual Language
With the launch of the new visual identity for Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, the school is fully embracing Dartmouth's visual identity guidelines, drawing upon the same brand requirements, color palette, and typefaces the College uses across its communications.
Please use this guide when developing any visual materials for the medical school. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or Geisel's visual identity in general, please reach out to the Communications & Marketing Office at Geisel.Communications@Dartmouth.edu.
Logo
Meet Our New Primary Logo
This is the new primary mark for Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine: the new Geisel shield paired with our full name, set in Dartmouth Ruzicka. It's the version you'll see most often, and the one to reach for by default. It's an evolution of our previous logo, designed to adhere to Dartmouth's visual identity and complement the logos of the College's other schools.
About the Shield
The Geisel identity is built on the new shield, paired with the school's wordmark set in Dartmouth Ruzicka. Each element of the shield carries its own meaning:
- The Rod of Asclepius, a traditional symbol of medicine.
- The Dartmouth Lone Pine, one of the College's most enduring symbols.
- The mountains and the Connecticut River, reflecting Dartmouth's sense of place.
- 1797, the year Dartmouth's medical school was founded.
Family Consistency
Geisel's new shield reflects a consistent visual identity across Dartmouth's five schools:
The Mark: Every Version
Beyond the primary lockup, the identity includes several other versions for different contexts.
Shield only
Green, icon only. Small icons, favicons, watermarks — only once someone has already seen the full lockup nearby.
Primary horizontal lockup
Our primary logo and preferred horizontal version — letterhead, email signatures, presentation title slides, website header.
Primary stacked lockup, three-line
Our primary vertical logo — tight spaces, square social profile images, narrow printed panels.
Stacked lockup, two-line
Shield above a shorter two-line wordmark. Use if you have more space than the three-line version needs.
Shield + “Geisel”
Shield above the short wordmark. Internal/community use only, tighter spaces.
Wordmark only, three-line
No shield. Contexts where the shield mark appears elsewhere already.
“Geisel School of Medicine”
Drops the “Dartmouth” line. Internal/community use only, informal secondary use.
Primary department horizontal lockup
Shield beside “Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine” with a department, office, or center name below. Department- and office-specific materials.
Reversed (Knockout) Versions
For use on Dartmouth Green, Forest Green, Midnight Black, or a dark photograph, use white versions of the mark rather than placing the green version on a dark background.
Space, Size, & Backgrounds
Give the shield and wordmark room to breathe. As a working rule, keep clear space around every lockup equal to at least the height of the shield as it appears in that lockup, on all four sides, before any other text, edge, or graphic element.
Don't shrink any lockup to the point that the shield's inner details (the staff, serpent, pine needles, or “1797”) blur together. If a layout is too small for the full lockup to stay legible, switch to the shield-only mark instead.
The primary version of every Geisel lockup is Dartmouth Green (#00693E) on a white or light background. That combination should be the default across Geisel materials, print and digital alike.
Do
- Place the green lockup on white, Gray 1, or another light background
- If using a dark color or photo as a background, use the white or knockout (KO) version of the logo
- Use white versions on Dartmouth Green or a dark photo
- Scale the whole mark up or down uniformly
Don't
- Place the green lockup on a busy photo or similarly dark color
- Stretch, skew, rotate, recolor, or add shadows or outlines
- Shrink the lockup until inner details disappear
Color
Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Colors
These are Dartmouth's approved colors for use across all Geisel communications. The digital colors meet WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards, so please use the specified text and background combinations on Geisel web and digital materials.
Primary Color
CMYK 95, 0, 100, 50
RGB 0, 105, 62
#00693E
Secondary Colors
The secondary palette adds a darker green and shades of gray, useful for web and digital content. Dartmouth's guidelines pair the primary green with these tones for most day-to-day communications.
CMYK 93, 33, 75, 75
RGB 18, 49, 43
#12312B
#0D1E1C
RGB 255, 255, 255
#FFFFFF
RGB 0, 0, 0
#000000
Tertiary Colors
Use tertiary colors sparingly, for distinction and accent. They should never overpower Dartmouth Green, which stays the dominant color in any Geisel material.
CMYK 33, 3, 0, 0
RGB 38, 122, 186
#267ABA
CMYK 100, 57, 0, 38
RGB 0, 60, 115
#003C73
CMYK 23, 0, 56, 0
RGB 196, 221, 136
#C4DD88
CMYK 29, 0, 67, 0
RGB 165, 215, 95
#A5D75F
CMYK 0, 16, 65, 0
RGB 245, 220, 105
#F5DC69
CMYK 0, 40, 90, 0
RGB 255, 160, 15
#FFA00F
CMYK 0, 100, 65, 28
RGB 157, 22, 46
#9D162E
CMYK 0, 52, 100, 64
RGB 100, 60, 32
#643C20
#8A6996
Tertiary Colors, Continued
CMYK 58, 63, 59, 40
RGB 66, 65, 65
#424141
#F7F7F7
#E2E2E2
#707070
Typography
Our Typefaces
Dartmouth communicates with two typefaces: Dartmouth Ruzicka, a serif, and National 2, a sans-serif. Geisel should use this same pairing rather than introducing a third typeface. Used together, they create a hierarchy of information through contrasting weight and size, without needing additional fonts. The redesigned Geisel website uses National 2 as its primary font.
National 2
National 2 is a deceptively simple sans-serif with subtle details that give it a distinctive, but not distracting, personality. Use National 2 to play up the strong, bold spirit of the Dartmouth brand — it's the primary font for Geisel's website.
Dartmouth Ruzicka
Originally designed by Rudolph Ruzicka, Dartmouth Ruzicka speaks to the legacy and history of Dartmouth. Type designer Jesse Ragan picked up where Ruzicka left off, modernizing the typeface for the 21st century. Use Dartmouth Ruzicka sparingly — for example, in formal or ceremonial materials — to highlight the cultured, scholarly side of Geisel and Dartmouth.
Alternatives & Glyphs
Use Dartmouth Ruzicka and National 2 whenever possible. When that isn't possible — for example, a partner or vendor can't access the licensed fonts — Dartmouth's guidelines recommend these substitutes:
| In place of | Use |
|---|---|
| Dartmouth Ruzicka | Georgia, or EB Garamond specifically for Google Workspace projects |
| National 2 | Arial, or Aptos (the default font across Microsoft Office applications) |
Both Dartmouth Ruzicka and National 2 include alternate glyphs, including tabular figures, ligatures, fractions, small caps, the extended Latin alphabet, superscripts, and subscripts. Take advantage of these extra features (for example, when setting statistics, citations, or dosage figures) to create a typographic result that is rich, varied, and legible.
Setting Body Text
Follow Dartmouth's styling recommendations below so Geisel text stays attractive, comfortable to read, and consistent with the rest of the College.
Align Left
For day-to-day communications, align text left, so the straight edge sits to the left.
Line Length
Text reads most comfortably at a line length of 40 to 65 characters.
Rules
When using rules with text, keep the line thickness at .25pt or .5pt. Heavier lines become a distraction.
Leading
Leading (the space between lines) should always be larger than the type size, so text is comfortable to read.
Hanging Punctuation
When using quotation marks, set them in the margin so the flow of text is not interrupted.
Hierarchy
Using just Dartmouth Ruzicka and National 2, contrasting weight and size can express a full hierarchy of information.
Downloads and Usage
Logo Downloads
Geisel School of Medicine faculty, staff and students may download the Geisel logo for official school business use from the Shield Downloads page. JPG files work best for PowerPoint presentations and digital documents, PNG files for the web, and EPS files for high quality print items such as brochures or letterhead. Please contact us at Geisel.Communications@Dartmouth.edu if you need assistance deciding what format will work best for your project.
Others requesting Geisel School of Medicine logo files should fill out the Logo Request Form.
Private Vendors
Private vendors wishing to use these logos on salable merchandise must contact the Office of General Counsel for rights and terms of use.
Templates
You’ll find ready-made templates for email signatures, as well as Geisel PowerPoint and Keynote templates from the Templates Downloads page (access outside of Dartmouth or DHMC networks requires NetID).
Printing Services
Geisel School of Medicine faculty, staff and students can work with Dartmouth Printing and Mailing Services (DPMS) to design and print letterhead, envelopes, business cards, brochures and many other items. DPMS has templates available for all of the designs provided in Geisel’s visual identity guide, and will use the preferred fonts, colors, paper and logo.
To place orders online, visit their website and fill out the provided forms or email DPMS directly at Dartmouth.Printing.and.Mailing@Dartmouth.edu. If you would like to work with an external company, please contact Procurement Services for information on preferred vendors.