After more than a year of work, we're excited to share Geisel's new logo and visual identity.
This project began with a request from Dartmouth’s Office of Communications that Geisel’s current logo be tweaked and brought into alignment with Dartmouth’s visual identity guidelines – including elements like the shape of the shield, colors, and fonts.
Our new shield still incorporates most of the elements from the current mark, and also echoes common elements of the shield designs used by Dartmouth's four other schools (Guarini, Thayer, Tuck, and Arts & Sciences). That is important, from a design perspective, because these logos often need to appear together. With these updates to the Geisel logo, the school logos that share the Dartmouth name will all now share a consistent visual language.
About the new shield
The new Geisel shield carries forward familiar symbols from our current mark, updated to match the shared shield format used across Dartmouth's schools:
- 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.
Alongside the shield, we're also adopting Dartmouth's official color palette (anchored by Dartmouth Green) and its two typefaces, Dartmouth Ruzicka and National 2, in place of our previous fonts and colors. This means Geisel materials will now look, and feel, unmistakably part of Dartmouth.
Where to get it
Starting today, September 15, you can find the new logo files, a full visual identity guide, and ready-to-use PowerPoint and Word templates on our website at https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/about/shield. The guide covers logo usage, color, and typography so you have what you need to apply the new look correctly.
The main Geisel website has already been updated with the new logo. Department office, and program sites will be updated with their own new logos in the coming weeks.
No need to rush
Starting today, any materials you order or produce, print or digital, should use the new logo and follow the new visual identity guidelines.
For everything already in circulation, a few things to know:
- There's no need to rush out and replace your current materials. Business cards, letterhead, signage, banners, and other printed items can continue to be used as-is.
- As you naturally update or reorder these materials over the next year, please use the new identity going forward.
- New presentations, documents, and digital materials should start using the new templates now, since these are easy, no-cost updates.
We know many teams haven't budgeted for new printed materials this year, and we want to be mindful of that. This is meant to be a gradual transition, not an overnight change.
None of this would have been possible without the collaboration and support of our colleagues in Dartmouth's Office of Communications, who partnered with us closely throughout this process.
Also, a big thank you to everyone in our community who helped bring this new logo over the finish line. These kinds of changes are important. A consistent visual identity helps people recognize Dartmouth's schools as part of one institution, no matter where they encounter them.
Questions
Questions about the new identity or how to apply it to something specific? Reach out to Geisel's Office of Communications & Marketing at Geisel.Communications@Dartmouth.edu.