Report to the Community - Samuel Merritt University

6
new brand identity
no doubt you have noticed the new logo that graces the
cover of this report. we hope you get a sense of the new
look as you flip through the pages. new colors and images,
and best of all, fresh words: the report to the community
introduces a completely new way to communicate all the
great things happening at samuel merritt university. please
welcome our new brand identity!
in late 2009, we asked san francisco brand specialists,
mortar advertising (known for their work with golden gate
university, stanford and sutter health vna & hospice) to
think about how we might modernize and change the way
we write and talk about smu.
we needed a new way to describe our impact on the
community and our commitment to becoming a nationally
renowned university of health sciences.
mortar started the makeover process by interviewing
members of our staff, faculty, students, regents, and
other healthcare professionals involved with our students.
recommendations for a new logo and brand design
were proposed, approved and the work of refreshing
our identity began in earnest. at last count, the process
involved over 3,000 members of our community including