Graphic elements

Textures

Incorporating texture as a graphic element in your design adds a tactile illusion, layered depth, and subtle hints of a particular tone or mood.

Campus textures
Textures influenced by materials on campus — such as limestone — can provide a sense of place.  

Grit textures
Additional grit textures can help create a layered effect in your designs.

Half-tone textures
Half-tone textures using dot patterns create added visual interest. 

Trajectory

A 75-degree trajectory, based on Chronicle’s italic face, and a 15-degree trajectory reference Mount Oread and the greatness that rises from the Hill. All uses of the trajectory should move from left to right.

Trajectory use with photos
Judicious use of the trajectory in photo cropping adds energy to layouts. Consider using a mixture of images with and without angled crops or highlighting only one angled photo on a page. 

Trajectory as graphic pattern
Consider the tone of your piece as you choose whether to use solid or dotted trajectory lines. Solid lines express stability, while dotted lines reference collaboration and the potential for connection. You may want to use solid lines when emphasizing the history of the university but dotted lines with exciting research or traditions on campus. Dots should be round, not dashes.

Confetti
Thicker confetti elements created with the high trajectory can provide visual balance and energy. Confetti elements are skewed, not rotated, so that the tops and bottoms remain horizontal.

Photo treatments

Duotone and gradient maps
Duotone is a style of treatment that broadens an aesthetic composition’s color range. It is useful when we need to place type against a textured background. Duotone may also be used to introduce KU brand colors into background imagery. 

Framing elements
Dashes, borders, and typography may interact with a photo in a variety of ways. A line may overlap a photo or direct the eye to a particular focal point. Typography or line work may be used to separate a photo's foreground and background.

A frame can add unobtrusive texture and draw the viewer’s eye through a composition. It’s also a layering element, which interacts with other photo or design elements to create a sense of depth. Frames can be a simple outlined shape or a background photo in a box enclosure.