Student Clubs

Special Interest Clubs

Special interest clubs are under the management of BYUSA and follow BYUSA guidance on branding and communication.

• NAMES AND LOGOS: Names and logos for special interest clubs cannot include BYU's name or logo.
• ATHLETIC LOGO: Special interest clubs cannot use BYU athletic logos in connection with their visual identities.
• BYUSA LOGO: Club communications, swag, signage, websites, etc., should display the BYUSA Clubs logo to identify a club’s status as an approved university club.
• SOCIAL MEDIA: On social media channels, a club logo, name, or avatar cannot use BYU. They can use BYUSA in the name or avatar. Social media descriptions should indicate that the club is an officially recognized BYUSA (or BYU) club.

The BYUSA Clubs logo (below) is available from the BYUSA office.

Student Academic Associations

Student academic associations are governed by the academic vice president's office and the respective college’s dean.

Visual Identity Guidelines for Student Academic Associations

Some student academic associations are affiliated with national organizations and should follow the naming and visual identity guidelines for that national organization (if such guidelines exist).

For other student academic associations, each college dean has discretion to choose from these options for managing those visual identities within the college:

1. A dean could choose to have all student academic associations follow the endorsed-brand model for their visual identities.
2. A dean could choose to prohibit all student academic associations from using BYU’s name or logo as part of the association name or logo. If a dean chooses this option,
   
   1. the dean could prohibit any use of the BYU or college name or logo by the student association; OR
   2. the dean could allow student academic associations to use the BYU or college logo as a second imprint—meaning that it appears in a secondary location on the printed item, not in close proximity to the association logo—thus showing an official affiliation with the university (for instance, the association logo could appear on the front of the shirt with the BYU or college logo on the sleeve or the back).

Student association logos that do not include BYU's name or logo are not bound by BYU visual identity guidelines but they should represent the university well, as evaluated by the dean’s office.

A dean could choose to have all student academic associations within the college follow the same option above, or the dean could decide to apply a particular option for associations that meet certain qualifications, as determined by the dean.

If a dean wants to apply a different guideline than one of those outlined above, the dean must confer with BYU Brand & Creative before finalizing the alternate guideline.

Student academic associations cannot use BYU athletic logos in connection with their visual identities.

Questions for Consideration

As deans evaluate guidelines for student academic association logos, these questions may be helpful.

• How well is the student academic association managed and supervised? Does it represent the college and the university well? Is it helpful for the association to have a clear endorsement or association with BYU, or not?
• Does the student academic association have permission to represent BYU or the college off campus?
  
  • If not (if the association only communicates to students on campus), is there any need for including BYU in the association name or logo?
  • If the association does play an approved role in representing the university off campus (such as in competitions or at conferences), then the BYU monogram logo should be displayed on shirts, posters, or other materials.
    
    • At the dean’s discretion, the BYU logo could be displayed as part of an endorsed-brand student academic association logo, as part of the college logo, or as the university logo alone.
    • Consider this: What brand does the dean think is most appropriate for the association to represent: the BYU brand, the BYU college brand, or the BYU student academic association brand?

Logo Development and Use

The creation of logos for special interest clubs and student academic associations is the responsibility of the club or association, under the direction of BYUSA or the college dean.

• If a student group logo includes BYU's name or logo, BYU Brand & Creative must approve the logo before it can be used.
• BYU Brand & Creative does not typically create visual identities for student groups.
• If a student academic association is approved to use the endorsed-brand model, it must follow the endorsed-brand guidelines in developing the logo.
• The use of BYU logos on merchandise must follow the merchandise guidelines.