Institutional seals were used historically to authenticate official messages. Most are intentionally intricate and descriptive. The Harvey Mudd College Seal, created in 1960 by Thomas Jamieson, represents the various ideals of the College. The sun represents energy; the elliptical Mobius strip represents structure; the dividers represent measurement; the inner and outer ellipses can be interpreted as orbital paths, suggesting concern with space; and the globe denotes the humanities and civilization. The dividers are placed in the design to bridge the gap between the sun and the globe, symbolizing the measure of energy and matter as well as the measure of humans and civilization.

Due to its intricate nature and specific meaning, the HMC official College seal has very limited use. The HMC Seal is reserved as the official mark of the College for the following special usages: letterhead, business cards, presidential and academic communications, certificates, awards, diplomas, commencement and convocation materials, special programs, transcripts, contracts and proposals to grant makers. Other uses should be considered carefully, keeping in mind the audience, readability of the seal and appropriateness.

The HMC seal should not be used routinely on print or electronic communications or merchandise. The seal is a stand-alone mark of the College, which should not be combined with the HMC Logotype.

The primary colors for the HMC visual identity system are metallic gold (Pantone 873) and black. Official colors should be used when possible to help reinforce the College’s visual identity. Equivalent color formulas for four-color printing and digital media are provided here.

The preferred color usage for the HMC seal is shown, below.

The seal can also be reversed to white when appearing on a solid black background. Color choices should never compromise legibility.

Size Restrictions for the HMC Seal

The HMC seal should be produced at a reasonable size to maintain legibility. For printed materials, the HMC seal must never be reproduced smaller than 1 1/4 inches wide. A smaller size is not recommended since the forms of the small type and the rules may begin to fill in and compromise readability. For digital use, the HMC seal must never be smaller than 375 pixels wide.

Seal minimum width of 1 1/4 inches.

Surrounding Space Requirements for the HMC Seal

A prescribed amount of clear space around the HMC Seal should be maintained in all uses. The minimum surrounding space requirement is primarily intended to prevent the seal from being crowded (and thereby trivialized) by other typographic or graphic elements. The unit of measure is a square equal to half the height of the HMC Seal. The light blue area represents the amount of space that must be maintained between the HMC Seal and any other element including the edge of a page. Because of inherent space restrictions in some specific usages, this clear space requirement may have to be modified. For example, the use of the seal on business cards may be positioned closer to the edge of the card. The minimum surrounding space requirement is primarily intended to prevent the HMC Seal from being crowded (and thereby trivialized) by other typographic or graphic elements. If the seal is displayed in a large format, for example, as the primary visual on a banner, the clear space requirement may need to be modified. Good design judgment needs to be employed according to the use.

Unacceptable Uses of the HMC Seal

It is extremely important that the HMC Seal be displayed correctly. The following examples illustrate unacceptable displays.

1a., 1b. Do not distort (stretch) the HMC seal.

2. Do not crop any portion of the seal.

3. Do not tilt the seal.

4. Do not use any tagline with the seal.

5. Do not print text or images on top of or behind the seal.

6. Do not color parts of the seal.

7. Do not embellish any part of the seal.

8. Do not add a drop shadow.

For questions regarding acceptable usage of the HMC Seal, contact Janice Gilson, art director, 909.607.6012.