Centennial DIY

The New School has been a community of changemakers boldly challenging the status quo for 100 years. In 1919, we unveiled a new educational model for engaging the public in open discussion of the ideas and issues shaping civic life. Today we carry forward our legacy as a university improving the world through innovative theory and action.

The New School’s centennial begins January 9, 2019, a date whose numerals represent our founding year (1/9/19). Join us in celebrating our next century of new with the materials you create in the coming year. Below are tools to help.

Branding Essentials

Include our special New School Centennial logo (see below) in materials you create throughout 2019 and always use our bespoke Neue typeface. Below you'll also find photos, copy, and a new color you can use when promoting Centennial-related events.

The Centennial is an opportunity to reflect on the ways our tradition of creativity and bold scholarship propels us toward the future. In your materials, you can help us show the world that we're as excited about our next century of innovation as we are of our first one. 

• Centennial Logo Suite

  Below are downloadable files for new Centennial versions of New School logos. The logos feature a “100” embedded within the customary brand mark, calling attention to our special anniversary in an elegant and integrated way.

  Centennial Logos (ZIP)

• Neue Typeface

  You can download the body copy font in three weights and the display fonts of The New School’s proprietary typeface, Neue, below. To use the Neue fonts, load the provided files into a type management program.

  Download for Mac and PC (ZIP)

• Centennial Accent Color

  We have developed a new secondary color palette to complement the three main colors (Parsons Red, white, and black) of The New School’s brand identity system.

  The palette includes a metallic (Pantone 872 M) used in the Centennial logo and as an accent on related materials. Like the other colors in the secondary palette, it was derived from site-specific commissions and seminal pieces in the New School Art Collection. This particular color was drawn from Rita McBride’s distinctive and functional installation Bells and Whistles (2009–14), which forms the overhead ductwork in the University Center building, which anchors our campus.

  Please see the Centennial Brand Guidelines for specific instructions on how to use color and logos.

• Photo Gallery

  We've selected an array of images of important figures, moments, and spaces connected to our hundred-year history to enliven your materials and reach audiences with your own “Centennial story.” 
  
  Below is one sample image from this collection. 

  
  

• Copy and Messaging Points

  Below are some message points to help you align your Centennial-related communications with those being shared broadly by the university. 
  
  • Frame discussion of the Centennial as a foundation that we're continually building on to reach for the future of new disciplines and fields, creative problem solving strategies, and perspectives that foster a better world (In other words, Centennial events are meant to highlight our forward-looking approaches to education rather than exclusively discuss our past achievements or the hundred-year mark).
  
  • Describe our history as a coming together of people, ideas, and schools that collectively have elevated our mission to cultivate bold change-making leaders that guide culture, commerce, and civic life in sustainable and socially just ways. Part of this process involves our integration into a comprehensive university.
  
  • The Centennial offers us a moment to pause and celebrate together the many ways we've reimagined creative and critical thought, inviting the community to take part in in the exciting and evolving educational experiment that is The New School. Our community's groundbreaking work, begun in the center of Greenwich Village, has spread throughout the world the message that our focus on academic excellence, social justice, social and environmental resilience, and creativity catalyzes change of all kinds.  

  Also shown below is the New School boilerplate that describes the university and includes mention of our hundred-year anniversary. Include it in Centennial-related materials to introduce The New School to audiences who may be unfamiliar with our university and its legacy of groundbreaking scholarship, bold creativity, and world-changing ideas.

  Founded in 1919, The New School was established to advance academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. A century later, The New School remains at the forefront of innovation in higher education, inspiring more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students to challenge the status quo in art and design, the social sciences, the liberal arts, management, the performing arts, and media. The university welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education and executive courses and public programs. The New School maintains a global presence through our online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships.

  
  
  

Tools and Templates

All communications from The New School should be branded. Using the Centennial-customized versions of assets — from presentation templates to email signature — in the coming year will help us commemorate this special university milestone.

• PowerPoint Template

  Below are two versions of the Centennial-branded MS PowerPoint template, which includes formats for commonly used page types. One version is set in Neue typeface (Neue can also be downloaded from this page; see above) and another is set in Arial (for users who do not have our Neue typeface).

  PowerPoint Templates (ZIP)

• Postcard Templates

  Below are downloadable files for new Centennial versions of New School postcard templates.

  Word Template (ZIP)

  Adobe Template (ZIP)

• Poster Templates

  Below are downloadable files for new Centennial versions of New School poster templates. Please note that these templates do not include the Centennial logo and should not be used as-is. To render the Centennial logo, with its metallic color, optimally in print, we have printed poster templates, to which you can add content. A quantity of these templates — pre-printed with the metallic logo and in 8 1/2" x 11" and 11" x 17" formats — are being stored at Village Copier, our partner vendor. You can purchase these (using your Work Tag) at Village Copier and provide them with a file containing your poster graphics and copy.

  Word Template (ZIP)

  Adobe Template (ZIP)

• Email Signature

  The Centennial is an ideal opportunity to update your email signature and ensure it is consistent with university guidelines. An updated template below features the new custom logo and gold color. Please note that these directions work only within the Gmail environment and will be different for an email client (Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.).

  Email Signature Template (HTML)

• Order Stationery and Business Cards

  If you are an administrator in charge of ordering stationery for your office, place your order for Centennial-branded materials by going to the MyNewSource marketplace through my.newschool.edu, then clicking on the Dupli order system buttons listed under Print & Stationeries. You will need a Worktag and an approved signer for your account.

• Order Merchandise

  New Centennial-themed merchandise — from totes to T-shirts — will be available for purchase at the Welcome Center. For large or custom orders, contact your Marketing and Communication project manager.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How old is The New School?

  One hundred years. 

  Over this past century, we've grown from a new center of civic discourse for progressive-thinking adults to a university offering more than 130 degree programs to a community of 10,000 who carry forward a legacy of groundbreaking scholarship, bold creativity, and world-changing ideas. In the process, schools and programs including Mannes School of Music, The New School for Social Research, and Parsons School of Design have joined forces to form a university like no other.   

• Where should I use the new Centennial logo?

  Use the Centennial logo with anything you’d normally put a logo on — that is, nearly all external and internal messaging — during the next year. If you are creating something that will be public beyond 2020, use the regular New School logo.

• Can I choose to use the regular New School logo instead of the Centennial version?

  University leadership encourages our community to use this logo for projects throughout the year to commemorate our first century of innovation and creative scholarship (unless a project is intended to be used past 2020).

• Are Centennial templates available for anyone to use?

  Yes — we’ve created templates for use by the entire community during 2019.

• The Centennial logo is gold. How can I ensure that it prints correctly?

  The gold hue comes from our new secondary color palette and was chosen to reflect the special occasion of our centennial.

  For optimal effect, we recommend printing the metallic as a spot color on an offset press (using PMS 872); alternatively, you can use the CMYK conversion 0.25.56.51. For digital applications, use the RGB equivalent 133.113.77 or the HEX/HTML equivalent #85714D.

• How should I mention the New School Centennial in my social posts?

  We’re excited that your social media content strategy includes ways to talk about the Centennial. Download our Toolkit and for further help, contact Marketing and Communication’s manager of Digital Engagement, Stephanie Leone.

  When mentioning the Centennial in your social posts, use the hashtag #100YearsNew. If you’re posting in your permanent feed, be sure to geo-tag the image with “The New School.“

• What is this festival I keep hearing about?

  The festival was conceived by a cross-university faculty group responding to a call for submissions from the provost’s office. The festival will feature workshops, lectures, symposia, performances, and other academic events that together will address the question, "What is the New?," and celebrate the idea of the “new,” exploring what it means today, has meant historically, and may mean in the future.

  Envisioned as an academic immersion extending students’ classroom learning as well as an invitation to the broader New York City community, the festival will enable students, alumni, and the public to join in our Centennial activities.

  The festival will begin on October 1, 2019, to coincide with the centennial of the formal opening of the school on October 1, 1919, and run through October 6, 2019. Other important Centennial events will take place throughout the year, so check our events calendar. 

• Can my event be a “Centennial event” even if it is not part of the Centennial Festival?

  Yes. Most event presenters have been contacted by The New School’s Public Programs team. To obtain Centennial event status, events or activities must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Reflect a university-wide context
  • Include an element of New School history (this also applies to alumni events)
  • Align with The New School’s mission and vision and be forward-looking

  Officially recognized Centennial events will receive support from Marketing and Communication and will be included in the university event calendar.

  For more details, please see the Public Programs Toolkit.

• Where can I learn more about The New School’s history?

  The following websites bring together archival material from — and about — our community, along with essays exploring our legacy:

  • The New School Archives
  • New School Histories
• I do not see information about my specific Centennial-related needs here. Whom can I contact?

  To get answers and support for addressing your needs email us at 100yearsnew@newschool.edu.

  You can also direct questions about specific initiatives to your Marketing and Communication project manager.