• 1. Information and Resources
• 2. Brand Foundation
• 3. Wordmark Guidelines
• 4. Visual Identity
• 5. Print/Marketing Standards

  • Stationery
  • PowerPoint Presentations
  • Photography
  • Advertising
  • Campus Signage
  • Television ID Mark
  • Promotional Items and Merchandise
• 6. Athletics Identity
• 7. Web/Elec Communication
• 9. College History
• 10. Official Statements

Original photography services are available for assignments that have an editorial focus, with emphasis on recruitment and retention, in addition to the College’s academic and campus life. The Office of University Marketing provides limited photo coverage – as time and workload permits – of College events through its staff photographer. There is a per-hour fee for photo shoots for events that would not otherwise be covered for editorial purposes.

Photo requests should be made at least two weeks before the event. Please fill out the online Photography Request Form. In this request, you must include the following details:

• information about shoot date
• shoot location
• subject (or event)
• time the photographer is expected to arrive and depart
• a department contact person and telephone number
• date images are needed from the photographer
• other special requests or instructions

If a departmental photographer is not available, the Office of University Marketing will provide a list of local freelance photographers. It is your responsibility to contact and contract with an outside photographer.

The Office of University Marketing maintains a repository of campus photography (a limited amount is available in our online gallery). Images are available for use by on-campus departments as well as for external use. The Office of University Marketing will determine appropriate use of College images, including instances when permission of subjects in photographs is required before those images can be reproduced in printed or electronic communications.

Photos will be delivered via an online gallery which will be available for at least 90 days. Clients are responsible for downloading and archiving photos within that time.

Images on College websites may not be copied or reproduced without prior permission from the Office of University Marketing.

How to use photography in publications

Photography is a critical component of any College of Charleston publication or print marketing piece. Photography helps to tell our unique story and can have a powerful effect on your audience. Here are a few tips for selecting and using photography/imagery in your printed pieces.

Selecting Photography

The College is a dynamic place with a diverse population. In your printed pieces, you should select imagery that expresses the College’s energy, diversity (from race/ethnicity, to gender, to age) and exceptional urban campus. You should choose photography that appears spontaneous and unstaged.

Types of Image Files

Please use high resolution JPG or TIFF files when creating documents for print. Do not use a GIF or PNG file for print (a GIF/PNG file is intended for web use).

Resolution

The resolution of an image is very important to a printed image. The higher the resolution, the better the chances for good image reproduction. Generally, images should be 300 dpi (dots per inch) or higher. Important note: If your original image is 72 dpi, you cannot simply change it to 300 dpi and expect the quality to improve. The original image needs to be at a high resolution for print use.

Enlarging/Stretching an Image

Avoid enlarging photos beyond their original resolution, which results in poor image quality and pixilation. Avoid stretching and distorting images out of proportion. 

Images from the Web

Do not simply download or copy images from websites to use in your publications. There are two important reasons for this:

1. Copyright – Just because an image appears on the web does not mean that it is royalty free or public domain. As a general rule of thumb, do not copy images from websites.
2. Quality – The resolution for most images that appear on the Web are 72 dpi, which means they are not at the right resolution for print.

Stock Art

For most instances, you should not use stock photography for College publications. First, contact the Office of University Marketing to assess which campus images are available. If you need general images (not specific to campus) for a piece, however, these are a few of the more popular stock photography sites: istock.com, fotosearch.com, veer.com, shutterstock.com and gettyimages.com. The costs for these images are not extravagant, and these sites have options on sizes and resolutions, depending on your needs.

Consent of Photographed Subjects

Generally speaking, it is not necessary to obtain the consent of subjects of a photograph if the individuals were in a public place when the photograph was taken. For instance, photographs taken of people at an awards ceremony, in a classroom or walking down the street may be used without consent.

The law does recognize, however, that in some circumstances it may be an invasion of privacy to use the photographs of an individual without permission. Such invasion of privacy can be broken down into two major categories:

1. Invasion of an individual’s personal privacy – If a person is photographed in a private situation without his or her knowledge or consent, and if those photographs are disseminated, it can constitute an invasion of privacy. Such invasion is decided by the courts using a reasonable person standard.
2. Commercial use of a public figure’s image – If an individual has some public image, and if a picture of that person is used without consent to further a financial or business enterprise, such use may be legally prohibited.

Copyrighted Photographs

Photos generally are copyrighted whether or not they carry a copyright notice. This legal protection includes photos reproduced for computer transmission, such as in web pages and electronically reproduced documents.

Photography and videography of an educational, theatrical or other performance raise different copyright issues. In this context, the creator of the filmed presentation has copyright in the expression of the artistic or educational work itself. The photographer or videographer should obtain the written consent of the creators of the presentation, giving permission to the College to film and show the presentation in other contexts.

If you reproduce a photo from another university publisher or publication, you have no guarantee that the proper permissions have been obtained. As with all photo or video reproduction, be sure to obtain written permission from the copyright holder and from any person whose image is identifiable in the picture, and be prepared to pay the necessary permission fees.

Rights and Permissions

No photographs, drawings, images, video, sound clips or copyrighted or trademarked materials may be used on College of Charleston web pages without the permission of the holder of reproduction rights.

Photograph Alteration Policy

Today's technology makes it very easy to manipulate digital imagery. Although these changes may seem harmless, they can easily alter the photo's content and accuracy.
      
A photograph is usually perceived as an accurate recording of an event; therefore, we must be extremely careful about altering photographs. Any alterations that affect the accuracy of the persons, places or events depicted in the photo are unacceptable. Enhancing the technical quality of a photograph and other simple touch-ups are acceptable as long as the content of the photo is accurately depicted.
      
To be clear, just because a change can be made to a photograph does not mean it should be made, or will be made. Each instance of enhancing a photograph is to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.