The K-State brand

Brand strategy

The K-State brand leverages a core value that represents the intersection between who we are and those things that resonate on a personal level with our audience. Our brand is meaningful, compelling, unique and inspiring.

K-State is the next-generation land-grant institution that is open and optimistic to all that is to come, creating the future of education for the state of Kansas and beyond.

Download the K-State brand guidelines PDF


Brand framework

Identifying our core shared value begins with exploring our brand framework. Simply put: what we do, how we do it, and why we do it. Our why — that element that makes our what and how more meaningful — begins to reveal the essence of our core value.


Core values

Though the K-State brand and our audiences share many values born out of our relentless drive for student success, our caring and compassionate culture and our deep commitment to the growth of our state and its people, the one value that they all feed into is Expectancy.

Expectancy embodies our dedication to the communities we serve and our future-focused commitment to creating change in the world. The word expectancy is not intended to appear in external-facing messaging, but rather as a guiding value that informs our work.

 

Dedication
Curiosity
Pride
Openness

Expectancy

Community
Ambition
Service
Optimism

 

Brand pillars

Rooted in the core value of expectancy, the university's brand pillars reflect the unique character of K-State and should be expressed through our communications, both in words and in visualization.

If in each message we convey one or more of these strengths, our stories feel more authentic and the identity of our university will be more recognizable.

Our brand pillars — Creating Connections, Pursuing Possibility and Advancing Society — offer a framework for communicating K-State's strengths and value to our audiences. Associated values that align to the brand pillars can also serve as a starting point when developing communications, both written and visual.