SQL 2012 Style Guide Final

SQL Server 2012 Style GuideOctober 27, 2011

© 2011 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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Microsoft SQL Server Style 2012 Guide

©2011 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft Confidential. For Internal Use Only.

October 2011

Welcome to the SQL Server 2012 Design System Style Guide!

This document contains the guidelines for the voice and tone of the new SQL Server 2012 campaign and the key visual elements for the campaign execution.

It is intended to help you maintain a singular voice, cohesive visual expression and serve as a reference for questions you may have while building assets for the brand.

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Campaign Theme

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FURTHER. FORWARD. FASTER.

Further. Forward. Faster. says it all. It’s SQL Server’s tagline—and overriding theme.

SQL Server is literally years ahead of the curve (vs. old school thinking, trotting out the same old thing yet again), and it can help you take your business there, too —with breakthrough insights, mission critical confidence, and a cloud-ready platform that’s ready to deploy whenever you are.

Thinking ahead, preparedness, forecasting, constantly modeling to anticipate and answer change, researching, tinkering, experimenting, waking up with great ideas, getting an adrenaline rush from realizing that big idea can be reality … all that is the stuff others don’t talk about. So if SQL Server does talk about it, CTOs can draw their own inferences.

For example, we can take the “grounded” component of the voice (“just the facts”) and choose facts that tell a forward-thinking story. This is a very unique approach, inasmuch as most brands talk about their fabulous future thinking and research, but there’s no payoff. We add the “in-control confident” voice component to say something like, We’re ready. Are you? SQL Server can take you hybrid, server to cloud—right now.

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Theme continued

And Further. Forward. Faster. is flexible. Just like human beings, brand voices are more than just one thing. SQL Server’s voice has all the aspects/flavors/nuances needed to engage various audiences, imposing varying levels of passion on a collection of messages.

Further. Forward. Faster. is also reflected in the visual designs we’ve created. The theme is reflected in every block, every prism, every color choice, and every animation. The visuals evoke future/innovation/thinking in a very organized-yet-kinetic way. The design implies something on the horizon, something in motion, something evolving—yet the very solidity of the shapes keep it all grounded.

The visuals and the language, working together, are Further. Forward. Faster.

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Our Promise

FURTHER. FORWARD. FASTERSQL Server will help you move your business forward, enable you to take your business further, and equip you to exceed the pace of an ever-increasing information flow.

This tagline speaks to the constantly evolving demands of business, and the speed at which the quantity of data is increasing. SQL Server 2012 sets the new standard for business intelligence, ensures rock-solid dependability for mission-critical confidence, and does it all in way that looks forward to—and paves the way for—cloud deployment.

SQL Server 2012 works proactively, blazes the trail for progressive intelligence, and sets the pace for SQL Server capability and performance.

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Tone and Voice

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October 2011

Tone

The SQL Server tone is smart, confident, pragmatic, and forward-thinking. It’s a little bit edgy, and tinged with dry wit—the SME who doesn’t say a lot in meetings, but when he does, it’s spot-on.

The tone knows its stuff, period—but it’s not dull. In fact, it drops an occasional wry observation, especially when it’s talking about making business decisions.

The tone is grounded. It speaks in a way that enables decision-making: much more interested in providing useful information (and a killer product) than branding airplanes, sponsoring fancy sailboat races, or being red.

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Voice

1. Smart.

We speak respectfully, peer-to-peer, but with a complete mastery of the subject matter. We are the guy people come to when they need facts. We are the authority on data—so much so that we really don’t need to shove that fact down anyone’s throat.

Technique:

Plain English mixed with industry-accepted technical language (e.g., “nines”) provide tech-cred and explain technical capabilities. Marketing language is absolutely unacceptable.

2. Grounded.

We are grounded in reality. We’re not into hyperbole. Our customers need certain features and capabilities; we supply those things, and we do it right. When we talk about SQL Server, our objective is to offer facts to inform decisions. We are imaginative and innovative and curious—but we use those inventive powers to create real benefits in the real world. We don’t do cool things for the sake of being cool. We do them because they work.

Technique:

Lead with strong, factual statements. Where there’s a differentiator, don’t be afraid to call it out. We are telling the simple truth here: what we do, how we do it, how it can make our customers’ businesses more effective.

Four pillars create the voice: Smart, Grounded, In-control confident, Forward-thinking

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October 2011

Voice continued.

3. In-control confident.

We know the data landscape inside out. We also know the business landscape—and that control of your data is vital to success. To use a sports analogy, if business is the football field and data is the ball, we’re Peyton Manning (with all due respect to Aaron Rodgers). That kind of locked-in confidence is reflected in our tone: never cocky, never loud, never preachy—just in control, telling it the way it is. We’ve figured out what customers need to achieve breakthrough insights, mission-critical confidence, and cloud readiness.

Technique:

Address business needs directly, with strong A-B reasoning. We know that you need to control exploding volumes of data. Want data visualization tools anyone can use? Then you need SQL Server. Planning to move from on-prem to cloud in a year or two? You need us for that, too.

4. Forward-thinking.

In an industry that worships at the altar of ongoing iteration and demands continual planning for change, we stand out from the crowd. We are not happy to rest on our red laurels and let innovation pass us by. So, for example, while we know that big data is emerging quickly and infrastructures (and a lot more) are heading for the cloud, we also recognize that for many, its time is not here yet. So we’ve built in a cloud-ready bridge that allows for a seamless, simple deployment when the time comes.

Technique:

Talk about the future as if we’re already in it. Don’t make wiggly, unprovable claims—offer solid facts. We are working ahead: next year, five years, ten years. We’re holding proofs for theories others have yet to test. Our geeky passion for figuring out the next big thing wakes us up at night and gets us to work in the morning. As a result, we’ve built a connected foundation for managing ever-increasing data loads, with components that span warehousing to mining to analysis—and it’s all cloud-ready.

Four pillars create the voice: Smart, Grounded, In-control confident, Forward-thinking

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Visual Guidelines

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October 2011

Logo

There are two logos at we need to be aware of as we transition into 2012.The current Microsoft SQL logos will be used until we switch to the 2012 logos on October 14, 2011.

Current Logo 2012 Logo

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Color

#c82828

Primary Secondary Tertiary

Primary colors

Our primary color is the rich, vibrant dark red featured prominently in our communications. And it should be used to draw attention to key information in our messaging.

Secondary colors

Our secondary colors provide a foundation for our primary SQL SERVER color red. They should be used to help support and enhance the brand legacy as well as to establish the brand confidence within the new design system. White is often used as white space in the layouts to communicate sophistication, control, and stability. When white is used in combination with our vibrant primary color, the cumulative effect is of positivity. This light and energetic sense of possibility is further enhanced by the inclusion of the tertiary colors. Gray allows us flexibility in establishing additional levels of type hierarchy, adding graphic depth and nuance to our messaging.

Tertiary colors

In most situations the tertiary or pillar colors should be use as additives to communicate the integrated offering of Microsoft SQL Server 2012. They should always be grounded in the primary and secondary brand color palette and never used alone.

SQL Server Red #333333 #3F3F3FSQL Server Black SQL Server Gray

#4DC8ED #B5D331Cloud Blue Mission Critical Green

#FFFFFFSQL Server White

#FF8B00

R-255G-139B-0

R-0G-0B-0

R-63G-63B-63

R-200G-40B-40

R-255G-255B-255

R-77G-200B-237

R-181G-211B-49

C-0M-55Y-100K-0

C-15M-98Y-98K-5

PANTONE1797 C

PANTONEBLACK 7 C

PANTONECOOL GRAY 11C

PANTONEWHITE C

PANTONE1585 C

PANTONE637 C

PANTONE382 C

C-75M-68Y-67K-90

C-68M-61Y-60K-48

C-0M-0Y-0K-0

C-59M-0Y-3K-0

C-34M-0Y-100K-0

BI Orange

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Typeface

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789!@#$%^&*()-+


Segoe Bold

Segoe Regular



Segoe Bold Italic

Segoe Regular Italic

Primary typeface

The Microsoft SQL Server 2012 visual identity uses the proprietary Microsoft Segoe font family. It’s a clean and approachable face with a future-focused yet human feel. It’s also instantly recognizable as a Microsoft font, making it a global asset that carries brand equity with it every time we use it.

In some situations, when materials are developed for on-screen use only (such as executive Microsoft PowerPoint presentations), use Segoe UI as the typeface to ensure legibility when projected.

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October 2011

Building Blocks

The shapes and configurations that represent the building blocks for the SQL Server 2012 visual language have been constructed to provide a solid foundation on which to build on.

These elements should work seamlessly within the grid canvas and provide variety of pattern combinations and expressive builds.

The idea is a slow build that develops into fully formed colored blocks and icons.

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Grid Framework (Background Canvas)

The grid framework or canvas is the foundation on which our building blocks work and is actually composed of the building blocks themselves. The grid is a living tapestry on which our brand language comes to life.

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October 2011

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Building Blocks

The icons below make up the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 building blocks and should be used to establish brand dominance within your execution.

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Building Blocks

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Pillar Icon Set

Thses icons are secondary to the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 brand blocks and color system. They are to be used to emphasize the additional benefits and full story of Microsoft SQL Server 2012.

Mission Critical icons

Cloud icons

Business Intelligence icons

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October 2011

Combined Icon Set and Microsoft SQL Server Building Blocks

The pillar icon set and associated building blocks for each of the pillars as well as the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 base icons.

Mission Critical icons

Cloud icons

Business Intelligence icons

SQL Base icons and building blocks

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Putting Things Together(Dos and Don’ts)

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Executional Guidance

The following is a series of Do and Don’t examples to follow when working with the brand elements.

Don’t make the cube elements to large with not enough white space.

Don’t make the cube elements to small with too much white space.

The proper balance of white space is essential. Try to balance the elements in the area of 60-70% white space, 20-25% cube elements and the remaining for logos and type.

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October 2011

Executional Guidance continued

The following is a series of Do and Don’t examples to follow when working with the brand elements.

Never postion cube elements outside of the grid framework.

Never crowd and clutter the cube elements.

Never use black or dark backgrounds - always use white.

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Executional Samples

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Envelope Design 1

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Letterhead Design 1


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MSCOM Banner Storyboard

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5 6

2 3 4

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16:9 Video Bumper

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4

2

5

3

6

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Email Signature Template

Your Name Your Group Microsoft Corporation Your contact information


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Email Template Newsletter

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Email Template General Usage

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Sticker 5 x 5 inches 1


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Sticker 5 x 5 inches 2


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Laptop Skin 1


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Desktop Sticker


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CD Cover Case

FRONTBACK

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Facebook

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LinkedIn Icon

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Twitter Background

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Youtube Background

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Thank You

Documents

SQL 2012 Style Guide Final