Building Blocks

The Park People "logo" is the combination of an "icon" (globe w/hands) and a "wordmark" (organization name). 

The globe/hand icon is not our logo.

It's only appropriate to use the circle with the handprints in social media avatars with circular frames. We never use it on its own. 

There are two variations of our logo:

1. Linear
2. Stacked  

When to use which logo variation

Colour Matters

When possible, use the two colour logo on white— it's our best foot forward!

White on 'Park Green' is second best, followed by black and white options if necessary.

Size Matters

• Give the wordmark breathing room (clear space) of at least 25px. Use the guide below for references at scale.
• Feel free to scale them as long as "Park People" is readable.
  • The minimum size for screen application is 275px (linear) and 125px (stacked).
  • Print use is 1.5 inch (linear) and 1.0 inch (stacked).

Even if we have to make our logo a bit smaller, framing the wordmark with "negative" or "white" space makes it easier to read, distracts less from the page content, and makes us look more professional.

Order Matters

Using our logo in conjunction with a partners or supporters

Park People-led initiatives
If using the logo in an event where Park People is the primary sponsor or organizer, please ensure that the Park People logo is displayed before the supporting partners. (e.g. HOTC workshops)

External Sponsors
When placing the Park People logo with an external funder logo, the funder logo is displayed before the Park People logo (e.g. TD Grants, Nature Valley X Park People etc.)

Motion Matters

Make our digital content more dynamic with the animated version of our logo.

Play/Loop it at the beginning or end of presentations, seminars and live events (e.g. Use the animation as a screen-saver while prepping and beginning presentations).

About the Files:

• Presentation Use: Lower resolution files for PPT, Keynote or other web based software that allows video.
• Professional Use: 4k lossless files to hand-off for professional film assets.

Please Don't:

• Alter these files in any way.
• Let the logo touch the edge of an object, such as the top of a printed page or website–remember the breathing room mentioned above. 
• Combine the logo with any other graphics without consent.
• Use the logo over any patterns
• Apply non-approved colours to the logo.

First, a note about accessibility

Accessibility guidelines aim to improve reading conditions on bright and sunny days, for people with visual migraines, colour blindness and in other physically challenging circumstances.

But as with most accessibility guidelines, best practices tend to benefit everyone.

Full Colours

The colour chips below include technical guidelines for using our colours with type to meet accessibility per current web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) while still conveying some of Park People's personality. 

If the indicator below shows a "fail" it means that the specific combination of text colour, text size and background colour isn't accessible for a large enough portion of readers.

• Use background colours for 'high density' passages of text. The longer the passage, the more work it is for the reader to process. It's fine for headlines but always err on the side of higher contrasts. When in doubt, stick with 'Spruce Green' on a white background.
• Use coloured text (body copy) on top of a coloured background.
• Use more orange and blue than green. Orange is for headlines, and generally getting attention. Think of it as shouting, not as a conversation.
• Make entire pages out of 'Charged Cyan' or 'Sunburst Orange'.

We use background colour in 3 ways

We use a series of colours to support the green, accent our ideas, and punctuate our data.

Highlight key points with bold colours helps readers intuitively scan the page for action items. Please use these judiciously–if everything is asking for attention, nothing stands out.

Support: For Low Priority Info

We use darker colours to signify closure and add more contrast. 

Spruce Green: More serious than Park Green. Used for fine-text or less attention-grabbing information (Meta descriptions, disclaimers, etc.–content the reader should only notice when they need it).

• Use alone or below any other background colour
• Pair with medium-to-long format white body text.
• Use instead of full black.

Tips for Choosing a Palette

• Pairing greens, oranges, and beiges is great for rough outdoorsy nostalgia (e.g. field guides, nature walks, etc.).
• Pairing greens with blues is great for adding vibrancy and momentum (e.g. websites, call to actions).
• Large areas of orange and blue won't mix well. Instead, minimize the amount of real-estate they get in proximity to each other (e.g. thin stripes or icons).

Tl;dr

• If you need a font for print, use Museo slab.
• If you need a font for web, use Comfortaa.

• If you need a snappy header, use DIN Schrift: 'light' for large headers and 'condensed' for small section titles. 
• If you need a low-level header, use museo sans bold in a size slighter larger than your body style.
• For main body copy, use museo sans
• For quotes, use comfortaa in a size bigger than your body style
• For pullouts or subtitles, use museo slab in a size bigger than your body style

Why and where to use each family

Museo (sans+slab)

• Museo Sans is our sturdy, highly legible sans serif typeface. We use it for headers (large and small) and small type.
• Museo Slab makes our reports approachable and processable. We use it for body copy, medium-sized alt-quotes, medium-sized pullouts.

DIN Schrift (light)

• DIN Schrift (light) is a warm and clear font we use for information to absorb at-a-glance. We only use it for  super large headers.

DIN Schrift (condensed)

• DIN Schrift (condensed) provides great contrast for easy scanning without breaking concentration away from the main content. We use it for same size section titles.

Comfortaa

• Comfortaa is an alternate to Museo slab and best conveys the human voice. We use it for medium-sized quotes, medium-sized pullouts and web subtitles.

We Do

• Select colourful and joyful images.
• Showcase different races and ages of people in parks.
• Feature different activities and seasons in parks.
• Feature different city parks (when the city is visible and distinguishable). 
• Keep images destined for the web under 2MB in size, with a maximum width of 1600px. 

We Don't

• Feature parks without people (there are exceptions).
• Add text over an image (i.e. text directly on a photo without a background, especially in unreadable colours).
• Use images found on the internet without the consent of the source.

We Give Credit

Recognize the [park/program/activity] + the [photographer] with a caption for every photo.

ex. Bartlett Parkette, Toronto - Photo: Industryus

Park People's own photos don't need a photographer listed, but we should still recognize the park it was taken in if possible.

Leadership expert and author Simon Sinek is best known for giving one of the most popular TED talks of all time. His Golden Circle idea is used to explain why some organizations are better able to inspire and differentiate themselves than others.

Our Why

Animated parks improve the lives of people living in cities.

Research shows that city parks:

• Improve mental and physical health
• Create social cohesion and reduce isolation
• Build local economies
• Help revitalize neighbourhoods
• Are important counter-forces against processes of environmental degradation and climate change.

Parks give people an opportunity to make a real, lasting difference in their community & city. The power of parks can be felt on a:

• Personal level (happiness and belonging)
• Community-level (social cohesion, community development, shared ownership, community engagement) 
• City-level (civic engagement, economic development, green infrastructure, livability)

Our How

Help people activate the power of parks

Park People helps people activate the power of parks. Local park people know their parks and communities best. We don’t empower them, as they are already empowered. We help them realize the potential of their parks.

Activate is a verb - an active word - that indicates that we help park people develop their ideas further and stimulate new ideas.

Our What

Support and mobilize people to help them activate the power of parks in cities across Canada

Park People’s work can be grouped into two main categories:

Support (support, invest, innovate)

"We support the people who activate the power of parks in cities across Canada by providing skills, knowledge, networks and access to funds."

Support:

• Enhance skills, knowledge and access to funds for the people who activate the power of parks in cities across Canada.
• Key Audiences: community park groups, underserved community groups, higher capacity park groups, non-profit agencies

Invest:

• Increase public and private financial resources available to activate city parks across Canada and support innovative approaches to funding for city parks
• Key Audiences: municipal governments, private funders, foundations

Innovate:

• Pilot and showcase projects that highlight the power of parks in cities across Canada
• Key Audiences: Municipalities, media, thought leaders community, park groups

Mobilize (galvanize, inspire)

"We bring Canadians together to spark a movement to activate the power of parks in cities across Canada. We promote best practices, innovation and the exchange of knowledge, and increased awareness of the value of city parks."

Inspire:

• Identify innovative models and best practices through thought leadership that activates the power of parks in cities across Canada
• Key Audiences: Media, city planners, city park staff, thought leaders, funders

Galvanize:

• Lead the movement to activate the power of parks in cities across Canada
• Bring people together to build pan-Canadian networks to promote the ongoing exchange of knowledge among park leaders and champions.
• Key Audiences: Municipalities, city park staff, media, thought leaders

Our Mission

We help people activate the power of parks in order to improve quality of life in cities across Canada.

Our Vision

Through Park People’s work, all urban Canadians will be equitably served by active, animated, well-designed, and properly maintained parks that meet community needs as
part of a well-funded park system.

Our core belief

We believe that parks that are animated by ongoing community support are powerful spaces that foster meaningful social connections, while strengthening local economies, improving the local environment and supporting mental and physical health.

Our target audiences

1. Park enthusiasts: People who value what parks bring to them personally, to their community and their city. In short, they are park people.
2. Park activators: People who activate the power of parks. Community park group volunteers, community organizers, staff members of park focused non-profits and non-profits who achieve their mission in part through parks
3. Park professionals: People who work in parks or whose work is connected to parks. Includes local councillors, park supervisors, planners, economic development, public health, etc.

Short

Regular version:

We help people activate the power of parks in cities across Canada.

The spunky version:

Helping people make awesome things happen in city parks across Canada.

Medium

Today, 86% of Canadians live in cities. This rapid densification is set to continue. The potential of parks to offset many of the challenges of urban life makes them more relevant now than ever.

Parks are the places where we gather to play, exercise, relax, and connect with each other and nature. You can feel the energy of a vibrant park reverberate across a whole neighbourhood. You can see and measure the benefits a vibrant park system has on an entire city’s health, economy, ecology and social belonging.

This is the power of parks and it is created by people who are committed to making a real, lasting difference in their community and city.

Park People supports and mobilizes people to help them activate the power of parks to improve quality of life in cities across Canada.

Join us to make something awesome happen in our city parks.

Long

Today, 86% of Canadians live in cities. This rapid densification is set to continue. Parks’ potential to offset many of the challenges of urban life makes them more relevant than ever.

Parks are where we gather to play, exercise, relax, connect with each other and nature. You can feel the energy of a vibrant park reverberate across a whole neighbourhood. And you can see and measure the benefits a vibrant park system has on an entire city’s health, economy, ecology and happiness. Parks can help offset many of the challenges Canada’s cities face.

This is the power of parks and it is created by people who are committed to making a real, lasting difference in their community and city. The power of parks can be felt on a personal level (happiness and belonging) a community level (social cohesion, community development, shared ownership, community engagement) and city level (civic engagement, economic development, green infrastructure, livability).

Park People supports and mobilizes people to help them activate the power of parks to improve quality of life in cities across Canada.

We support a Canadian network of park people by sharing knowledge, connections and funding that bolsters their awesome work in parks . We also mobilize Canadians by highlighting the insights, policies and practices that help city parks meet their full potential.

Join us to make something awesome happen in our parks.

Tidbits

What Park People does:

• Park People supports and mobilizes people to help them activate the power of parks to improve quality of life in cities across Canada.
• The power of parks can be felt on a personal level (happiness and belonging) a community level (social cohesion, community development, shared ownership, community engagement) and city level (civic engagement, economic development, green infrastructure, livability).
• Park People helps people make awesome things happen in city parks across Canada.
• We support a Canadian network of park people by sharing knowledge, connections and funding that bolsters their awesome work in parks . We also mobilize Canadians by highlighting the insights, policies and practices that help city parks meet their full potential.
• Join us to make something awesome happen in our city parks.

Here are some guidelines for our tone and voice when speaking as Park People.

Tone

We speak to all of our audiences as park enthusiasts, first and foremost; tapping into their love of parks and positive feeling about the possibilities that parks offer individuals, communities and cities.

To these people we are:

• Positive
• Energizing
• Inspiring
• Supportive
• Confident

Voice

We represent the people side of parks.

We’re different from planners and other professionals who work in our sector because we use colloquial, familiar and warm language that resonates with people. We do not use the formal language of planners or civil servants. Our humanity is our edge in the parks space.

We know from experience and research what makes parks work. We’re confident but not arrogant. On the flip side, we’re not so humble as to render our abilities invisible.

There is a sense of possibility embedded in parks. We infuse everything we write with a sense of positivity and optimism that reflects parks at their best.

We are experts working for Canada’s leading park organization but our strength is working cooperatively with others and putting community needs first.

Finally, parks are for everyone. Our language is inclusive and accessible.